Bipartisan Election Night Party
On election night, don’t just sit around watching TV… get involved in your ‘party’ which ever side of the isle you sit.
Grab your friends and neighbors and host your own Bipartisan Election Night Party, complete with berry patriotic foods and drinks and even political games to keep things lively between commercial breaks.
Patriotic theme is the way to go on election night and is a great opportunity to use any left over 4th of July party supplies and decorations!
The red, white, and blue theme is simple, yet classic and inexpensive. Starting off your decor with a plain white tablecloth, all you have to add are touches of red and blue with plates, napkins, silverware and candles. No political party would be complete with out balloons and confetti to celebrate your Party’s victory.
Get your guests involved in the party with fun and clever activities… Map it Out! and Presidential Trivia.
Map it Out! is as easy as downloading and printing out blank maps of the U.S., then leave a pile of red and blue crayons or markers for out so guests can color in each state as winners are declared. If you really want to rile things up, make your red friends color in only the blue states, and vice versa. As the winners in each state are declared, you check them off and the person with the most correct states wins! It’s kinda like political bingo…
If you want to SUPER SIZE the fun, go for ‘Pin Tail on the Political Trail”. Using a large wall map of the US, follow along and keep track of the states each candidate wins by pinning a political donkey or elephant (Donkey = Democrat & Elephant = Republican) to represent the party who wins the electoral vote for each state. Total up the electoral votes on a separate note pad and the winner is…
(if you don’t want to print/cut out 50 donkey and elephants, you can use two different colored Post-it Notes to keep score)
For other interactive maps got to NY Times website - http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/electoral-map
Keeping things lively during the commercials is paramount to keeping the party momentum going. Through out some Presidential Trivia during the commercial breaks and test your guest’s knowledge about past and current Presidents.
Who awarded Rosa Parks the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
- Bill Clinton
- Jimmy Carter
- Lyndon Johnson
- Barack Obama
(Answer: A)
Who is the only President to earn his Masters of Business Administration?
- Bill Clinton
- George H.W. Bush
- George W. Bush
- Woodrow Wilson
(Answer: C)
Which President was the first to use an armored limousine, and who ‘donated’ it for the President’s use?
- Woodrow Wilson; from Henry Ford
- Harry Truman; from Howard Hughes
- Dwight Eisenhower; from Winston Churchill
- Franklin Roosevelt; from Al Capone
(Answer: D)
(Download full list of trivia questions here)
Bipartisan Buffet
Whether you are for Romney or Obama, your in the Tea Party or the Green Party, layout a spread so there’s something for everyone! I approach my menu is very much like how I plan my Super Bowl Party. There are two candidates representing their respective states where each candidate made their political mark: Obama was the Governor of Illinois and Rommey was the Governor of Massachusetts
I choose popular Chicago foods with a Hawaiian twist for Barack VS Boston favorites for Mtit.
- MYO Hot Dog Bar
- Chicago is known for their hot dogs and while Chicago-style hot dogs usually consist of all the trimmings (mustard, onion, relish, and pickle), this “Make Your Own Hot Dog Bar” will include Hawaiian inspired toppings as well. (ex. Pineapple, avocado, mango salsa)
- Deep Dish Pizza
- Chicago is the home for deep-dish pizza. You can serve deep-dish pizza and if you want and Hawaiian deep-dish pizza to go the extra mile!
- Lobster Rolls & New England Clam Chowder
- Lobster rolls are a popular dish made from one of the staple foods in New England
- New England Clam Chowder is an iconic creamy soup served with oyster crackers
- Boston Cream Pie
- Boston cream pie is the official dessert of Massachusetts and is named after its birthplace.
A truly Bipartisan party snack is a classic Campaign Trail Mix
- 8 cups air-popped popcorn
- 1 cup roasted peanuts
- 1 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Salt and black pepper
Chicago & New England flavored popcorn with classic seasonings from across the political isle could bring about a heated debate: Click here for my Super Bowl Popcorn recipes:
Can’t have a victory celebration with out a celebratory cocktail, that is if you candidate wins… Berry Patriotic Champagne Cocktails
Red Romney Refresher
Ingredients:
- 3 Strawberries
- 1 oz. Ketel One Vodka
- 0.5 oz. Simple Syrup
- Moet & Chandon Champagne
Instructions:
- Muddle 2 strawberries.
- Using a shaker, add the muddled strawberries, vodka, and simple syrup. Shake vigorously, then strain into a champagne glass.
- Top with champagne and garnish with a strawberry slice.
Blue Obama Bubbly
Ingredients:
- 10 Blueberries
- 1 oz. Ketel One Vodka
- 0.5 oz. Simple Syrup
- Moet & Chandon Champagne
- Small Bamboo Skewer
Instructions:
- Muddle 7 blueberries.
- Using a shaker, add the muddled blueberries, vodka, and simple syrup. Shake vigorously, then strain into a champagne glass.
- Top with champagne and garnish with 3 blueberries on a bamboo skewer.
Election Night Beer Cocktails
Planning a Decades Party
As scene on the October 13th episode of Access Hollywoood LIVE celebrating Billy Bush’s 40th Birthday, I have created great tips and trends for throwing a Decades Party. This is a great theme party to throw for all ages: for birthdays, anniversaries, Halloween, etc.
When creating a decade’s party, you may choose one decade to focus on or encompass the decades of your choice into one event. You can build the event from one segment to the other in even time segments allowing guests to enjoy the eras one by one. You may also set up stations throughout the event with different food, music, games, and entertainment from each decade. Guests will have a chance to roam around the space enjoying the decades at their leisure.
When creating the menu, come up with creative new ways to serve your food. Take an old time classic like meat loaf and mashed potatoes and turn it into a bite sized passed hors d’ourves by altering the recipe to make a bite sized treat. Your guests will really enjoy the bite sized and single serving portion sizes. It will give them the opportunity to mingle around the party while also enjoying the mixture of sweet and savory food items.
To set the mood and tone of the event, encourage people to dress in the appropriate clothing for that decade. Be sure to set the mood with décor from that era as well. For example, if it is a 70s disco party, be sure to have a disco ball and ask the guest to wear bell bottoms, floral shirts, and platforms. Make play lists of your favorite music from that era and play them throughout the party. A great party favor would be to burn a CD with the party playlist and create a fun CD cover for the cases. It will be a great reminder for each guest about what a great time they had during the event.
Be sure when sending an invitation to your guests that you make sure that the invitation reads that it is a theme party. You do not want your guests showing up out of theme attire because they didn’t realize the logistics of the event. Be sure that the invitation fits within the theme and has design elements according to the decade. You can customize, print and send invitations from websites such as zazzle.com.
Create a multi-tier celebratory cake, dedicating each tier to a corresponding decade. The cake from Billy’s 40th Birthday Party was created using Wilton products. Wilton offers excellent products for easy cake decorating such as edible paper, pre-colored fondants, candy molds and melts, and decorative figurines. You may also add toys and small miscellaneous items to create a creative and fun dessert.
For more information on how I designed each decade, click the links below!
Billy Bush’s Decades Birthday Cake
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