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Bunco Theme Favorite: Birthday Bash Bunco

A Bunco Game Shop Facebook follower threw an amazing surprise 91st Birthday Bunco Bash and it got me thinking of one of my favorite Bunco themes: Birthday Bunco!  In February a friend of mine in my Bunco group turned 40.  So, we held a Gold Lamé Soirée Bunco which was a fun 1970s theme.  We took it seriously!  The ladies in my group all wore sparkly gold shirts and of course there was Disco music in the background.  I bought  everyone  a disco ball necklace and we rocked them!

Usually we have a potluck but I decided to make the food since the theme was so fun! I immediately thought of the quintessential 1970s food: fondue. But after talking with the birthday girl, came up with doing a salad bar and soup.  I found an inflatable salad bar online and filled it with ice so that it kept all of the salad fixings cold.  I had everyone’s favorite toppings, lettuce, pasta salad and a variety of dressings.  I also made one of my favorite soups, Fire Roasted Tomato (see recipe below).  It is easy to make the day before and then warm in the slow cooker a few hours before the party starts.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon  olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans (14.5 oz each) fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can can (14 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup whipping cream

In saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, broth, 1 tablespoon of the basil, the sugar and pepper flakes. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes.  I use an immersion blender and blend the soup directly in the pot. If you are using a regular blender, let soup cool before blending, about 15 minutes.  After blending, add soup back to pot, stir in cream and remaining 1 tablespoon basil.  It tastes great with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese on top!

After playing two rounds of Bunco in which the birthday girl wore this cute tiara, we took a dessert break. We had the birthday girl’s favorite cupcake, homemade German Chocolate.  One of our players brought some gourmet ice cream to go with it.  Delicious!  As a nod to our 70s theme we had punch, both spiked and not, with sherbet floating on top.  Classic!

My 40th is coming up in a few weeks and I am throwing myself (with some help from friends) a Bunco Birthday Bash!  It is a fun Neon Tea Party theme.  I am having fun planning this event!  I found some cute neon pink, orange and yellow water bottles.  I will be tying neon balloons on some and making flower arrangements in the others.  I also plan on using these dice for some extra fun! I am really looking forward to it.  I will post pictures and let you know how it went!

A Bunco Game Shop Facebook follower, Charlyn, sent me some awesome food pictures from one of her bunco parties.  I am posting them here.  I am sure they will provide inspiration for many.  I think I may make the cupcakes for my Bunco Birthday (using carrot cake–my fave!).  The cream cheese appetizer with adorable spreaders looks amazing too!

What is your favorite Bunco theme?  Do you have any ideas for a Birthday Bunco Bash?  If so, I’d love to hear from you.  Leave a comment below.

Keep Calm and Play Bunco,

Bunco Betty

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Birthday Bunco Bash Finger Food Ideas

One of our fans, Christina, is celebrating a fellow Bunco players 91st birthday with a Birthday Bunco Bash this month.  She would like to serve finger foods and needs some ideas.  Well, I have some tried and true favorites for you from the free download of the Bunko Junkie Appetizer cookbook available here.  There are 150 awesome appetizer recipes in this FREE download from Bunco Game Shop, so download your copy today!

This crunchy mix is a great addition at each Bunco table for snacking throughout the evening:

All-American Bunko Snack

3 cups thin pretzel sticks
4 cups Wheat Chex®
4 cups Cheerios®
13 ounces can salted peanuts
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup melted butter

In large mixing bowl or slow-cooking pot, mix together pretzels, cereals, and peanuts. Sprinkle with garlic salt, celery salt, seasoned salt, and cheese. Pour melted butter over all; toss until well mixed. Cover and cook in slow-cooking pot on low 3 to 4 hours. Uncover the last 30 to 40 minutes. Serve as appetizer or snack

Baby Porcupine Appetizers are spicy bite sized meatballs that everyone loves.  They are easy to make and the perfect bite sized Bunco snack. These meatballs would look so festive with these adorable dice party picks from the Bunco Game Shop.

Baby Porcupine Appetizers

1/2 cup rice
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon onions — minced
2 tablespoons green bell peppers — finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 clove garlic
2 cups tomato juice
4 cloves
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine rice, ground meat, onion, green pepper, salt, celery salt and garlic; form into balls about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Heat tomato juice, cloves, oregano and Worcestershire sauce in skillet. Add meatballs. Cover tightly and simmer for 50 minutes. Remove cloves before serving.

 
Another popular finger food is chicken wings.  These Parmesan Chicken Wings are easy to make, baked not fried and delicious!  Bunco guests will love them!

Parmesan Chicken Wings

1 cup Freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon Heaping — finely chopped fresh Parsley
1 tablespoon Fresh — oregano or marjoram
Chopped or 1 tsp. of either
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Fresh ground pepper
2 pounds Chicken wings cut up
1/2 cup Butter melted

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Mix cheese,parsley,oregano, salt and pepper together and place on a dry tray. Dip each piece of chicken into the butter,then roll in the cheese mixture,coating well.

Place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes,turning when brown. Wings will freeze well. Thaw in refrigerator,and heat in a 375 deg. oven. Makes 4 main course or 8 appetizer servings.

 

 

Please share if you try any of these recipes and let us know how they turned out.  If you have a finger food recipe that you love, please post the recipe and/or a picture.  I made all of these recipes today and they turned out wonderful! The kids loved the Bunko Snack mix after school today!  It was a fun surprise!

Are you playing Bunco soon?  If so, let us know about it!  There are so many fun products here at BuncoGameShop.com. My group loves the foam dice for roll offs when there is a tie for Most Buncos, Most Wins, etc.  We are having a South Beach themed Bunco this weekend.  The funny thing is that we live in the desert!  I will post pictures next week.

Keep Calm and Play Bunco,

Bunco Betty