the Flare

Channeling Your Inner Cowboy/ Cowgirl

Looking for a party theme that all age groups will enjoy? Then get ready to throw a Cowboy Party.

There is something about the Wild West culture that still resonates with Americans regardless of your love for country music, line dancing or cowboy boots. In fact, many of the guests my husband met at the Tanque Verde Ranch in Arizona, owned by the Minnesota family who owns Grand View Lodge, were Europeans enthralled by the Wild West who had always dreamed about experiencing the cowboy lifestyle on a dude ranch for themselves.

So how do you bring the country to your home? Start with setting hay bales around your yard (or living room, if you are adventurous and have a good vacuum). These work well as flexible seating, and a plaid blanket draped casually across the top helps protect bums and legs a bit from the scratchy hay. Saddles, horseshoes, crops & whips scattered around add to the cowboy atmosphere. Bandanas strung along rope create a colorful and casual banner. Strings of lights and lanterns can be hung from trees or poles to add atmospheric lighting. Tables can be set with bandana napkins and wildflowers casually gathered in canning jars and pitchers. Large metal horse troughs are a central element in every western film, so to reference them, fill large metal buckets with beer and soda in bottles- perhaps a ginger beer or root beer. It would be fun to make a specialty sasparilla brew for your guests (with or without alcohol). And maybe it brings back camp flashbacks, but I think "bug juice" is a fun beverage, especially for kids (it is really just red Kool-Aid.)

Showing a western flick playing in the background provides great conversation starters for your guests. A large white sheet hung on the side of a garage or house can serve as a screen with a rented projector. Screens can also be rented if you what to show the movie in a different location in your yard or home. A fire pit creates the campfire atmosphere for everyone to gather around, roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, and eating your "grub." If you really want to take your food to the next level, Williams-Sonoma has a monogrammed steak brand! I can only imagine what that would look like if you used it on a piece of grilled tofu instead of a slab of New York Strip Steak! For an activity that kids of all ages will enjoy, why not have extra rope on hand to practice your lasso skills? Don't forget to encourage your guests to come in their best cowboy gear, and treat them to their own Sheriff badge when they arrive (these can be purchased for a small amount from online party supply companies along with kid size cowboy hats). Now go rustle up a good time for your guests!

- Colleen Fox Slack, Home & Culinary, the Affair