The best GRANOLA bar & Henna party- part 2

I am so happy you guys like the part one of the "Henna Party Post" , and very happy with all your kind words about me being a good daughter in law (blushing)...yet it is crucial to say that this was a team effort..so before I do continue with part 2 of the this post, allow me to thank all and each one who helped to make that night a great success including the Mother of the beautiful bride, Shaden, her wonderful sister, Hiba, and the bride her self...Lamloom...miss you gal...The bride's aunt, Dana and her lovely daughters..Rhund, Joud and the beautiful Mira...and last but not least..Yasmin...my daughter..Of course my mother in law...we love you...she was supervising it all :) and my wonderful Mother, I love you mom!!!

So after this intro lets get down to part 2, the final part...food...yaay...Please note that this post has so many tips that you can apply in any party...

Before I start talking about what we did, it is important to
Tip 1:
Plan your food according to the season, number of guests, time of party (lunch, dinner, tea ...etc), theme, and the space you have...is it a buffet, a set down party...etc.

So having said that....in our case we planned our menu as such:
Season: Summer time: Plenty of cold drinks, cold desserts, light food
Number of guests: We expected 150 plus minus however, we did go a bit overboard with the food, as usual but ended up eating it for Iftar few days after...hehehe
Time of party: Sahoor...in reality it was a bit before Sahoor time so people where a bit full from Iftar meal so we tried to plan the menu on the light side as much as we could and focused on having some desserts
Space: We decided to go with a buffet, considering the number of guests we where expecting...

Before I start talking about the food stations (we decided to go with stations in order to avoid people jamming up on one area) this makes me want to give another tip
Tip 2: 
When you plan a buffet, divide your tables if you have a big number of guests into stations, this way people can go to the drinks station while the appetizers station line up ease up...etc.

General tips:
- Decide when are you going to serve the food. When you have a big party like this one, it is best to go with prepared ahead food that doesn't require last minute touches or heating; after all you want to enjoy the party.
- Get help: If you want to enjoy the party, lets face it, you need help. We did end up hiring a team of helpers whom we divided the work in between. They where serving people at each station and 2 where free moving around to collect any dishes, glasses...etc to avoid spelling accidents and sticky situations. If you don't want or can't access to hire help, just think of asking your family and friends to do that for you...give them tasks and I am sure they would love to help.

Table settings:
As I mentioned, we went with stations of food. Tables where divided depending on what dishes will go on each one. Table cloths where tailored (as mentioned in the post I); beautiful golden satin; we saved money and we got to keep these for future occasions as well.

The first station was actually in the main party tent, it was a beautiful setting....Since we where in Ramadan, we wanted our guests to nibble on lovely nuts, dried and fresh fruits and sip the Famous Cardamom Arabic Coffee while enjoying the Henna and festivities...here is the beautiful setting...

If you pay attention to details we thought outside the box...used clean plant pots for fresh fruits and baskets we already had to fill with these goodies..yum...We also leveled the baskets to create a nice setting...

Another lovely addition that we thought is all about Arabian nights was the chocolate coins...

These where the first to go...hehehe...as we say Sahtain..meaning Bon Appetit..

We had the water cooler next by and 2 of the helpers where they assisted anyone needing water. No spillage, no garbage- it was a blessing.

The same applied for the coffee station. Helpers where moving around serving coffee to guests.

Now moving to the food tent...remember this from the last post...

The first station was designed to hold all the cutlery and dishes. We decided that since we don't have 150 big and small dishes, we don't want to rent these and have to worry about broken or missing plates later on not to mention washing dishes...so we went with disposable. Beautiful disposable dishes which we bought in bulk. White with a silver ring on the edges. They looked like glass, but way lighter and no washing later on. The same with the cutlery...silver spoons & forks with beautiful white napkins.

So this was the first station where our guests picked up what they needed and headed to the food.

Now here comes what the menu was and included (again light, easy stuff for people to nibble on and suitable for sahoor time)

5 kinds of salads (Ceasar, pasta, Arugula with palmito, Spinach Tabooleh, & Greek)
Cheese platters: (White cheese, assortment of yellow cheeses, fresh mint, cherry tomatoes)

- Assortment of olives (black and green)
- Kishkeh (Labaneh with walnuts)
- Assortments of bread
- Hummus
- Foul
- Fateh (Hummus with bread)

Yalanji (dolmadas) & Hara'a Usba3u (A classic Syrian dish made out of lentils cooked with tamarind sauce, dough, onions and other delicious ingredients).

We used this wood made tower (spray painted it with silver and decorated the edges with some colorful ribbons)

We also had pastries (assortments) and Shawerma sandwiches..I forgot to take a picture of the these really..

Next came the drinks station...

We also used disposable cups...we found these beautiful colored ones at Centro (the new supermarket in Madia street in Amman)

Desserts station

We had

Amar Al Deen Muhalabia (Milk pudding topped with apricot curd)

We also had this huge tower of birds nest (a Middle Eastern dessert made of Kunafeh dough filled with nuts and soaked with simple syrup)...this we ended up nibbling on all Ramadan....it was fab..from Arafat..

We also had great Kulaj from Kulaj Omar (A fantastic dessert from Nablus, Palestine); special semolina pastry filled with pistachios, cheese, walnuts and soaked in simple syrup) (I didn't have a chance to take a picture of this one)

We also had a candy station where we hung this up right above it..

My photos at the party suck ...I was too busy and they where taken by phone...

And the cake of course...

Done by Manal's Bites :)

Now...party favors...where custom made chocolate from my beautiful friend Enas the owner of Andes Chocolates..They where made out of coffee white chocolate in the shape of the Aladdin lamp...wrapped in a clear pack and a golden ribbon with a tag of the bride and groom initials...

She was so kind...she surprised us with this beautiful chocolate house...with the bride and groom initials..

It was a blast indeed..thank you for reading along..I hope I didn't bore you...but next time you plan to have a party...remember..its fun..just plan ahead and enjoy your time...after all, its party time :)

Now...time for the recipe...I know this is a very long post but a recipe is a must in every post...today we go back to school again with the most delicious granola bar ever..I mean really!!! Skip the chocolate bar even...if you taste this...you will know that I am not kidding to compare it to snickers with less fat, more nutrition and just deliciousness....

The best GRANOLA bar
Ingredients:
1 cup date paste (if you don't have that, just grind one cup of pitted dates in a food processor)
1 1/2 cup toasted oatmeal (I used instant)
1/2 cup toasted almonds, chopped
1/2 cup toasted peanuts, chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)
P.S.: Use any nuts you like or any other candy you like.

Directions:
Toast oatmeal in the oven for 10 minutes
Toast nuts
Warm honey and peanut butter
Add to dates and mix
Add all dry ingredients and mix
Line a small square pan with parchment paper
Press the mixture in it to make it even, cover and refrigerate or freeze.
Cut into bars, wrap with parchment and give for your kids in the morning....a great healthy breakfast or energy bar.

بتمنى تكونوا استمتعتوا ببوست الحنة الاول وهي الجزء الثاني بتفاصيل الاكل...بتمنى تحبوه كمان..

نرجع لوصفات المدرسة واليوم رح اشارككم بوصفة اصابع الجرانولا اللي بتضاهي بزكاوتها السنيكرز..ومش بس هيك مفيدة وصحية ومليانة مواد غذائية مهمة بالتمر والعسل وزبدة الفستق والمكسرات...والاحلى..ما في طبخ..بس شوية تحميص واخلط وامشي...

اصابع الجرانولا

المقادير:

كوب معجون تمر (اذا ما في معجون كوب تمر مزال البذور ومطحون)

1/2 1 كوب شوفان محمص 10 دقائق بالفرن

1/2 كوب لوز محمص ومفروم خشن

1/2 كوب فول سوداني محمص مفروم خشن

1/4 كوب بزدة الفول السوداني

1/4 كوب عسل

1/3 كوب رقائق الشوكولاتة (تشوكلت تشيبس) (اختياري)

الطريقة:

يحمص الشوفان 10 دقائق

تسخن زبدة الفستق والعسل لتطرى

تضاف للتمر ثم تضاف بقية المواد

ترص بصينية مربعة مبطنة بورق الزبدة

توضع في الثلاجة عدة ساعات وتقطع

تلف كل واحدة بورق الزبدة ليكون شكلها اجمل