Easy Wine and Cheese Pairing Chart

Michigan vs. Notre Dame

Occasion: Of Course... a Michigan Game, which in my house is somewhat a kin to a large mideveal religious festival. I am sure one day my kids will get in trouble at school when asked what their favorite holiday is and they reply, "Big Ten Opener."

Number of people: 12 or so, we had some stragglers and some early leavers

Menu:
Roast beef and turkey mini sandwiches with garden lettuce and heirloom tomatoes
Pretzel Rods with homemade dijon honey mustard dipping sauce
Tortilla chips and salsa
Chocolate chip cookies some with ice-cream some without

Signature drink: Maize-ito Blue Shooters

Total budget: about $100 bucks not including beer, the guests mostly brought their own

What worked: It was super casual, which was nice. I kept all the food down stairs which helped with the flow of the party as well as clean-up. Usually it would take all sunday to recover from one of our parties and here I am up at 4am and the house is clean. Mostly cleaned by Dave but I did the kitchen bit this morning in about two hours with only one load of dishes in the dishwasher and one simple cleaning of serving trays. The plastic plates, finger food, and no silver ware was also a plus and certainly alleviated clean-up requirements.

Of everything that I was most surprised with was the amazing cost savings provided by Costco. I got everything I needed for the party for less than $60. Which in Sandy's world of partying is like getting a new car for a dollar.

What I can learn from this party and what I can improve on for the next one:

I learned a couple of things: one is that people really do prefer homemade small batch food. The cold cuts were not really a smash hit. I mean they were fine and in a pinch I would do them again. But I think the next game we host we will have to do... maybe a chili bar set up downstairs or a mexican fiesta taco bar. It took me less than 20 minutes to set up everything for downstairs, but I think I would have been better served to set up a make your own sandwhich station and let people make their own.

I think a food table downstairs besides the coffee table would also help, so people can serve themselves without getting in the way of the people watching the game.

I hate throwing vast amounts of stale tortilla chips. Especially when you buy in bulk I have in a plastic bag by the door enough tortilla chips to keep a mexican restaurant in the black for weeks. I think putting the chips in a air tight container and only serving out small bowls might be a better alternative.

The pretzels and the mustard sauce were good, but next time, I think a grainy mustard would have been better.

I made the cookies during the party, which, in retrospect, I totally could have done the night before and that way they could have been down stairs.

The maize-ito jello shots were a big hit, but for some reason I always forget to spray the cups, but they were delicious, and the little condiment cups with the covers worked like a dream.

All in all it was great party, mostly because Michigan won. (Thank you Lord, it is not pretty in my house when Michigan loses. Think invasion of France grown men crying in the streets.)

MVP (Most Valuable Party-helper): Costco, for ease of shopping, amounts, and getting everything done in 30 minutes for $60.
Paper plates and finger foods: for significant reduction in cleanup
Condiment cups with covers: for keeping the party going in a oh so cute mini way

Recipe of the Party: Mustard Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 cup of grainy mustard
1/2 cup of condensed milk

Method:
1. Mix all ingredients into a bowl
2. Enjoy with pretzels

Drink of the Party Recipe Maize-ito Blue Jello Shooters (makes 40)
2 cups of sugar
2 sprigs of mint
2 limes
1 cup of boiling water
1 cup of light rum
2 cups of cold water
4 packets of flavor-less gelatin
Non-stick spray

Method:
1. Set up the little mini cups on a large sheet pan with a rim, spray with flavorless non-stick spray
2. In a large pitcher pour the rum, cold water, and the juice of two limes.
2. Empty the packets of gelatin over the cold liquid and allow to sit for 5 minutes, stir
3. In a small sauce pan add the sugar, boiling water, mint, and the rinds of the limes you just squeezed over medium high heat until it boils and the sugar dissolves.
4. Through a strainer, pour the hot liquid into the cold gelatin mixture.
5. Decant into the mini little cups and cover. Now you know why I told you to put it in the pitcher...
6. Let cool for about 2 hours until firm... cheers!

Another Baby Shower!!!

So we are having another Baby Shower!!! The snowmeggedon babies are almost here. This one is for my dear friend Blythe. She is going to be one of those moms that make most moms jealous. On her worst hairdays she looks beautiful. Her clothes are always coordinated with a one of kind vintage peice seamlessly incorporated. Suffice it to say she is poshe. And how to celebrate a poshe mother? Why a poshe baby shower at an exclusive rooftop club, with a gorgeous view, delish food, and an avant garde theme. What could be more avant garde than Dr. Suess. So here are the shower invites. Very inexpensive from Suessland.com. I was having trouble incorporating a baby theme into a night club, Dr. Suess, and my dear friend Leslie, were just the ticket. There won't be any games or finding the poopy diaper. This will just be an intimate get together with friends toasting our dear friend and her soon to be little miracle.

Gorgeous Fall Wedding Invitations

I love invitations and cards and any sort of beautiful paper. I always have. I think it is genetic, I'm Egyptian, my people invented papyrus... just go with me on this. But I had to show off this gorgeous elegant wedding invitation that I received from some very dear friends. I just love the theme for a fall wedding. It would be gorgeous to recreate for a harvest party or a fall get-together. If I didn't already have my Thanksgiving invitations, I would definitely make a design inspired by these lovely papers. It is fall, but not ketch, and all together gorgeous and elegant.

Belini-tini

I love cocktail recipes, for any occasion, for Tuesday afternoon is perfectly legitimate in my book. My favorite chef Jose Andre at his restaurant Café Atlántico has a drink they call “from farm to glass.” This is my rendition of farm fresh super sweet and delicious peaches made into a perfect little cocktail.

This is a take on a Bellini. Usually a Bellini is white peach puree and Prosecco. According to the contributors at Wikipedia, the drink was invented between 1934-1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani, of Harry’s Bar in Venice. The pink color of the drink reminded Giuseppe of a saint’s toga in a painting by Giovanni Bellini. Thus the name and beautifully hued drink was born.

This tini would be a lovely addition to brunch or a casual summer dinner.

3 ripe peaches

6 ounces of vanilla vodka

A splash of club soda or Prosecco/Cava/Champagne

Wedding Invitations used for Thanksgiving Dinner

Bride Magazine's Invites can be purchased at Micheal's

There is a great lost art in that of the well written, beautifully designed party invitation. Really the only paper invitations you find any longer are those for weddings. I like Evite and Pingg, there is the blasted temptation of using only an e-vite so you can easily track RSVPs and save on postage. But…. You lose the incredible joy of receiving something in the mail besides a bill, something lovely, with textured paper and verbose writing that makes you feel if just for a moment that you are lady in a Victorian romance novel receiving a love letter. And that moment, that fleeting, ridiculous moment, where you feel special, that is why I love to receive and send out invitations. Truth be told, I designed, printed, cut, and sent out my wedding invites. They were lovely and unique. But I have found something better… Target, Michael’s, and even Wal-Mart now sell printable wedding invitations made by gorgeous paperies.

Don’t get me wrong, I love “like a junkie loves a fix” Paper-Source and Papyrus. But the truth is they are just so stinkin’ expensive. At Michael’s I found Bride Magazine’s shower invitations and not only are they gorgeous and professional looking, they are also $7.99 for 12! Hip-hip hooray! These are the invitations I am going use for Thanksgiving. It also complemented the colors that I picked for the event. I mulled it over and while I am torn by using a taupe and hunter green, or a honey and wheat. I decided on taupe, olive green, and accents of apricot orange and merlot burgundy. Yes, I made up the names of those colors but… poetic license is a license you give yourself.

Amanda's Baby Shower

Once in a while you are blessed beyond measure, completely unexpected and undeservedly. One February day my cup ran over when I happened upon the three of the most wonderful women. I say blessed because I was, I had started, begrudgingly, a Bible Study and these three women were assigned by my church. It is hard to believe that we were placed together, harder to believe that has been so many years since we met. But over time, we have met, become close friends, some of us got married, some of have babies, and through it all we have stayed close friends. There are four of us,Leslie, Caitlin, and Amanda.Through tears of joy and tears of pain they have stood by me, and I by them.

Amanda is having a baby, a little girl due Nov 12. We are overjoyed by the new addition to our ridiculous guacamole obsessed group. But we are also completely devastated as Amanda and her husband are moving away. Despite the overwhelming sadness, we had to celebrate this new little miracle and we did so at Tea Time. We used Eric Carle "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" as our inspiration.

12 teas were brewed and labeled with butterfly cut-out notes.

We choose a Saturday at 3 pm to start the Tea. We used my mother's lavish living room and gorgeous deck as a back drop. Together the girls and I celebrated with a menu of various teas both hot and cold, canapes and sweets. We placed everything on a large dinning room table except for teas. We used an antique Italian tea cart to hold the various brewed teas as well as honey, lemon, sugar and cream. The iced teas and the watermelon limeade were placed on the table with the rest of the menu items. The Watermelon Limeade was our signature drink and that in a gorgeous Carnival Glass punch bowl.

Amanda's Butterfly Tea Menu

Home-made iced Butterfly cookies.

Smoked Salmon, herbed goat cheese spread on Cucumbers

Caprise Salad Skewers

Fig, honey, goat cheese canapes

Herbed goat cheese balls

Fruit Skewers with cream cheese dressing

strawberry baby bunt cakes

Various Tarts

Butterfly Cookies

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

We planned the party for the afternoon. We had our meal on the porch and then came inside to open presents and do our planned Baby Shower Activities. We had a Baby Trivia game, a design your own Baby Bib, and we all signed a copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Favors were homemade royal-iced butterfly cookies with Thank you notes.