How to Host a Haute Oscar Party at Home

If you didn’t receive that golden ticket to this year’s Academy Awards, not to worry — you can still throw an equally haute bash at home! Here are tips, tricks and recipes from the experts on how to feel like you were actually at the Oscars. So turn that frown upside down, have a good time in the proximity of your living room, be thankful you’ll actually be allowed to eat (unlike the starlets sitting in the front row) and prepare to have one heck of a haute time!

INVITE

Feel like you’ve been personally invited by the Academy itself by creating invitations Evite Postmark’s new Oscar Collection by Marc Friedland, which are actually Academy-sanctioned digital invitations. As a bonus, Marc also happenes to be the designer of the Academy Award winners’ envelope and invitations for all 2013 Oscar events.

EAT

If you can’t be at the Governors’ Ball sampling Wolfgang Puck’s delicacies, we’ve got the next best thing. Crumble Catering and Gordon Ramsay have teamed up to cater the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party (in our opinion, the hautest ticket in town), and owners Wayne Elias and Chris Diamond have shared a recipe to one of the dishes they’ll be serving.

Passion Fruit Succulent Shrimp with Chili Lime Sauce

12 medium shrimp peeled and de-veined
1 cup of passion fruit purée
1 table spoon of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Chili Lime Sauce
1 Serrano chili
1 steam of lemon grass
6 kefir lime leaves
1 springs of cilantro
1/2 cup of salad oil

To make the shrimp
Sautéed shrimp in a medium pan
For 3 minutes add the passion fruit purée
And cooked for another 3 minutes

To make the sauce
Clean the lemon grass and diced fine
And add the rest of the ingredients to the blender
Salt and white pepper
And strained

To present
4 whole kiwis
12 bamboo skewers
1/2 cup of micro cilantro

Sliced kiwis in 3 rounds
Skewer the shrimp
Put them on the sliced kiwi
And put couple drops on the shrimp
And topped with the micro cilantro

Conversely, you can also order in (and pretend that you cooked) with Out of the Box Collective. Los Angeles’s premier farm to table home delivery service is paying tribute to the 85th Academy Awards© by delivering boxes with five delicious recipes created by renowned Oscar© winning foodies, plus all the locally produced, non-GMO, pesticide and hormone-free ingredients, in time to prepare and enjoy during awards week. For $220, the Oscar Family Box includes:

§  5 complete meals including ingredients and recipes for:
§  Francis Ford Coppola’s “Godfather” Spaghetti
§  Mrs. Scorcese’s Lemon Chicken
§  Robert Redford’s Lamb Chili with Black Beans
§  Mariel Hemingway‘s Poached Eggs on Wilted Greens
§  Gwyneth Paltrow’s Healthy Fried Rice with Kale & Spring Onions

DRINK

Soho House is the hottest spot to hang out during Awards Season, full stop. It also happens to be where the real after-after parties are held. Soho House Creative Bar Director Chris Ojeda shared the specialty drink the A-list might be imbibing when they’re ready to let their hair down post-ceremony. Says Ojeda: “The Garrick’s Club was a private members club in London that lent itself to a theatrical crowd with a membership composed of popular artists of that time. This was the official punch the club would serve, which I think captures the celebratory spirit of Oscar season. This is a versatile cocktail perfect for those who entertain in their homes as it can be prepared individually or served as a punch so guests can help themselves.”

Single Serve Garrick’s Club Punch

1.5 oz Bombay London Dry Gin (a traditional London Dry Gin works great here as you want something with lots of Juniper to compliment the champagne) 1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino liqueur (can also substitute St. Germain)
Dash of simple syrup (use raw sugar and dissolve in water two parts sugar to one part water)
Champagne
Freshly grated nutmeg & slice of lemon, to garnish
Combine Gin, lemon juice, liqueur and simple syrup. Pour into a glass and top with champagne. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg and a slice of lemon.

Punch Version (can be made one day ahead)

8oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1 – 750ml bottle of Bombay London Dry Gin
16oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
4oz Simple Syrup (to taste)
1 – 750ml bottle of Brut Champagne
Large ice block
Freshly grated nutmeg, to garnish
Oleo Sacchrum
3 lemons
3-4 tablespoons of granulated sugar

To make the “Sweet Oli” Oleo sacchrum, peel 3 lemons, avoiding the pith as much as possible. Add the sugar and muddle together until sugar is completely dissolved.

In a large punchbowl, combine the Liqueur, Dry Gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, champagne, ice, and oleo sacchrum. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

If cocktails aren’t your thing, sip on wines by Sterling, the official wine of the Governors Ball, or award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola’s specialty “Director’s” and “Director’s Cut’ wines.