Have the Perfect Baby Shower with These Great Recipes

Baby showers need not be so expensive and extravagant. As long as you have great set of foods on your table, your guests will be satisfied and happy. They will remember your baby shower for the rest of their lives.

To have a perfect baby shower, you must prepare a good menu and easy recipes will be a great help. Always remember that the recipes must be easy to prepare, inexpensive yet fun, elegant and full of flavor. It must be simple and streamlined. Your meal courses must be from the appetizers and finger food, salads and sandwiches, and punch. To help you with your menu, consider the six things below:

1. How many guests are you expecting? If there will be a lot of guests, say 15 or more, planning for an entire meal would mean a lot of work. Appetizers, beverages and finger foods would be perfect. Soups and sandwiches can also be a good idea. If you have less than 10 guests, a full meal would be too much. Your baby shower menu will all depend on how much effort you are willing to exert on the event.

2. What type of people are coming? Know your guests and select the menu according to what they want. Maybe more guests are salad or chicken lovers. Choose food recipes that your guests will like.

3. What time will the baby shower be held? Your menu must be fitted for a particular time of the day. If the baby shower will be held at night, dinner types of recipes would be better than breakfast recipes.

4. What is the theme of your baby shower? The cutest themes will be complete with the food on the table. Matching the theme and food would be fun.

5. Who will help you with the recipes and preparation of foods? Delegate some of the menus to your mother or other family members. This will save you a lot of time and you can focus on some foods that you can expertly cook.

6. How much more time do you have? Surely, time will be of great essence if you will prepare nice foods for your guests. Shorter time will also mean shorter food preparation; thus you should choose simple menus that are easy to cook and serve. Simple yet delicious snacks, beverages and appetizers can also satiate your guests.

Here are some of easy-to-prepare baby shower recipes that can make the event successful:

Baby Potato Salad - You will need 2 kilos of small new potatoes (boiled), a handful of basil leaves, thickened stock, and a few cloves of garlic, freshly ground pepper, salt and lemon juice. Mayonnaise, yogurt or cream will also be needed as dressing. Mix the garlic, basil leaves, pepper, salt and lemon juice. Pour the mixture over the peeled potatoes. Serve with the salad dressing. Don’t use lemon juice if you use yogurt.

Traditional Cucumber Sandwich - You will need 2 medium sized cucumbers (finely chopped), margarine, bread (sides are cut off) and cream cheese. Mix the cream cheese and margarine together then spread it on bread slices. Set the cucumber and serve your mouth watering sandwiches.

Non Alcoholic Punch - You’ll need 7 up, pure orange juice and orange slices. Combine the three ingredients and you can have your refreshing drink ready.

Baby shower recipes must be a complete set of salad, appetizers and punch. Deserts can also be a part of the menu. Noticeably recipes reflect the likes or dislikes of the mother. The most important thing to consider is for the foods to be healthy and delicious that the guests will be coming back for more. With these simple recipes at hand, you won’t need to fret anymore.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Easy To Make Punch for a Great Baby Shower

A baby shower is one big event that should be filled not only with yummy foods but a perfect punch that all will love. Remember that a baby shower would not be complete without the baby shower punch.

Usually, baby shower punch is a mixture of juice or base punch and a soda or sherbet. Sometimes, fresh or frozen sliced fruits are added for a new taste. To have a great baby shower punch, here are some recipes that will really quench your guests thirst!

1. Strawberry Punch. To make strawberry punch, you will need two 8 oz. packages of frozen strawberries, 1 gallon strawberry sherbet and one 3 liter bottle of ginger ale, Pour ginger ale into the punch bowl and add the sherbet and frozen strawberries. Set aside until strawberries begin to melt. Blend well and serve!

2. Sherbet Punch. You will need a pint of orange sherbet, 2 liter Hawaiian punch and one 2-liter bottle of 7-up. Combine the Hawaiian punch and 7-up and add the orange sherbet. It is recommended that you serve this sherbet in a punch bowl rather than in a pitcher.

3. Blue Punch. This punch is perfect if a baby boy is on the way. You’ll need one 64 oz. can blue Hawaiian punch, a pint of vanilla ice cream and one 2-liter bottle of sprite. Combine the Hawaiian punch and the sprite and add your ice cream. This punch will surely please all your guests.

4. Fizzy Hawaiian Punch. For this baby shower punch, you will need one 2-liter bottle of Hawaiian punch and one 2- liter bottle of sprite. Combine the punch and sprite together and serve with lots of ice.

5. Pink Punch. To make this baby shower punch, you’ll need one can of frozen pineapple juice, 1 can of frozen pink lemonade, a half cup of maraschino cherry syrup and two 2-liter bottle of 7-up. Mix all the ingredients and serve immediately. You can also make an ice ring; just pour enough water in the salad mold to conceal the bottom. Put thin lime and lemon slices in between and let the sprigs standing so that stems are up. Pour more water slowly into the mold. Set in the freezer carefully and let it sit until frozen solid.

You can follow the above recipes or make your own. Do not be afraid to experiment on different fruits and to give a new twist to its taste. Just consider that the flavor of your punch will go with the rest of your food recipes. No matter what baby shower punch you’ll make, the best thing to remember is to make enough punch to keep everyone thirst-free and satisfied all throughout the party.

How to Write a Baby Shower Poem

A baby shower poem adds a personalized touch to your gift and makes a great opening page for baby shower scrapbooks. Even if you’ve never composed a poem in your entire life, writing a baby shower poem shouldn’t be a problem as long as you let your emotions guide you.

Name Poems
One of the easiest ways to create a baby shower poem is to revolve everything around the name of either the mommy or baby-to-be. Of course, this would require you to know the name of either recipient.

If the mothers name is LOUISA, for instance, your poem would be composed of six paragraphs, with each paragraph starting with the letters making up your recipients name. You could start with an adjective describing the recipient and expound on it or simply proceed with the usual just as long as you start with the requisite letter.

Still with LOUISA as example, the first paragraph could look either of this two:

L is for loving.
A lovely person in and out,
She’d make a great mother without a doubt.

OR

Long, long ago
A woman named Louisa
Married the man she loved.

The next paragraph would begin with O and you’d proceed with the same format until you reach the last letter of your recipients name.

Rhyming and Metering are Unnecessary
Although having the last syllables of your lines rhyme would be nice, it’s not necessary and it’s certainly not as important as saying the words that come from your heart. Focus more on the content and meaning of your baby shower poem rather than making every word rhyme in the end.

Likewise, don’t worry too much about metering. Establishing a metrical pattern is ideal but like rhyming, it takes second place to writing your innermost feelings.

Keep It Short
Poems look and sound better with shorter lines. One line doesn’t have to form a complete sentence, but it must at least convey a specific idea. Stanzas would also be better off short. Try limiting each stanza to containing three to four lines.

Visual Presentation of Baby Shower Poems
Finally, presentation matters just as much as the content of your baby shower poem. If you are attaching it to your gift, make sure that the materials and color scheme you use match the package of your gift. If possible, consider laminating or covering your baby shower poem in plastic. This could make your poem convertible to a bookmark later on and be of further use to your recipient.

7 Key Elements in Baby Shower Planning

Throwing a baby shower isn’t something you can do at the drop of a hat. It takes careful planning and organizing. If you’re in the process of making your to-do list for holding a baby shower, here are five key elements you must include in your plans.

Funds
Who’s going to pay for the baby shower? These events can cost a lot of money, and if you’re working on a tight budget, you could ask other friends to pitch in and ensure that your guest of honor will be treated with a fabulous baby shower.

Time, Date, and Venue
Somewhere private would be ideal because it allows guests to relax and enjoy the party more. As for the time and date, you’d have to consider the availability of the guest of honor. Pregnant women can sometimes have hectic schedules as well as your other guests. The simplest way to resolve this without ruining the element of surprise is by asking suggestions from the people closest to the guest of honor, like her husband.

Guest List
People closest to the guest of honor should of course be invited. Whether or not the affair would be co-ed depends on the preferences of your guest of honor. If you don’t want to ask but you think its safe to invite a few males to the baby shower, try restricting your invitations to close relations like husband, brothers, and your guests spouses.

Menu
First, consider the type of baby shower you’re holding as well as the time and venue. If you’re holding a baby shower in a hotel and in the afternoon, appetizers that aren’t too messy to eat would be best. Of course, any favorite dish of the guest of honor that’s suitable to the menu should be included.

Another thing you should consider is whether you wish to have the food catered, ordered, or home cooked.

Activities and Hosting
You can either ask a friend to act as host or hire a professional. Having a host will ensure that the baby shower proceeds smoothly. Make a list of activities, together with back up plans, for the baby shower. Remember to leave time for your guests to enjoy their food and converse with each other.

Decorations
You can create or purchase them. Just make sure they’re within your budget and match your overall design and color scheme.

Favors and Souvenirs
While not everyone may receive prizes from your baby shower, every guest must, however, go home with a souvenir. Have extras prepared in case of unexpected guests!

Baby Shower Photo Ideas

A picture speaks a thousand words, and here’s how you can impart beautiful messages through photos during baby showers.

Photo Invitations
Use baby illustrations or baby photos of your guest of honor as the main design for your baby shower invitation. Make sure that everything else still matches the overall design and color theme of your party!

Photo Centerpieces
Choose your best photos from infancy till teenage years. Make a collage then print them on glossy paper. Next, use them to cover vases for your table centerpiece. If you’re working on a tight budget, you can also use them to cover plain glass bottles and no one will be the wiser. Your guests will be too busy oohing and aahing over your baby pictures to care!

Guess Who Baby Photos
You’ll need to be extra resourceful for this venture, but don’t worry, the fun and laughter you’ll get will be more than worth your pains. Ask your guests to bring at least one baby photo of themselves then collect them upon arrival before they have the chance of trading photos with other guests.

Later on, you can show selected photos in front and award the guests who can correctly identify the owners of the photos. Make sure you warn your guests against cheating!

Photo Scrapbooks
Another delightful activity for your guests would be making a photo scrapbook. Once again, make sure you ask your guests to bring photos of them as babies, photos of them with the guest of honor, and any other photos that remind them of baby showers. Next, prepare a set of art supplies and materials for each table. You can give one scrapbook paper per table or individual, depending on your budget, time constraint, and preferences.

Give a prize to the best designed scrapbook page and then make sure to collect all scrapbook pages and present it to your guest of honor.

Portrait Souvenirs
Take lots of photos of the baby shower and later on, inform your guests that you’ll have them printed and sent as souvenirs. Make sure you have a sample ready so they’ll know what they can look forward to. You can allow your guests to choose which photo they’d like you to send to them or you can have an artist use them all to create a photo mosaic.

If you use all these, your guests are sure to find your baby shower a memorable event. And with photos to take home with them, they’re unlikely to forget it ever!