We’ve been invited to a “pink party” for Valentine’s Day: All the food and drink are in shades of pink, with some touches of deeper rose and red. If you want to hold your own party, menu options are below.
There’s also a National Pink Day on June 23rd, so we’ve included some summery dishes.
You can make anything more pink with beet juice, red food color or rosy accents like pomegranate arils, raspberries and strawberries. You can make sauces and soups pinker with a touch of crème fraîche, mascarpone, sour cream, or plain yogurt.
You are encouraged to wear something pink to the party. Owning nothing pink, we’re donning pink nail polish.
PINK PARTY MENU
PINK & RED COCKTAILS
Champagne cocktail with pink sparkling wine
Cosmopolitans
Pink Champagne and strawberry punch
PINK & RED WINES
Pink sparkling wine (Yellowtail and Martini are great values)
Red Wine
Rosé
Cranberry or pomegranate juice spritzers (with white wine) or mocktails
Pomegranate Martini
Vodka and pink lemonade
There are scores and scores of other pink cocktails—just search online.
Bruschetta with strawberry-basil or tomato topping
Crab cocktail
Crudités: red bell peppers, radishes, cherry tomatoes, red Belgian endive, etc., with spicy pink dip (recipe below); you can include some celery, fennel or other pale vegetables for variety
Goat cheese log rolled in pink peppercorns
Hot dogs in jelly-mustard dip
Pink deviled eggs (soak peeled whole eggs in beet juice or food color)
Shrimp & strawberry salad (recipe in footnote* below)
Steak tartare or tuna tartare
PINK & RED SIDES
Beet salad or pickled beets
Cherry tomato salad
Radicchio and radish salad with pickled red onions
_______________ *Combine 3 cups cooked rice, 1/2 pound cooked, sliced shrimp and 3/4 cup thinly sliced celery in a large bowl. Make dressing with 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/2 cup strawberry yogurt, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and salt to taste. Dress the salad and then fold in 1-1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries. Chill and serve on a bed of greens.
PINK & RED SOUPS
Borscht (you can turn it from red to pink with sour cream)
Cream of tomato soup
Lobster or shrimp bisque
Red bell pepper purée
Red gazpacho
Tomato or watermelon gazpacho
PINK & RED DESSERTS
Cherry cheesecake
Fresh strawberries and raspberries
Pears poached in red wine
Pink frosted cake or cake pops
Pink ice pops (freeze your own from cherry or pomegranate juice)
1. MIX mayonnaise, sour cream, sherry, tarragon, garlic powder and hot sauce until well blended.
2. ADD a few drops of food coloring to desired shade of pink. If the dressing is too thick, you can thin it with a small amount of milk. Chill well before serving.
