Ribs. I had ribs for lunch, that's why I'm doing this.

They say the way into a man’s heart is through his stomach. We couldn’t agree more. Looking for man-friendly recipe  ideas for your next couples shower or man shower? Don’t stress. We’ve got you covered. Check out some of our ideas to get your creative juices flowing and, of course, feel free to put your own unique spin on them. Keep in mind that these recipes also work great if you’re preparing food for the rehearsal dinner.

A simple, fail-safe idea is to go with a Super Bowl or tailgate party theme. Remember that nearly any food can be fried or grilled. If you have a deep fryer on hand, the possibilities are virtually endless. A few of our favorite foods to fry: fish, chicken wings, cheese, pickles, zucchini, peppers, olives and mushrooms. For grilling, you can go with the traditional burgers, dogs, brats, barbeque chicken, meat and veggie kabobs, fish, or try kicking things up a notch by grilling something a little different such as spicy lamb sliders. To increase the flavor, try grilling on cedar planks. If your guests are die-hard sports fans, try using a burger or dog grill topper with your crowd’s favorite team logo or mascot.

A few more of our favorite recipe ideas:

Tacos/burritos – fill soft tortillas with your meat of choice, pico de gallo, cheese, sour cream and guacamole.

Pigs in a blanket – wrap vienna sausages, polish sausages or hot dogs with store-bought crescent rolls. Lightly brush the outsides with garlic butter and bake.

Bacon-wrapped apricots or dates – because bacon goes well with anything. (recipe at Real Simple)

7-layer dip – Refried beans, jalapenos and fresh avacado. What else is there in life? (recipe at Food Network)

Potato salad with bacon – it takes about 20 minutes to prepare, but the memory of its taste will last a lifetime. (recipe at Real Simple)

Grilled cheese sandwiches with chutney – a fresh take on an All-American classic. (recipe at Real Simple)

Spiced beef empanadas -a great example of something you could buy pre-made in the frozen food section at your local grocery store – if you don’t care about taste. This recipe from Real Simple would get two thumbs up from us if we were willing to put down our empanadas.

Bottom line: Go with your gut. If you like it, odds are your guest will, too. Just make sure to offer a little variety (and a few veggie options for non-meat-eaters) and you’ll be sure to please everyone. Cheers!

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Do you know have any favorite recipes that would work for a manly wedding shower? Let us know in the comments section below.

Guest Blogger Profile: Simon Daykin

I blogged about the Man Shower a few weeks ago and I thought I would re-visit it, because it has so much potential.  So…let’s get the obvious themes out of the way shall we?  The scotch bar, the tequila bar, the vodka, gin, and any other booze related bar theme.  While these are all good and fine to use, I want to suggest some more creative themes you can have for your Mighty Man Shower.  I previously made a reference to a signature drink theme which I definitely recommend reading.

Liquor & Beer: It goes without saying your theme will involve one (or both) of these

Spuds For All

I grew up in England and in England there was a little food place called “Spud U Like”, it was a shop that sold huge baked potatoes and you could put whatever you liked on them (I know England isn’t known for its food, but this was a great place)This is a great theme and relatively cheap as well.  All you need are big ass spuds.  When you send out the invite to your Mighty Man Shower, let the attendees know that this is what you’re doing.  They have to bring their favorite topping for a baked potato, simple right.  Well this goes well beyond cheese and bacon bits.  Think chili, baked beans, gourmet cheeses and a variety of really good meat.  Imagine a baked potato smothered in Blue cheese and steak strips.  The toppings are endless really.  This also works for hot dogs.

It’s A Manly Man, Man, Man Shower

As guys we love sports…I know whenever I can, I head to the bar with my friends and watch the UFC fights.  Good times.  You can have a sports themed Man Shower.  Get each of your friends to pick their favorite sports team, wear that jersey and bring a dish that is well known for the city that team hails from.  Philly is known for steak sandwiches so you better hope you have a friend who likes a team from Philly.  Chicago is known for deep dish pizza, New York for its thin crust, of course you run the risk of your buddy who loves the LA Lakers to show up with sushi…but you get the idea.  Get some great hi-lite DVD’s and some beer and there ya go!  Don Cherry’s Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Hockey is always a crowd-pleaser.

You’re The Don, The Godfather, The Big Canoli

The Sopranos may be off the air and Michael Corleone is probably sleeping with the fishes by now, but that’s no reason you can’t dig into a great plate of pasta “just like mamma used to make”.  The mafia themed Man Shower is so good, anyone who snitches about it will be fitted with concrete shoes.  All your guys come as their favorite gangster, try to think past the obvious ones and get creative.  The Simpsons have a whole mafia family to draw inspiration from.  Have them write down who they are, they must stay in character the whole night and you get to guess who they are.  Onto the food, pasta of course and plenty of red wine.  Put some classic Mob films into the DVD changer, push play and enjoy.

Simon’s Gutsy Groom Advice

First and foremost, if you’re having booze at the Mighty Man Shower, don’t drink and drive.  Make sure you have places for your guys to crash or get cabs or Keys Please.  I always love a party with a good theme, I live for my annual Halloween parties.  So put your head together with your best man and come up with one kick ass theme for your Mighty Man Shower.  Remember, this has nothing to do with your stag.  It’s a shower like the one your fiancé has.  Gifts are up to you, but if she’s getting stuff I honestly believe you should as well.

Stags can be expensive for all involved, if you go to Vegas or the Playboy Mansion. I had a groom head down to Carnival in Brazil for his stag.  The Mighty Man Shower can be hosted at a friend’s place or even your place.  I suggest having a large space, preferably with a rec room and/or dedicated TV room.  And hey, if you’re worried about the clean-up, you can always have your buddies chip in to hire a house cleaner for the next day.

Guest Blogger Profile: Simon Daykin

A Man Shower you say? Yeah!!! The bride gets to have a shower, sometimes more than one actually. So why has the groom been left out of this? Sure we need a better name for it, but we can work on that. The bride gets her friends together, they have little sandwiches, drink tea and she gets gifts. (In my mind anyway) So pick a day, get your boys together and let’s get this Man Shower started.

A rare photo of the very first man shower dating back to 1864

A Great Space And Keep The Appies Coming

So you need a cool venue space, I suggest a great basement at your house or a friends place. If you can get a space with a rec room that is great, fooseball, a pool table and some sort of big ass TV with a gaming system would be perfect! Now we have that sorted lets talk food. We love stuff we can eat with our fingers, or as Homer Simpson once commented…”Anything you can stick a tooth pick into”. Wings, mini pizzas, mini tacos, meatballs and the like work great, I like to make my own wing sauce, so maybe have a few of your friends make their own sauces, you get plain wings, breaded and not. You’ll need a deep fryer. Fry up the wings and toss them in the different sauces, you could even offer a prize for the sauce your guys like the most. This gives the guys an incentive to really pull out the stops. You can even have them write out their sauce recipes and hand them out at the party.

She Got Gifts, I Want Some Too

My wife came back from her shower with gifts. Stuff for the kitchen, serving platters and what not. I got SQUAT! For the Man Shower you should get man gifts. Gadgets, power tools, stuff you don’t need but is really cool. You can register for these things or you can have the guy organizing the Man Shower provide guests with a list of cool man gifts you may need. So remember to coordinate with him on how best to get you some kick ass man gifts. I found a great site www.thinkgeek.com and they have some amazing gadgets.

Register for your Man Shower gifts at The Man Registry

Liquor??? I Hardly Know Her!

Yeah, I know…bad joke. But seriously, you can’t get your boys together and not offer a few drinks. Beers from around the world is a good theme. Each guy brings a 6 or 12 and you just toss ‘em all into the ice tub and grab what ya like. Oh yeah, if possible get a big old steel tub to hold your beers, it’s manly. You could also get a world map, each guy gets a set of colored pins, after you consume a beer, you find the country on the map and claim it with your pin. There is no single winner in this game, because EVERYBODY wins!!! You can also do a Scotch tasting bar, a Tequila bar, a Wine bar or Martinis from your favorite Bond movie. I know, he drinks only 2 versions but hey, get creative.

Simon’s Gutsy Groom Advice

Make sure all your guests have a way home or you have enough space for everyone to sleep where they fall. Do not let your guests drink and drive, not cool and certainly not worth it. So the ideas given above were for a specific Man Shower, you can class it up if you like. There are no real rules other than these. The Man Shower takes place on a different day and is not in any way associated with your stag. This is a stand alone event to get you more stuff and hang out with your guys. Brides get additional showers and even a lot of the stuff you register for will be used by her and her alone. Grooms tend to get left out of a lot of stuff, and I say it’s time to step up and take back the party.

In the wise words of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor, there’s nothing wrong with a little “more power” or with doing things “the man way.”

AAAAOOOGGGHHH (or whatever that sound he always made was)

But, does doing things the “man way” end on the wedding day? Many grooms say that their #1 fear associated with marriage is that they’re going to become “domesticated sissies” (their words, not ours). Is this a legit fear? Will grooms be forced to put their buffers, sanders, and grinders into storage and learn how to knit? For you future grooms reading this – rest assured. Your manly days are not over. We’ve got one very important phrase for you to get used to: Honey-Do List.

Not familiar with the honey-do list? Here’s a sample:

• - Clean the gutters
• - Stain the new bookshelf
• - Install the new ceiling fan in the spare bedroom
• - Clean up the empty beer cans scattered throughout the backyard (from when you last mowed the lawn)

As you can imagine, this list never stops growing. We recommend getting prepared for these duties by planning a home improvement wedding shower so you won’t be attacking this honey-do list empty handed. You can even create a guy-friendly wedding registry to fill in the gaps in your tool collection. Some popular gifts at home improvement showers are drills, saws, wet dry vacs, and power paint equipment. Oftentimes, groups of friends or family will go in together on tool sets and tool storage chests.

Any great home improvement shower stories or suggestions out there? Let’s hear ‘em!

Okay guys, most of us have heard of Johnnie Walker Scotch. For those of you who haven’t, we highly recommend trying it. There are several different types (or blends) of this great scotch. The cheapest, which most of us are familiar with, is called Red Label.  Red Label is common in many bars and is a great scotch for making cocktails or even drinking straight or on the rocks. For those of you with a more distinguished taste, Johnnie Walker has the scotch for you. In addition to Red Label, there are several other blends, in order from cheapest to most expensive: Black Label, Green Label, Gold Label, and for the most distinguished gentlemen, the famous Blue Label. At The Man Registry, we prefer Johnnie Walker Blue Label. However, because this is the most expensive of the blends, we’ve devised a way for every person and their friends to be able to enjoy the heavenliness that is Blue Label on the lips. It’s a fun and creative way to get your friends together and have a cocktail party like celebrities do: a cocktail party we like to call “Keep on Walking, Johnnie.”

Believe it or not, this blog post is not a paid advertisement from Johnnie Walker

This party idea isn’t cheap, but broken up between friends and fellow gentlemen, most groups can make it manageable. (If you’re looking for a theme for a couples’ shower or groom’s shower, this may be it). First, you’ll need all of your friends to chip in and come up with a total of about $400. Not bad, considering that for $40, you and nine of your friends will all be in for a great night. For the average 750ml of scotch, there are roughly 17 shots, so everyone in the party should have a good time if you have all five common types of Johnnie Walker scotch. Before the party begins, disguise the bottles so that no one, including you, knows which bottle is which. With all of the scotch that will be consumed, it’s a good idea to have plenty of food or appetizers available as well (see our past blog about app day to possibly combine the festivities).

When everyone arrives, make sure you have enough shot glasses or highballs available so you aren’t drinking this divine scotch out of plastic cups. When all of the participants (read: investors in fun) have arrived, start pouring the scotch. Each player should then record each scotch drink of shot in order of their most favorite to least favorite (similar to a mystery wine tasting event). Once all of the scotches have been sampled, uncover the different bottles and see who has the most distinguished pallet. We recommend congratulating the winner or winners with the remainder of the Blue Label bottle. Of course, the most gracious winners will allow the others enjoy the remainder of the bottle with them, but that’s up to them. Most of all, this is an opportunity for all of you to get the chance to drink with the best of ‘em. Have fun, and help Johnnie Keep on Walking.

- Jimmy Horner (Co-founder of TheManRegistry.com & lover of JW Blue Label)

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TheManRegistry.com

Grooms, create your man wedding registry and get personalized groomsmen gifts at TMR.