Retro Foodie: An '80s Awards Show Party

’80s-style decor and appetizers

Hi Everyone! Awards season is officially here, so we proudly present our second installment of “Retro Foodie” with an awards show menu that is easy, dazzling and fun. Plus some ’80s-inspired decor that plays up the “glam” element of the decade’s design. To begin, a backdrop of balloons taped to the wall creates the effect of pearls, or bubbles in a glass of champagne.

The wall balloons were inspired by this post. Not to mention, a 1980s vase evokes the scallops of a seashell. The colors: all things candy, including pastels. Appetizers reinforce the vivid motif. On the menu: sliced cantaloupe, green olives, and cucumber with beet-infused goat cheese (recipe to follow). Serve champagne, sparkling wine, and/or a tasty non-alcoholic option, such as the grapefruit soda featured in today’s post, garnished with a lime slice.

Retro foodie highlights

Above we present a montage of our favorite foodie highlights, plus a couple of decorative accents. The glass “bubbles” you see at the bottom right are actually upside-down Christmas ornaments with the tops removed. Below we get another look at the flowers and the balloon “pearls”:

Balloons create a pearlescent effect

Speaking of flowers, we liked the simple elegance of alstroemeria, especially the way the white blooms are embellished with touches of pink and yellow. Alstroemeria is nicely complemented by tall blossoms, such as the fluffy featured white selections. Still, we thought the arrangement needed something more. That spiky number in the middle of the image below: an air plant that’s naturally embellished with rosy tips.

An air plant takes center stage in a festive arrangement

And now an alstroemeria close-up… One great benefit of these blossoms: they are long-lasting!

Alstroemeria in an ’80s vase

Let’s talk food! Here’s what you need for the dreamy appetizer below: fresh cucumbers, goat cheese, 1 beet, 1-2 lemons, a dash of milk. Use a vegetable peeler to create “stripes” down the sides of the cumbers, then slice them into rounds. Now combine the goat cheese with lemon juice and a touch of milk to make it creamy. Use a lemon zester to grate beet shreds into the mix. A little goes a long way, turning the mixture to pink! Place a dollop of rosy goat cheese on each cucumber, and top with lemon zest and pepper. Almost too pretty to eat!

Beet-infused goat cheese on cucumber slices

Our entertaining motto: why let good food go to waste? If you’re buying beets at the store to color a mound of goat cheese, why not use them in a salad? The simple salad below includes mixed greens, chopped red onion, and of course, beets! We sliced ours matchstick-style. A tangy citrus vinaigrette is the perfect topper to this refreshing dish.

Mixed greens salad with beets and onions

We now interrupt our broadcast with one more dose of ’80s style…

’80s Deco style

If you’re going to all of this trouble to create a fancy spread, the food itself should be easy to prepare. Which is why we love the idea of individual pizzas with colorful ingredients. To create ours, we used pita, red onions, yellow bell pepper, and fresh basil. One hint: crisp each pita round in the oven before you top it with ingredients and bake it. This will prevent the bread from getting soggy. Also, saute those veggies before you place them on the pizza!