Celebrating Valentine's Day

 We celebrated Valentine's Day as a family with presents coming in for my husband starting the Thursday before. Freddy woke up to a Valentine's Day basket sent by balloons, filled with what else, but 24 bouncy balls. The best present ever... of course.

For breakfast I made egg in the hole toast, except the hole was a heart. I had been making heart shaped breakfast all week for my Red Velvet Pancake Recipe you can check out my recipe blog.

Freddy brought Valentine Cookies and Cupcakes to class.

For dinner Grandma came over and we made pizza. I cut pepperoni's in the shape of hearts to make them a little special. It was the best Valentine's I can remember.

Cookie Crafternoon Pre-Valentine's Party

Pre-celebration of Valentine's Day two of my girlfriends got together for a crafternoon of glory. We made cookies... lots of cookies: almond macarons with nutella filling, chocolate macarons with cherry filling, heart shaped shortbread cookies, filled shortbread cookies. 

One of my girl friends brought food coloring markers which we enjoyed making fun faces on our hearts. 

Leslie's brain child was a black cookie, which we thought would have made a hilarious heart, but we ended up making shortbread sandwiches. Which were very tasty but looked something like a homemade oreo... 

Easy Holiday Party Menu

Happy Holidays everybody... I hope it was wonderful. My husband and I have hosted a Christmas Party every year since we started dating. Suffice it to say it has changed much over the years. I believe that I have found a way to streamline the party, so it easy to prepare and easy to enjoy. Here are my top 10 of learned lessons... I hope they help.

1. Crockpot. Save your sanity and your oven. You can make almost any main course in your crockpot. Set it and forget it, just remember to serve it before you guests come.
2. Think platters. Serve yourself platters inspire feasting feeling of abundance and do not need to be passed around or kept hot like miniature appetizers. I love mini-apps, mini chicken and waffles, tiny pots of mac n'cheese. But let's be realistic, save it for small dinner parties and catering companies.
3. Punches. Don't waste time or money on hiring a bar tender. Just make one punch bowl full of something tasty, and have wine, beer, soda pops, and water.
4. Eco-friendly disposables. Don't do dishes... there is an entirely new breed of eco-friendly disposables that are either recycled and recyclable or compost-able.
5. Don't do desserts. We always spark up our chocolate fountain and make homemade marshmallows and chocolate chip cookies and put out fruit to dip. Most people aren't going to go in for massive sugar rush, so one dessert is plenty. Cupcakes, cannoli, mini pies, easy to make, easy to eat, and even easier if you buy them.
6. Candles. Centerpieces and flowers can be difficult if not expensive for parties. Use lots of candles it makes your home feel instantly welcoming, cozy, and well lit for pictures.
7. Music. Keep the music lively and a little loud, so guests feel energized and welcomed.
8. Have some outdoor space. We light our fire pit and put blankets outside even in the winter. It is great way to make our party space feel larger and lets people cool off if the house gets too hot.
9. Have fun. Nothing is less fun than a party where the host is a stress ball. Have fun, and your guests will have fun too.
10. Pay someone else to clean up. We always hire a hand to help with clean-up after a party. It is a wonderful way to enjoy your party and not dread the next day, when you can hire a little help. Many staffing firms can offer assistance for as little as $40/hour. We use Penguin Staff and they are wonderful.

Let the Christmas Tree Shine

Happy Christmas Everybody! I have a new opinion on Christmas trees this year. I've decided to let the tree be the star, a little more sparse on the decorations, a little less matchy-matchy, and a little more natural looking. This year we only put up about 1/3 of our ornaments. While it is true we have a little one who helped decorate the tree, he is not the reason. Instead, I think there is something so beautiful about a real Christmas tree. Something magical about the smell and the look of the leaves, I didn't want to cover it up with hundreds of ornaments, garland, and tinsel. We did use a third strand of lights, and we did trim the bottom branches significantly, but the ornaments are far fewer which makes the ones we did put on more meaningful. We are going to make some ornaments as a family, salt dough kids hand prints, a Santa wish list, some apple cinnamon cookie cutouts, but for now, this is our tree.

Decorating your Tree with Fresh Flowers

Why is it that when I think I have an original idea... it turns out it was actually done during the Victorian era? Alas, there is nothing new under the sun. Nonetheless... new to me, this year we are adding fresh flowers to our Christmas tree decorations.

Now there are many ways to do this, you can buy those tiny water vials on Amazon for a few dollars and fill with Peruvian Lilies or orchids. They are long lasting, beautiful, and you will probably only need to change them out twice during the entire season. 

Or you can buy small live Poinsettias and using floral wire attach them to your tree branches. You must remember to water, occasionally, but since it is a live plant you don't have to worry about it wilting. I am using the about 6 mini plants inside my tree. I have always wanted to put flowers in my tree but, I find silk flowers sad. 

Egg Nog Shot

Traditionally Egg Nog is spiked with Brandy. Which is not unpleasant. However, I find a mix of vanilla vodka and Kahlua to be much more palatable.

So here you go:

2 parts Non-alcoholic Egg Nog
1 part Vanilla Vodka
1 part Kahlua or other Coffee Liquor
Nutmeg to garnish

I am going to serve these at my holiday cocktail party. Rather then offering people a signature drink option. Which is usually how I get around the costly hard liquor drink conundrum, this year, I will be offering a series of shots served every hour. 4 hour party, 4 shots... stand by for more recipes.

Happy Party!

Christmas Centerpiece

My Christmas centerpiece is relatively simple this year. I guess it always is. I have a table runner that is red and white tartan. I think I got it at Target, but I am sure it is relatively easy to find. My husband had two pewter, vintage and gorgeous candle sticks which I always try and incorporate, here with drip-less white tapers. I have 4 cheap metal candle sticks that I got from World Market aka Cost Plus for $1.99 a pop, that are also on the table. The clippings are from my yard, and the beads are from Micheal's Craft store. I got them on deep discount, but I think regularly they are only $4.99. I also took this picture with a red lantern on the table. The red lantern is now part of my out door decoration. But... nonetheless, I got it at Ikea for about $5. 

So there it is. My Christmas Centerpiece  It will stay on our dining room table through out the season. During our Holiday Cocktail Party I will probably elevate it and push it towards the back of the table. 

Happy Party!