Parties

Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party

4 · Jun 30, 2014 · 6 Comments

+ This Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party brought to you by Pepcid® +

As you all know… I LOVE to entertain! The idea of spending time coming up with a menu and cooking all day makes me happy… Seriously I love it! Recently, I had the chance to throw a fun Ladies Fiesta for a few friends for a fun Girls Night IN at my place. SUPER FUN!! Some of you may have followed along on Instagram while I was prepping for the night. Here’s the menu…

Frozen Shirley Temples

Spicy Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail

Creamy Avocado Gazpacho

Light Tacos

Creamy Corn Cups

Fiesta Summer Salad

Dirty Diet Coke

ChocoFlan

Many of the recipes are from or inspired by one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s Marcela Valladolid from Mexican Made Easy. When I decided to have a girls night, I thought a classy fiesta would be super fun and Marcela was the perfect chef to turn to for all kinds of classy fiesta recipes. I didn’t want a night full of chips and guacamole followed with a pan full of enchiladas. I wanted it to be light, fresh and refined. This menu was perfect… Except for one thing.

Here’s a little known fact about me… I have struggled for years with mild heartburn. Over the years, I have learned what foods trigger this condition in me and you would be surprised that even a relatively fresh and light fiesta menu like the one above could cause all kinds of issues with my sensitive stomach. You would think that the typical fiesta fair like heavy burritos and enchiladas would be the only culprits, but it’s not. Everyone is different but even fresh food, if they are high in acid like tomatoes, can trigger a rough night. That’s why when it comes to nights like this, I turn to Pepcid® to help me enjoy the food that I so lovely prepared for my friends! Wouldn’t it be a shame to go to all that work just to suffer in the end? If you are like me at all, you should visit the Pepcid® Facebook page for all kinds of ways to help keep your stomach happy!

Here’s how the night went… I prepped food all day, and while I was doing that I watched as the clouds rolled in. The plan was to eat outside and enjoy a nice summer evening and a rain storm was NOT on the menu. Sure enough, about an hour before the ladies were to arrive, the clouds opened up and DUMPED a ton of rain. YAY! Not to worry, I kept working on party prep and when my friends arrived I put them to work, drying of the table and chairs, no worries there. The rest of the night was perfect, so we didn’t let that little bump create issues for this fiesta! We set the table with fun mismatched plates and dressed it with some simple greenery, lanterns and candles. It looked lovely!

Cocktail + Frozen Shirley Temple +

Once everything was dry, we had my version of a frozen Shirley Temple.

How fun is that? I made a cherry popsicle in my Zoku with all the tasty cherries that are in season right now and then paired it with some coconut La Croix seltzer water to make a fun “cocktail” to start off the night (we aren’t big cocktail drinkers here.) You can get the recipe here!

Appetizer + Scallop & Shrimp Cocktail +

For an appetizer I served a scrumptious scallop and shrimp cocktail…

I kicked this up a notch with some doctored cocktail sauce and then added pan seared, chilled scallops to the shrimp and it was divine. To make it even easier I removed the tail on the shrimp and added it right to the cocktail sauce. It’s much easier to eat with a fork and you don’t have to deal with messy hands… perfect! You can get this recipe here.

Soup + Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons +

Next, for the soup course… I served a creamy avocado gazpacho that really hit the spot.

When it comes to cooking for a dinner party, you want simple, yet tasty. Especially in the summer, when you have access to all kinds of fresh veggies, gazpacho is perfect. It’s a chilled soup that is perfect for a classy fiesta. You can find this recipe here.

Main Course + Light Tacos, Fiesta Summer Salad & Creamy Corn Cups +

Since this was a fresh summer take on a fiesta, I decided to go with a lighten-up version of tacos. I found this fun recipe from Marcela for a light taco that used butter lettuce for the shell rather than your traditional corn tortilla. It was super tasty and you can find Marcela’s recipe here.

With the light tacos I served the most amazing salad…

It is a mexican take on a panzanella salad full of tomatoes, olives, spicy croutons and few more tasty surprises. You can find that recipe here.

The last side dish was a little more decadent than the other lighter recipes that we had enjoyed throughout the night. Creamy corn cups are an iconic Mexican treat full of all kinds of creamy goodness. I took that recipe straight from Marcela and you can find that recipe here.

Dessert + CocoFlan & Dirty Diet Coke +

Get ready… this dessert will ROCK YOUR WORLD! Yea, not kidding…

If you are a chocolate cake lover and a flan lover (which apparently I am) This recipe will knock your socks off. It’s chocolate cake and flan together. Again this is one of Marcela’s recipes and it is for sure a show stopper. I will have to say, your guest may beat down your door the following day to get access to the leftovers (if you have any!) Surprisingly enough, this actually pairs nicely with a dirty Diet Coke! You can get the recipe for the ChocoFlan here and the dirty Diet Coke here.

All in all the night was SUPER fun, a total flavor festival and thanks to Pepcid I wasn’t regretting it afterward.

Disclaimer // I have received information, product and materials from McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals C0., the makers of PEPCID®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post.

Indian Themed Dinner Party

1 · May 31, 2014 ·

This Indian Themed Dinner Party is brought to you by Silk Coconut Milk // I adore coconut… Like a lot. My husband and I share this love and it’s a treat that we will take in any form possible. Sweet or savory, there is something about coconut that just takes recipes to a new level.

Not to long ago, the folks at Silk challenged me to throw a coconut themed dinner party and with it being coconut, I was for sure up to the challenge. I checked out Silk’s Coconut Milk Pinterest Board and their Silk Coconut Milk Web Page and decided on an Indian themed night.

We started the night with a flavorful butternut squash coconut and lentil stew…

This soup was inspired by a recipe that was created by Aarti Sequeira of Food Network fame. She is my go to girl when it comes to Indian dishes. She just takes a rather mysterious cuisine and takes all the mystery out of it. Most of the recipes that I used for this dinner have been modified from her recipes and they turned out aaaamazing.

Click HERE for the Butternut Squash Coconut and Lentil Stew Recipe

For our dinner, I set a simple table out in my backyard with mismatched plates and some fresh flowers from Trader Joes. It couldn’t be more simple. I’ve collected all of my plates and bowls primarily from Target and Anthropologie. I like buying mismatched plates, that way, if I fall in love with a plate, I buy one which doesn’t break the bank and add it to my collection.

Next on the menu for the evening was my Coconut Curry Shrimp…

Now this shrimp isn’t your typical deep fried tropical shrimp dish. It has a lovely curry flavor and it covered with dried unsweetened coconut with no frying at all…. It was lovely.

Click HERE for my Coconut Curry Shrimp Recipe

For the main course, I made Coconut Curry Meatballs served over rice. These little goodies were the star of the show…

Forget what you have every thought about meatballs! These scrumptious bites have a totally different flavor profile and they were divine.

Click HERE for the Coconut Curry Meatballs with Rice

Finally, we topped off the night with a creamy and refreshing coconut lime granita…

This is a frozen treat that is a little like lazy man’s ice cream. It’s super simple to make and you don’t need an ice cream maker. The bonus… It’s dairy-free! One of my friends who joined us for the evening has a daughter with a major milk allergy and this little treat will help when everyone else in the family is enjoying a bowl full of ice cream. She won’t feel left out at all!

Click HERE for the Coconut Lime Granita Recipe

My friends were floored when I told them that every single recipe had Silk Coconut Milk in the recipe in some form.

Who knew coconut milk was so versatile. Its not just for drinking or making smoothies, you can make all kinds of dishes. Visit the Silk Coconut Milk site for a $1 off coupon plus a whole bunch of fun recipes to try with your new SECRET INGREDIENT!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.

Little Bug Baby Shower /// Food Elements

229 · Jul 23, 2012 · 11 Comments

I finally have a minute to share about the Tasty Treats from the Little Bug Baby Shower that I threw last month for my friend Sarah…

I’ve broken the post down into three sections in order to cover the different food stations that we had for the party along with an introduction to our Little Bug #1!

Velata Chocolate Stations

When I am hosting a party one of my things is to keep the food simple, yet fun. For this party, Kristin and I decided that we wanted to set-up several Velata stations around the party area with several tasty treats to dip in the lovely Velata chocolate.

Get Your Own Velata Here

If you haven’t tried Velata you need to! It’s the easiest way to set-up and fabulous fondue party. The warmer is designed just like a Scentsy warmer with a few modifications for the chocolate. You also have four different and fabulous Velata chocolates to choose from; milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and caramel milk. I ADORE the caramel milk flavor. They all go well with fruit, marshmallows, pound cake, pretzels… basically anything that you would like dipped in chocolate… Potato chips perhaps!

We had four different stations for people to gather around and it was perfect for this type of event!!

The Appetizer, Cupcake & Drink Stations

Another way to keep things easy when throwing a party is to ASK FOR HELP! Kristin and I asked a handful of people to provide appetizers for the shower. We also gave them the trays we wanted them to use so that they would match the decor for the party. Here is a sample of what my friend Christene brought…

You can check out Christene’s Taco Bites recipe at her blog ChristeneHouston.com.

I had a bit of a scare the morning of the shower… I had ordered a stunning French macron tree from a local bakery and they texted me early that morning saying that the macrons didn’t turn out. You can ask my sweet husband… I went into a bit of a TOTAL MELT DOWN when that text came through. That was going to be a major element to the design of one of the tables!

I took a deep breath and started to think. I wanted to find something that stayed true to the color scheme for the event. I came up with NOTHIN’! I thought I would head on over to Wal-Mart to pick up a few last minute party supplies and then my sweet party planning angel guided me to the bakery section. Now keep in mind, I’m a Target girl, not a huge fan of Wal-mart but it was the most convenient store at the time. While I was walking through the bakery section I found these…

Super cute cupcakes that totally matched my color scheme!!! Ahhhhhhhhh, thank you party guardian angel! They worked perfect… crisis adverted. This was a great lesson for me, always have a back-up plan.

For the drinks we created a ombre drink station with colors that matched the shower as well. We used flavored waters rather than super high sugar punches to keep things light. Kristin and I floated fruit in the drink dispensers so that people could tell what flavor the drink was; lemons for lemon water, raspberries and lemons for raspberry lemon water, strawberries for strawberry water and oranges for orange water.

Dip Dyed Plates and Skewers

I’m sure you’ve all been there when planning a party… You have a clear vision, but your vision doesn’t quite meet your budget. That is the story of my life! I wanted to have bamboo plates with the trendy wood forks and spoons but the cost was a little too high with everything else we were buying for the shower. I found myself sitting in front of the paper plate section of Target trying to figure out what to do. I was already planning on dying skewers for the Velata stations and then it hit me… Why can’t I dye plates as well!

I used a Chinette-type plate that is more durable than your typical paper plate, but also not covered in a coating that would prevent the dye from soaking through. To dye the plates I filled a large bowl with water and about three tablespoons of food coloring…

Then I dipped one side of the plate in one color and then let it dry in the oven set to 200 degrees for 5-8 minutes. Once it was dried I dipped the other side in a second color over lapping the two colors to create a fun ombre effect. I also stamped the plates with a fabulous stamp of two little bugs that I found from Four Things by KKP on Etsy.

I did the same things with the skewers. I placed the skewers in the bowl let it sit for a few minutes. Then I removed them from the bowl and placed them on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and placed it in the 200-degree oven and let them dry for about 20 minutes. Both the plates and the skewers really added to the overall effect of the party.

Little Bug #1

Kristin and all our friends had so much fun putting this shower together for Sarah.

It’s so fun watching Jason and Sarah’s dreams come true with these two cute little bugs. Here is little bug #1…

Sweet little Jade… and I can’t wait to introduce little bug #2 Ruby, sometime in October!!

Little Bug Baby Shower | Design Elements

2 · Jun 26, 2012 · 18 Comments

I am quite literally bursting with joy… Sarah's 1st Baby girl was born bright and early on Monday morning. On her Daddy's birthday to be exact. She is beautiful and is a natural fit into the Nitta family. I'm hoping I can share some photos soon of the beautiful little bug. Sarah and I have shared a little of her room so far, the beautiful tree from Cherry Walls and a little sneak peek into Sarah's shower last week. Now that I am finally home from Haven, I just can't hold it in any longer… Here is the fun Little Bug Shower that I put together with my sweet friend Kristin for Sarah's little Love Bug and Cuddle Bug…

It all started with this post that I created not too long ago for Silhouette that I fell in love with…

In my silly mind I just adored my Cuddle Bug and Stink Bug onesies. When Sarah found out that they were on the road for an adoption this was the first thing that popped into my mind when Kristin and I started talking baby showers. We thought it would be a fun, non-traditional baby shower for our fun, non-traditional friend!

Kristin designed the cutest invitation with two little bugs on it and that kicked off the event planning…

I created some fun utensil containers using the premium vinyl and my CAMEO from Silhouette using the same image that I used to create the onesies. Then I dipped dyed the basic paper plates in water and food coloring to create a simple water color ombre effect. I then stamped the plates with a fabulous stamp that I found on Etsy from a cute shop called Four Things by KKP…

Loren from Four Things was super sweet and created a custom stamp for me with two little bugs which was perfect for all kinds of things for the shower. I stamped the plates and really wanted to stamp some cups, but I just couldn't find the right cup for the job, oh well. I also created a Wishing Wheel for the shower using an old bike wheel…

Everyone tied tags that I found on Pick Your Plum, that were stamped with the cute little bugs at the bottom of the tag onto the wheel. We asked everyone to write down their wishes for the girls to share with Sarah & Jason. It' turned out so cute…

When we started planning I knew I wanted balloons, and not just any balloon… HUGE luscious balloons!! I found the colors that I was looking for at BalloonsFast.com and boy were they fun!

To dress-up the balloons I hand cut some crepe paper tassels and paired them with strips of a silver foil door curtain. They were stunning!! I placed them on the walkway up to Kristin's house and then had them throughout the house as well. They were so fun, and added a whimsical element to the shower. However… did you know that there is a national helium shortage? Yea, I didn't either!! I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

I also placed my favorite DREAM sign in the front yard to greet all of the guests. I thought it was appropriate since this has been a dream come true for Sarah and Jason. If you haven't seen it yet you have to check out Sarah's video about her journey through weight gain, weight loss, infertility and her time on the Biggest Loser…

Now a new chapter in Sarah & Jason's life has begun. Kristin penned a beautiful poem that we included with each invitation to tell the story of how their sweet little girls finally had a chance to come and join their family. Kristin then printed a large version and framed it for the shower…

Kristin and I hung a cute little clothes line to create a fun focal point for the party. It was also a great area to collect the shower gifts…

I made two more "Love Bug" and "Cuddle Bug" onesies and then filled the rest of the line with cutie-patootie clothes that Sarah was then able to take home after the shower for her little bugs.

I wanted the shower to be a full sensory experience. Visually I used a playful citrus color palette that just popped when everyone walked into the room. I place fun vintage items in clusters around the party area to create fun design tidbits to take everyone back to a simple and carefree time in their lives…

I filled the room with my favorite CD by Mindy Gledhill called Anchor which was perfect for the feel for the party on my Swansea Beach Radio/ iPod dock from Anthropologie. I also transported people with their sense of smell by using my Scentsy warmer armed with my favorite scent, Sunkissed Citrus. The only sense left is taste, and I'm afraid I will have to share that with you later… This post is already FOREVER long!

So… what do you think so far? Was it crazy to have a "bug" theme for a shower for two little girls?