HOLIDAYS
HOLIDAYS
In the past, you may have spent your nights meeting friends at a bar for cocktails and dancing into the wee-hours. But with the stock market crash, and seemingly endless lay-offs, you and your pals cannot even afford the corkage fee at your favorite BYOB.
Tough times are no reason to let your social life go the way of your bank account. Be a true recessionista and turn lemons into lemonade (well, hard-lemonade maybe) by inviting everyone over for a recession-themed party inspired by the Great Depression of the 1930's.
Here are a few ideas for throwing a stock market crash bash of your own.
- 2 Whole Egg-Whites
- 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Tsp Almond Extract
- 3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 8 Tbsp Flour
- 1.5 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 8 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 3 Tsp Water
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease 2 9-X-13 inch baking sheets. (If you are inserting a dollar bill fold it length-wise)
- In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.
- Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt and sugar into a separate bowl. Stir the water into the flour mixture.
- Add the flour into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.Note: if you want to dye the fortune cookies, add the food coloring at this point, stirring it into the batter. For example, I used 1/2 teaspoon green food coloring to make green fortune cookies.
- Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a circle 8 inches in diameter.
- Bake until the outer 1/2-inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14 - 15 minutes).
- Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune (or dollar bill) in the middle of a cookie. To form the fortune cookie shape, fold the cookie in half, then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass, wooden spoon or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue with the rest of the cookies.
- 2 Cup(s) Stirrings Organic Classic Apricot Mixer
- 1 Cup(s) Gin
- Shake briefly in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a martini glass.
Go old fashioned and call up friends on the telephone. No text messaging allowed! Tell everyone to dress appropriately and bring their favorite inexpensive libations.
1930's-Inspired Attire
Encourage guests to dress up-it will make the cheap hooch easier to drink if you are dressed to impress.
Guys:
- Paint on mustaches
- Double breasted suit jackets with square shoulders and long broad lapels
- Long, baggy suit pants
- White dinner jackets
- Gangster suits
- Side parted and slick downed hair
- Suspenders
- Shirt cuffs
Girls:
- Dropped Waist Dresses
- Fishnets stockings with seams up the back
- Bias cut dresses
- Two-toned shoes with rounded toes and wide thick heels
- Red lips and matte makeup
Set the Mood: The Great Depression is no reason to be depressed. Get your party swinging with music that will have your guests ready to jump, jive and wail.
Cocktails
Continue the 1930s theme with ginger-ale and bourbon cocktails. Or for a more frugal option serve boxed wine and mark the box with your own label that says, "Moonshine."
Cuisine
Set up trays with peanuts in their shells, apple slices and inexpensive snack food that got its start in the '30s. For fun decorate the table with cans of SPAM, it made its debut in 1937!
Party Favors
Create your own economic stimulus package. Make (oversized) fortune cookies for each of your guests and tuck a dollar-bill inside, instead of a traditional fortune. Place the cookie inside a white Chinese take-away box filled with shredded money. Create a homemade label that says, "Buck Up!"
- It Makes My Love Come Down-Bessie Smith
- Nobody Cares if I’m Blue-Annette Hanshaw
- Humming Your Glum Times Away-Donald Peers
- Don’t be Like That-Helen Kane
- Everything’s Gonna Be All Right-Frank Harris
- They All Laughed-Fred Astaire
- The St. Louis Blues-Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians
- Just a Little Longer-Phillip Spitalny
- I’m in the Market For You-George Olsen
- That Feeling Is Gone-Benny Goodman
- Ain’t Misbehavin’-Duke Ellington
- Nothin’-Nat Shikret
Launch Party
Party
Tropical Chinese
Theme...
That was a unique theme huh? It's nice. I think one of these days I'll invite my friends on my house for a Depression-Era theme party. Economic recovery is clearly far from where we are today, so I th...