Food for Luau Birthday Party

[alphamommy]

Our DD will be turning 8 next Saturday. We are planning a family birthday party for the next week (1/26).

In an effort to brighten our drab Michigan winter, we are doing a Luau theme. We're going to do BBQ pork, chicken nuggets (for the kids who won't eat the pork), fruit, etc. I'm also planning to do pineapple and caramel sauce (like Ohana used to have - yum!).

I'm trying to think of a tropical sort of side dish. I was thinking about a rice dish of some kind. Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks!
Tammy

[Sunshine1010]

Just a suggestion: chicken kabobs. The pineapple will make it feel festive.

How about a fruit platter with cheeses decorated with festive green leafs from the deli? (lots of watermelon)

How about some coconut/strawberry/sour apple smoothies (non alcoholic of course) for the kids?

Baskin Robbins sells coconut ice cream. You could get a quart of that.

Good luck with the party!

[MomPoppins]

We did this with a youth group I work with a while back and it was a blast!

We also did fruit kabobs stuck into a pineapple -- looked very festive and fun for the kids! (We got big skewers with a tropical decoration at the end from Oriental Trading Company.) We also got drink umbrellas from OTC to put in the drinks -- very cute. I made a cake using Wilton's castle shape pan. After frosting it, I pressed light brown sugar all over it, put paper flags on the turrets and stuck a (new) sand shovel into it...it looked just like a sand castle!!

I've also seen a cute dessert made in a sand pail -- something similar to "dirt" pudding, but I think they used graham crackers instead of Oreos so it would look like sand.

We used beach blankets as table cloths and sprinkled seashells and star fish all over. Of course, everyone got a lei when they came in. Oh -- and we made the adults "entertain" the youth group by doing a hula. :-)

Have fun! I'm sure you'll have a blast!

[RenDuran]

We did a luau for our daughter this past summer. We served pineapple and ham pizza. Also, we had "goldfish"....the littlest kids loved those!

[alphamommy]

These are great ideas!

I'm a little hesitant about anything with skewers after watching DD's Brownie troop eat fruit off bamboo skewers, then turn them into swords and chasing one another around the room with them. EEK!

I hadn't thought about shells and beach towels - we even have one from the Poly, so that could be for the food table!

Any other food ideas would be appreciated!

Tammy

[Kairi_7378]

I'm not sure if these are available in your area, but I have made some of my meals look more tropical by sprinkling my dessert and salad with edible orchids or other flowers.

Having been a Brownie myself, I can see why you are hesitant to do skewars!

[MsMin]

I've used edible skewers like pretzel sticks. Unsalted are better. They make tiny skewers but fun. I've also carved a fish from a water melon. Kids love shapes.
I use a saffron rice (yellow) when I do something like that, its colorful and flavorful. My kids prefer it over wild rice. but rice can be a disaster w/ young ones b/c they tend to drop it ALL over. I would skip it unless I was having a sit down dinner. I think kids love finger foods. Good luck sounds like a lot of fun.

[MomPoppins]

These are great ideas!

I'm a little hesitant about anything with skewers after watching DD's Brownie troop eat fruit off bamboo skewers, then turn them into swords and chasing one another around the room with them. EEK!

YIKES! Didn't think of that! The ones we used had a tropical flower on the end, so the girls were sticking them in their hair when they were done. (A little gross since they were sticky with fruit juice, but not dangerous like using them as swords!) The group I worked with was a little older, too -- junior high and high schoolers, so older than Brownies.

Good luck!

[alphamommy]

The party is going to have mostly adults (aunts & uncles, etc.), with 5 elementary aged kids. I was planning on rice, but wanted to do something more interesting than just plain white rice. Saffron rice, eh? That might be a good solution!

Thanks,
Tammy

[Polylurker]

Just a suggestion....what about fried rice? It looks colorful, has veggies big enough to pick out if you don't like them....My kids all love fried rice. You can even buy it frozen now in stores.