Before we sold our house and hit the road in our RV, we liked to have dinner parties. You know, where you invite several couples over, cook a delicious meal, maybe serve hors d’oeuvres, then linger over a cup of coffee and dessert laughing and talking.
After we moved into our small space, I wondered to myself how I could ever do that sort of thing again.
Sure, there are potluck dinners at just about every seasonal campground you go to, but I wanted something a little more intimate. I wanted to be able to cook some of my favorite “big” dishes, the ones that are good and yummy but you can’t cook just a little bit of it. And I wanted to invite some of the interesting people we had met.
So, one day when we were working at a large resort in south Texas, I decided I was just going to do it and figure out how as I went along.
At that resort, there was a large activity building. If the rooms were not being used for an activity, the guests could reserve one to use for private parties.
My RV Party
The first thing I did was go to the activity director to find out when rooms were available to be reserved and what was required to reserve one of them. I was surprised to find out there was no charge for use of the room. I picked a date from the ones available, and started making a guest list and a menu.
I decided on a theme for my party — it was going to be a Cajun Feast. The menu was Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo, Hoppin’ John, Mixed Greens, and Sweet Potato Pie.
I went to the fabric store and bought lengths of fabric in bright colors to use for tablecloths. ( I got fabric I could for other projects after the party was over.) I found some neat paper place mats that looked like red bandanas, and a large tissue paper and cardboard “shrimp” centerpiece at a party supply store in town. And on the day of the party, I used the empty tomato cans as vases for the flowers on the tables. We had zydeco and blues music playing in the background.
I have a 16-quart stockpot in my RV cupboard, which came in quite handy for this party. I used it to cook the gumbo. The greens were cooked in my Nesco 4 quart cooker, and the Hoppin’ John went into the crock-pot. I had to bake four pies one at a time, but I did it over a three-day period.
All of the tableware was plastic and disposable. I used red and yellow plates, bowls, and glasses. Everyone had a wonderful time!
While I thoroughly enjoyed that party, I may never do one on that grand a scale again. Counting my husband, and me there were 16 people at the party, with enough food to feed at least 30! But, we learned that with some planning, we can do large parties while living in an RV.
