Clowning around

Last weekend we had a group of our close friends over for a "Going Away" Party.  We have an awesome group of peeps and have so much fun together!

I set up a photo booth concept in the back den and used my newest contraption.  And I LOVE it.  Best $10 spent in a while!

Nichole shared some fun props for the photo booth.  I'm so glad we have these photos to remember our times together.

So much fun!

Ladies Dinner

This past Friday I had a few ladies over for a little dinner at the house.  I have to say I really enjoyed making dinner at the house and having people here.  Before Mr Isaac made his appearance, we would have planned a dinner out a restaurant, but (as MANY people told us) life is a little different with a little one. 

I wanted the menu to be something that I could prep before hand and just pull together easily once my girls were here.  So I chose Roasted Spanish Chicken with sweet potatoes and onions and sautéed Brussels sprouts with craisins. 

Roasted Citrus Chicken & Sweet Potatoes
adapted from Nigella Lawson & Life is Great

4-6 Chicken Thighs	1 sweet onion
2 Orange	1-2 tbsp dried oregano
3 medium sized Sweet Potatoes	Salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven 350*.  Wash sweet potatoes.  Chop into even sized cubes (about 1/2” square).  Chop onion in similar size pieces.  Place on jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with raised edges).  Drizzle olive oil over veggies.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper – toss to coat.  Spread veggies out leaving room for chicken thighs.  Place chicken on pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Salt and pepper chicken.  Zest orange over chicken thighs.  Sprinkle oregano over chicken.

Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender and caramelized.

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Brussels Sprouts with Craisins

1 bag Brussels sprouts	1 bag craisins
1/2 onion, chopped	1 tbsp olive oil

Soak craisins in a bowl of water (we’ve also used red wine before) to re-hydrate cranberries.  Remove outer leaves of Brussels sprouts.  Chop off bottom.  Then thinly slice / chop the Brussels sprouts.  Dice onion.  Heat sauté pan over medium high heat.  Once pan is hot add olive oil, sprouts and onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sauté until sprouts are tender and onions are translucent.  Drain craisins and add to pan.  Serve immediately.

For dessert I did a simple Peach Crunch Cake from Bakerella.  It’s super tasty and I know it’s a very well known recipe.  I’ve made it before with strawberries but it’s nice to have some yummy fruit cobbler in the winter.  I would use another can of peaches if I made it again.  I would like more peaches!!

Have you been to any dinner parties recently?  Maybe thrown your own??  What’s your “go-to” recipe for having company?

BABY shower!

This past weekend we had our very first BABY shower!  And oh were we showered with love and gifts!!

These wonderful ladies went above and beyond to create a fun, inviting and super special atmosphere  for celebrating "Baby L's" soon arrival!

There were so many fun details to take in.  The food, decor, special touches.  I know that they spent so much time planning and crafting to make this day an unforgettable event!  

The ladies chose a "Lamb theme" that was featured on the invites, cupcake toppers, and even in the decor. Cindy made a pair of beautiful pillows that had a felt lamb appliqued on them.  And Shannon even did special artwork that featured sweet lambs.  I'm telling you these girls don't miss a detail!

After enjoying all kind of wonderful finger food goodies. (The Caramel Apple Shooters were to die for!  Thanks Julie!!) We opened gifts.  And the generosity was dumbfounding!!  So many cute outfits and DIAPERS, WIPES, toys, homemade items and more.  Baby L is blessed beyond words.

{Super excited about these homemade onesies for each month to photograph Baby L's growth from Aunt Dewey}

{oh and check out the lamb pillow!}

{Sweet Natty being my trash girl}

And the gifts just kept coming!!  I will save you from the super CHEESY grin-fest I was having.  Wow!  What can I say - I was a happy mama!!

After the gifts, we played a little Baby Pictionary.  The garland played 2 roles = super cute decoration along with Pictionary clues!

Another super cute idea they had was a "Wish Tree".  Everyone filled out tags with advice, suggestions and even some FREE babysitting offers!  These will be great for the baby book!

I was so happy to be surrounded by so many friends and family!  It's rare that all of us girls are together at one time so this was a special moment!!

{Baby L's:  Cousin/Aunt, Great - Aunt, Grandmom L, Mama, Mimi & Aunt Daina}

{and wow - that bump is bumpin'!}

Thank you again ladies for a day so sweet & special!!!  

{And special thanks to Aunt Liz for being the photographer!}

A few of my favorite things… and People!

Every year around this time I enjoy hosting some kind of event.  Last year I did a cookie swap, remember?  This year I wanted to try something a little different.  I had read about the idea of a “Favorite Things” (F/T) party on some blogs:  The Nester’s.  Brooke’s.  And Katie’s take.   I thought this was the perfect excuse to bring my friends together.

The general gist of the party

• Bring 3 of your favorite items (3 of the same items)

• $6 – $10 price range

• You’ll present your item and give it to three different people.  So you’ll end up going home with three different items.

So once I knew that I wanted to try this F/T party, it was time to figure out the invitation.  I checked out the normal options (evite, etc.) and couldn’t find anything that was quite right.  I came across the site Paperless Post and really liked their options.  And this was the end result:

So we had the date.  Invitations sent out.  What’s next??? The To-Do List & the menu of course!

I had been “pinning” ideas on a board specifically for the F/T party. You can check it out here.

Menu:

Prosciutto Cups	Layered Greek Dip
Asian Spring Rolls	Jalapeno & Raspberry Jam w/ Cream Cheese
Caprese Skewers	Bacon & Peach Pinwheels
Raspberries filled w/ Lemon Curd	Peanut Butter Cup Bark
White Chocolate Pretzels	Fruity Water
Trader Joe’s Spiced Cider

Everything turned out pretty tasty although there were some “challenges.”  Alton Brown’s recipe for Lemon Curd didn’t thicken up like it was supposed to.  The filling for the prosciutto cups left a little to be desired so we had to doctor it up a bit.  And there’s one whole recipe I’ve left off the list because they may have burnt over-cooked.  But all in all good stuff!

Of course we weren’t here just for the food…  we were here to share our favorite things!  And this is where the pictures fall short.  I was partying with my girls and didn’t take the opportunity to capture shots of all the favorite things.  But I can show you what I got:

Book & muffin mix     •    Mug with tea    •  Sam Adams Berry Wheat & Spicy Almonds

There were so many good ideas!  We had a total of 16 people so we learned about LOTS of Favorite Things:

Curel Extra Healing Lotion • Scarves • Vanilla Cinnamon Candle • French Press • Key Chain • Ped Egg • Gloves • Post-it Dispenser • Wine • Hand Soap • Snazzy Chocolate Bar •

So all in all – I do believe a Favorite Things Party may be my Favorite kind of Holiday party around!!  You’ve got to try it!  If you have please tell us about it!  Or if you’ve blogged about it leave a link for us to check it out!!

Brunch & Cookies

Well the Cookie Swap was so much fun!!  So let me run it down for ya…  We went with a brunch theme which was fun to do it in the a.m. instead of the afternoon.  I must say it was a little nerve racking with a quick lead time in morning but everything got done!  WHEW!
So first let me tell ya the menu:

Individual Egg Casseroles	Creamy Dreamy Grits
Sausage Pinwheels	Baked Apples
Yogurt Marmalade Cake

For the egg casseroles, I did a combo of recipes.  I used a mini loaf pan to make 8 individual loaves.  I started with challah bread and broke into pieces and put in the pan.  Chopped up some ham and sprinkled on top of the bread.  In a separate bowl, mix 10 eggs with 1/2 cup of milk, salt & pepper, and shredded cheese.  Pour over bread / ham mixture.  I made this the night before and baked off the next morning.  These puffed up real pretty and loved the whole individual servings!
Creamy dreamy grits = lots of whole milk, butter & salt / pepper.  We just used instant grits and they are super yummy!
Sausage Pinwheels are a family staple item.  It’s another good one to make the night before.  Roll out 2 cans of crescent rolls and press all seams together.  Scramble sausage and drain.  Add 1 pkg of cream cheese to warm sausage and mix well.  Spread cream cheese sausage mixture over crescent rolls and then roll like cinnamon rolls.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.  In the a.m. slice roll and place each piece on cookie sheet.  Bake @ 350 for 20-30 minutes – until golden brown.
Baked apples are also a family recipe – Peel, core and slice  6 medium size Granny Smith apples.  Soak in salt water overnight.  In the morning drain apples, place in casserole dish.  In a separate bowl add 1/2 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup melted butter, 2 tbsp cinnamon.  Spread mixture over apples and bake 45-50 minutes @ 350.
For the Yogurt Marmalade Cake, I used Pioneer Woman’s recipe – she explains much better than I ever could right here.
I would highly recommend the idea of a brunch cookie swap – it’s a great way have a get together but it doesn’t interfere with the busy afternoon / evenings of the Holiday season!  Definitely go with as many make the night before recipes you can come up with – it helps out a lot! 
So after brunch it was time to SWAP – We had some delish cookies!  Check ‘em out!

       Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies                              Butter Pecan
 
       Chocolate Oatmeal – No Bakes                             Aunt Pine’s Gingersnaps

Chocolate Caramel Thumbprints

 
I had Joe get me some to-go boxes (from Restaurant Depot) that worked perfect for packaging the cookies separately so our Butter Pecan cookies wouldn’t start tasting like Gingersnaps.  I just hate it when that that happens!  I also had a little parting party gift = a cookie spatula.

If you don’t have one of these yet – you must get one!  They are the best for cookies – it’s a thin metal spatula that slides right under your cookie and doesn’t smush your cookies up when they’re hot! 
So that’s a run down on our first Holiday hosting event.  What Holiday events do you have going on?  I’ve go to do some research for two different hors d'œuvre party coming up next weekend!  Don’t ya just love the Holidays!!