antipasto skewers Archives

For years I’ve thought it would be so much fun to throw an Oscar’s Viewing Party.

Fun little appetizers, elegant dresses, bubbly champagne flutes.

I always stop to read articles and blog posts about these kinds of parties and think, “someday…”

Well, a couple weeks ago I decided that “someday” was going to be this year!

I was thinking about why I always talk myself out of having an Oscar party, and I realized it’s that I never feel equipped to do it perfectly.

I want it to be the BEST Oscar party EVER.

PERFECTLY PLANNED.

FLAWLESSLY EXECUTED.

IMPECCABLY PHOTOGRAPHED.

And that, my friends, is why I’ve never had one.

This year I decided that was dumb.

If I sit back and think with my rational mind, I realize that I’d rather have a simple, little party than none at all.

SO.

I decided to go for it.

To jot down a fun little menu and really make it happen this year.

Since I don’t exactly know which (if any) of my friends love the Oscars, I decided to invite my sister and her boyfriend.

That’s it.

I wanted it to be simple and small and I didn’t want to freak out about having to have everything perfect, so these two were the perfect guests.

It didn’t matter that the bathroom wasn’t clean and the living room was a wasteland of toys and baby socks.

It was ok for me to shush them when favorite actors came on screen.

It was acceptable to pass gas after stuffing ourselves with hors d’oeuvres.

It was just right :)

The menu was pretty much my favorite part about our little party. Although I didn’t serve a huge variety of food, I somehow managed to be prepping food from about 1:00-6:00.

And I loved every minute of it.

Especially because Andy rode in on his white horse and did ALL THE DISHES while I cooked!

#hero

One of the sweetest moments of the night for me was when Grace rounded the corner into the dining room after I’d finished putting all of the food out. She was overcome with excitement and said, “Oh mom! Everything looks so beautiful! How did you do all this?!”

She went on and on and was so excited. It melted my mama heart.

She’s so much like me.

Sometimes it makes me crazy when I see my own weaknesses and flaws mirrored back to me. Other times it touches a deep place in my heart. She relates to life and to me in a way that almost no one else does, and it overwhelms me with thankfulness for her.

I love little things.

I get full-on worked up about holidays and special meals and new music and other people’s talents and hospitality and a million other little things.

I gush.

I’m an overly verbal girl at heart and I can’t help but run my mouth incessantly when I love something or someone. The words and enthusiasm just pour out of me and my little Grace is the same.

She just can’t help but gush when she loves something.

#soulsisters

After laboring in the kitchen all afternoon and having so much fun trying to make things feel fun and festive, her little compliments were so appreciated.

I’m kicking myself for not bringing out my good camera, but in the spirit of keeping it simple, here are a few dark, blurry iPhone pics :)

And the Oscar goes to…this menu!

Grass-fed bacon cheddar sliders on pretzel buns (sautéed onions, sautéed mushrooms, and cooked egg were additional toppings)

Roasted Garlic Potato Wedges

Crudités with buttermilk ranch dressing

Antipasto Skewers

Assorted Candy & Champagne

Buttered Popcorn (never made an appearance because we were too full!)

Everything was DELISH!

Honestly the pretzel rolls were a labor of love and didn’t turn out as beautifully as I had hoped, but they did take the sliders over the top. I plan to make them again to see if I can get them to be prettier :)

The quote of the night came from my sister who said, “That bacon is incredible…and I DON’T EVEN LIKE BACON!”

We must have re-quoted that a dozen times throughout the night.

Pro-tip: Costo has this phenomenal bacon that converts non-bacon people to bacon lovers.

The antipasto skewers were the perfect mix of tangy and fresh yet incredibly filling. Part way through the award show we pulled them out again and enjoyed a second round of Italian-y goodness :)

We laughed at Ellen’s (the host, not my sis) jokes and munched on candy until we were all moaning from a sugar high.

We sipped champagne and rooted for the people we wanted to win.

Although we weren’t exactly objective judges…between the 4 of us we’d only seen 3 of the nominated films.

I’m not sure what Ellen and Kevin can blame that on since they are young and free, but Andy and I fall into this category:

LOL.

Not exactly…Andy rented Captain Phillips the other night, so we had seen TWO of the nominated films.

But that’s one thing I love about watching the Academy Awards. I get to see beautiful highlights of the year’s best films and make a list of the ones I want to be sure to see.

This year that list includes: