Black Friday Brunch

I told y'all... the diva has been busy :).

On the day after Thanksgiving, a few of the neighborhood gals gathered together for a little quality time together full of gossip, comparing events from crazy family sagas on Thanksgiving, best holiday sales and what all the littles will be getting for Christmas ... now eventfully named the "Black Friday Brunch".  This may just be an annual event.

Bloody Mary's and Mimosas started us off.  Complete with all the fixins' of course ... I'm serious about my cocktails! 

 

Our brunch consisted of fresh fruit, cinnamon muffins and a loaded grits station complete with plenty of cheese, bacon, sauted mushrooms and asparagus.  To make the grits more savory I used chicken broth instead of just plain water.  Grits were served up in martini glasses and the gals hit the grits station to top them as they pleased.   

 

 

 

Our table setting was cute and simple, just as I like it.  I used burlap placemapts that were topped with a cute chevron inspired paper place setting.  Monogrammed black napkins rounded out the Black Friday theme.  My centerpiece flowers from Thanksgiving were still fresh and beautiful, so they were repurposed as well.  Since they were all white, the monochrome simple theme was supported. 

 

 

 

Sweet A brought these amazing desserts from Dutch Monkey Donuts, a local gourmet bake shop.  I must follow up to get additional details but they were fab and she was a doll to bring them.  Too bad the snap I took of them didn't exactly turn out!

 

All the girls left with a mini bottle of champagne as a little party favor decked out with fun leopard print ribbon.  The giant bottle in the back is a glittery craft gone right that I'll share details on separately.

 

 

 

The event was such a great morning and put me perfectly in the holiday spirit.  Holiday decor followed just hours after brunch and was put up in no time flat - who knew that was possible after a few bloody marys! 

 

 

 

The Elf To Be Named: Arrival

Last year, Santa brought baby B a wonderful scout elf and book for Christmas.  This year, I know the elf was anxious to make his December debute.  While he still doesn't have a name, he greeted us on December first in the very best of style for a big arrival breakfast. 

 

 

Our elf breakfast consisted of festive food and a fun (easy) tablescape that was whipped together when the sun came up.  Baby B awoke early and breakfast was served promptly prior to 8am.  This gives new meaning to up with the sun when there is a tablescape involved. 

 

The commemorative book, a red toy bin flipped upside down (Targer $1) and some polka dot fabric (from the babe's party this summer) served as the perfect centerpiece.  Red and white fabrics layered with snow (aka upholstry pad / filler) and a small chalkboard welcoming elfie rounded out the easy display.

 

 

Our breakfast foods consisted of cut fruit in festive green cupcake wrappers, yogurt berry parfaits decked out with a Christmas tree Peep garnish and cinnamon roll waffles.  To make the waffles, I simply pressed Pillsbury canned cinnamon rolls into the old but trusty waffle maker.  In just a few minutes, voila ... cinnamon roll waffles.  Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

 

Decked out in his elf p.j.'s we violated Elf Rule 101 by letting B hold elfie.  It felt necessary and I'm sure Santa would approve :).  Dear Hubs read the book (yes, when he thought there was a picture involved ... this is what I get).

 

It was a fun way to kick off December and our elf tradition as a family.  An early poll had the three names as front runners for elfie:  Clark Grizwold (suggested by moi), Jobs (as in Steve Jobs - compliments of Dear Hubs) and Dadden suggested by Baby B.  Thus far, every toy has been named Dadden, so why would this be different? 

Merry Elfmas, Y'all!

Vote 2012: Anxiously Waiting

Polls are closed here now, but we woke up early this morning and were pleasantly surprised by the nice conditions, donuts and coffee, short lines and expedient process to VOTE this morning.  After a long day at the office, I rushed home to prep a quick but patriotic dinner to celebrate election day 2012!  We dined on a festive red, white and blue display and watched as each state has been announced.

Our Menu included:

Uncle Sammies

(BBQ and Cole Slaw Sliders)

Red, White and Blue Nachos

(Blue Chips w Cheese Dip and Bell Pepper)

Stars and Stripes Fruit

(Blueberries, Strawberries with Whipped Topping and Sprinkles)

 

 

A few flags dotted around on the dough bowl display added a festive touch.

 

And the best, of course ... tiny containers of Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream (my personal fave) gave a sweet and patriotic tribute for dessert!

 

Red state, blue state ... too early to call this one - it will definitely be a long night!

Sweet Treats

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We had a few of our sweet friends over this weekend to enjoy some good times, good football and good food together!  After a delish dinner of smoked chicken wings, bbq pork tenderloin, corn casserole, brocolli slaw and pasta salad (thanks friends for bringing such yummy sides), we turned our attention to the desserts!

I love caramel apples and nothing feels more fall to me than one of them, but let's face it - they are a fiasco to try to eat in public and reserve any amount of manners!  So, I opted for caramel apple dippers for a sweet treat and of course, we noshed on those carrot cake whoopie pies, fresh from the oven!

The dippers were a snap to make.  Simply buy the pre-sliced apple wedges (because they don't turn brown quickly) and skewer them with a craft stick, lollipop stick or kabob skewer.  I had small craft sticks on hand and they worked perfect(and both ends are rounded so no littles will poke themselves).

Caramel was displayed in a jar and toppings were there for the grabbing.  Assembly couldn't be easier.  Just take an apple stick, dip in caramel and top with tasty toppings.  Voila!

This is one that I must remember!  Real cute and super easy - just like I like it!

Soup's On

It's fall ... one of my four favorite seasons!  I love to cook, but on busy weeknights, getting creative and daring in the kitchen requires speed too.  Last night, I made a batch of delish creamy tomato soup.  Garnished with a sprig of fresh basil from the garden, we dined on a delightful "pumpkin" soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for a cozy Thursday night.  The soup even received a (shocking) rave review from Dear Hubs. He went back for seconds and I'm sure is dining on round 3 for lunch today! 

 



Creamy Tomato Soup
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (powdered works in a pinch!)
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 - 1 cup white wine
•  24 oz San Marzano tomatoes (these taste better than other can tomato in my opinion)
•  1/2 - 1 cup mascarpone cheese

 Directions:
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and saute onion and carrot until tender.  Add herbs.  When cooked throughout, add tomato paste and stir until the veggies are covered in the tomato.  It will be very thick.  You need to move fast at this point so it doesn't burn, add the white wine and cook for about a minute or until the liquid is mostly evaporated.  Follow by the can of tomato, salt and pepper.  The can tomato breaks down almost immediately.  You can use a large spoon to "chunk" up the tomato on the saucepan.   

Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until all lumps are sufficiently removed and soup is smooth.  Return to saucepan and salt and pepper to taste.  At this step, I added a bit more white wine to thin out my mixture (that's why directions say up to 1 cup).  Add the mascapone cheese and stir until smooth.  The mixture will be a thick, rich orangy red. 

When I make this soup, I go heavy on the red pepper because it gives an interesting zip to the soup.  If you are serving to kids ... you might want to go sparingly on this.

For pumpkin presentation, simply add a sprig of basil to the bowl of soup ... voila ... so festive!

Soup's on, y'all!
xoxo
~b

It's Pumpkin Time

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Back from a restful week at the beach ... heavy sigh, I guess all good things do have to come to an end!

Now that we are back, it definitely feels like a delayed close to summer and fall is in the air.  As part of that, fall tennis is in high gear.  As those ALTA Betty's in Atlanta tennis know, home matches mean food duty.  As the host team, it's your responsibility to provide some delish treats, cold water and bevvies for the two teams that are playing.  To kick off our season, I was assigned "chip and dip".  I did my tennis duty and brought a yummy Greek veggie dip and pita chips.  But ... I just had more hospitality that needed direction. 

So, I tried my hand at making tennis ball chocolate Oreo cookies.  You know, those cute choco melts in a form (available at Michael's) that cover an already tasy Oreo with even tastier choco bark.  I know you have seen them all over our dear fave pinterest.  Well, trouble is that I was using Wilton melts that were mint flavored and they already had a beige tint.  When I added the yellow food color gel ...well, they turned a lovely peach.  So, I added more and just went with it!  Orange was the color it was.     

So ... now that my yellow tennis balls turned orange, it was time for plan B. Festive, all be it a bit premature, it felt like pumpkins were in order. And Plan B took form. I barked orders (literally I'm pretty sure) to ask Dear Hubs to head back to the nearest grocery to pick up some green pre-made frosting in a tube (no time to spare) and a bag of pretzels. Voila! Pumpkins. They couldn't have been cuter!

To make these, I melted a bag of Wilton candy melts (mint) in the microwave.  Just a minute will do it.  I added food coloring to find the "perfect orange" (forget that this was originally supposed to be yellow!).  I piped a blog of green frosting at the top and then drew the green frosting down a bit to look like a leaf.  I affixed a pretzel stick piece onto the green blob.  So easy and just so darn cute!

So, morale of the story ... sometimes Plan B works out!  These pumpkins might be making a repeat visit this fall!  Pumpkin time - let's go!

xoxo

Sunday Supper

Yes, this is post #2 this week devoted to the delish food and drinks I consumed last weekend! On Sunday evening, as we were winding down our weekend festivities, the fam came over for a casual Sunday Supper. We try to do this most weeks. It gives Zsa Zsa, Dear Ole' Dad and Lala a chance to catch up with us AND most importantly, dote all over their prized baby B.

This weekend, I was so excited about my take home Holeman and Fitch ciabatta that i almost called that dinner! Instead, I made an easy dish of Hilton Head shrimp, big salad, the notorious bread with herb des provence butter and a lovely honeycomb almond cake for dessert! And every ounce of stuffed you may feel from reading that pales in comparison to how full we all were after dinner!

Whenever possible, that means not "too hot" or "too humid" as defined by Dear Hubs or "too cold" as defined by Zsa Zsa, we try to dine outside.  The table is casually set and we balance the meal somewhere between Thanksgiving fancy and fend for yourself Lord of the Flies.  I was pleased as punch that the table, recently painted for it's final (Lord willing) face lift, was dry in time for dinner!  The newly painted chalkboard table welcomed everyone with a "Bon Appetit y'all" written on both sides of the table.

 

 

The darling "sweet" and "water" tags were a birthday gift from Lala and were on backorder for two long months.  This was the first time I had to show them off.  I just love them.  Once again, Ballard Designs came up with a cute little thing I just had to have!

 

The much discussed "bread" was slightly toasted and sliced.  Served with a homemade spread it was just divine!  To make the butter, I softened a stick of salted butter and added a heaping dose of Herbes des Provence (French blend herbs) and a big pinch of kosher salt.  The result was just lovely.

 

 

Besides the bread, I tried to stay true to a gluten free meal.  Lala has a wheat allergy that was just recently diagnosed so I always try to accomidate when we can.  I always look for a reason to break out my Williams Sonoma honey comb pan, so this was as good of an excuse as any! 

 

This cake was simply great and totally gluten free!  Who knew that there are regular cake mixes now on the cake aisle that are gluten free.  Exciting stuff for Lala!  I took a gluten free yellow cake mix, stirred in about 1/2 cup of ground, toasted almonds and a dash of almond extract.  The cake turned out moist and yummy.  Topped with a honey glaze made of Savannah Bee Company honey, light brown sugar and butter ... yummy just got even better!

 

cheers to Sunday Supper, y'all!

A Sesame First

Our sweet friends, the R family have a little, W, that is the same age as Baby B.  Recently, we loaded up the golf cart and headed over to the R household for a fun afternoon on Sesame Street celebrating little W's first birthday.  Mama T did a fab job styling the party and she seriously thought of so many cute details my head was spinning. 

 

Cookie Monster was the guest star of all things cake, cupcake and yes, of course ... cookie!  T outsourced the most darling cake and she did the cupcakes herself.  This diva was uber impressed, especially after seeing pictures of the epic failed Cookie Monster cupcakes pinned all over pinterest (y'all know you know the ones I'm talking about!).  Everyone took home a little jar of ... what else but ... cookies! 

 

While the littles enjoyed the bounce house out back (Santa may just need to bring baby B one of those this year!), the bigs were able to relax in the shade and enjoy a splendid afternoon.  Here's a few cute snaps of the affair!  Happy Birthday little W, you are a favorite buddy!

 

 

A Cocktail or Two...

With family in town earlier this month, I took the opportunity to experiment on them like they were lab rats dazzle them with  new recipes .  Among the tested recipes, two cocktails topped the list and will make a repeat debute occassionally around these parts!

Not only were these two cocktails another great excuse to drink out of Mason Jars, but they were also a welcome change from our standard drink rotation here!

First up is a Berry Blast.  It's light and fruity and goes down way too easy!  Mix 1 part Trader Joe's French Berry lemonade, 1 part club soda and 1 part blueberry vodka.  Delish.  After one or two, we became brave and started mixing various fruity vodka flavors with the club soda mix.  When you want it less sweet or less strong ... simply adjust the 1:1:1 ratio. 

Next up is a delish cherry beer-garita.  Don't let the name fool you.  This bevvy will have the men happy for manly-ness of the drink and the gals pleased with the cherry nature too!  It's a win across the board.  And, should likely be renamed "Call a Cab" because after 2 of these you most definitely will need too!

This recipe was a gem I found on pinterest.  The graphic below is the best recipe ever ... how simple and informative is that?

Like I said ... even my toughest critics (Pop Pop and Pops) agree they were a smashing success!  Cheers, y'all!

First Fete: Smashcake, Cupcakes & Snacks

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As promised on the first party post here, I thought I'd give y'all a good look at the sweet treats from Baby B's first fete.  The treats were so tasty and enjoyed by all.  Baby B thought his own smashcake was just tops! 

While the Varsity truck fed hungry bellies around the corner on the drive, the sweets were displayed on a big table on the back deck. 

Here's a few of the tips and tricks of this sweets production: 

Tablescape
The large chalkboard behind the table is a last minute crafty.  I have been on the hunt for a big ole' chalkboard for some time.  Trouble was, I didn't want to pay the hefty price for a big one that was decorative and I really don't have a need for yet another plain Jane chalkboard.  (as I've explained here ... I have a chalky addiction).   I found a very large scrap of press board in the basement that Dear Hubs had hid away (for who knows what purpose) and simply covered it with a few coats of my handy chalkboard paint.  Seriously ... do I use that stuff on everything?  Topped with some large paper pennants, it was the perfect backdrop for the sweets table. 

Table clothes were loaded up in white, blue and topped with burlap.  Since it was outside and thunderous clouds were looming, I actually opted for disposable tableclothes and topped with a burlap runner.  The garland across the front is comprised of various red, white and tons of blue fabric scraps.  I LOVE this garland and have plans to make another one.  A box covered in craft paper served as the perfect tier for the back of the table to give dimension.  Tiny paper pennants that matched the invitation hang across the front of the box and the plate stand.

The balloon topiaries are in silver paint buckets that I had on hand.  You can find yours at a local Home Depot for just a few bucks.  These have served me well through the years!
 

Treats

Since we had such a crowd to feed, I opted for cupcakes. I had originally envisioned a monster sweet sensation for Baby B's first fete, but when reality set in that it would be 100 degrees, melt and look like a hot mess ... well, cupcakes it is! To save my sanity, I actually outsourced the cupcake baking. (gasp, I know).  I always bake my own treats, but this time, with gentle coaxing from Zsa Zsa, Dear Hubs and every bestie known to man, I decided best to save my sanity! The cupcakes were topped by moi, partial credit right? I made large fondant ones and a polka dot in blue, then added a cute sour cherry candy.

They were super cute when all was done.

All that said, I couldn't bear the thought of Baby B's first cake being from someone other than me.  So, I DID bake that giant cute cupcake that Baby B would be smashing shortly after this pic below.  Using my oversized cupcake pan, I simply baked a yellow cake and topped with white icing using a wide Wilton tip.  I hung a pennant banner from two grilling skewers.  It matched perfectly with the individual cakes and was a great focal addition.  Certainly, my critic was a fan!

As if tummies weren't full enough, in addition to the sweets; we had yummy roasted peanuts and popcorn for snacks.  Dear Hubs helped out and rolled our large movie style popcorn machine around from our media and game room on the terrace level.  With the music cranked up and attendees firmly seated for the mainstay, these treats came in handy!

 

Favors

As the night went on, the kids negotiated opening their favors early.  Going along with our theme, I opted for oversized carnival style lollipops.  I found these cuties on Amazon (they were better in size, style and price than any other site I checked!).  Only trick, there was a large label on the pops already.  I used the same old school typewritter font as the invites, labels and all other notes to whip up some large labels for these favors.  To display, I filled a vintage Coca-Cola crate with floral foam, topped with paper shreds and presented the pops in this tray.  They were just darling!        

They were a hit with all!

Hope y'all enjoyed the sugar rush! xoxo