So, I threw a Halloween Party....

...and it was LEGEND....

wait for it.....

Here you can see my tablescape. I love the word tablescape. 

Anyway, I've got Deviled Eggs that look like Pumpkins and Spiders 

And Jumbo Mummy Dogs 

Carmel Apple Dip with Toppings 

(Granny Smith Apples sliced on skewers, Carmel dip, Pecans (chopped) and mini choc chips) 

Shrunken Head Punch - link goes to how to make the shrunken heads 

^ Punch: Cranberry Cocktail + Champagne + Citrus Vodka + Apple Cider - this was amazing and you just have to mix to taste - it was VERY strong but didn't taste strong at all! I know I used a whole bottle of champagne but everything else was just added to taste. 

Pumpkin Puking Guac (see last pic) 

and then just some candy corn, cookies, gummie worms, etc. 

You know the drill....

I was a Robot - Patrick was a Mad Scientist (see below)

Robot Tutorial Here!

Mad Scientist: Googles - Party City, Mad Scientist Hair - ordered at halloween online store, Lab Coat - Party City Doctors costume, Black Gloves - Party City Darth Vadar Gloves

Robot: Silver Makeup (see tutorial) Black eyeliner, Black Dress - Express, Black Boots and Silver Gloves - Halloween Store 

Better shot of the table! 

Puking Pumpkin (Guac and Blue Chips) Easy Peasy

....DARY! 

LEGENDARY! !! !! ! 

It was great fun! Feel free to email me with any questions =)

xo

H

Summer Recipes

Refreshing drinks and Scrumptious food to bring to any summery event that may be approaching as the temperature rises and they sundresses come out of storage. 

.::Drinks::.

Ruby Red Grapefruit Margarita

Does this look perfect or what? Not only is the color pretty as ever, but it couldn't look any more refreshing! 

What you need:

1 wedge Ruby Red grapefruit
Coarse kosher salt
6 ounces tequila
1/3 cup Ruby Red vodka
1/4 cup agave nectar (honey like texture in local grocery store) 
1 cup Ruby Red grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed or from a carton
1/4 freshly squeezed lime juice
4 cups ice cubes
2 crosswise slices Ruby Red grapefruit, cut into quarters

Use the wedge of grapefruit to rub the rims of 6 margarita glasses with grapefruit juice. Dip the rims in the kosher salt to coat. Set aside as you prepare the margaritas.

Place the tequila, vodka, simple syrup, grapefruit juice, lime juice and ice in a bar blender and puree until smooth. Divide the margarita between 6 glasses and garnish with the grapefruit quarters.

Lime Sorbet Margaritas

What you need:

• 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 pints lime sorbet
• 1/2 cup tequila

Directions

Rub the lime wedges around the rims of 8 stemmed glasses. Place the sugar on a small plate. Turn each glass upside down and dip the rims in the sugar to coat.

Place 2 scoops of sorbet in each glass and pour 1 tablespoon of tequila over the top of each. Serve with a spoon.

Cucumber Gimlet 

Anything cucumber in the summer is amazing to me - cucumbers smell great and taste great! 

What you need: 

• 2 large cucumbers 

• 1/2 cup gin (or vodka if you prefer)
• 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup ice cubes
• 4 lime slices

Slice four 1/4-inch-thick slices from 1 cucumber. Peel and coarsely chop remaining cucumbers; transfer to processor and purée until smooth. Pour through fine strainer set over large bowl, pressing on solids in strainer. Discard solids in strainer.

Mix 1 cup cucumber juice, gin, lime juice, and sugar in pitcher; stir until sugar dissolves. Add ice; mix well. Immediately strain mixture into 4 small Martini glasses. Garnish with lime and cucumber slices and serve.

Pineapple Margaritas 

I guess this post is getting a little ridiculous if you don't like tequila considering all I am posting is Margaritas! Don't worry - after this delicious Pineapple Marg - I will give you Anti-Tequilians something to sip on ;) 

What you need: 

1 cup lime juice, about 10 limes
1 cup silver tequila
1 cup Triple Sec
1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple juice
Fresh pineapple slices, for garnish

Combine the lime juice, tequila, Triple Sec, and pineapple juice. Fill a cocktail shaker 1/2-way with ice and fill 2/3 full with the margarita mixture. Shake for 30 seconds and pour into glasses. Decorate with fresh pineapple slices and serve ice cold

Peach Summer Sangria 

What you need:

1 (750-milliliter) bottle white wine

 (pick a wine depending on how sweet you want your sangria - ex. Riesling & Moscato - sweeter, 

Pinot Grigio - less sweet)
1 cup peach schnapps
1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
2 peaches, sliced
1 cup green or red grapes, whole or sliced (optional)

1 cup sliced or cubed pineapple (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Stir before serving.

.::Food::.

Cucumber & Chive Butter Tea Sandwiches

Anything cucumber screams summer to me - not only is the taste great - but I love the smell!  

What you need:

2 lg cucumbers - sliced

6-8 slices of bread - use a small round cup to make a perfect 'cucumber-size' circle 

(or if you are lucky enough to have a round cookie cutter -use that!)

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

1/2 cup (room temperature) butter

Mix butter and chopped chives together in a bowl 

Spread butter mix onto circle bread

Top with sliced cucumber and garnish with a tiny bit of 

the chive butter - Enjoy! 

Fruit Pizza

What you need: 

1 package refrigerated sugar cookie dough (slice and bake type)
1 tub Cool Whip
1 cup strawberries
1 cup bananas
1 cup fresh or canned peach slices
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup kiwi - sliced

Directions:

Slice the cookie dough thin. Place cookie slices on a 14 inch pizza pan, overlapping slightly. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool slightly.

 Spread the Cool Whip evenly on cooled cookie crust.

Starting at center, put strawberries, then a circle of banana slices; next a circle of peach slices; and last a circle of blueberries. If this does not completely cover pizza pan, add another circle of fresh fruit, like kiwi or fresh white grapes.

Goat Cheese & Apple Canapes 

What you need:

• 
  1/4 cup  crumbled goat cheese

• 1 tablespoon  honey

• 1 large red apple, cored and cut into 24 thin slices

• 24 watercress leaves

• Freshly ground black pepper
• 
  

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese and honey.
Spread about 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture onto each apple slice and top with a watercress leaf.
 Arrange the canapes on a platter and sprinkle with black pepper.

xo

H

Unique Party Foods

Lately (since I have moved up north) I have been going to lots of gatherings where appitizers are appropraite. I cannot bear another cheese and cracker plate or fruit bowl - therefore I have done some searching and tried the following two winners! Everyone loved them and you can be sure no one else at the party will bring them - Bonus! 

Goat Cheese Grape Balls

You will need:

Grapes - any type

Honey

Goat Cheese - or any soft cheese that you like

Crushed Nuts - I used Walnuts but you can choose any nut

Toothpicks (optional) for serving

First, you need grapes of course! Any type will do. I went with green grapes since I wanted the sour bite. Wash the grapes in a strainer and then pat them dry. 

Next, this is the hardest part, you want to take the goat cheese and break it apart into about half-a-grape size pieces - take the pieces and place on the sides of the grapes. Roll in between your palms until cheese is spread evenly onto grape - you may need to add additional pieces to cover the grape. It's a little messy and time consuming, but I can assume you the end result is worth it! 

 Next step is to carefully roll the goat cheese covered grape in honey. I drizzled honey on to a plate and gently rolled three grapes at a time in the honey. Once they are pretty much covered you can roll the grapes in crushed nuts. *I had to put my walnuts in a ziplock and crush them using the bottom of a glass. Roll it in the nuts until they are evenly covered and then stick the toothpick in them to serve! 

I found the snack tasted best after being refrigerated for 1-2 hours before serving. 

Enjoy! 

Baked Brie Crescent Roll Wrap

You Will Need:

Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough - Original Flavor is best 

Apricot Fruit Spread

Small-Medium Brie Cheese Wheel

Grapes, Crackers, and Apples for serving

 First I unrolled the crescent roll doubt and used a fork to mold and mush together the dotted lines so the triangles were hardly visible. Then, you take the apricot fruit spread and using a spoon, apply a thin layer to the dough. After that you plop the wheel of brie into the center of the dough.

After centering the Brie - now its time to fold the dough over to wrap the cheese inside - this can be tricky and it may take a few flaps and re-flaps to get it perfect but your goal is to create a solid wrap around the cheese without any showing from the inside. 

Place the wrapped brie on a lightly greased (pam) baking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until outside is golden brown and crispy. Serve with a knife, apples, crackers, and grapes (or anything you'd like). Best served right after being taken out of oven. 

Enjoy! 

xo

H

Chick-Fil-A Knock Off Nuggs

So Patrick is a crappy, crappy eater - and I fear for my future kids health - BUT for some odd, slightly-insane reason - I always end up cooking to support it! Don't get me wrong, I love Chick-fil-a just as much as the next person (and that's a lot) but I am fully aware it's fast food and I should limit as much as possible - none-the-less, I decided to make a version at home - therefore, when that never-failing Sunday craving for Chic-fil-a hits - I will be prepared for an at home feast of deliciousness! AND its soooo easy ;) 

Ingredients:

(for cooking for two)

1 cup flour 

5 tbsp powdered sugar

3 tbsp salt

2 tbsp pepper

2 tbsp paprika

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 large chicken breast 

5 tbsp olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil (whichever you prefer)

1. First you need to prep the chicken - wash it, pat dry, and cut into small nugget pieces 

2. Put your oil in a large skillet and put on med-high heat - you want it hot, hot, hot! 

3. Mix flour, sugar, salt, pepper, and paprika in a bowl until all is evenly distributed - then put on plate.

4. Whisk egg and milk in bowl and add chicken pieces (4-5 at a time)

5. Transfer chicken from egg/milk mixture to plate of dry ingredients - coat well.

6. The oil should be nice and hot now - put coated chicken pieces into skillet and toss until all sides are golden brown.

7. Transfer cooked chicken nuggets to paper towel to soak up extra oil while you cook the rest of the chicken.

VOILA! 

You are done! When I made it the first time, I used way to much oil and although it was good - it didn't need all that extra fat - so for this recipe I significantly cut down amount of oil in the skillet - if you feel you need more (depending on skillet size) please feel free to add. You basically just need enough to coat the bottom of the pan.

ENJOY YOUR NUGGS!! (Nom Nom Nom)

PS- Can't have your nuggets without your beloved Chick-fil-a sauce?? 

Just take 1/4 cup of Ken's Honey Mustard and add a 2-3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce 

and there you have it - Homemade Chick-fil-a Sauce! 

xo

H