“Excuse me, miss? There seems to be a mistake. I believe I ordered the “large” glass of wine…Hello!”

Dec 022012
 

Win­ter is here and what bet­ter time to start cozy­ing up to your favorite red! Today I’m shar­ing my beloved wine glass with you. Friends are always ask­ing me where they can get one. What makes it so spe­cial? It fits an entire bot­tle of vino!  I must con­fess I do not drink an entire bot­tle of wine at once, how­ever I’m a sucker for a great nov­elty.  It’s now my “go to” host­ess gift or “bud­get gift” that is very “rich in style”. Stock up and have them on hand for that per­fect gift.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO PURCHASE GLASS

 

The ideas are endless:
  • Get them etched with Mr. and Mrs., a spe­cial date or a wine quote at your local engraver for a one of a kind gift. (or etch them your­self if you’re the crafty type)
  • For dual usage fill the large wine glass with can­dies, nuts or a dip at your next cock­tail / wine party.
  • Use them as can­dle hold­ers or a flower vase.
  • They make a great ves­sel for wrap­ping gift cer­tifi­cates to your local wine tast­ing bar, restau­rants or home decore stores.
  • They make the per­fect stor­age for used wine corks too!
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The Perfect Lasagne

Jun 272012
 

I’ve fallen in love with the quirky cook­ing show, Extra Vir­gin, star­ring Debi Mazar and her Ital­ian native hus­band. I recently tried one of their mouth water­ing recipes, bolog­nese lasagne with a besci­amella sauce. It is divine! I’m going to be upfront with you, it’s a sim­ple yet time con­sum­ing recipe. How­ever, one bite and you’ll know it was worth all the effort.  The main thing you’ll notice that sets this recipe apart from most, is the lack of cheese. Instead you use a besci­amella sauce that is made from but­ter, flour and milk. It turns what would be an ordi­nary dish into an extra­or­di­nary one!

I fol­lowed the recipe as directed, except I omit­ted the nut­meg sim­ply because I don’t like it. If you need a meal to impress, look no fur­ther… Serve it with a sim­ple salad and rus­tic Ital­ian bread. Of course, don’t for­get the vino!

Recipe Here

(cour­tesy of Gabriele Cor­cos and Debi Mazar)

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Unique Guest Book

Jun 202012
 

Recently, my sis­ter asked me to come up with a cre­ative idea for guests to sign my nephew’s grad­u­a­tion party book. In addi­tion, I was also in charge of the photo gallery. I thought the obvi­ous thing to do was have every­one sign a gui­tar (the party theme was music / The Bea­t­les), and also have a photo col­lage, but that just felt too pre­dictable and lazy. It seems like when I have a dead­line, ideas never come, but when I have noth­ing going on, the ideas flow end­lessly.  Any­way, I was hav­ing a seri­ous case of cre­ativ­ity block, and even look­ing at Pin­ter­est while drink­ing wine wasn’t help­ing. For­tu­nately for me, my genius son (yes, I’m one of those moms) came up with a bril­liant idea! He said to com­bine the photo album with the sign-in book using thought bub­bles. How per­fect! Not only did it meet my sis­ters cri­te­ria, but it was whim­si­cal and fun! It ended up turn­ing out great, and it was also a good way for the diverse guests to min­gle with one another as they had fun rem­i­nisc­ing over old pho­tos and try­ing to come up with clever com­ments. I’m happy to report it was a huge success!

 

Here are the basic steps:

  • Gather all the pho­tos you want to use into an album on your com­puter (I per­son­ally use iPhoto)
  • Cre­ate thought and speech bub­bles in Pho­to­shop or sim­i­lar program
  • Then place thought bub­bles on your selected pho­tos in Photoshop
  • Finally, I used Blurb to cre­ate my photo album (Blurb is more eco­nom­i­cal than iPhoto books, but a lit­tle more com­pli­cated if you’re a rookie)

In order to do it my way, you need to know how to use Pho­to­shop or have access to some­one who can help you. It’s very sim­ple if you do. Oth­er­wise, you can cre­ate the same type of album but you will either have to hand write the thought & speech bub­bles, use a sten­cil or stickers.

Per­fect for:

  • bridal show­ers
  • wed­dings
  • grad­u­a­tion parties
  • high school reunions
  • baby show­ers
  • spe­cial occasions

 

I left sev­eral pages at the end of the photo album for more auto­graphs. I titled each page dif­fer­ently as you can see in the photos.

 

I couldn’t decide what should be on the back cover, if any­thing. Then it hit me, a pho­to­graph of the back of my nephew! Think out­side the box…it’s fun!

 

I used a pho­to­graph of my nephews party invi­ta­tion as the cover for the guest album. I also mixed in many pho­tographs with­out thought or speech bub­bles through­out the album. (as seen in pho­tos at top of arti­cle) I will be hon­est, this isn’t a project you whip out in a few hours. It does take some care­ful plan­ning when gath­er­ing pho­tos, Pho­to­shop work, and putting it all together. How­ever, if you’re look­ing for a one of a kind unique gift or keep­sake, this is a sure win­ner that any­one will appre­ci­ate for many years to come. I hope this guest book idea whets your appetite to cre­ate an unfor­get­table guest book for your next spe­cial occasion.

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Music That Melts

Jun 152012
 

Today I’m shar­ing my lat­est repur­pos­ing project that’s per­fect for your next party! Take old records and melt them down to bowls. They not only look groovy, but are very func­tional. My sis­ter made these for her son’s grad­u­a­tion party recently. His party theme was the Bea­t­les, so these were the per­fect acces­sory. The process to make them is very easy too!

INSTRUCTIONS HERE

 

How to get your groove on:

  • fill them with snacks and candy (be sure they’re wrapped food items for safety)
  • a great stor­age for t.v. remotes
  • loose change anyone?
  • “where did I put my keys?”…a thing of the past
  •  place your small gift or gift card (think iTunes) in the bowl and wrap with cellophane

If you don’t have any unwanted records lay­ing around in your attic, you can pick them up for next to noth­ing at a garage sale or thrift store. Have fun and don’t for­get to crank your tunes!



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Outstanding In The Field

Mar 182012
 

 

Look­ing for some­thing dif­fer­ent that you haven’t expe­ri­enced in your culi­nary life as of yet?

Out­stand­ing in the Field is a rov­ing adven­ture – lit­er­ally a restau­rant with­out walls. They set the long tables at farms or gar­dens, on moun­tain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occa­sion­ally the table is set indoors: a beau­ti­ful refur­bished barn, a cool green­house or a stately museum. Ingre­di­ents for the meal are almost all local and gen­er­ally pre­pared by a cel­e­brated chef of the region. This really is a great way to expe­ri­ence the farm to table trend.

I per­son­ally have not had the plea­sure of shar­ing a meal at one of their tables. They’re not always in your area and dip deep into your pock­ets. How­ever, it is on my list of things to do…eventually. I’d also like to men­tion I have no finan­cial gain by shar­ing this infor­ma­tion with you. It’s just some­thing I found to be inter­est­ing that I wanted to share with my read­ers. MARK YOUR CALENDAR, MARCH 20th TICKETS GO ON SALE! Look at their sched­ule now and plan ahead. Tick­ets sell out in minutes.

 

DIYD: (do it your­self dinner)
  • If you know the day you can burn a few hun­dred bucks is not in your near future, but you’re inspired by the idea, why not try to recre­ate your own “farm to table” dinner.

 

What to do:
  • Loca­tion! Loca­tion! Loca­tion! Find a spe­cial space whether indoors or out that is a lit­tle more adven­tur­ous then the din­ing room. Think-the beach, along the river, in a cac­tus for­est, on a ranch, at a local park, in a pri­vately owned library, under a big tree, in the mid­dle of the street at the end of a cul de sac, on a basketball/tennis court. Think out­side the box and have fun!
  • After your loca­tion is estab­lished, decide on how many guests you will be serv­ing. A roman­tic din­ner for 2? A fam­ily reunion for 20? You decide! Once the num­ber of peo­ple is estab­lished be sure you have enough long ban­quet tables and fold­ing chairs to recre­ate an out­door din­ing room.
  • Cus­tomize the din­ing décor to your own indi­vid­ual lik­ing. For me, I would use as many can­dles as would fit! Oth­ers may use hay stacks for the benches with crisp white linens drap­ing the tables. Have fun and remem­ber there are no rules! (Martha won’t be attending)
  • Next, decide on your menu. Choose sea­sonal items that you can get at your local farm­ers mar­kets. If you really pre­pare in advance, you can even grow some of your own ingre­di­ents your­self.  Try to select items that can be pre­pared fully in your kitchen and brought to the sight in cool­ers or warm­ing bags.
  • Remem­ber the details such as weather con­di­tions, bugs, restroom avail­abil­ity, park­ing, dietary restrictions/allergies , wine pair­ings, music, throw blan­kets, etc…
  • If you like the idea but don’t want all of the work, cater the event and have it deliv­ered to your site.  Try to find a store or restau­rant that makes farm to table meals. The con­cept and ambiance will still be enjoyed by all.

 

Buon Appetito!

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Fake It: Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Mar 142012
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As many of you may know, I am more of a savory gal than sweet. ( I’m not talk­ing just per­son­al­ity here!) So when and if I rec­om­mend some­thing on the sug­ary side, you’ll know it must be really good and rel­a­tively easy to make. I love to cook, but hate to bake. Who needs to bake when you have your sis­ter liv­ing down the street that could give Eliz­a­beth Falkner  a run for her money?

Today, you’re in for a treat (no pun intended)! I’m shar­ing my sis­ters “fake it, choco­late peanut but­ter cup­cakes”. She (Colleen, a.k.a. my sis) cuts some cor­ners to save you time and energy, with­out sac­ri­fic­ing taste and qual­ity. I promise you won’t be dis­ap­pointed with these mouth water­ing, belly bulging cup­cakes! I never said, low-fat, just really yummy and easy!

Happy bak­ing!

RECIPE HERE
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The Perfect Make Ahead Dinner-Chicken Marbella

Feb 292012
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, I must thank my dear friend for treat­ing us to such a fab­u­lous din­ner! I must admit the thought of prunes and olives was not mouth water­ing at first. If you can get past the ingre­di­ents list and just make it, you’ll be in for a deli­cious sur­prise, I promise. For those of you look­ing for the per­fect make-ahead dish, look no fur­ther. You mar­i­nate this the night before and just pop it in the oven the next evening. It’s so easy but will taste like you spent an entire day slav­ing in the kitchen. Don’t for­get to serve it with some fresh Ital­ian crusty bread for dip­ping in the juices. (the best part) My friend made a fresh green salad and oven roasted aspara­gus on the side. It was the per­fect com­bi­na­tion! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

Buon Appetito!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RECIPE HERE
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The Perfect Party Mix

Feb 142012
 

Ina Garten’s Rose­mary Nuts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look­ing for an easy, gourmet pro­tein to have on hand for your next cock­tail shindig? Look no further…Ina Garten’s rose­mary nuts are the bomb! They only take a few min­utes to make and your guests will devour them.

Recipe:
  • 3/4 pounds cashew nuts
  • 3/4 pounds almonds
  • 2 table­spoons coarsely chopped fresh rose­mary leaves
  • 1 tea­spoon cayenne (less if you don’t like spicy)
  • 2 tea­spoons dark brown sugar
  • 2 tea­spoons kosher salt
  • 2 table­spoon melted butter

Pre­heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place the nuts on an ungreased bak­ing sheet and bake for about 10 min­utes until they are warmed through. Mean­while, com­bine the rose­mary, pep­per, sugar, salt and but­ter in a large bowl. Remove the nuts from the oven and coat with the mix­ture in the bowl. Serve warm or room tem­per­a­ture in a bowl. Gar­nish with a fresh sprig of rosemary.

Ina Garten’s orig­i­nal recipe here. I made a few changes to her recipe as you will see. I add almonds, more cayenne and but­ter. At this point I really just “eye” my mea­sure­ments. Once you make them a few times you’ll end up putting your own spin on the recipe.

nuts cartoon joke

would make cute gift tag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extra:

Make a batch of these for the per­fect host­ess gift. Pack­age them as “nuts and bolts” in a can. For an eas­ier option, grab a clear bag and tie it with a string that has a few con­struc­tion nuts attached. Sim­ple, fast and cre­atively cute.

nuts and bolts in a can

 

 

 

 

 

 


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Time For Wine!

Dec 222011
 

hourglass wine glass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As an avid enter­tainer and shop­per of unique gifts, I am really excited about my lat­est find that fits both cat­e­gories per­fectly.  These novel, but classy hour­glass wine gob­lets would be appre­ci­ated by any­one who loves wine, game night, enjoys cook­ing or spend­ing time with friends. That must be why I own them and love them so much!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things to know:
  • The sand timer lasts ten minutes.
  • You must hand wash them.
  • They arrive in four col­ors of sand which is bril­liant because this basi­cally marks whose glass belongs to whom.
  • They are a very nice size and I was pleas­antly sur­prised by the quality.
  • As a small side note, I adored the box they arrived in. It would be great for a man or woman while still being styl­ish. Small touches like that are impor­tant to me if I’m gift­ing them.
Other unique and dif­fer­ent gifts I found for:
Misc:
  • I use to belong to a diy wine club, which con­sisted of a few girl­friends get­ting together to whine, while drink­ing wine.  These would have been fab­u­lous for us. Give the gift of start­ing your own girl­friends wine club and giftwrap each glass indi­vid­u­ally with your wine club invi­ta­tion. (think: whine time)
  • No re-fills until the sand timer is over! (jk)
  • Let the wine breathe until sands are gone. Accord­ing to Napanow.com, let­ting your wine breathe for five to ten min­utes before drink­ing it will improve the wine in many cases.

 

*I believe these wine glasses are sold exclu­sively where I got mine, Uncommongoods.

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The Next Iron Chef Party

Nov 302011
 

wine charms with the next iron chef photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recently threw a shindig to kick off the new sea­son of The Next Iron Chef. Although it’s too late to repli­cate this for a pre­mier party, you can take every­thing I did and use it to throw your own sea­son finale party. The finale will be aired Decem­ber 18th.
Make your guest list and send out an Evite. If you want some sug­ges­tions on what to say on your invi­ta­tion click here.

evite invitation example

A copy of my Evite. Click on to enlarge.

a clothes pin stamped, eat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What went down:
  • Every­one chose a chef from this sea­sons NIC and made an appe­tizer from one of their recipes.
  • After hav­ing fun tast­ing all of the gourmet good­ies, we voted to see who was “our” Next Iron chef.
  • I made wine charms with all the con­tes­tant chefs pho­tos on them. Also attached to the glasses were mini keys that unlocked a box with a secret ingre­di­ent for them to take home. You had to take your key and keep try­ing to open locks until you found the one yours opened. This was a lot of fun and a great party favor for the occasion.
  • After eat­ing and min­gling we watched the sea­son pre­mier together.
mini locks you can find at the dollar store

minia­ture locks that I found at the Dol­lar Store

photos of the iron chefs on tags for the wine glasses

small ship­ping tags with chefs photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

diy wine charms with photos of the different chefs

DIY wine charms with keys to unlock their secret ingre­di­ent box

different unique food items for secret ingredient party favors

“off the beaten path” secret ingre­di­ents for the party favor box

 

 

ballot to vote for your favorite appetizer

bal­lots for guests to choose they’re favorite appe­tizer of the evening

party favor box filled with a secret ingredient

DIY party favor boxes filled with a secret ingredient

 

 

 

 

 

mini skewers with food tags for the appetizers brought

mini skew­ers with my guests (chefs) names to place on their appetizers

 

 

 

an apron that a guest wore that says, "may the forks be with you"

“may the forks be with you” apron a guest wore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you will be inspired to host an Iron Chef party for your fam­ily and friends!

Party food pho­tos here.
Free down­loads here to help you make your own party.
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