I've been hosting a vernal equinox party for about 50 guests for the past six years straight. I always send a packet of seeds with a spring poem as part of the invitation. Your ideas sound dead-on. Here are some of the things I've learned and am planning:

No matter how much I think I can accomplish it, I cannot be trusted to babysit hot hors d'oeuvres in my oven once my guests arrive (and there's a drink in my hand). Therefore, my hot food choices are limited to the following: a chaffing dish full of falafel, which I make, fry and freeze weeks in advance, and pop into the oven and park in the chaffing dish before guests arrive, a crockpot full of meatballs with some sort of savory sauce, and an assortment of hot dips in a little tri-section warmer I have. (Costco makes a to-die for dip with truffle oil on it.)

I also get half of a large smoked salmon (right/left as opposed to front/back). (I used to get a whole one, but it never got eaten). I display it on a cedar plank, near an assortment of crackers.

I like the egg/Easter/Eostre connection, which is the heart of the Equinox celebration, so this year I'm making little egg salad toasts with caviar (homemade mayonnaise, shallots, thyme, s&p, chopped egg, with 1/4 tsp of caviar spooned on top) (Cost Plus World Market carries a very affordable Capelin Caviar (tiny black eggs) that worked well for this... I think one 3.5 ounce jar was enough for about 8 eggs worth of salad and a standard baguette).

Trader Joe's started stocking these little prune and walnut disks near their nuts and fruit. They are quite tasty, and have the structural stability of a cracker. They come 12 (or 16?) for $1.99. I'm going to cut them in half to make them bite sized, and top with some blue cheese crumbles and a honeyed walnut.

Rather than an assortment of spring flowers, I buy about 100 cut daffodils from Trader Joe's and put them out in my crystal vases. But I've learned that guests love to bring cut flowers to a spring party, so I have a couple extra vases on hand, and save some "prime real estate" for the gifted flowers.

Because I can't resist showing off my home-cured pancetta, and because I love avocados more than a person should, I like to make Avocado, Feta and Pancetta Bruscchetta.

A couple of my helpers also make some dishes that have become favorites: R will help me with everything else, but will also make Vietnamese spring rolls, and E will make her dolmas with very garlicky yoghurt sauce.

I have some little chocolate shotglass molds, and make a ton of them weeks in advance. Then I take plain old pudding mix and substitute homemade whipped cream for half of the milk, pipe it into the cups and top with a raspberry or blueberry. They look very elegant, and can be made the morning of. I also serve Costco cream puffs and some of their little bite desserts. I avoid all of their fillo-based hors d'oeuvres like the plague as I've not been impressed.

It doesn't...

I've been hosting a vernal equinox party for about 50 guests for the past six years straight. I always send a packet of seeds with a spring poem as part of the invitation. Your ideas sound dead-on. Here are some of the things I've learned and am planning:

No matter how much I think I can accomplish it, I cannot be trusted to babysit hot hors d'oeuvres in my oven once my guests arrive (and there's a drink in my hand). Therefore, my hot food choices are limited to the following: a chaffing dish full of falafel, which I make, fry and freeze weeks in advance, and pop into the oven and park in the chaffing dish before guests arrive, a crockpot full of meatballs with some sort of savory sauce, and an assortment of hot dips in a little tri-section warmer I have. (Costco makes a to-die for dip with truffle oil on it.)

I also get half of a large smoked salmon (right/left as opposed to front/back). (I used to get a whole one, but it never got eaten). I display it on a cedar plank, near an assortment of crackers.

I like the egg/Easter/Eostre connection, which is the heart of the Equinox celebration, so this year I'm making little egg salad toasts with caviar (homemade mayonnaise, shallots, thyme, s&p, chopped egg, with 1/4 tsp of caviar spooned on top) (Cost Plus World Market carries a very affordable Capelin Caviar (tiny black eggs) that worked well for this... I think one 3.5 ounce jar was enough for about 8 eggs worth of salad and a standard baguette).

Trader Joe's started stocking these little prune and walnut disks near their nuts and fruit. They are quite tasty, and have the structural stability of a cracker. They come 12 (or 16?) for $1.99. I'm going to cut them in half to make them bite sized, and top with some blue cheese crumbles and a honeyed walnut.

Rather than an assortment of spring flowers, I buy about 100 cut daffodils from Trader Joe's and put them out in my crystal vases. But I've learned that guests love to bring cut flowers to a spring party, so I have a couple extra vases on hand, and save some "prime real estate" for the gifted flowers.

Because I can't resist showing off my home-cured pancetta, and because I love avocados more than a person should, I like to make Avocado, Feta and Pancetta Bruscchetta.

A couple of my helpers also make some dishes that have become favorites: R will help me with everything else, but will also make Vietnamese spring rolls, and E will make her dolmas with very garlicky yoghurt sauce.

I have some little chocolate shotglass molds, and make a ton of them weeks in advance. Then I take plain old pudding mix and substitute homemade whipped cream for half of the milk, pipe it into the cups and top with a raspberry or blueberry. They look very elegant, and can be made the morning of. I also serve Costco cream puffs and some of their little bite desserts. I avoid all of their fillo-based hors d'oeuvres like the plague as I've not been impressed.

It doesn't...

I've been hosting a vernal equinox party for about 50 guests for the past six years straight. I always send a packet of seeds with a spring poem as part of the invitation. Your ideas sound dead-on. Here are some of the things I've learned and am planning:

No matter how much I think I can accomplish it, I cannot be trusted to babysit hot hors d'oeuvres in my oven once my guests arrive (and there's a drink in my hand). Therefore, my hot food choices are limited to the following: a chaffing dish full of falafel, which I make, fry and freeze weeks in advance, and pop into the oven and park in the chaffing dish before guests arrive, a crockpot full of meatballs with some sort of savory sauce, and an assortment of hot dips in a little tri-section warmer I have. (Costco makes a to-die for dip with truffle oil on it.)

I also get half of a large smoked salmon (right/left as opposed to front/back). (I used to get a whole one, but it never got eaten). I display it on a cedar plank, near an assortment of crackers.

I like the egg/Easter/Eostre connection, which is the heart of the Equinox celebration, so this year I'm making little egg salad toasts with caviar (homemade mayonnaise, shallots, thyme, s&p, chopped egg, with 1/4 tsp of caviar spooned on top) (Cost Plus World Market carries a very affordable Capelin Caviar (tiny black eggs) that worked well for this... I think one 3.5 ounce jar was enough for about 8 eggs worth of salad and a standard baguette).

Trader Joe's started stocking these little prune and walnut disks near their nuts and fruit. They are quite tasty, and have the structural stability of a cracker. They come 12 (or 16?) for $1.99. I'm going to cut them in half to make them bite sized, and top with some blue cheese crumbles and a honeyed walnut.

Rather than an assortment of spring flowers, I buy about 100 cut daffodils from Trader Joe's and put them out in my crystal vases. But I've learned that guests love to bring cut flowers to a spring party, so I have a couple extra vases on hand, and save some "prime real estate" for the gifted flowers.

Because I can't resist showing off my home-cured pancetta, and because I love avocados more than a person should, I like to make Avocado, Feta and Pancetta Bruscchetta.

A couple of my helpers also make some dishes that have become favorites: R will help me with everything else, but will also make Vietnamese spring rolls, and E will make her dolmas with very garlicky yoghurt sauce.

I have some little chocolate shotglass molds, and make a ton of them weeks in advance. Then I take plain old pudding mix and substitute homemade whipped cream for half of the milk, pipe it into the cups and top with a raspberry or blueberry. They look very elegant, and can be made the morning of. I also serve Costco cream puffs and some of their little bite desserts. I avoid all of their fillo-based hors d'oeuvres like the plague as I've not been impressed.

It doesn't...

I've been hosting a vernal equinox party for about 50 guests for the past six years straight. I always send a packet of seeds with a spring poem as part of the invitation. Your ideas sound dead-on. Here are some of the things I've learned and am planning:

No matter how much I think I can accomplish it, I cannot be trusted to babysit hot hors d'oeuvres in my oven once my guests arrive (and there's a drink in my hand). Therefore, my hot food choices are limited to the following: a chaffing dish full of falafel, which I make, fry and freeze weeks in advance, and pop into the oven and park in the chaffing dish before guests arrive, a crockpot full of meatballs with some sort of savory sauce, and an assortment of hot dips in a little tri-section warmer I have. (Costco makes a to-die for dip with truffle oil on it.)

I also get half of a large smoked salmon (right/left as opposed to front/back). (I used to get a whole one, but it never got eaten). I display it on a cedar plank, near an assortment of crackers.

I like the egg/Easter/Eostre connection, which is the heart of the Equinox celebration, so this year I'm making little egg salad toasts with caviar (homemade mayonnaise, shallots, thyme, s&p, chopped egg, with 1/4 tsp of caviar spooned on top) (Cost Plus World Market carries a very affordable Capelin Caviar (tiny black eggs) that worked well for this... I think one 3.5 ounce jar was enough for about 8 eggs worth of salad and a standard baguette).

Trader Joe's started stocking these little prune and walnut disks near their nuts and fruit. They are quite tasty, and have the structural stability of a cracker. They come 12 (or 16?) for $1.99. I'm going to cut them in half to make them bite sized, and top with some blue cheese crumbles and a honeyed walnut.

Rather than an assortment of spring flowers, I buy about 100 cut daffodils from Trader Joe's and put them out in my crystal vases. But I've learned that guests love to bring cut flowers to a spring party, so I have a couple extra vases on hand, and save some "prime real estate" for the gifted flowers.

Because I can't resist showing off my home-cured pancetta, and because I love avocados more than a person should, I like to make Avocado, Feta and Pancetta Bruscchetta.

A couple of my helpers also make some dishes that have become favorites: R will help me with everything else, but will also make Vietnamese spring rolls, and E will make her dolmas with very garlicky yoghurt sauce.

I have some little chocolate shotglass molds, and make a ton of them weeks in advance. Then I take plain old pudding mix and substitute homemade whipped cream for half of the milk, pipe it into the cups and top with a raspberry or blueberry. They look very elegant, and can be made the morning of. I also serve Costco cream puffs and some of their little bite desserts. I avoid all of their fillo-based hors d'oeuvres like the plague as I've not been impressed.

It doesn't...

Hei, Pippi, Your ideas for a spring fling party is perfect. I have no additional ideas. I grew up reading Pippi Longstocking books in Sweden and your menue and ideas fits with the fun Pippi. I'll help. I can do the smorbro, meatballs, and punch. Oh yes, the cream puffs, I luv those, I used to make them from scratch, but I'll go with store bought. And yes about the flowers for the table. That is traditional in Sweden
As far as I can tell, you have everything covered. I wish I could be there at the "spring fling".

Aren't we all looking forward to celebrating spring this year? Your party sounds wonderful.

That sounds really nice. You've covered things in a very sweet way. I can just imagine it. One thing I thought of was perhaps buying some seed packets and using them as place cards or just at each place as a favor. Flowers or simple veggies. For a place card you could write the names on a pretty piece of paper and wrap it onto the seed packet with pastel ribbons.

Suzy, we sure are!

Do invite me. Steve in Baltimore County.

Thanks for all the suggestions..Now tell me what's a Vernal Equinox party? I never like science so I'm being ignorant about this subject and my husband would be the first one to chastise me about my lack of knowledge. He is very good on matters like this and history. Different interest you would say?

My next door neighbor used to hire her nieces to serve at her big parties and pay them and their responsibility was to put the food stuff in oven and serve for them, and clean up afterwards so she and her husband could be relaxed hosts and mingle with their guest and she hired any nephews(legal age)as a bartender or a friend that had been a bartender at one time at a restaurant where they all worked in college.

Their Xmas parties always had between 75-100 people attending. Once their kids became of college age and drinking age, they were also allowed to invite a few friends. Her best friend helped her decorate ahead of time and stayed overnight rather than drive home about 20 plus miles and it probably saved her from falling asleep at the wheel or being picked up for DWI.. This same friend and I always pitched in at lots of the neighbor's snall functions and cleaned up afterwards.