Decorate
- Choose a colour theme: red, white and black works well.
- Thread some string through the centre of old vinyl records and hang them from the ceiling.
- Double up the food as decor: think Coca Cola bottles, condiments, piles of doughnuts and bowls of popcorn.
- Create a dance floor space if your tween loves dancing; if you want to go all out, hire a jukebox.
- Fill jars with sweets around the house.
Eat
- Serve sliders, burgers or hotdogs in coloured boxes or small baskets lined with paper napkins to match your theme. You can get these cheaply at most party shops and Chinese outlets.
- Order takeaway hot chips to be delivered and keep them warm in the oven if you need to; they will love this!
- Put tomato sauce and yellow mustard condiments on the table to create an American-diner feel or serve them in individual glass jars.
- For dessert, milkshakes, ice cream or pancake bar go down a treat. Make sure you have lots of toppings.
- Get the family involved and make Rocky Road to give everyone when they leave.
Entertain
- In the warmer months, you could show an outdoor movie in the garden; just look online for one in your area and they will come and set everything up.
- In winter, hire a photo booth with props – it will keep them entertained for hours but can be costly. You could also use a selfie stick and a phone and post them on a WhatsApp group.
- Disney characters are bang on trend this year; you can get fun Mickey and Minnie Mouse accessories at party shops for your photo booth.
Make your own Rocky Road
Serves 12
You’ll need: 200g digestive biscuits; 135g butter; 200g milk or dark chocolate; 2 – 3 Tbsp golden syrup; 100g mini marshmallows; 100g each of other sweets of your choice, nuts (optional) and raisins (optional); 100g honeycomb, broken into pieces.
How to:
Grease an 18cm square baking tin and line it with baking paper.
Put the digestive biscuits into a sealed plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin or the side of your fist until they resemble dust ( a few small lumps is fine).
Melt the butter, chocolate and syrup over low heat, stirring until there are no lumps.
Remove and set aside. Put the crushed biscuits, marshmallows, other sweets, honeycomb and any other ingredients you’ve chosen and stir them into the chocolate mixture.
Place the mixture into the tin and chill in the fridge for at least two hours before cutting into pieces.
* Recipe source: bbcfood.co.uk
