My Party File - blog

Posts Tagged ‘christmas’

This adorable snowman is ideal for a Christmas or Winter Wonderland party.  You can make the cheese balls a couple of days ahead, and then assemble the snowman just before serving.  To make the cheese ball,  you will need:

125g cream cheese
1/2 cup tasty cheese, grated
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon curry powder (or to taste)

1. Combine cheeses and curry powder in a small bowl.
2. Add at least enough curry powder to turn the mixture a pale yellow colour - and more if you want it hotter.
3. Beat until well combined.
4. Take more than half of the cheese mixture and roll it into a ball.
5. Roll the remaining mixture into a ball and place on top of the larger ball.
6. Wash and dry hands, and decorate the snowman with ingredients of your choice.  I used a piece of carrot for the nose, a strip of carrot for the scarf, a strip of capsicum for the mouth, pieces of sultana for the eyes, pretzels for the arms, and some peas from a bhuja mix for the buttons.  But you could use almost anything you have on hand - such as pieces of olive for the eyes or buttons, or celery sticks for the arms.

Serve with water biscuits and/or carrot and celery sticks.

Let the kids have fun creating at your Christmas party with this sparkly, mint smelling playdough. Provide them with a variety of playdough cutters (including christmas themed cutters), and also encourage them to make ornaments or baubles, or decorate gingerbread men made from gingerbread playdough. Have some plastic containers on hand so the kids can take some playdough home with them as a party favour.

christmas playdough recipe

• 2 cups plain flour
• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup salt
• 4 tablespoons peppermint extract
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 cups boiling water
• green or red food colouring
• glitter (any colour)

Place all ingredients,except the glitter, into a mixing bowl, and mix well.  Add glitter, before turning out onto the bench to knead.  Store in an airtight container.

Gingerbread playdough smells sooo delicious!  It is a great activity for the kids at your Christmas party - provide them with a variety of playdough cutters (make sure to include gingerbread men and other christmas themed cutters), and also encourage them to make ornaments, or a gingerbread house.  Have some plastic containers on hand so the kids can take some playdough home with them as a party favour.

gingerbread playdough recipe

• 2 cups plain flour
• 4 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 cup salt
• Spices - cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 2 cups boiling water
• orange food colouring (or mix red and yellow)

Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl (add small amounts of the spices until you get the smell you like.  You will probably use more cinnamon and ginger than the nutmeg and allspice). Mix well before turning out onto the bench to knead.

These mini gingerbread and shortbread men were a real hit at Charlize’s playgroup Christmas party, and my girls and I had so much fun decorating them.  The best bit is that we didn’t have to bake the gingerbread men!  Erica’s Kitchen make these Gingerbread Babies and Shortbread Babies, which I purchased from Coles.  I also bought a box of Queens’ Christmas Writing Icing - it contains 3 icing tubes in red, white and green.  I also used a tube of Queen’s White Chocolate Writing Fudge - I preferred using this on the shortbread, as it was more vibrant than the white writing icing.  Decorate in any way you like - add cachous for buttons or a red jelly bean for a santa hat.  You can prepare them well in advance - just store in an airtight container.

If you don’t have time (or desire!) to bake for an upcoming christmas party, these no-bake christmas puddings are a wonderful idea.  Just take a packet of chocolate marshmallow biscuits (I used Arnott’s Royals), a packet of Jaffas, a packet of spearmint leaves and 100g of white chocolate.  Melt the chocolate and spoon onto the top of a marshmallow biscuit, allowing it to dribble down the side to resemble custard running down a pudding.  Cut a spearmint leaf into smaller leaves.  Place a Jaffa and little spearmint leaf on top.  Tip:  let the white chocolate cool on top before adding the Jaffa and spearmint leaf to prevent the decorations from sliding off.

Alternatives:

• Use raspberry lollies instead of Jaffas.
• Instead of marshmallow biscuits, use purchased rum balls or chocolate truffles.