Party Planning when you're Pooped!

It seems as though things always happen at the same time. I started this blog, which even though I have only been posting once every four days, is taking a little more time then I budgeted myself. My friends are about to move to South Carolina, so I have been preparing all week for their going away party this Saturday and to top it all off, Ira and I have stated fostering a dog. And not just any dog, a 100 lb Mastiff stray rescue. She is a super cute sweetie and really hasn't disrupted our household at all, but of course, all I want to do is sit around and pet her!



The dog temporarily known as Sasha.

So amongst all these distractions, I am trying to put together a party for Bernhardt and Stacy. They are both very much into kitsch, so I have been planning the menu accordingly.



Last week, I did some research into my Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks to get a menu planned. The more disgusting the picture, the more I want to go for it!



I put together a final menu last weekend, and compiled my shoping list and my schedule for prepping food. SO MANY LISTS!!



I also have a budget to keep in mind. I'm trying to stay around $100. The smaller bodegas and ethnic markets have better prices for items they sell a lot of but may be a specialty product for the larger chains. For example, it is much cheaper to get Tahini from a Lebanese market then to buy it from Safeway. (I love visiting the ethnic markets and I plan to go into this subject more in depth in my blog). So far, I have made three of my four stops stores. Jewel: $33.25, for all my corporate grocery needs, Riches Deli: $36.00 for all of our Eastern European Grocery needs and Cermak Produce: $26.01 for all my Hispanic grocery needs. I have about $5.00 left of my budget to shop tomorrow at the local produce market. I'll probably go a little over, but not much.



So every day after work, I've done a bit of shopping at a different store to chip away at the work a little at a time. Since the party is tomorrow, I've been able to start preping some of the food over the past day or so. Some things can't be done until right before the food is served, but a lot of things can be prepped before so it is ready and waiting. Last night I prepared some little soldiers to kill everyone with their cuteness!



Tonight and all day tomorrow, I'll be cooking like crazy and hanging out with my new dog friend. I have forced Ira to agree to helping me with a couple of things so hopefully I won't be too stressed. I'll give a more detailed post after the party with pics of the food and descriptions of menu stuff.



For now I've got the army on ice!