March 13, 2017

March Big Tournament Party

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March Big Tournament Party. Each March our family gets bitten by the college basketball bug. The rest of the year, we really don’t even watch basketball, but, come March, it’s on! We have EPIC viewing parties, and game brackets. This year is no different!Our parties are known for having great food and drinks, and lots of fun! I made a quick stop at SafeWay to grab our favorite Coca-Cola™ and Coca-Cola Zero™ in mini cans and glass bottles. (There is literally no drink better than an ice cold Coca-Cola or Coca-Cola Zero in a glass bottle) I also grabbed some snacks and a little cake for the party. I decided to try a new snack recipe this time, Easy “Quesadilla” Dip with Wheat Thins, and I am so glad I did! Find YouTube videos of the recipe here as well as additional Big Tournament recipes using Mondelez and Coca-Cola products. Wheat Thins, cheese dip, fresh fruits and veggies rounded out our snack table. We served dinner food on a different table later in the party too. I set up a small table against our brick wall, and hung one of my sons’ small basket ball hoop on the wall. I used a plastic basketball court style table cloth on the table, with a fun HOOPS printable banner from Pineapple Paper Co. on the front. I scattered paper lantern basketballs in front of the table. I used a variety of white cake plates on the table for the Coca-Cola mini cans and Coke Zero bottles, as well as for the actual cake. I dressed some of the glass Coke Zero bottles in basketball jerseys for fun. (When I host a party, I keep some drinks in a cooler, and others on the tables so my guests can see what I have available without having to dig through a cooler) Coca-Cola mini cans had paper straws stuck on them with coordinating party circles paper punched to fit on the straws. A small bowl of chocolate basketballs and basketball hackey sacks was placed in front of the cake. A similar style bowl was filled and refilled with Wheat Thins, and a crock pot kept a spicy quesadilla dip warm throughout the whole party on the opposite side of the table.

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We set up a toddler basketball hoop in the great room and guests played knee basketball during game breaks. I can happily tell you the ladies took the W for this tournament! However, the guys beat the ladies quite handily with the headband basketball game we played.