Easy Labor Day Party Ideas

Labor Day is a bittersweet holiday - a final goodbye to the summer and all the fun memories of vacation time and weekends at the beach.

Although your first idea may be a really big blowout for Labor Day, our best advice is... fight the feeling! Not for nothing do they call it Labor Day. So chill, kick back and relax, and honor a job well done with a quick and easy Labor day celebration - whether its a luau, a picnic in the park, or a pool party in the back yard.

Cheap and easy decorating can be accomplished in a flash with American flags, red and white carnations, or red, white and blue balloons.

On Labor Day, the last thing you want to do is spend any time in the kitchen whipping up a really complicated recipe. Gather round the barbecue and make it ribs and chicken. Add some store bought macaroni salad, potato salad and watermelon. Your Labor Day party will be a piece of cake.

And speaking of cake, that's where the real fun comes in, with these cool and easy recipes for a Labor Day party that's truly special, AND easy on the budget:

Easy Strawberry Shortcake

Toast a piece of pound cake, cover with 1/2 cup berries or other fruit, then top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Beat 8 oz. cream cheese until smooth, then gradually beat in 1/3 cup of sugar. Blend in 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup whipped topping and 2 tsp. vanilla. Pour into prepared graham cracker pie crust and refrigerate for 4 hours until firm. Top with strawberries.

Labor Day Trifle

To begin, simply line the bottom of a dessert cup with store-bought lady fingers or thin slices of pound cake. Top with vanilla pudding, add a layer of berries, followed by another layer of cake. Add more pudding, top with whipped cream, and crown with an extra berry. (This is our personal favorite that always manages to wow an audience. Be sure to use a clear glass dessert glass or cup so you can see all the layers.)

For a patriotic Labor Day celebration, also check out Easy 4th of July Cake Decorating Ideas for decorating sheet cakes and bundt cakes in a red, white and blue theme.

More about easy Labor Day party ideas around the Web:

Labor Day dessert ideas

Rachel Ray Labor Day Party Ideas

80s Party Food Ideas

Sure, it's easy enough buying the 80s posters, or jammin' to Duran Duran and just letting the good times roll.

But what food does a party purist serve at an 80's party?

Check out the following ideas and suggestions for an 80s party menu guaranteed to be not only authentic but, like, totally mondo:

80s drinks - Two words: wine coolers. A fashionable mix of wine, fruit juice and soda water, they were a huge hit with 20-somethings when they were first introduced in the 80s. And those who attended college during the 1980s will definitely remember jello shots. Seriously trendy cocktails of the day also included Long Island Ice Tea, Kamikazees, Grasshoppers, and Fuzzy Navels.

For the teetotalers, fill the cooler with Fresca, Tab, Crystal Light or Capri Sun.

80s party snacks - Although invented in 1964, buffalo chicken wings really only took off in 1981. And the rest, as they say, is history. Also think about serving heaping bowls of a relatively new-fangled snack called microwave (wow!) popcorn. "Lite" low calorie versions were huge.

80s party food - Sushi hit the scene! Veal or chicken francese suddenly became the favorite of 80s foodies in restaurants throughout the land, along with equally popular pasta salad - washed down with lots of cheap house wine - white, preferably.

80s cakes and desserts - Of course, no 1980s restaurant dessert menu would have been complete without mud pie or dirt cake. For a down-home (and easier to serve) dessert, try trendy 80s pudding pops. For the calorie conscious, remember that frozen yogurt stores could be found on every street corner in every major city, and was the decade's equivalent to Starbucks, at least for a few years.

Want to get your sugar rush on? Pass around favorite 80's junk food such as Skittles, Reece's Pieces, and Pop Rocks. Or, put them in a goody bag for guests to take home.

Gnarly, dude.

More about 1980's party food around the Web:

How to Plan 80s Party Food

80s party foods

Kids Pirate Party Food Ideas

Where did pirates live for most of their lives? On the high seas, of course!

Serve your hungry swashbucklers fish and chips, or fish sticks and french fries, with plenty of tartar sauce and ketchup.

For land lubbers, you can serve hot dogs or pizza decorated with with toothpicks and paper pirate sails, or serve pigs in a blanket and call them "Pirate Fingers."

Gold-wrapped chocolate coins, goldfish crackers or gummy fish are must-have snacks. Don't forget to include more nutritious tropical island fare (you don't want anyone catching scurvy or rickets!) with fruit kabobs or fruit platters of slice pineapple, oranges, bananas and mangos. (Also see: how to host a luau.)

A watermelon pirate ship is a fun and eye catching idea, and it's easier than it sounds. Fill it up with melon balls and colorul fruit salad and it's guaranteed to please the pickiest pirate.

Wash it all down with plenty of grog (apple cider) foamy root beer or Shark's Blood Punch (any red fruit drink.)

Birthday cake ideas

If you're handy with an icing tube, use your imagination to decorate with a treasure map with a big "X" to mark the spot, or try a chocolate and vanilla icing skull and crossbones. Want spectacular? Try this recipe for a Pirate Treasure Chest Cake.

More about pirate party food around the Web:

The Pirate Birthday Party

Coolest Homemade Pirate Cake Photos and How-To Tips

Mermaid Party Food Ideas

Party Hawaiian - Food & Menu Planning

Summertime...and it's time to host a luau! Think the theme is a little too exotic or not sure what to serve? No worries, brah.

Four main ingredients (actually five if you count the rum!) make up the summer's most popular party theme. That is - seafood, pork, pineapple and cocunut.

Let these basic Hawaiian "food groups" flow through your menu from appetizers, main courses to desserts, and you and your guests will be partying Hawaiian in no time.

First, break the ice with these classic Hawaiian luau drinks:

Mai Tai cocktail recipe

Blue Hawaiian cocktail recipe

Hawaiian Punch

Appetizers - pass around a pupu platter filled with these tasty morsels:

Coconut Shrimp

Hawaiian Spare Ribs

Also, don't forget the bowls of macadamia nuts, or go all out with this dynamite recipe for macadamia nut hummus and chips.

Main course - pork, of course - but a whole pig roast? If you have the time, the patience and the room out in the backyard. go for it! However, here are some easier luau recipes to try without going whole hog:

Sam Choy's Oven-Roasted Kalua Pig with Sweet Potatoes

Kalua Pig in a Slow Cooker

Hawaiian Ham Bake

Dessert!

Free & Easy Coconut cake recipe

Macadamia nut cake

Hawaiian fruit kabobs

More about Hawaiin luau party food around the Web:

How to Throw a Great Hawaiian Luau Party

Hawaiian Luau Foods

Fast, Easy Graduation Party Food Ideas

Here are some of the quickiest, easiest and most practical ideas for throwing a graduation party without the hassles.

For easy cleanup afterwards, stock up on plastic forks, knives, spoons and serving utensils, paper or plastic cups, plates and table clothes.

Easy finger food suggestions

veggie tray and dip

tortilla roll ups

antipasto tray

fruit salad or fruit and cheese kabobs

shrimp and cocktail sauce (look for the prepacked party trays at your local supermarket)

deviled eggs

The main graduation party menu

6-foot long hero sandwiches - from Sam's or Costco.

Two words - Pizza party! Have it delivered.

Backyard garden party - A good idea for morning or early afternoon get-togethers, with guests filling up on finger sandwiches, scones, bite-sized desserts, tea and coffee.

Taco bar - Prepare the fixings the night before. Include shredded lettuce, cheese and tacho shells - set up the meat filling in a large crockpot or on a pan warmer - and let guests serve themselves.

Have a cookout - More work for mom and dad, but several pounds of hamburger and jumbo packages of hot dogs should do the trick. Don't forget the chips, dip and potato salad.

Drinks - Have plenty of ice on hand to fill up coolers with soda, water, beer or wine. Hint: label each cooler so guests know exactly where to find their favorite beverage without asking.

Graduation party desserts - Besides a quick graduation sheet cakes, cupcakes are the easiest dessert to serve. Buy them prepackaged and mound them in a pyramid on a serving tray and let guests serve themselves. Or try your hand at making the ever popular graduation cap cakes.

Your fastest, cheapest bet? Hit your local Dunkin Donuts.

More about quick and easy graduation party food around the Web:

• Graduation Party Menu Planning
  
  
• Graduation Party Food Tips
  
  
• Graduation Party Tips - About.com