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Break out the Boursin® and invite your friends
to be in the pink and support the fight
against breast cancer. Start with pink
invitations and place cards, then don
your best pink outfits and enjoy pink lemonade
and an assortment of Boursin appetizers
. Dress the table in roses, gerber daisies
and carnations – all in pink of course.
You may even want to greet your guests with
a pink ribbon pin as a gift to wear at the
party, and on any occasion she wants to
build more awareness.
For
an extra special touch, line your driveway
with pink luminaries. Simple pink paper
bags often found at party shops will work
perfectly. As each guest arrives, give her
a bag and a pink marker to write the names
of any women that have fought or are fighting
the breast cancer battle. Fill the bag with
about two inches of sand. (If you want to
go really pink, you can often find pink
sand in aquarium shops.) Set a pink tealight
candle in the sand, bring the luminary outside
and light the candle. The beautiful pink
glow is a lovely reminder of those you love
and the need to keep up the fight.
What better reason for getting together
with the girls then a purpose everyone can
relate to. Prevention is the best intervention,
so make a pact with your “girl pals”
to do your yearly mammogram check-up during
the same month each year. At the end of
the month get everyone together, open a
bottle of your favorite beverages, create
a spread of crackers, crusty breads with
delicious Boursin® and make a toast to yourselves
and to life. You’ll feel great and
so will your friends.
Or
perhaps you have a friend who is currently
winning the battle against breast cancer.
Having a special get together in her honor
is a perfect reason to celebrate. Have each
attendee make a toast to the guest of honor
pledging an activity that they will do together
when she is fully well. What are you waiting
for? Our invitations make it easy to get
you started and celebrate the moment with
Boursin®!
Not a new idea, but a great "old" idea that's
come back into fashion: serving each course
at a different house (everyone "progresses"
from one house to the next). Here's how
it works:
- Choose a group of friends, colleagues,
neighbors, or acquaintances. Neighborhood
progressive dinners tend to work best,
since each course is probably within walking
distance.
- Decide who will prepare what. Each "host
house" serves a course - an appetizer
course, an entrée course, a dessert
course, and so on. If the group is large,
you might want to divide entrée
preparation between several "host houses."
- Send out invitations. Explain which
course will be served at each house, and
consider including specific times, so
that latecomers will be able to find you!
- Enjoy!
* A progressive dinner is great as a fund-raising
event, as well!
Celebrities have made this a popular idea,
but you don't have to be rich or famous to
do it yourself! Here's the idea:
- You host a dinner party in support of
your favorite charity.
- Your guests are charged a per-plate
donation to attend, with the proceeds
going to the chosen charity.
- Your donation is your time, effort,
and any out-of-pocket expenses for food,
drinks, etc. (A portion of which may be
tax-deductible!)
The donation you charge your guests usually
depends upon what you serve. For example,
$25.00 a person might be appropriate for pizza
and beer, but a lavish buffet might justify
a $75.00 donation. Make sure your guests understand
that 100% of their donation goes to the charity,
that you are not recovering your costs! Some
charitable organizations can even provide
insert cards for your invitations, describing
their work and making your efforts seem more
"official."
It's been said that the best way to learn
about wine is to drink it! So, if you and
your friends want to sharpen your skills as
wine connoisseurs, get out the glasses.
Here's how to make your wine-tasting party
a success:
- Ask all your guests to bring a bottle
of wine that interests them. Or, pre-select
wines at a local wine shop and ask each
guest to bring a bottle from the list.
- As your guests arrive, open the reds
to allow breathing time. Keep the whites
and blush wines chilled in the refrigerator,
but pre-opened. Set out one red and one
white wine glass per guest.
- Be sure to provide room-temperature
drinking water for rinsing glasses and
palates, and crackers or bread for tasting
between wines. Lastly, tradition requires
a spittoon of some sort, since most tasters
do not actually drink the wines they're
tasting. The best spittoon is opaque and
tall - like a vase.
After the tasting, let everyone enjoy a glass!
Be sure to have some appetizers or a cheese
board with Boursin® and French bread
to complement your newly discovered favorite
wines.
- With your eyes:
Note the color, clear or cloudy. Look
at the wine against a white napkin, the
first indication of quality is the intensity
and shade of the color. Purple and blue
indicate youth and richness. Orange and
deep red speak to maturity and subtleness.
- With your nose:
Swirl the wine and smell and inhale deeply.
Look for familiar aromas like fruits,
herbs, spices, and flowers.
- With your mouth:
Sip then push the wine to the front of
your mouth. Let it cover your tongue.
Let the primary and secondary flavors
appear and be noted. Now spit the wine
into the spittoon. Can you taste what
you saw and smelled?
Between wines, rinse your palate and glass
with water. Take a bit of unsalted cracker
or bread. Dry your glass with your napkin
and begin again. Remember to
serve
responsibly!
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