May 14, 201910 min read

Derby de Mayo Dos = Loco

Despite being a relatively quiet wallflower, I LOVE to throw a party. Add a theme? Even better! We've had "Snowflake" parties, "Barnyard" bashes, "Mid-Winter's Night" dreams, "Butterfly" gardens, "Under Water" galas, "Italian" feasts, and for the adults - "Huskerween" and of course, "Derby de Mayo".

Derby de Mayo 2018

"Derby de Mayo" was such a hit last year, we decided to make it an annual event, so we celebrated "Dos" earlier this month.

As the name suggests, the party is a combination of the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo. An odd, but fun combo that are conveniently celebrated around the same time. Our guests are encouraged to come to the party sporting their themed attire of choice - Derby fancy, Derby party, or Mexican fiesta! And a mix is just as fun!

We've started the party at 5:00 pm as the race is typically scheduled to take place right before 6:00 pm. It allows for plenty of time for the race spectators to arrive and get situated for the "fastest two minutes in sports". I conveniently missed the last part of this year's race....who even won?? Come to find out, there was a disqualification anyway. Oh well. No one really comes for the race anyway. Sorry Kentucky Derby fans.

But let's talk about prepping for this party. It's kind of a big deal...for me anyhow.

We host the party in our garage - a.k.a. "The Robinson Event Center". (No one actually calls it that.) So our garage was built with the intention of holding a boat in the third stall, and also housing an actual office in the "extra" space in the back, along with our two vehicles. It currently comes equipped with a "Fish Cleaning/Kennel" room, a bathroom, no office and no boat. :) The empty third stall and intended office space make for a great area for gatherings. We have a couple of old couches, a fridge, a couple of old bar high top tables, and a couple of TVs. The walls are covered with random things...like flags, stop signs, cows. You know. The normal garage stuff. It's perfect for outdoor parties.

This particular party comes at the end of winter, and our garage is a complete disaster at the end of winter. Months of deicer, snow, and mud make cleanup a HUGE undertaking. And this winter, it was particularly messy. We housed some of Jake's parents' garage "stuff" in our third stall while they built their garage this winter. We also had decided to clean out the girls' toys and our "give away" pile found its way to the third stall, too. We don't really like to clean, so we procrastinated until about two weeks before the party. Fortunately, their garage was "finished" enough, and thank you Thriftique for accepting our donation! And that's how the planning starts. Cleaning the garage.

The timing of the party is challenging for another reason. It's the first week of the month. Dum dum dum....it's "month end" at my job. We spend the first 5 working days of every month closing out the prior month. It's a lot of work, and I usually end up working at home in the evenings. Planning to host a party during this busy time at work is STRESSFUL.

Wanna know what else didn't have the most convenient timing? The weekend before the party, we spent the majority of our time in Norfolk at dance rehearsal and the dance recitals. Jake was involved with a dodgeball tournament in town the Saturday before, too. So party prepping that weekend was pretty much not an option. Uh oh.

Oh, and here's some more ironic scheduling. The week of the party, the girls started softball practice, and they're on different teams so their practices are on different days. Obviously we weren't prepared for practice. We couldn't find Kamryn's softball glove anywhere. We didn't start looking for it until the night before her practice, and when we couldn't find it she had to use Kindrey's T-Ball glove. Parent's of the Year.

And there's more. Hunters from Georgia had planned a Nebraska Turkey Hunting experience for the end of the party week. They were here from Wednesday through Saturday morning. And did I mention that Jake had sales meetings all week at work! So Jake spent the week trying to juggle work, dinner meetings, and hunting. AND Jake played in a basketball tournament the morning of the party.

It was just insane. Absolutely insane.

And so, I insisted on doing everything myself. Glutton for punishment. But I LOVE party planning. It's so much fun for me. Why wouldn't I want to do it?! And after all, this wasn't my first rodeo. I had a pretty good idea of what I needed to do, how long it would take to do it, and when I needed to it. I thought I'd share a few of my party planning tips:

Party Supplies

Backdrops: We like to have a themed backdrop for selfie opportunities for our guests! We hang it up on the third stall garage door. This year we had a Kentucky Derby Race Track background hung along the rafters behind the food tables, and also on the garage door. It was huge!
Plastic Tablecloths: We always try to cover up "the garage stuff" for the party by creating "walls" in front of it all. :) Plastic tablecloths are inexpensive, and the long rectangle table cloths are just the right length for hanging from the rafters.

Here's a tip - don't hang anything in the way of your garage doors and the opening mechanisms if you need to or plan to open your garage doors before or during the party! The first year, I didn't take that into consideration until I was finished, and was like, "Oh...that was stupid." :)

Plastic Tablecloths: Again with the tablecloths. We use them for their intended purpose and cover our long tables. I love to have a runner on our tables. So I buy a contrasting color or pattern, and leave it folded lengthwise, and just lay it down the middle. It's a cheap way to jazz it up.
Cups: We buy plastic margarita cups (Amazon, Oriental Trading, or any party supply store will have them. We also make sure to have plastic cocktail cups, too. I love these little cups. Maybe they remind me of being little and going to weddings and graduations and getting punch! Anywho, I found that some of the guests actually preferred larger cups (i.e. red solo cups). I'll keep this in mind for next year to make sure I have a few more of those, too.
Tableware: We host a lot of different parties in our garage, so I just buy the big pack of disposable plates to keep on hand. They're not fancy, but they do the trick. Plastic spoons and forks - another item we keep on hand (skip the knives...you probably don't need them). This year I opted for plain ol' white forks and spoons. But you could get fancy and get the kind that look like real silverware. Same goes for the disposable plates. Straws. Always buy straws for your party. People might not use them, but they're adorable. Napkins - I love cute themed napkins. People always need napkins.
Decorations: Wine bottles, fake red roses, adorable miniature plastic donkey pinatas, plastic trophies. Cupcake toppers are good for decorating the tables and drink stations, and they can be used as toothpicks. Yay! Tissue paper pom poms, and chalkboard menus. Mustache garlands, horseshoe garlands are also fun additions for the theme!

I have been collecting my decorations over several years. I like to buy things that are more generic and can be used for multiple parties. Oriental Trading and Amazon are great for finding inexpensive party supplies and decorations that can be used again and again! We always have more than enough of our tableware for the themed parties, so we usually end up with a smorgasbord of different plates, napkins, silverware and our impromptu parties get very eclectic!

Tortilla Chips (get more than you think - I ran out)
Soft Shell Tacos
Ground Beef (5 lbs, cooked in a crockpot for a few hours with taco seasoning a few days before the party, drained and frozen until the night before the party. The night before the party, I put the meat in the fridge to begin to thaw out. The afternoon of the party, I dumped it into an aluminum pan, added one more packet of taco seasoning and water and put it in the oven for a few hours to heat up.)
Chicken (5 lbs, cooked in a crockpot overnight with chicken fajita seasoning, and a couple of cans of Mexican canned tomatoes a few days before the party, frozen until the night before the party. I put the meat in the fridge to begin to thaw out the night before the party. The afternoon of the party, I dumped it into an aluminum pan, added one more can of Mexican tomatoes and put it in the oven for a few hours to heat up.)
Lettuce (I just bought big bags of chopped romaine)
Guacamole (definitely store bought)
Salsa (definitely store bought)
Sour Cream
Black Olives (Buy the sliced black olives. Slicing olives is such a pain.)
Jalepenos
Diced Onions (If you can buy these pre chopped, do it. In the past, I've purchased frozen diced onions. Thaw them in the fridge. Drain them, and poof. I didn't do this for this party because I totally forgot, and my awesome friend came early and had to chop my onion for me.)
Shredded Cheese
Nacho Cheese - I don't know why I like nacho cheese so much, but I do. I just bought several cans and dumped them into one of the aluminum pans to heat up about an hour before the party.
Corn Dip - Cream Cheese (3-8oz blocks), Canned Corn (2 cans, drained), and Rotel (2 cans)

Dessert Bar

Mint Julep Bars - Double Batch - make ahead and freeze, and for the glaze don't use MINT extract. Don't use any sort of mint extract - not even peppermint. And while you're at it, skip the fresh mint in the simple syrup glaze altogether. Why? These were nicknamed the "Toothpaste Bars". I could have just NOT served these, but it was too funny not to.
Kentucky Pie Bars - Double Batch - make ahead and freeze. I didn't try these, but I heard they were good.
Churro Mini Cupcakes - I'm a firm believer in "semi-homemade". I bought a white box cake mix. Prepared as directed on the box with one addition - cinnamon. I made these one night during the week of the party. I stuck the mini cupcakes in freezer bags and froze them until the night before the party. Here's where I went wrong. I didn't take them out of the bags right away, so as they thawed they got sticky and the moisture from the cupcakes trapped inside the bag caused the wrappers to come off of some of the cupcakes. For the frosting, I used Whipped Cream Cheese frosting with a dash of cinnamon. Instead of basting the cupcakes with melted butter, and THEN dipping in a cinnamon/sugar mix, I just dipped the moist cupcakes directly into the sugary mixture, and then topped with frosting.
Margarita Cookies - I used two Hy-Vee Sugar Cookie mixes, and baked the cookies according to the package directions. I added a splash of tequila to store-bought vanilla icing, a bit of lime juice and lime zest and piped the frosting onto the cookies. I let the cookies sit out for HOURS the day of the party to allow the frosting to set. These were great cookies!

Margarita and Bourbon Bar

(I was going to make my own margaritas, and as I wandered around the liquor section of Hy-Vee searching for all of the ingredients I'd need to make my own margaritas, I stumbled upon an entire section dedicated to pre-mixed, ready-to-serve margaritas. So.....Jose Cuervo makes a nice margarita - FYI!)

Apple Bourbon Punch - I made the simple syrup early in the day, and threw the punch together about an hour before the party. I think I doubled / tripled the batch. And being the lazy person that I am, I totally did NOT use FRESH lemon juice. It came from the bottle.
Cranberry Bourbon Punch - this was really good. I don't know if anyone appreciated it as much as I did...but I could use some of this RIGHT now! ;) I made the simple syrup early in the day and used Ginger Ale in place of the Ginger Beer. I like a little fizz, and also didn't want to buy Ginger Beer. I was SO over it. ;) I think this was doubled / tripled, too. The proportions were probably off slightly.

Make as much of the food ahead of time. Your freezer will be your friend. Also, take advantage of online grocery ordering. It is WONDERFUL! But here was my schedule:

Monday - Kentucky Pie Bars (freeze) I didn't have my big grocery order yet, and happened to have what I needed to make these bars.

Tuesday - Margarita Cookies (no frosting), Mint Julep Bars (no frosting), Chicken Fajita Meat (freeze everything)

Wednesday - Churro Cupcakes (no frosting), Ground Beef (Taco Meat) (freeze everything)

Thursday - Did I do anything on Thursday? I can't remember!?!

Friday - Benedictine Tea Sandwiches, Bourbon Little Smokies, Kentucky Hot Brown Dip, Mint Julep Fruit Salad (all goes in the fridge). Get cupcakes out of the freezer, remove from freezer bag, place on trays and cover with foil until ready to frost on Saturday. Get beef and chicken out of freezer and put in fridge to thaw out.

Saturday - make glazes and frostings for cookies, cupcakes and bars. Set desserts out on prepared table. Begin heating up food two hours before party. A few hours before the party, make the simple syrups for the punches. An hour before the party, put the punches together, and get the taco bar situated!

In the past, I've used Crockpots to keep my hot food hot, but for the girls' most recent birthday, I purchased a buffet serving set with the chafing fuel cans. It was SUPER handy. You can just toss the aluminum pans in the trash - clean-up is a cinch! It was actually really nice for Derby de Mayo, too. I could fill the pans up on Friday night, cover them with foil, stack them in the fridge, and they fit pretty nicely in the oven, too. If I would have rearranged the oven racks, I probably could have put six trays in the oven. But I didn't, so I could only fit four. Anyway, it was really nice to not have to mess with extension cords and trying to clean the Crockpots.

I also bought a few inflatable table coolers (what do you really call these things anyway?) to set on the table to keep the cold food cold. They were bigger than I realized, so I just used one. I think it worked pretty well. I had thought about filling a couple of baking sheets with water, and setting them in our deep freeze to create giant ice sheets for this inflatable thingy, but I thought of it too late.

Obviously there are nights of set-up. Maybe that's what I did on Thursday night? I think that's what I did. I also did a little more set-up on Friday night. I wanted to get as much finished on Friday night, so Saturday could just be spent on the last minute things. :) And there's also a ton of clean-up from the food prep and children to fit in throughout the week.

(Did I mention that our kids seem to have this amazing ability to unravel our home when we're getting ready for a party? "Mom, we were going to clean our rooms, but instead we decided to make a fort.")

I didn't get many pics of this year's party. Okay. I didn't get any once the party started. I left my phone in the kitchen, and my camera was left alone. But I think people had a good time! Lots of great conversation, the fire pit came out, and the infamous "outdoor" game was played. :)