Hey folks! As you might have heard, we’ve got this DVD coming out. It’s about ninjas or something. Anyway, I’m super excited about it, and wanted to really celebrate it coming out and invite y’all to celebrate with us. So, it’s time to do another Party Planner Blog thingy-that-I-do. This one is going to be four parts, with a fifth decoy part for ninjas to steal. Don’t tell them that I said that. So let’s get started! First up: a few easy things to get started. See, even though I don’t get to do as many parties as I want to, and I love to put out a spread of unique goodies I made myself, there’s one big trick to any party I do. Cheating.
Told ya this was a ninja thing.
Anyway, let’s start out with some easy things any ninja themed party should have that I put no work whatsoever into.
1. Edamame
Soybeans, in the pod, that you eat. They’re like the Japanese version of putting out a dish of mixed nuts, without the whole digging-for-cashews part. It’s easy to get these days- I just get the frozen, bagged steamable versions, steam them (I’m a genius) and sprinkle them with some salt. There are two tricks to keep in mind. One, heat ‘em right before you plan to eat ‘em. And two…if your guests have never tried edamame, remember to let them know that you don’t eat the whole soybean pod. I would never have thought of that one, but a friend of mine actually had an awkward moment with this exact problem…a good host won’t let their guests make such an embarrassing and unappetizing mistake.
2. Sushi
Obvious, but tasty. For a small party, this works great. For a big party (or just to cut costs), consider getting just veggie rolls or an assortment of simple fish and veggie rolls. If you’ve got a sushi place (or a grocery store with a sushi counter) they’ll often let you pre-order party platters, and work with you on what you want.
3. Sake
Look, I don’t drink it, but it’s something to consider. Don’t blame me for what happens afterwards. Ninjas party hard.
4. Dollar store raid
I’m not saying I’m cheap. I’m not saying I’m not. But any good ninja hostess would rather put money where it matters, like making sure you have enough Godfrey Ho movies to watch. So save yourself some coin by hitting your local dollar place before buying any other party supplies. You might find some paper takeout container, fortune cookies or other stuff that you can use. And yes, I know those last two things are Chinese, but a lot of the ninja movies I watch were made in Hong Kong so I stretched the rules.
Here’s what I got for our ninja party: some cookies in lovely fake branded boxes:
I also got some red and white takeout boxes and stuffed them with goodies to make to-go treats. Some more boxes made nice movie-watching popcorn containers. A black and silver marker and a complete lack of concern for artistic merit made decorating them a snap. But you could probably get some ninja stickers to dress yours up.
This one is my favorite cheap find, and a good example of why you hafta keep your eye open when you’re a) cheap and b) doing a theme party that Party City does not recognize in their official roster of legitimate party themes. I found this box of odd swirly looking black and white cookies, that looked exactly like yin-yangs without the dots. So…i just added some dots with regular and white chocolate.
So, so easy. And yes, this requires finding the most bizarrely specific cookie ever to make these a quick and easy trick. BUT if you really want to make these from scratch, you can do that too. Just make yourself a batch of sugar cookie dough, and divide it in half. mix cocoa powder in one half until it looks dark enough for you. Roll each color of dough into a long log, about the size of a slice-and-bake cookie log (get where this is going?) Shape each into a half-circle so they’ll lay flat together. Lay the two on top of each other and roll them gently to round the log out into one nice, slice-and-bake shaped log. Now, twist the sides a bit, then re-roll it round to make the yin-yang shape. You’re basically going to be shoving the white size towards the dark side, flip it over and do the reverse. Play with it until it looks right. Slice and bake and you’re golden.
I am now going to go eat fortune cookies because they never last long around here, but I’ll return soon with part 2 of the party guide. Until then- happy sneaking!
