Trending the Season ...

You can throw a show-stopping soiree for the Holidays! By Debbie Gardner PRIME Editor If you're the chosen host for this year's holiday festivities don't panic. Be it the annual family gathering or a soiree for friends or the spouse's clientele, PRIME has suggestions that will help you turn your holiday party into an event your guests will remember. To get the local buzz on what's what for parties in western Mass., PRIME put in a call to Peg Boxold, owner of Elegant Affairs Catering, which makes its home base at 1380 Main St. in downtown Springfield. According to PRIME's inside source, local corporate event planner Joy Rohman, owner of Positive Planning, Inc., Boxold is the person the who's who of Springfield call when they need to put on an affair to remember. Here's Boxold's take on hot party trends for 2005: Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate "Chocolate in general is a big trend," Boxold told PRIME in a telephone interview on a busy Tuesday morning. "We offer 10 different chocolate desserts if someone wants to go hog-wild." Maybe your party doesn't need 10 chocolate pastries, but planning your event around a spread of totally chocolate delectables is definitely an easy-to-copy idea. She said that, for hosts looking for something innovative and creative for that big bash, the hottest trend is a chocolate fountain. Boxold said guests are given an assortment of dippers to choose from eatables such as fresh strawberries, chunks of cantaloupe or honeydew melon, pineapple wedges, pretzel rods, unfrosted large cookies, pound or angel cake squares, marshmallows which they then take turns "dipping" under a cascade of recirculating, melted chocolate fondue. If you haven't seen one of these in action and this reporter has been fortunate enough to attend an event where just such a fountain was part of the hors d'oevure spread I can vouch for the stir it caused among the crowd. "It's expensive, but it's definitely a 'wow' factor," Boxold said. Boxold said Taylor Rental in West Springfield is one of the local resources she knows of that has chocolate fountain equipment for rent. (She added it's a very popular item!) And, if a hostess wants to re-create the chocolate dipping experience for an intimate crowd, a traditional chocolate fondue using a fondue warmer or small chaffing dish would probably do the trick. A grape party idea "Another big trend is wine tastings," Boxold said, adding that this type of cocktail party is very popular with smaller companies. Boxold said the easiest way to re-create this trend for a home affair is to select a few bottles of wine for guests to sample, and then create a simple spread of cheese and fruit to accompany the tastings. "It depends upon how elaborate you want to get," she said. "You could do different cheeses, or just a nice Brie in cruet with apple and pear wedges and grapes, maybe a nice grilled bread, and some crackers." "The nice thing with a wine tasting it's more interactive," Boxold continued. "It keeps people moving and more sociable." If a host/hostess is interested in pairing wines with a more substantial spread, Boxold suggested "passed hors d'oevures, pasta stations, and carving stations work well." Her suggestion on how to get started planning a wine tasting talk to the wine expert at your favorite liquor store. "Grapevine Liquors in downtown Springfield is very good," she said. "Ralph is very good at helping people with trends in wine." The upscale potato bar "Another great, fun thing to do is make your own mashed potato bar," Boxold said, adding that this variation on the down-home baked potato bar is fast becoming a hit at all types of parties, even weddings. The twist the mashed potatoes are served up in Martini-style glasses. "You get your mashed potatoes and put them in a Martin glass and put on condiments [of your choice] bacon bits, scallions, shredded cheese, sour cream, broccoli florets, and such," Boxold said. She said the use of barware as a carrier makes this comfort food totally portable and appropriate even for a stand-up cocktail-type party. "Some people won't get into [the Martin glasses] and put [the mashed potatoes] on their plate," she said. "But 20 minutes or so they get into it and say 'wow, this is cool!'" Boxold uses two types of mashed potatoes a Yukon Gold which is "a golden color, a real traditional potato," and a red bliss held in chaffing dishes. Then she puts out containers of condiments and guests help themselves. It couldn't be easier. A signature libation Boxold offered another easy idea to spice up that annual cocktail party kick it off with a signature drink served to all arriving guests. "You could have a "mistletoe drink" something you think all your guests might like and pass it out as everyone comes in," she said. Another suggestion might be to offer a selected wine of the night, or, for the men, a locally-brewed beer or lager. "When you do a home party, no one wants to be the first one there. When you do something like [the signature drink], it breaks the ice a bit," Boxold said. Theme it Boxold said choosing and sticking to a theme is one of the smartest ways to turn your party into a show-stopper. It just takes a little forethought, and creativity. "Take it from the invitation to the dessert, like a pointsettia on the invitation, a red "pointsettia" signature drink or punch, to, maybe, pointsettias decorations on a cheesecake for dessert," she said. Selecting matching paper goods and, in this example, using potted pointsettias throughout the house as decorations, can really create an impression that wows. "Totally carry it through," Boxold advised. For that entree "With a traditional dinner, if people are looking for something different, they might want to try an herb-crusted tenderloin, carved and served with a few different sauces," Boxold suggested. Paired with something like the mashed potato bar, it can really jazz up an annual meal, she said. "You can take the same old, same old traditional things, and with different names and service ideas turn it into something totally unique," Boxold said. "And you can do it without a lot of cost ... it just takes a little creative thought."