Our neighbors are really nice. We met them when we moved into our new home. Not only did they help Jimmy and I settle in, but they invited us over for dinner and we still go over there a few times a month. Jimmy and I wanted to return the favor by making them dinner, but we wanted to do something a bit different. We decided give our dinner party a theme: Native Americans.

I called them up three other couples, making the total eight for dinner. I asked that they come to the house around five in the afternoon and be ready to change clothes. I rented costumes from a shop specializing in the costumes of native peoples. They brought over a variety of styles and sizes.

I love Native American flutes and drums, so I had plenty of CDs to choose from. We moved the stereo speakers onto the patio where dinner would be served. Jimmy piled up rocks around our hibachi grill to make it look like a cooking fire. He even used a recipe he found on the Internet to make some authentic Indian fry bread in a large, cast iron skillet. I made a dish using browned some ground beef, chopped up onions, garlic, cilantro which would be served on black beans and wild rice. I even picked up some some cactus fruit jam and mesquite blossom honey from a specialty food store put on fry bread for dessert. For drinks, because I didn't want to go too overboard with authentic American cuisine I served sodas, juice and Sebastiani wine.

Jimmy were already in our costumes when everyone arrived. Each guest went straight in to one of the bedrooms to change into costume. We all sat around the fire on blankets and ate fry bread with the main dish. I couldn't resist taking a few photos of our Native American feast.

Everyone loved the fry bread. I is very filling and quite tasty, especially with the honey. Jimmy also brought out a bag of marshmallows as a joke, but everyone really enjoyed them. They also prompted a round of ghost stories, though most were funnier than they were scary. Most likely because everyone was a little tipsy. Jimmy led a pretty good imitation of a Native American dance around the fire to the Native American music playing on the stereo. It was a good thing I had our video camera charged. The footage is hysterical!

The party lasted until about 1:00 in the morning, when everyone stumbled out of their costumes and towards their homes. Happily, everyone lived close enough to walk home. The next day I dropped off the video tape to have it professionally edited and copied while I was out returning the costumes.

Jimmy and I started something with our themed dinner party. Each of our guests have called me since that night telling me their ideas for the next one. I heard some of the couples a block over have heard about our party and want to throw their own themed dinner parties. It sounds like the entire neighborhood is becoming party central.