Archive for the ‘entertaining’ Category
Communion Reception: Menu and Black Bean Salsa Recipe
What time do most people eat dinner? Do most people call it “dinner” or “supper”? I suppose there’s a difference, and maybe a subtle one. I never bothered to look up a definition until now. So, what would you do for a reception if a religious service was at 1:30 pm and lasted for 1-1/2 hours? It’s not really a late lunch, but it’s not totally time for dinner either. Essentially, it was supper and it was good.
Here’s what we figured for 25 adults and 11 children (some of whom are light eaters – count 2 kids as 1 adult)
- To munch on: Banana-chocolate chip bread, Cran-apple-orange bread, Orange-rosemary mini cornbread muffins (breads baked at home), salami and cheese, smoked salmon and crackers, roasted garlic hummus and olive crostinis (store bought).
- 48 piece tray – Italian subs and Club subs (approx. 4″, bought at local Italian deli) One tray had 24 pieces, and that wouldn’t have been enough.
- Tortilla chips and roasted corn-black bean salsa (brought over by family)
- Shrimp salad (store bought)
- Cake – split yellow and chocolate cake with custard and strawberries
- Coffee, tea, assorted soda, and juice boxes for the kids
Notes:
- Quick breads can easily be done a few days before and frozen if you want.
- The cornbread muffin recipe is from Martha Stewart which was recently reprinted in the Living magazine with the addition of orange peel. True to the recipe, it keeps for 2 days in an airtight container. TWO days. I made it one day too soon. They dried out.
- It’s nice to have a good bakery so close to home!
Here’s a favorite recipe for black bean salsa that I’ve made over the years adapted from The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula Deen. I visited her restaurant before she was a Food Network celebrity and bought my cookbook there. This salsa is similar to the one we had last Saturday; the difference being roasted corn. It does add a lovely smokiness. Just by frozen roasted corn for ease! Enjoy!
Julie’s Black Bean Salsa
- 2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 (17 oz.) pkg. frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
- 2 lg. tomatoes, seeded and chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup. chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 tbsp. lime juice
- 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 lg. avocado, peeled and chopped (optional)
- 1/8 tsp. cumin (optional)
- 1/8 tsp. garlic powder (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
In large bowl, mix all ingredients well. Cover and chill overnight. Before serving, add salt and pepper to taste if necessary. Great with tortilla chips or just as a side to your meal.
Tags: Communion, cooking, eating, Friends and Family, menu planning
Celebrating Earth Day
Happy Earth Day! We try to do our part in our home to be kind to Mother Earth, but I know we can do more. It’s not like we’re the Begley family, hehe, but we’re learning. Conserving water and recycling are considered typical now. Last year, I brought the little ones to our local Earth Day celebration, but this year we missed it since we were celebrating First Communion.
So to combine efforts, I transplanted spider plants for last Saturday’s favors. Spider plants are so easy to take care of and have been known to actually help purify the air! I’ve started plantlets by rooting them in water and had good luck with planting them direct into soil which it what I did this time around. To dress it up for centerpieces, I used squares of plastic wrap (to keep water from spilling out, not-so-earth-friendly, sorry) and gift wrapping paper to cover up the plastic pots I saved from last year’s gardening. Reusing is good, no? They look like little Chinese take-out boxes, and looked cute on the tables. Even Martha’s doing it – check here.
Other earth-friendly projects to try out can be found below! Check them out! Let me know which ones you’re trying. You know me, I’ll try everything I can.
Earth Day Carnival at Craft Critique (my latest review is also here)
Gift Bow from a magazine at How About Orange
T-shirt necklace from chictopia.com (saw something similar on Martha Stewart recently)
Tags: crafts, earth day, earth-friendly, party favor, party ideas, recycled
Birthday Favor Ideas
Birthday parties have always been a fun and memorable event growing up. When we were really young, opening presents and goody/loot bags were the best things ever… I remember getting dot candy on paper strips, the fortune fish you’d hold in your hand that curls up, stickers, tattoos and the plastic trinkets and jewelry that my parents hated so. What a treasure it was to us but was so easily forgotten.
After last year’s Webkinz party at home, we went the other way and hosted a few friends outside and went simple on a take-home gift: One of Abby’s favorite things to eat, dark chocolate. She prefers Scharffen Berger (she’s such a foodie already), but also loves Trader Joe’s dark chocolate. So, we bought a few bars and to dress it up, I took some scrapbook paper and die-cut shapes that coordinated with her favor colors and wrapped the bars. Very simple and cute, just like my kid.
Other thoughtful ideas:
- Giant, decorated sugar cookie that ties into the party theme (i.e. Butterfly cookies from a local bakery for an outdoor or spring themed party or these cookies)
- Small cellophane bag of a favorite candy (M&M’s), tied with curling ribbon
- Thank you cards with a picture of the guest of honor along with friends.
- Picture CD’s of the party
- Small bud vases with seasonal flowers
Tags: birthday, favorite things, gifts, kids, party, party favor, party ideas
Making Birthday Invitations
The inspiration for this design comes from Jessica Jones at one of my all-time favorite blogs, How About Orange. I had the pleasure of meeting her at the Chicago Craft Social last year – such a nice person.
Her tutorial is here. I just made it work for Abby’s birthday party invitations, both of them. One for a small gathering of school friends, and one for the family. Thanks, Jessica, for your inspiration!
What I’ve Learned Having Houseguests
Now that the holidays are over and I’ve recovered somewhat, I tend to review our hosting strategies, successes and misses. Every year we have at least 1-3 guests stay with us for any given length of time. It could be an overnight stay or a couple of weeks. Don’t know about other people, but I get worked up. I just want to make sure that our guests feel welcome and comfortable, that they enjoy their stay and would want to come back.
We have a slight challenge of not having a dedicated guest room, but here’s how we get around that: the basement. It becomes a semi-private suite. In the case of my awesome brother-in-law, he’ll room in my kid’s room, or with my kids. No problem. However, I can’t necessarily assume that everyone will be as accommodating.
My must haves: No matter what the state my house is in, I will prep good pillows, a good air mattress (we have two), towels, sheets, clock, storage cubes doubled as nightstand, hangers, and coat rack. Don’t have yet but would like: luggage rack.
Entertaining: Here, I luck out again with pretty easy going relatives. My in-laws did most of the shuttling around last Fall with our guests. But, it’s helpful to have schedules and sight-tour brochures handy. Seriously, I even picked up at our library a few copies of “family-friendly” publications that have local things-to-do and set that on the bedside table for our guests.
Meal times: I’ll ask about favorite snacks and more importantly, kids favorites, if I’m not exactly sure what my guests are into. Putting together a dinner/meal schedule was also a super timesaver. It was more like a guideline, if anything, but sure helped with grocery lists. We had plenty of drinks on hand too.
Here’s my favorite way of setting up my towels on the bed for a cute “welcome”. One of my best friends taught me this a long time ago when I stayed at her home for a few days. Sorry, you might only get this the first time you come over, after that, you’re like family and I don’t sweat it out so much.
Abby took video footage of me putting it together (our first video tutorial), but the file was too big to upload! This will have to do.
**Update** I figured out how to add video:
1) Take the bath towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.
2) Fold into thirds the other way (short direction).
3) Take the hand towel and fold into thirds along the long direction.
4) Now wrap the hand towel around the bath towel.
5) Take the wash cloth, fold into thirds, then wrap around the hand towel to hide the ends and create a “bow” appearance.
Voila! Hotel-ish towels for your guests… enjoy!
Tags: basement, eating, family, Friends and Family, holiday, home, houseguests, tutorials, vacation, visitors
Better Homes and Gardens Entertaining Tips from 1960s
Look at this book I found at my mom’s house. First published in 1963, then again in 1972… The ideas and recipes may be sort of timeless, but the pictures, oh, the pictures are outstanding.
And just in time for getting birthday party ideas… my daughter turns 8 in just over a month. Will she cringe when she sees some of these? (Love her haircut.)
Could the frosting on these cakes look any more “nuclear”?
These kids are decorating their own cupcakes. Love the chef hat and aprons which are all paper.
What is she wearing on her head?
Doesn’t this look mint-a-licious?
I don’t know if there are any teenagers out there who would even THINK of having a “wingding” like this. Maybe if there was a “Nancy Drew” sort of person out there in a town-that-time-forgot.
This picture below for Christmas is a little spooky to me. Dolls creep me out sometimes.
I think my parents have an indoor grill just like the one in the picture below.
Clearly, I missed the boat on having a 60s themed New Year’s party this past year. Maybe next year! I can’t get over their clothes.
But, there is Valentine’s Day coming up. I’m really tempted to try some of these throwback recipes (looks like some kind of mousse)… too bad I can’t bring “homemade” goods to my daughter’s school!
Tags: books, cooking, party, party planning
