by Cindy Viesselman

Created on: August 31, 2008

If you're lucky enough to visit the islands, you're lucky enough.

And even if you haven't had the good fortune to go on an island vacation, you can still host a Caribbean theme party that is sure to make your guests feel as if they've entered a tropical paradise.

Party invitations should reflect the Caribbean flavor of the party. It's simple to make invitations on the computer, adding appropriate clip art and printing the invites on blue or turquoise paper. Ready-made invitations are available at www.orientaltrading.com, including a die-cut tropical print shirt invite.

To provide atmosphere on party night, you will need reggae (rag AY) music. Go to www.amazon.com to find used CDs for under $10.00. If you're not sure which CD to get, choose a Bob Marley CD. Bob Marley was a well-known Jamaican singer whose song "One Love" is a reggae standard. It's the background music heard on the Jamaican tourism television commercials.

You won't need CDs if you have a satellite tv subscription through Dish Network. Dish has music channels including an all reggae music channel (Channel 6084 SIRIUS Reggae Rhythms).

When it comes to food and drink, think tropical. Choose fresh fruit and dust off your blender to make fruity flavored rum drinks. Any available seafood would make a great entree, as would jerk seasoned meat, a popular Jamaican dish.

Here's a sample recipe:

Grilled Jerk Pork Chops

One fourth cup chopped onion
One and one fourth teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
One teaspoon each sugar, paprika, and ground allspice
One half teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
One eighth teaspoon cinnamon
One stick (one half cup) butter, softened
Four one half inch thick rib pork chops (about 4 oz each, patted dry)

Heat grill. Mince and mash seasoning ingredients to a coarse paste (scant 3 T). In a medium bowl, gradually stir one tablespoon paste into the butter. Rub chops all over with remaining paste.
Place chops on oiled rack 5 to 6 inch over glowing coals. Grill 4 minutes per side or until just cooked through. Top each chop with one teaspoon flavored butter and serve.

A colorful vegetable salad would make a good side dish for your Caribbean party and any dessert featuring coconut or pineapple would complete your tropical meal.

To set your island-themed table, begin with a light blue table cloth to represent the ocean. Placemats or chargers in shades of blue, turquoise and green could be layered on top. Green paper cut in the shape of palm leaves could be used in lieu of placemats or chargers

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