heidzillas how to: menu planning & naming

and finally… the food to go with the signs! (if you missed it: playing card signs & playing card signs with menu cards.) i admittedly do not love to cook. that’s not to say i can’t cook – i actually am a decent cook, thanks mom!- i just really don’t like to. regardless, for my husband’s birthday it was my mission to do an awesome poker party menu. once i menu-planned what i intended to make, several of my friends and family insisted on bringing food (and they’re GREAT cooks, so how could i say no!?) i made sure there were no duplicates and ended up with 18 different dishes!

finally, i utilized any playing card-related lingo i already knew, and got some ideas thanks to wikipedia, to match up up the food to a fun name for the signs. here’s what i made and some links to the recipes. nearly all of the food i made was crowd favorites from previous parties and/or came from the 2, 4, 6, 8 rachael ray cookbook.

from the top, clockwise

“follow suit” raw veggies (thanks angie!)
“poker face” grilled portobello mushroom sorta-caesar salad
“burn cards” crackers & cheese & meats tray (thanks mom!)

left: “cut the deck” wingless buffalo chicken pizza – BIG HIT! try this recipe, especially if you’re a blue cheese fan.
right: “full house” cheesy potatoes

“royal flush” three alarm italian-style chili mac (i tripled this recipe, not allowing me to broil the cheese on top. instead, i mixed it in… and added way more cheese than it called for, because, well, i LOVE cheese.)

and this one came with a name, which started it all: “no limit” texas hold-ums (mini chipotle beef burgers with warm fire roasted garlic ketchup)
MAKE THIS!!! this is our friends and family’s faaaaavorite ever since i made it for devin’s birthday two years ago.

“straight draw” stromboli (thanks codi!)

“pot committed” taco dip (i can never get mine to be as tasty as this, thanks courtney!)

i must note that my friends are enablers! this “wild card” fruit tray with dip was made by my friend mariah who completed it with the little card suit toothpicks. those toothpicks were one of the only card-related food decor items i hadn’t bought at the party store! thanks mariah!

in front of the salad was  ”dealer darryl’s dip” (thanks jarrod aka darryl),  buffalo chicken dip (thanks heather) and pigs in a blanket (thanks alicia)  both of which i didn’t know was coming, so it didn’t get a name, but was thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless!

here was the entire spread. a few things got eaten so quickly i didn’t get a chance to take a photo, including “rake it in ramaki” (thanks corey), “see the flop” hanky pankies (another thanks to mariah).

around the room there was even more food… including “ace in the hole” artichoke dip and “big blind” clam dip…

…and what would a poker party be with out some “all in” french onion dip with chips, pretzels and doritos?

needless to say, everyone got plenty enough to eat on saturday… and i actually enjoyed menu planning! (more for the naming than the cooking, but regardless.) thanks to everyone who pitched in with yummy snacks for our massive spread!

coming up next: the king has his cake, and the second and third diy projects with that deck of cards.

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs
heidzillas how to: playing card signs with menu cards