The Perfect Holiday "Party"

I had an idea. 

I'm sure that your holidays are as busy as mine are. You know with all the fabulous parties, dancing the night away, designer dresses and the last minute trips to Europe for that hard to fins gift. Wait... maybe that's not quite right... 

Let's try this: days of screaming over sugared children, work Christmas parties, stealing precious moments for shopping alone and trying to hide presents in crazy places to keep them from prying small eyes (husbands included).

So here's what I thought- I send out holiday cards, so do my friends.  So I invited a few of my friends over one evening before life got mad crazy. They came over and we can drank wine, ate snacks, and addressed envelopes together. 

It was genius. We all felt like we checked something off our endless holiday To-Do, but this way we got to see each other and have real conversations, not just do a fly by holiday kiss-kiss. 

Best. Idea. Ever. 

It was such a success we decided that we are doing it every year. 

Now for the food:

I made baked brie wrapped in Puff pastry with apricot jam.

•  Gently roll out one sheet of puff pastry. Place a round of brie in the middle and put 3 Tbs of apricot jam on the top. Fold the pastry over the brie by overlapping corners. Brush with an egg wash and bake at 375 until the puff pastry is golden brown. Yum-o!!

I also made a brand new dessert. I really wanted a chocolate caramel something. So here's what I did. 

• I made a graham cracker crust and pressed it into a mini muffins tin. I baked it for 7 minutes at 375, and let them cool. I then piped chocolate flavored whipped cream into the crusts. Then I drizzled caramel sauce over the top. So. stinking. good. 

Never made caramel sauce? Here's how:

This is from Ina Garten. Love Ina. You can find the food network recipe HERE

Ingredients

·         1 1/2 cups sugar

·         1/3 cup water

·         1 1/4 cups heavy cream

·         1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves about 5-10 mins. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. You can also dip a pastry brush in water and use it to gently scrape down the sides. The mixture is SUPER hot so be careful!! Towards the end do NOT leave your stove, this can go from caramel to burnt nastiness super fast. Turn off the heat.

Stand back to avoid splatter and slowly add the cream and vanilla. The cream will bubble violently and the caramel will become hard. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. The caramel will dissolve and the sauce will smooth out, about 2 minutes. You can let it continue to simmer a bit for a thicker sauce, but once as it cools it thickens. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. 

Enraged Fowl!!

Okay, I meant Angry Birds. Actually I meant an Angry Birds party. My now three year old is obsessed with Angry Birds. So she asked to have an Angry Birds party. How could I say no to that?

So here's what we did:

My little angry bird

 This is my brother-in-law wearing the pinata after we busted it

Piggy cupcakes

The birthday girl's cake

The cake display

Balloons on a string

We served some hot drinks and warm food. Then we went outside and threw some birds at some pigs. It was so much fun I am not sure how we are going to top it next year....

Hormonal Insomnia

Every so often I can't sleep. At bedtime I am suddenly a wide eyed owl that simply cannot rest. Strangely enough this seems to happen about once a month. I wonder why that is.... :p

Anyway. I have taken to completing craft projects during these times of midnight unrest. I guess they aren't all bad as some pretty cool things have come from them. This is the latest.

I took a canvas that I found at a local hobby store and used my handy 40% off coupon. Gotta love those things!!

I painted the sides brown to go with the sign and I then covered the front in Modge Podge. Then I lined up sheets of craft paper to create a backing. Another layer of Modge Podge. Then I used my Cricut to cut out all the words in different styles and fonts. Covered THAT in Modge Podge. And finally, added another layer of Modge Podge in the end.  Let it dry and hung it up. 

It is one of the first hings you see when you come into our house and I get so many compliments on it. :)

A Little Ladybug, a Whole lot of Fun

My baby isn't a baby anymore. {sniffle} She turned one and is now a toddler. May I ask you, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?!?! Crazy. Well every one year old deserves a stellar party, so here are some pictures of hers.

The guest of honor- the ladybug herself

   The sweet table                               .

The "rose" bouquets. LOVE dressing up cupcakes

                           The party favors

This is an up-close of the banner I made. 

It was a picture of her for every month for her first year. 

Between the pictures it spelled out "Our Special K". 

That's what we call her. Special K. I love my Cricut machine!!

Gifts galore!

                            The smash cake. 

The birthday girl enjoying her cake. 

If you didn't know her cake was red and black...

this would be horror movie material. 

But I still think she's adorable. 

Hair Bows. Hair Bows Everywhere

I have two girls. No wait. I have two girly girls. and we have more hair bows/flowers/clips then their little bathroom can handle. So what happens? Pinterest happens. I saw these cool bow hanger things on there and HAD to make my own version. So here it is:

What you need:

wood frame in at least an 11x13

Landscape fabric- it isn't fabric at all, is wire mesh you get in the garden center of Lowe's or Home Depot. 

Picture hanging wire

Small eye screws

2 wooden dowels-.25" size

Hot glue

Wire cutters

I started with cheap WOOD frames from Wal-mart. They really need to be wood or the paint doesn't stick. I did a coat of white spray primer (sorry no pic) and then 2 coats of  paint. Don't ya just love that blue!?!? 

While the paint was drying I cut the landscape fabric to match the size of the glass in the frame. 

Then I used hot glue to sandwich the "fabric" between the frame and the dowels. You have to hold it there for a bit to make sure the dowels don;t pop back up when you let go.  (Don't ya love the picture of my cast?? Stupid broken wrist.)

Then hammer a starter spot for the eye screws. 

Screw in the eye screws and then attach the picture wire. Wrap it up nice and tight. 

And hang your bows!! Easy as pie!

Yummy Tea

I don't remember where I got this. But it is SO good. It's been hot (for Idaho anyway. Nothing like Phoenix) here, and I've made this about 9 times. It seems like I make it and then it's gone. Maybe there's a hole in my pitcher.... ;)

Ingredients

• 6 cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp. whole cloves
• 6 black tea bags
• 3-4 C. apricot or peach nectar
• Sugar or honey, to taste (optional) I use the Kerns nectar, which is really sweet, so no sugar for me. 

Instructions

In large saucepan, simmer water, cinnamon stick and cloves 15 minutes, covered. Turn off heat and add tea bags. Steep 5-7 minutes, depending on the strength you prefer. Remove tea bags and add nectar. Add sugar or honey, if desired. Strain to remove spices. Refrigerate until cold, or serve warm

A Pretty Cool Deal

So there are many way cool things about living here in Idaho. The weather (97 is hot. In Phoenix, that's a cold-front), my sisters (7 minutes door-door), Sun Valley is close enough for weekend trips, and now one of my oldest friends!!


We met on Jr high and became good friends in high school. I hit him with my car (long story that culminated in stupid teenage behavior. It's a good thing that I didn't kill him). He and I share the same twisted sense of humor and like most of the same things. Then he moved away (Jerk). And not a little away- he moved FAR away. Several States away. And left me to fend for myself in the world of high school friendships. Lucky for me, I'm extremely likeable. HA!


We clearly kept in touch and it just so happened that he was planning on moving here about a month after we did. And it has been way too fun to see him again. It's even fun when he the the hubster spend all night playing "Let's make fun of Sarah". It seems to be a favorite sport around here lately. Did you know that they even share the same birthday? Different years, but the same moth and day.  


The best part his son and D totally get along and play so well together. It's sweet. 


The two of them (he and his son) came over for dinner and games tonight and it was a blast. We had super tasty chicken and RK Treats for dessert. I botched the RK treats (hey... we all have those times when we mess up.) For the record, when your children ask you: "When will I EVER need to know about fractions and multiplication?" The answer- when you double a batch of RK treats. That's when. If you can't multiply a fraction (like me tonight) you get treats that are still good, but could be WAY better. Sigh


But let's talk about the chicken. My sister came by as I was putting it together and when she walked into my house she said "What smells so good?" Then she informed me that I needed someone to taste the couscous. How could I object? She loved it and we devoured almost all of it. Which is impressive since it was a whole chicken, a bunch of Israeli couscous and vegetables. 


The original recipe was from Anne Burrell. I love her. Classic food with a it of sass. I feel like that fits my personality...except I'm way more on the sassy side. What I would give to go to a Anne Burrell cooking boot-camp. I've considered purposefully cooking bad food to get on America's Worst Cook, but can never bring myself to do it. Bad food is such a sad thing...


Anyway- you can find her recipe HERE, but this is what I did to it (never can leave it alone, can I):

Ingredients

• 2 whole garlic bulbs
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 large bunch thyme, leaves only
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 5-6 pounds chicken parts (skin on/bone in) I used a pre-cut up whole chicken

Couscous:

• Kosher salt
• 2 cups medium-size Israeli couscous
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ribs celery, sliced thin on the bias
• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups red wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 to 3 cups chicken stock
• 
  

Directions

Chicken:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove most of the outer wrapper, but kept the cloves together. Cut the tops off the the garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Roast them until they are soft when squeezed, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once cooled, squeeze out the garlic cloves from the wrappers. 

Put the garlic in a food processor with the lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme, cumin, crushed red pepper and salt, to taste. Add some olive oil and puree into a loose paste. Massage the mixture all over the chicken pieces and let sit for at least 1 hour.

Couscous:

Bring a pot of well salted water to a boil, over medium heat. Add the couscous and cook it until it's about 2/3 of the way done, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain and reserve.

Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and a little butter over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and brown it on all sides. Careful the garlic will burn pretty easy!!

Remove the chicken to a plate. Drain the fat from the pan and add the onions and celery. Season with salt, to taste, and the crushed red pepper. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up all the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.  Cook the onions and celery for 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the cooked couscous, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning, if needed. 

Transfer the mix to a baking dish. Nestle the chicken, skin side up, in the couscous and cover with foil. Add additional chicken stock to keep everything moist.

Roast the chicken for 20 minutes, covered, then remove the foil and roast for another 10 to 15 minutes.