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What's Cookin' Good Lookin'?
Kitchen Utensil and Recipe Bridal Shower

Have you ever been in the middle of creating the perfect culinary masterpiece, when you suddenly realize that you don't own the most important cook's tool that the recipe calls for? After you have to scrap the best recipe you could possibly ever make (yes, you guessed it, for lack of that flour sifter), you realize the value of those not-so-useless cook's tools. Prevent this trauma for your bride-to-be with a Kitchen Utensil Shower. In fact, in addition to all of the kitchen utensils, why not give the bride-to-be some recipes to accompany them (most of the brides we know have a culinary repertoire of about 3 recipes… chicken, chicken, and spaghetti from a jar). Have each guest bring a recipe (either typed or written on a piece of stationary), as well as some of the kitchen utensils that are necessary to create it. (If you want to create the album full of recipes ahead of time, simply ask your guests to send them by a specific date, possibly with their RSVP card). In order to limit the number of similar dishes, you can assign certain food groups to your guests. Help the bride learn the secrets (and have the tools) of fine cooking (so she can teach the groom how to cook) with this bridal shower.

For a complete selection of Bridal Shower decorating ideas and some unusual party favors, visit Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party Decorating411.

Invitations

Make your own invitations out of mini wooden cutting boards (you can find these at your local "Dollar Store", or mini replicas can be made out of popsicle sticks). Glue the invitations on to the boards, and then send the boards each in their own padded envelope (or hand-deliver them). You can also find mini whisks or other kitchen type accessories to illustrate the theme of the shower. Our personalized candy bars also make great invitations.

For a great personalized invitation, visit Party411's Bridal Shower Creations For You!

Decorations

Centerpieces - In the middle of each table, place a utensil holder filled with tools. Make each table full of different tools (have enough of the tools to give one to each guest at that table as a favor), or fill the holders with a bunch of different tools on every table and let the bride to be take them all home.

For another idea, you can find a bunch of different recipes in cookbooks by famous chefs (Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, Graham Kerr, etc.), and lay out all of the ingredients as well as a card with the recipe on it in a basket. At the end of the shower, one lucky winner will take home the centerpiece.

Seating Cards - Cut out a picture of a kitchen utensil from a magazine or catalogue (pictures of most cook's tools can be found in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue), and mirror it to the tool(s) that represents each table. You can also find some great clip art that represents kitchen items. Try tying mini utensils to seating cards for another look.

Menu

Let the bride-to-be and the rest of the guests sample some of the recipes that were given to the bride. Have a potluck!

Activities

"Spice up the Party" - Have a number of different spices covered up so that you cannot tell which spice you are holding. On the cover of each one there should be a number. Give each guest a piece of paper with identical numbers to the ones on the spices. As each spice is passed around (without its top), everyone has to guess what each spice is and put their guesses next to each number on the paper. Whoever guesses the most correctly wins a prize and the bride gets to keep all the spices!

"House Tool Trivia" - Have each guest bring a household object that is not easily identified, such as a caviar spoon, tea infuser spoon, citrus juicer, crab cracker, etc. (Many of these neat cooking utensils can be found at Williams Sonoma). Distribute paper and pencil and ask players to try and guess what each object does. The player with the most correct answers is the winner. Present a basket of the objects to the winner.

"Recipe Riot" - Have each guest bring a wonderful dessert/appetizer/main course to the party (make sure to split all guests into specific categories so everyone doesn't bring the same type of dish). Have each guest try a little bit of each dish, and then have them vote for their favorite dish in each category (besides their own). Give the guest of honor a beautifully decorated box (or album) of yummy recipes from her family and friends. (There is also a blank recipe book that can be found at larger bookstores. You can have everyone write their recipes, and maybe a memory or two in that book instead of the box).

Party Favors

There are so many different options for favors for this type of shower. First of all, you can give each guest a mini recipe book from the recipes that the guests have given to the bride (make sure you designate a date that the recipes must be received, plenty of time before the shower).

A small recipe box with cute blank cards is also a cute and relatively inexpensive take home favor. You can add a utensil from the centerpiece on each table to the take home favors for each guest.

Have fun, from Party411 and The Party Girl