Summer BBQs and pool parties starting to feel stale?  WELL…KICK UP the fun factor by hosting a Hot August Nights party and get your guests groovin’.  Enjoy these last few weeks of summer by rolling back the years to an era that will shake your bootie!

 

SET THE MOOD

Let sounds of yesteryear fill the night.  Pack the iPod with Neil Diamond’s 1972 Hot August Night tunes and let your guest sway to songs like Sweet Caroline, Song Song Blue and Love’s Travelling Salvation Show.  Boogie Down with K.C. and the Sunshine Band or go total FUNK with Sly and the Family Stone or Chaka Khan.  Stick with one music style to capsulate the theme or make a mix that will blend the best of the 70’s.

COLOR COLLAGE

The 60’s and 70’s were all about explosions of color and style.  This is the perfect opportunity to use up all the left over party ware and table gear from summertime entertaining.  Mix and blend colors and styles of plates, napkins, cups and serving dishes.  Orange & blues, green & yellows simply mix and match those leftover pieces to build a psychedelic collage of color.

 

GO VINYL STYLE

Turn that vinyl into party style!  Use old records you have at home or hit thrift stores and yard sales to collect a few and up-style them into cool retro decorations.  Use clear line like monofilament to string them together or go more festive using wide ribbon or shiny Mylar tape.  Make a cool retro serving try by simply stacking LPs and glassware!

Hang from ceiling or umbrellas / Make garland / Build serving tower

BREAK OUT THE BOARDS

Get the whole gang in on the act by playing games you loved from your childhood.  Remember those fun nights when family and friends gathered around the dinning room table?  Well the fun and interaction of game night is back and a great way to engage party guests.  Make it even more fun by choosing teams or awarding a prize the night’s biggest winner.

Twister / Operation / LIFE

 

RETRO EATS

Go ahead and serve classic American fare like hamburgers & hot dogs but KICK-UP the old school party power with food and drinks popular, or introduced in the 70’s.  Country Time lemonade made a big splash with its great taste and quick dissolve crystals.  Let the calorie counting began as Miller Lite introduced the first really good brew with less calories.  Serve up one or two cocktails known to get old school parties started; Pink Ladies, Harvey Wallbangers, Slow Gin Fizz, White Russians, and Grasshoppers were ordered in clubs and homes all over the country.  Treat you guest to an old school favorite to capture that retro mood.

Drinks that Dominated

Country Time lemonade / Miller Lite / Pink Ladies

• 2 ounces gin
• 1 teaspoon grenadine
• 1 egg white (optional)
• 1/2 ounce heavy cream

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice until frothy; then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Slow Gin Fizz

• 1 oz sloe gin
• 1 oz gin
• 3/4 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 3 – 4 oz soda water
• Ice

Place ice cubes in a highball glass.  Mix gin, lemon juice, simple syrup with crushed ice.  Shake and strain into glass. Fill to 2/3 then add soda water.  Stir and garnish with orange twist or cherry.

Simple Syrup

Place 2 parts sugar to one part water in a sauce pan.  Mix with spoon and slowly bring to a boil.  Remove form heat and let cool.

 

 

Roll-Back Sweets & Treats

Jiffy Pop / Watergate salad / Twinkie tower

1 (3.4 ounce) package instant pistachio pudding mix
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
Make pudding according to package directions. 

Mix together pudding mix, pineapple with juice and stir until well blended.  Fold in marshmallows, nuts and whipped topping. Chill and serve!