Throwing dinner parties with friends is one of our favorite things to do and we try to have one at least once every few months. It’s so fun to get together and we love it even more when we come up with a unique theme or food idea that leaves our friends eagerly anticipating the next soiree!

Sometimes we provide all the food and ask our friends to bring a drink, other times it’s best to have everyone contribute a dish, potluck style. Either way, coming up with at least one special treat is something that sets our parties apart from the rest.

Any excuse to throw a party, right? Here are some unique and fun party ideas that we think are awesome.

• Base the party around one specific ingredient. Do you love cilantro? Have everyone bring a dish that incorporates it. Or maybe it’s an all chocolate party that includes Turkey Chili with chocolate! Yes, that recipe exists, and yes it is as delicious as it sounds.
• Have everyone bring a dish from their home town. Are you from New England? Get fancy with it and fly lobsters in straight from Maine. Companies like Getmainelobster.com will overnight fresh Maine lobster meals, whoopie pies included! We’re from Florida, so a key lime pie is a great choice. The options are endless with this one!
• Celebrate your favorite Food Network star by making their signature dishes. Have everyone bring a recipe made by a chef they love. Foodnetwork.com posts new recipes from their stars all the time.
• Playing off of the ingredient idea, how about making a dinner party that celebrates one kind of food. Mac and cheese night, gourmet hot dogs, or the always favorite grilled cheese sandwich are just a few that come to mind.
• Have a Pinterest party! Ask everyone to bring their favorite food or drink recipe that they found on Pinterest.
• Be daring and have a party with dishes that are a bit more daring than most people would expect. Load the menu with things like escargot, calamari, oysters, steak tar tar or anything that challenges your friend’s palates.