Whether I’m throwing a party for toddlers, a holiday party, a thank you party, a cocktail for colleagues without the children, or `a water gun fight/party for the whole family, I have a few rules.
- The party has to have good food for everyone so everyone can eat and enjoy themselves. This includes taking into account picky palates, dietary restrictions, and the weather/season.
- The party has to be well organized so I can enjoy myself too. I will usually write about 5 to – do lists leading up to the party just to keep myself relaxed and ready.
- The party has to be fun for everyone.
For food, I won’t usually go crazy making diary-free, gluten-free versions of everything, but I’ll make sure that at least some of the food is by nature diary-free (so my husband will eat it), gluten-free (so our friends’ children can eat it), not too spicy, not too bland.
One of my favourite main dishes to serve are lettuce wraps. They can be assembled so they’re vegetarian, there is always a peanut sauce and a non-peanut sauce, they are by nature gluten-free, children may not eat the entire thing, but they like to eat some of the components separately.
I make it slightly different each time. Most recently, I made a version for my children’s school’s staff appreciation lunch. Here is what I did.
Lettuce Wrap Components:
- Lettuce leaves
- Chicken
- Julienned Carrots
- Quick Pickled Cucumbers
- Bean Sprouts
- Sweet Chili Sauce
- Peanut Sauce
It may seem like a lot, but really all you are doing is assembling a few ingredients and mixing up two sauces.
Serves: A small party of about 8-10 people
