Party Like It's 19[80-Something]

Anyone who knows me knows I love the 80s.  Everything 80s.  I really don't know why.  But I do. 

The movies:  Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Goonies, Dirty Dancing, Back to the Future, Batman... (the list goes on, but I won't)

The music:  Safety Dance (I hope this gets stuck in your head), You Give Love a Bad Name (if the first song isn't, then this one surely is...), Manic Monday, Walk Like an Egyptian, Mad About You... (the list goes on, but I won't...)

The TV shows:  Growing Pains, Just the 10 of Us, Who's the Boss, Major Dad, Quantum Leap, Charles in Charge...  (the list goes on, but I won't ;))

The Cartoons:  Smufs, Snorks, Shirt Tails, Garfield and Friends, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, She-Ra, and He-Man...

The Toys:  Popples, Cabbage Patch Kids (I preferred the Premies), the awesome Barbies (like Evening Glow and Peaches and Cream and Barbie and the Rockers), Rainbow Brite, She-Ra, and He-Man...

The Fads and Styles:  side pony tails, crimped hair, leg warmers, jelly shoes, leggings with lace...

It was just an awesome decade. 

So why not celebrate it with an 80s-themed party?  I mean, what can be better than combining all of that awesomeness with food?  Granted, it's been a few years since I've done this...  But even so.  Definitely some of the best times I've had.  These are from two different parties.

The first party was in Florida in 2009.  We wanted to come up with items that came out in the 80s.  It was harder than we thought, so we added a few extras like a Stromboli and chips and dip.  But our authentic 80s fare was pizza rolls (painted green for Ninja Turtles), fig newtons, pop rocks, oreo truffles (in awesomely bright 80s colors) and TAB soda (nasty stuff, but pure 80s) with Charleston Chews and Reese's Pieces candy.

Crimped hair, long dangly big earrings and pop rocks...  I'd already sloughed the jean jacket... It was hot in Florida.

The second party was in 2009 in Washington.  At the funeral home where I used to work.  A staff party, after hours, of course. 

Rather than go with foods that came out in the 80s (since we learned that was a challenge), we mostly went with naming various foods after something 80s-related.  Personally, I think it was bomb.

 We kept the candies, because apparently they were 80s.

 But we made Oreo Truffles [Shuffle] a la Chunk in The Goonies

 Lots of 80s candy:  ring pops, Now & Later, and Pop Rocks

A "Where's the Beef?" and Onion Cheeseball with Puttin' on the Ritz crackers (inspired by my sister's most favorite song by Taco). 

Someone who hadn't originally planned to come decided at the last minute to join us, so he provided grapes.  And I came up with the foodie tag:  The [Grapest] American Hero.
 

Some Bananarama Bread to help us get through that Cruel Summer. 

 And some Raspberry Beret Jam to top the Bananarama Bread.

Some He-Manwich.  I think it speaks for itself.  I also thought this was purely ingenious.

Some nice cold refreshing Pretty in Pink lemonade.

Along with some Breakfast Club Sandwiches.  (I feel like I'm playing the Now and Later category in Jeopardy.)

And, finally, some Cowabunga! Pizza Rolls.  To pay homage to those heroes in a half-shell who are green.  And love pizza.

Yep, call me a total food and 80s dweeb.  I'll wear the title proudly.  These were some of the best times.  And though I may not be able to yell, "Man I love being a turtle!"  I can yell, "Man I love being a foodie!"  And I love the 80s too.

Crunch Wrap Supremes -- At Home!

Back when I had just started my addiction to Pinterest, I found a pin for home-made Crunch Wrap Supremes.

Call me gross, but I'm a total Taco Bell fan.  (Unless the recent report I read is true...  Then I'll have to stop being a fan.)

Of course, now I don't have to worry about what meat I'm eating, if I make it at home, right?

Anyway, we really like these.  I've made them with shredded cheddar cheese as well as with the canned nacho cheese.  I think I prefer the cheddar.

The one thing that prevents me from making these often is that they are all "hands-on."  It's not a fix-it-and-forget-it type of thing.  But they are easy.  And they do go relatively fast, considering you can only do so many at a time (if I had a griddle, it'd go quicker).

So here's where I found the recipe originally.

And here's the recipe:

1/2 to 1 pound ground beef*
taco seasoning
chopped tomatoes
shredded lettuce
shredded Cheddar or nacho cheese
sour cream*
large burrito-sized flour tortillas (the bigger you can get them the better)
crunchy round corn tortillas

*If I use 1/2 pound of beef, I add a small can (14 ounce) of refried beans to the meat.  I have also used plain yogurt to replace the sour cream, but I prefer the sour cream.

Brown meat.  Drain.  Add taco seasoning to taste.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.

On a flat surface, lay out a flour tortilla.  Place a portion of the meat and shredded cheese in the center of the tortilla.  Lay a crunchy corn tortilla on top.  Then put a layer of sour cream, lettuce, and tomato.  Fold edges of flour tortilla up and over, working to encase the filling.  I find I usually have to tear pieces from an extra tortilla and place over the lettuce and tomato in order to make the flour tortilla cover the filling completely. 

Spray cooking spray in pan.  Place in pan and cover.  Cook about 1 to 2 minutes.  Then flip and cook another 1 to 2 minutes.  Repeat with remaining ingredients.

I find that I usually get about 6 crunch-wraps out of this.  And they are filling (I usually only eat one).

Graduation Cupcakes & Diplomas

So for part of the youth activity tonight, we wanted to recognize one of the girls who is graduating.  Because I am a total foodie, I said I'd be in charge of doing something foodie and cute, since we had decided to play board games for the activity.

Being that I'm not super creative with ideas....  I turned to Pinterest.  And it totally delivered.  Although, initially, I was thinking I could bake a 9x13 cake and try to cut it into a graduation hat (this probably would have been disastrous), I found something much better.  (Here is the website with the idea for the hats.  And for the diplomas (though this is just a link to a picture...).)  Graduation caps made out of candy and put on cupcakes!  And then I found little diploma ideas to boot!  So here are the pictures of my caps... and diplomas:

And here's how I did it:

Diplomas:

Little Debbie Swiss Rolls
Curling ribbon

Tie curling ribbon around the middle of each Swiss Roll.  Use scissors to curl ribbon ends.


Graduation Cap Cupcakes

1 box cake mix of your choice (I used dark chocolate)
1 container frosting of your choice (I used vanilla)
mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Hershey's bars broken into squares (could also use Ghirardelli squares, but WinCo didn't have any)
brown mini M&Ms
Chocolate for melting (I used leftover Hershey bar)

Bake cupcakes according to box directions.  Cool completely.  Frost. 

While cupcakes are cooling, unwrap peanut butter cups and have all candies ready to go.  Melt chocolate and put into a small Ziploc bag.  Cut of small corner for piping out melted chocolate.  Using melted chocolate, place a Hershey's square (writing-side down) on top of peanut butter cup.  Put a drop of chocolate in the center of square and place M&M on it.  Allow to dry.  Place on top of cooled and frosted cupcakes (I transported these, so I put the caps on once I got to where I was going).

**  I had intended to do tassels, but got the wrong kind of candy... I was trying Red Vines, since the WinCo didn't have the Rippy Bits that the original poster suggested...  The Red Vines were too stiff.  So I just left off the tassel.  Still pleased with how they turned out :).

Loved these.  And so did the girls, particularly the girl graduating.  She exclaimed (about the Swiss Rolls):  "They look like little diplomas!!!" 

So yeah, I consider this a success.  They weren't hard, and it was fun!