If you're throwing a baby shower for a mommy-to-be that's already got everything she needs, don't despair. There's a kind of baby shower that is easy on everybody and helps the new mom out after she's had the baby. It's called a baby shower casserole party.
The main idea of this kind of baby shower is to make it easier for the new mom to spend time with her baby by providing her with a few dinners ready in the freezer. It's something that we all do when we go to visit the baby for the first time, so why not formalize it as a shower?
It's best if you hold this shower almost at the end of her term or just after she comes back from the hospital.
When inviting your friends over, indicate in the invitations that this baby shower is intended to give the mommy-to-be a little breathing space by giver her good, hot meals for her family. Ask them to prepare a favorite casseroles or one-pot meal for four to six people and include the recipe so it's something she can make again. Request that the food be put in a freezer-safe disposable container (with heating instructions, date cooked and “use by” information written on the lid) or if it's to be frozen in a casserole and the owner wants it back, to stick a bit of masking tape underneath with their name and the heating instructions and other information.
A great way to remember this event is to create a memory/recipe book for easy-to-cook meals. The front of the book can hold a few pictures and captions of the baby shower casserole party and the remaining pages could have places to slip the casserole recipe cards in and out, plus additional spaces for recipes that the new mom discovers. You can custom make this memory book or simply use a photo book with plastic envelopes for 5R pictures.
Fresh produce and groceries could be used to decorate the area. Create a “bouquet” of fresh herbs in a water glass and center your buffet table with a basketful of colorful fresh fruits and vegetables. Pick up on this garden theme by using colorful ribbons throughout the room – tomato red, lemon yellow, parsley green, eggplant purple – to coordinate. The ribbons can be tied onto the glasses holding the herb bouquets, to make little bundles of cutlery and napkins, and to add that special finishing touch to the display basket.
With so much food at the center of attention, it's doubtful that people will be too hungry! You could prepare a simple meal of assorted rolls, cheese, deli meats, and a salad plus a cake for dessert to make sure no one goes home with an empty stomach.
“Guess that Food” is a great theme game for this. Provide up to seven different brown paper bags with a little bit of food inside. The object is to smell the contents of the bag and list down what you think it is. The one with the most guesses correct wins – a small casserole dish, maybe? Try using sweet and savory food to make the game more challenging.
And a great favor for this baby shower casserole party is pre-prepared
food. You can make a soup mix or a hot chocolate or even a cookie
mix and package it in a glass jar, complete with instructions and
that ubiquitous bit of ribbon.