Tropical Bliss

My oldest is turning eight this summer.  Anybody who's been with me for very long knows that I love, love, love planning parties.  So this year I came up with some party ideas in advance and proposed them to my daughter.  (Yes it's self-centered, but I actually "pre-planned" the party-planning by poking around pinterest to find themes and entertainment that would be relatively easy to pull off.  And pull off in style.  After all, it can be a lot of pressure on a mom to put these things together.)

Anyhoo, as you might imagine, my daughter rejected every single one of my proposals.  So we were back at square one and all I could do was wait until my little diva made up her mind.  So I put my pinterest-surfing to rest and waited. We negotiated, and then I waited some more. 

Eventually my munchkin settled on a pool party centered around the movie Rio.  We were both happy.  She got her swimming, and I found a place other than my house to host it.  I also love the tropical theme, and it's fun that it's something other than a luau.  Brazilian music is pretty great, too, so at least we've got that covered.

This has turned out to be a really fun party to plan, but I must say that I have some stiff competition.  Since there is no official Rio partyware or decorations available, people have had to get creative.  And WOW have there been some great Rio parties!  

Here are some glimpses of my two favorites from around the web:

{An Australian party that can be viewed here.}

{This party took place in Brooklyn and can be found here.}

At this point I should probably point out what is probably already pretty obvious.  The party that I will actually be throwing for my daughter will be ~ dare I say it? ~ pretty regular.  You know, the usual.  Swimming, pizza, cake, and some fun music.  But the party I will be throwing in my imagination?  Now THAT party will be glorious.  Absolutely top-notch.  Don't you just wish you could come?

Party Season

We are now entering party season around here, and I couldn't be happier.  In addition to planning my munchkin's summer birthday party, I got myself mixed up in another little foodplay project.  My daughter's school has a spring auction to raise money for the school.  What did I donate?  Food, of course!  I offered to bake two dozen custom cupcakes, to be delivered to a lucky child's classroom, home, or birthday party.  It sounds like a fun little project, don't you think?

The only problem is that I'm not that experienced at baking cupcakes.  I have just about never baked fancy cupcakes.  (The fanciest I've ever gotten were little cakes baked in bug cupcake molds and piped with the simplest of frostings ~ whipped cream!)  So there was definitely some risk in promising so much.  Afterall, the word "custom" pretty much implies free license on flavor, color, and even theme.

I was relieved to hear that the purchaser of my little cupcake project isn't overly demanding.  Her daughter is having a unicorn party.  She selected a very specific cake flavor that will be easy to do, and I have free rein on color and how to interpret the theme.  But wait . . . I don't think I can draw a unicorn to save my life.  Amazon doesn't sell unicorn cupcake rings or other types of cupcake toppers.  (Although they sell lots of great ones in other themes.)  What to do, what to DO?!?

I turned to Etsy for inspiration, and now I need feedback.  Any thoughts on these cupcake toppers?  Any idea how I might come up with an equally fantastic diy version?  Any other tips or ideas on how to create a masterful unicorn cupcake?  I'm all ears.

'Unicorn Birthday' by appetiteforconvo

Inspiration for making unicorn cupcakes!

Bottle Cap Image Sheet ... allgirlychicbo... $1.75	Unicorn Happy Birthday... ThePaperLot $21.00	Rainbow Unicorn Birthda... MyPartyGirlFri... $4.75
Unicorn Cupcake Toppers cmariedesigns $0.75	Rainbow Unicorn - Cupca... paperBIRDSonEt... $5.95	18 Unicorn Theme - Cupc... MMKids $18.00
Rainbow Unicorn Birthda... MyPartyGirlFri... $4.75	Cupcake Toppers "W... FlyingTurtleBo... $9.99	PRINT SALE Unicorn Cake... stoopidgerl $17.50

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

{Thank you to handmadeology for this etsy treasury posting tutorial.  I love that I can feature some of my Etsy faves without jeopardizing the legal rights of the individual artists.}

Valentine's Day 2012

This year my daughter and I planned ahead for Valentine's Day.  She was supposed to take some treats to share at her school party, so we pulled out an old favorite and updated it.  A few years ago we made pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and fancy Valentine sprinkles.

This year my little munchkin decided that the traditional pretzel shape is so much more appropriate because it looks like a heart.

This morning she headed to school with a tray full of treats to share with her friends and teachers.  She probably doesn't know it yet, but I also sent her some of these peanut butter sandwich hearts for her snack.  Cute, right?

But back to the pretzels . . .  If you feel like sharing some chocolate with your honey (big or small), these are super easy to make.

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

• 1 tsp. canola oil
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I prefer dark chocolate)
• About 35-40 pretzels  (I used lightly salted)
• Sprinkles

Place the oil and chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl, and put the bowl in the microwave.  Microwave on high for forty-five seconds, then stir well.  Repeat several times until the chocolate is completely melted.

Add several pretzels at a time to the bowl, submerging them in the chocolate.  Lift the pretzels out one at a time with a fork.  Place the pretzels on a cooling rack sitting over a tray so that the excess chocolate can drip off.  Sprinkle the pretzels with sprinkles, if using, within a few minutes while the chocolate is still moist.

Once your tray is full, place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to set.  After the chocolate has hardened, carefully lift each pretzel off the rack one-by-one by reaching underneath the pretzel with your fingers and gently dislodging it from the rack.  Be careful as you do this last step, as some of the pretzels may break.  (I made extra for this reason.  We kept the broken ones to munch on at home and sent the pretty ones to share at school.)

Red and Blue

I have really been loving all of the RED-and-BLUE themed holiday things I've run across lately. I think it adds a nice twist to more traditional color schemes.

Here are a few of my favorites:

{We had this more fall-ish centerpiece at our house on Thanksgiving}

{Red and blue holiday cards are everywhere this year!}

{I just love this snowman themed kids' party}

I guess it's not just for the 4th of July anymore!

Meatless Mondays: Le Menu

I have been a vegetarian for many, many years. As a young teenager I endured my fair share of teasing, and I encountered many situations where my only food option was to remove sausage or pepperoni from pizza and simply ignore the traces that stayed behind. Even in law school where I was surrounded by large numbers of vegetarians, the veggie-friendly options frequently ran out at school events or wasn't up-to-snuff to begin with.

As a result of countless bad experiences, I am always so grateful when an event is veggie-friendly and when it is done well. Last Friday I attended one such event ~ an evening garden party. There was a live band and a full bar, and the the party was all-around great.

There is no question that the meat-eaters dominated at this party. And, as far as I could tell, the meat-eaters were well taken care of. There were giant prawns, chicken satay, and lamb, all of which appeared to be accompanied by a scrumptious sauce and other appropriate adornments.

My expectations were low for the veggie fare, but it turned out to be both abundant and great. The veggie-friendly menu included:

• Mango salad rolls
• Pizza with blue cheese and pear
• Pizza with onions, tomatoes, and feta
• Heirloom tomato bruschetta (garden-fresh tomatoes, with top-notch olive oil ~ yum!)

Add some amazing chocolate cupcakes, butter cookies, truffles, and brownies, and it made for a great edible evening. It is so wonderful when a menu gives veggie fare the attention is deserves, and I know that the meat-eaters probably appreciated the variety, too!

Meatless Mondays: Make-Ahead Favorite

I have a new make-ahead recipe that I love. I can't wait to have an excuse to eat it again! I made it for my graduation party and for the baby shower a few weeks ago. It's a strata, which is a dish made with bread, eggs, and cheese.


I love that stratas are hearty enough to satisfy full-time vegetarians and carnivores alike. Can you see why?


This recipe is stellar ~ it appeared on both Smitten Kitchen and Annie's Eats, two of my favorite blogs. You layer the bread, spinach mixture, and cheese in a pan much like you would layer a lasagna.


Then you pour the egg and milk mixture over the top and let it chill in the fridge overnight. The custard soaks into the bread and the flavors mingle a bit. In the morning the strata is oven-ready, making it so much easier to get brunch on the table.


And the flavor of the spinach and gruyere cheese is . . . well, yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

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Spinach and Cheese Strata
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Annie's Eats

• 3 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1½ cups onion, finely chopped
• 2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
• 1 tsp. salt, divided
• ½ tsp. pepper, divided
• Dash freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp. prepared Dijon mustard
• 8 cups cubed French or Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 6 oz. coarsely grated Gruyere (about 2 cups)
• 2 oz. finely grated Parmesan (about 2/3 cup)
• 9 large eggs
• 2¾ cup milk
  

Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onions to the pan and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add ½ teaspoon of the salt, ¼ teaspoon of the pepper, and the nutmeg, and continue to cook for 1 minute more. Stir in the spinach, remove from the heat and set aside.

Butter the inside of a 2½-3 quart baking dish. Layer the bottom of the dish with one third of the bread cubes. Top with one third of the spinach mixture and one third of each of the cheeses. Repeat these layers twice more with the bread, spinach and cheese.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, the remaining ½ teaspoon of the salt, ¼ teaspoon of the pepper, and 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard. Whisk together until blended. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread and spinach layers in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours or up to 1 day.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Bake uncovered until puffed, golden brown and cooked through, 45-55 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes before serving.

Game Prizes sans Perfume

At the baby shower I helped plan a few weeks ago I was in charge of buying or making prizes for the shower games. Since we had just as many men as women coming, my big dilemma was what exactly a "game prize" should be. My online search told me that the most appropriate shower prizes include: lotions, scented candles, sachets, and lip gloss. These options clearly wouldn't do ~ I didn't want the guys to bolt, afterall! Then I thought about chocolate, but we were already having chocolate cake and chocolate favors.

In the end I made up a double batch of my homemade salsa (recipe here), which these friends have always enjoyed.






After adding a little cuteness, I felt like I had some very respectable game prizes to offer. No makeup or girlie scents in sight!


I'm happy to report that the guys did not bolt from the party. We had an all-around great time!

Babies!

I'm not sure why, but the last few months have been loaded with "life events" ~ baby showers, bridal showers, graduations, bachelorette parties, birthday parties, and then more baby showers. These are some of my favorite things in life ~ I adore celebrations of any kind, but especially celebrations of such wonderful milestones.


Two weekends ago (I'm still catching up on my posting!) I helped plan a baby shower at the home of my lovely friend Nina. The parents-to-be are expecting a boy, and we went with a jungle animal and Noah's Ark theme. We served brunch foods, which was one reason that I was worried about serving so many egg dishes smack dab in the middle of an egg food poisoning scare. Fortunately nobody complained and nobody got sick! It turned out to be a wonderful shower and a wonderful day all around.


I was in charge of getting a cake that went with our theme. The cake turned out pretty well, but it was harder to draw the animals from the partyware than I expected. With chocolate cake and fudge filling, at least I can say it tasted great!


These are flowers from my yard:


Favor boxes filled with Godiva chocolates:


I'll share more pictures and recipes in the next few days. Happy Long Weekend!

Mini Fiesta

Yay, Emily! My penpal had her quesadilla party this weekend. Back when we did our food exchange my challenge to her was to host a quesadilla party. I gave her my favorite salsa recipe to try, and she ended up using my spinach quesadilla recipe and pumpkin quesadilla recipe too. See her site with all the details, plus her strawberry salsa and chicken veggie quesadillas. Looks like a fun time!


I figured it was time for me to share my salsa recipe. It's the red salsa in the middle of the picture above. (Thanks for the picture, Emily!) It's super easy to make since you can throw everything into a food processor mostly unchopped. The one thing I would be sure to chop is the jalapeño so that you don't end up with large pieces in your salsa. I also think it tastes better the next day once the flavors have had a chance to blend.

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Homemade Salsa

• 1 1/2 medium jalapeños (or more to taste), chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 bunch of fresh cilantro, washed well (some stems are OK ~ they have flavor too!)
• 1/2 small onion (red onion looks the best!)
• 1 can Mexican recipe stewed tomatoes
• 1 can regular stewed or diced tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. salt
  

Place all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the salsa reaches your desired chunkiness.

Party Report

Three words: so. much. fun.

It's been an exciting few days, and I hope to finally catch up on sleep soon. Around my house we've had a graduation, parties, more parties, a birthday, and a bike race. It's been super fun, and I can't wait to share more. For now, let me share the party menu from Saturday. Notice my toddler waiting patiently for the first guests to walk to the door. The table was set just in time!

~~~

A Vegetarian Open House
Spinach strata
Artichoke crustless quiche
Rosemary potato frittata
Pesto pasta salad
Peanut butter & jelly for the kids
Caesar salad
Cheese & crackers
Hummus with pita chips
Fruit
Veggies
Salted nuts
Chocolate covered nuts
Animal crackers
Cake
An assortment of drinks

~~~

This menu worked out really well since only the 3 egg dishes were at all labor intensive. I assembled them the morning before the party, and then I only had to bake them the morning of. They turned out great, and my house smelled appropriately scrumptious when guests started to arrive.

I confess that I snapped exactly zero pictures as I played hostess, but it was a really great time. I bought the pasta salad so I won't be able to share the recipe for that dish, but I'll share the egg recipes soon. They were the biggest hit anyway!

Par-tay!

I just finished ALL of my last law school projects last night. I honestly don't know what to do with myself. Oh wait. . .maybe I'll plan a party! For 30 people! And host it in two days! Can it be done? We'll see.


In the meantime, here's a super easy party recipe for you. It was part of our WILD party a couple of weekends ago. For best results, make this topping in advance and keep in the fridge so the flavors can blend together. The batch I made was garlicky and yummy!

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Easy Tomato Bruschetta

• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. fresh oregano, minced (or any other herb you prefer ~improvise!)

Mix together all the ingredients. Cover and let the flavors blend in the fridge for an hour or more. Use on toasts or as a sauce or garnish for pasta or veggies. Top with Parmesan or other cheese.

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Now a question for you: what's your favorite party food?

We Watched Wild

We ended last weekend's WILD party with a little entertainment. Have you heard that the Sacramento Zoo has a new baby Sumatran Tiger? Have a look at this wild one...one of my cats got so excited over this she almost attacked the computer!




And, in honor of Mother's Day, here's one more. It's SO sweet!





For more zoo animal news (and more videos!) visit the Sacramento Zoo blog.

We Ate Wild

I know my posts have been a bit slow in coming lately. I admit it ~ it's been a very rough week!

Back to a lighter topic ~ our WILD party last weekend! Per Emily's suggestion, I used many of the contents of her food exchange box for our WILD meal. We decided to eat at our coffee table ~ a WILD idea, I know!


First I made a homemade tomato bruschetta topping for the Wasa multigrain crackers she sent. This worked really well since these crackers are so thick and could absorb all the juice from the tomatoes. And the recipe is a keeper ~ will post soon!


Then I put together a salad with the garlic vinaegrette. These guys were keeping little fingers from stealing too many cucumbers!


I cooked up some farfalle pasta, accompanied by Emily's pesto. I topped it with shredded Parmesan and pine nuts.




I'd say this meal made for a very good-looking plate!


Have a look at our WILD dessert ~ espresso chocolate.


Thanks, Emily!

A Party. . .

. . . in a little paper wrapper. Thank goodness they exist! You see, yesterday I sat in my last law school class EVER. Once it finished, I felt like I should have planned some kind of celebration. Thrown a party. Taken a few days off. But unfortunately I had planned to do none of those things. Truthfully, it hadn't even occurred to me what a big deal it would be to have my final class until immediately before my final class.

So after it ended I was restless, to say the least. I didn't have time to do a proper celebration because, alas, it was time to get cracking on the remaining papers and finals I have to tend to. So I did the next best thing. . . I finally found my party. And I found it in a little paper wrapper.



A flower for me. A dolphin for my toddler. A frog for the hubby. It was a great party!

The Shower Effect

I don't know about you, but I love weddings and I adore babies. The last two weekends I had the good fortune to participate in not one but TWO showers ~ the first was the bridal shower that I co-hosted and the second was a baby shower. Both were splendid.


And both involved an elegant tea service at my favorite new discovery in town ~ Tea List.


So now I'm sold on the idea of having tea, sandwiches, and a reason to get together for a little party every weekend.


Honestly, almost nothing makes me feel more positive or more hopeful than the thought of two people in love or a precious baby being born. This is especially true when a dear friend is involved.


I left these parties feeling a true high. (Although maybe it was just a buzz from all that tea!)



I also left with a whole new appreciation for the sandwich.


Those tea sandwiches were great! My favorite was simple and classic ~ cucumber, mint, cream cheese, and yogurt on white bread.


The flowers weren't bad either. I always love an excuse to visit a florist!


So let me leave you with one question ~ any chance you have a baby or bridal shower I could plan?


I promise to take lots of pictures!