I absolutely love putting parties and special events together, but somehow my projects always snowball into something far bigger than I intended.
My favorite go-to party menu is a build-your-own taco bar. Everything can be made ahead of time, there are endless yummy options, and I get to enjoy myself instead of being stuck in the kitchen…plus – who doesn’t love tacos?
My little 1924 Eastwood home is teeny-tiny, but we can usually manage by opening the French doors from the dining room and using the deck. I got a little panicky this year because with all of our kids, their partners and the grandkids, we had at least 12 people and it looked like rain. Squishing everyone inside the house on a rainy day didn’t sound like fun, so I decided to take advantage of the club and move the party there.
Then, because we had all the space, I decided to invite my inlaws, bringing the total up to about 20 people.
Not a big deal, I’ve certainly cooked for more people than that – and it’s an easy menu.
Then, I remembered that I had some remnants of Mexican fiesta decor packed away from other party projects, and a couple of boxes of colorful paper lanterns I hadn’t used in a while. I dug around our storage container and found some brightly colored table covers from graduation parties. I started to put everything together and… that’s exactly the moment when I fell down the Taco Bar Rabbit Hole.
I already had lots of stuff I could use, and I filled in with a few last-minute goodies from Amazon.
We had a handful of underage guests, so I set up a self-serve beverage station with bottles of Jarritos and cans of soda and lemonade.
Obviously, we have a full bar at the 443, but I didn’t have enough people coming to schedule a bartender and didn’t want to get trapped back there myself, so I set up our stage tables with buckets of Modelo and white wine, a few reds, and two cocktails – Pineapple Jalapeno Margaritas (my new favorite drink!) and Carajillo, our popular Mexican coffee cocktail.
Since I was only offering batch cocktails, I decided to pull out my collection of colored vintage glassware. Old glassware is always irregularly sized and usually much smaller than what we use these days, so these pretties are tough to use for regular made-to-order cocktails. They ended up looking great with the colorful fiesta decor! I mixed up a rimmer with Tajin and kosher salt and added fresh limes and jalapenos, and it made an easy, self-serve bar area.
I hung brightly colored paper lanterns over the buffet, which was draped with striped serape runners. On the menu, we had our famous smokey pulled pork, Mexican chicken, and queso from Nachos & Blancos along with black bean and corn salad, Mexican street corn dip, pickled red onions, chipotle cream, assorted salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese and Cotija.
I hung lanterns over the dessert table as well, and used simple wood and iron dessert stands.
I know the Cannoli doesn’t really go with our theme… but they are a favorite of the guest of honor. I got the mini cannoli, orange, and lemon balls from Ninos’s Bakery on Lodi Street, and my sister-in-law made her family’s favorite cupcakes.
For the tables, I used more serape runners and topped them with vintage brass candlesticks, colorful votives, faux succulents, and bright bud vases with fresh flowers from the grocery store.
The party was a big success, and a good time was had by all. As a bonus, I’m sure I’ve cleared up any doubts my in-laws had about me being a little nuts. 😉
So what do you think – are you in the mood for tacos right about now? 🙂
