Apple-themed party with Chicago flavors galore

This is a bit off-season, as apples may just now be ripening in the Midwest. But with good family friends moving away because of the Think Different version of Apple, we had a bona fide theme on our hands.

Without local apples, I just bought a ton of Washington gayas and granny smiths to decorate and to cook with.

I’m pretty pleased with how things tied together, as we mashed up a Chicago food send off theme that my co-host dreamed up with Apple: Chicago beef, Chicago dogs, Chicago mix popcorn, Chicago sports pennants around the house, Chicago Bulls cake, plus apple pies in small Mason jars, apple crisp pies in cupcake pans, apple sauce, Chicago beer, and an Apple brandy drink appropriately named “New Day.”

The best part was that somewhere in the depths of our basement was a set of 9 Think Different posters from the old Apple advertising campaign. We had enough old framed kid posters in the basement that we managed to get them all framed and posted throughout the house.

Notes: New Day was extremely strong on its own, so I literally watered it down by letting it sit in ice for a bit before shaking. I also doubled (sometimes tripled) the orange juice. And then, as the party got rolling, I altered the recipe a bit by topping off drinks with peach bubbly. Delish…but potent.

See fun, easy recipes for apple pies in Mason jars here at Our Best Bites.

Because Chicago dogs are most authentic when steamed, these were easy to do for a crowd in a crock pot. Just put the Vienna beef dogs vertically in a crock pot and put on high for 4 hours or until warmed through. This was great for a party where the kids pretty much outnumbered the adults.

We didn’t even attempt Italian beef from scratch. My co-host picked up a party pack at Buona Beef, a local chain that serves up a pretty succulent Italian beef and includes the works (peppers, hot peppers, bread) in their party packs. We only needed to warm it up in a crock pot.