l’m sharing some photos my friend sent from the party she and her husband attended at the White House. Everything looked beautiful. Thank you, Lady Kate for sharing them with us! So fun to see how others entertain “at home.” The prettiest room, don’t you think? Simply decorated cookies and a nice presentation of the strawberries and blackberries. Very interesting arrangement. Love this! I bet the stars were heavenly! Using the fuzzy back of magnolia leaves on the garland. “Santa”… [Read More]
As I’m taking a moment to think out my schedule this week which will include a cupcake tower with a snowflake theme and snowflake cookies, I’m also thinking of two strangely polar dining events that are taking place today. My brother and his wife are on day 4 without electricity from the Santa Ana winds that blew through Pasadena last week. They are eating of out an ice chest where there’s going to be a curbside drop off lane for… [Read More]
Entertaining for the holidays is a perfect time for signature cocktails. Here are a couple of recipes for variations on pomegranate martinis that are red in color. Red, being the key to complement a special decorative rim of flaked coconut that gives the cocktail glass the look of Santa’s hat or a snowy touch. It’s a festive look to serve up some holiday spirit with your … spirits. Things needed to make the decorative snowy coconut rim: 3 Tablespoons powdered… [Read More]
“Oh no I did-n’t!” I did. I loved my first Modalu Medium Pippa bag in shark so much that when I saw the croc version in the dark taupe color called oyster… well, we all have our weaknesses. (Pippa’s backside. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.) I did resist the first two availabilities of the bag last spring and summer before it sold out both times (self pat on the back) but when it came back again in September I heard that little… [Read More]
The best MIL in the world! Taken with my iPad. 8 mm HD app. 70’s style. Edited by Reel Director app. Music ~ “The Brothers Go To Mother’s” by Joey Altruda SHARE THIS POST:
“Of Pie I Sing” – A remembrance, a recipe and an idea Funny how we tend to keep the traditional childhood foods in our adult repertoire – especially if one is the host or hostess preparing the fare – unless we make a conscious effort to break the proverbial cranberry mold. My childhood Thanksgiving dinner consisted of the good, the bad and the mysterious. My mom would toil over the turkey rising at dawn to put the bird in the… [Read More]
One of my favorite things to do at this time of year is to venture into my other Happiest Place on Earth – Williams-Sonoma, and see what’s new for the season or to visit things I annually covet. Embroidered pumpkin napkins. They were on-sale in the store at 15% off for a limited time only, as they say. With the heady holiday scent of the mulling spices simmering through the store they rendered me powerless to resist. These napkins had… [Read More]
I’ve gotten quite a few search referrals on decorating the stairs for the holidays so I’ve edited a post from last year that gives a great idea to make it easy for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Have you ever thought about how to simplify Christmas decorating when just coming off of the whirlwind of Thanksgiving entertaining? My normal routine after having hosted Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings the day before is to crash the morning after. My breakfast will… [Read More]
This week I received a couple of disgruntled emails. These two readers have been following my blogging baking adventures as of late and feel deprived and left out of the baking loop, so to speak. It seems I have forgotten college boys cannot live on Physics and Chemical Engineering classes alone and need chocolate chip cookies sent from home. These cookies are my grandmother’s recipe. She made them. My mother made them. I make them. They are crunchy on the… [Read More]
Mini chocolate cupcakes decorated with over-sized dragees and fall themed fondant cut-outs literally reached new heights in my kitchen for a fall open house party this past weekend. We’ll get ‘up close and personal’ so I can show how you how I made this. It’s not as complicated as it looks. Trust me. They’re just a bunch of little ol’ chocolate cupcakes dressed up all fancy like. The number of cupcakes needed depends on the size styrofoam cone that is… [Read More]
The Bookshelf
Baby Boomers Unite!
Make-Ahead Frozen Buttercream Cake Decorations
Pretty Pink Petal Cake – A Wilton Cake Decorating Technique
A Holiday Cocktail ~ Carrot Cake Martinis
DIY Decorated Statue of Liberty Cookies/Sparkler Holders
Wilton’s Sea Life Fondant and Gum Paste Mold– Part 1
Bridal Shower Gifts and Wrapping Ideas
