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This Months Theme |
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America & the Wild West is something we've all grown up with. Starting with the cowboys & indians games of our childhood, through to the black & white films on a Sunday afternoon with maybe a bit of line dancing during the week thrown in. Create your own spagetti western saloon & invite your friends round for an evening of old American revelry. |
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Use the pictures above as templates for invitations. Print them off & enlarge on a photocopier onto card. Cut around the illustration & write the details of the party on the back. |
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A marquee in the garden is ideal for this theme, if you have the room, but works just as well inside your house. Fix saloon style swing doors to the entrance to the marquee or the main room to be used & put a saloon sign over it. Swing doors are available from most DIY shops & can be fixed to the existing door frame or make an additional frame out of wood. Arrange spitoons, wanted signs (of guests) & cacti around the room & attach signs to the wall for watering hole (bar), chuck-wagon (buffet table) etc.
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Ask friends to come in fancy dress & list suggestions if neccessary. These might include cowboy, indian, sheriff, can-can dancer or mexican. Keep a few spare large handkerchiefs & cowboy hats handy for guests that have forgotten! If you're throwing a large party & hiring staff, make sure they dress up as well. Men, choose from: Cowboy - jeans, boots, waistcoat, hat, gun holster, bandanna. Toy shops should have plenty of accessories to choose from. Indian - cut tassels into a length of brown material & attach to a pair of loose brown trousers. Decorate a brown vest top or long-sleeved tunic top with colourful zig-zag motifs. Wear moccasins on your feet & carry a tomahawk made from cardboard. Top it all off with a head-dress of feathers. |
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Margarita - shake 45ml tequila, 15ml triplesec or Cointreau & 30ml lime juice vigorously with ice & strain into an old style champagne glass rimmed with salt. Decorate with a slice of lime. |
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Tequila Sunrise - Fill a tall glass with ice. Stir in 45ml tequila & top up with orange juice. Pour 15ml grenadine on top & decorate a slice of orange. |
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Mexican Devil - Fill a tall glass with ice. Stir in 30ml tequila & 15ml creme de cassis. Top up with dry ginger & decorate with a slice of lime or lemon. |
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Tequila - If guests are feeling brave, serve tequila neat in small shot glasses to be followed by a lick of salt & a suck on a quarter of lime. |
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Burbank Special - Blend 60ml bourbon, 15ml lemon cordial, 60ml orange juice 1 whole egg & 30ml maple syrup with ice & strain into a large glass. Decorate with a slice of orange & lemon. |
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Manhattan - Stir 60ml bourbon & a dash of bitters with ice & strain into a coctail glass. |
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Classic Bourbon - Shake 45ml bourbon, 15ml lemon juice, 15ml curacao, a dash of Benedictine & a dash of bitters with ice & strain into a tall glass. |
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Chilli con carne |
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Chocolate Torte |
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Baked potatoes |
Bourbon ice-cream |
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Re-fried bean stew |
Mini tequila jellies |
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Corn bread |
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Roasted vegetables |
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For a large gathering, organise a band & caller for line dancing or a barn dance. Arrange an area for poker. Give each guest a bag of chips (available from most toyshops) & award prizes to the person with the most chips at the end of the evening or whoever cheated the most etc. Ask guests to donate money for their bag of chips & raise money for a good cause at the same time. |
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Gather a collection of country & western CD's & keep the music playing all evening. Don't forget to include Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers & for a more up-to-date feel, Shania Twain.
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This Months Theme |
