Decatur Beerfest: A Tradition

We braved the cold and the rain to eat our pretzel necklaces and prost in style, yet again this year at downtown Decatur's annual craft beer fest, which happens to be in October.  And we happen to have friends who paid serious money for some fantastic lederhosen and dierndles, thanks Dan & Kelly! 

Got my fleece-lined tights on and ready for business!







Yes.  We stood out.  Not as popular to dress up as we thought...



Made some friends who completed our Bavarian rainbow!



One of these outfits is from Party City....



Stock the Cellar!

Last weekend a few of our good friends in Atlanta threw us a gorgeous twist on the typical "Stock the Bar" shower - a Stock the Cellar!  I adore wine, and have transformed P into something of a snob as well, so this was right up our alley.  And everyone knows I really only abide by one food group - cheese.  Glorious cheese!  

Ali is always the perfect hostess, but I have to say she outdid herself on this one!

Go see photos on her precious blog: 
http://howtosurvive20.blogspot.com/2013/02/cheersa-wine-cheese-party.html

We had a blind wine tasting and a trivia game (ohmygosh was I terrible at both!  So much for my secret sommelier ambitions!!!), there were wines and cheeses galore gorgeously labeled on a chalkboard table runner (what?!) and she had all kinds of fun things for us to take home, including a beautiful wine cork wreath and monogrammed beer & wine coozies she made herself.  GORG!

She's also a budding photog, so go peek!!!

Hosting: Stock the Bar Party

A couple of weeks ago I co-hosted a Stock the Bar for a couple getting married a few weeks after P and I are due down the aisle.  I've talked about how fun it is to have someone I can bridezilla my heart out to, that totally gets the ridiculousness of negotiating over linens and flowers and such, trying on dresses multiple times to get the right alterations, feeling up a hundred kinds of paper and design to find "the invite"...  It's been crazy but so nice to have a partner in crime!  


I couldn't have been more excited to play a part in throwing the happy couple a little shower to get them started on stocking their house and bar and kicking off the multitude of festivities coming their way!

My co-zilla has the cutest color combo picked out - yellow and gray, super chic and trendy yet classy.  

It was a lot of fun finding fun ways to incorporate their colors into the party, starting with the shower invite I DIY'd here.

My co-hosterita and I went through a bunch of ideas to find fun gifts and favors, which ended up including a traditional bar set, paper goods and these adorable Mr. and Mrs. glasses: 

For food we kept it really simple and toothpick/finger friendly:
Slow cooker meatballs
Pulled pork from the bride's fav spot: Fat Matt's
Spinach dip
Rotel-velveeta dip
Salted caramel cheesecakes (I made mini ones in a mini muffin pan!)

We toasted the future newlyweds with some really cute and fun S'mores Shooters:

Wish I'd had my blowtorch to light up those mini mallows!

DIY straw flags (in Word!)

Paper straws, dishwashable stadium cups and cocktail napkins featuring
the new couple's monogram (all from Etsy)

A chalkboard welcome!

Balloons floated around dangling the couple's engagement photos at eye level 

Signature mojito cocktail and water jugs
Why do lemons float and not limes?!

The spread!

The adorable happy couple opening their gifts!

DIY: "Stock the Bar" Shower Invites

A couple of my faves are getting hitched in 8 short months, which has been extra fun for me as I have a bride-in-crime to bounce ideas and vendors and such around with.  Makes my bridal diarrhea of the mouth to the innocent friends more tolerable!

Check out the cutesy l'il invites I made for the Stock the Bar I'm co-hosting next month!   I finally found a good use for the Washi tape that forchicsake.com got me obsessed with!

1st Holiday Dinner Party

Last night I hosted my first ever seated dinner party, in the new home and in life! Fiancé I hosted his family for a gourmet meal and cocktails at our house and I think it went off rather perfectly!
I notoriously stress the heck out when I'm on a time crunch but luckily I prepped everything beforehand and even wrote out a timing chart for myself!  OCD much?!  Unfortunately I got so caught up in the cooking and entertaining I forgot to take pics of the final products, but lets just say mine made these pro photos look like they belonged at the kiddy table (right...!)

Every recipe I used was a new one, except the cashews and potatoes and I will reuse every one! The tenderloin will take some adapting for a better crust though, as there wasn't any crunch factor. Lots of firsts: 1st lobster, 1st Brussels sprouts, 1st beef tenderloin and 1st cheesecake!

 

My future mamma-in-law got me this adorable apron for the occasion!  So thoughtful!

The Menu
Appeteasers
Rosemary and Cayenne Tossed Cashews
Dips & Spreads (tapenade, spin dip, hummus, etc.)

A Little Sumthin Sumthin
Avocado and Tomato Lobster-tinis
Toasted Baguette with Killer Italian Olive Oil (snuck home from Verona visiting my bestie last year)

The Big Kahuna
Mustard and Horseradish Crusted Beef Tenderloin
Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts and Dried Cranberries
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and Cippolini Onions

Sweet Treat
Individual Caramel Cheesecakes with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

The Recipes

Rosemary and Cayenne Cashews
These are so fabulous and addicting like crazy! You have to serve them warm though, because as the butter cools it gets a little sticky. These smell just amazing while cooking!  Don't cut out the cayenne, it really makes them pop!

Avocado and Tomato Lobster-Tinis
I adapted this recipe and added cherry tomatoes for some Christmas color! This is a very acidic vinaigrette but quite delicious - I baked the lobster tails, cut the horseradish in half and added more honey but otherwise stayed true to B. Flay.  Next time I'll slow it down on the Worcestershire too I think!

Cut as close to the edges as possible for max yummability

Run your knife around the edges of the meat to separate, as well as get the marinade in the little nookies

Drizzle with the good stuff

Make some fun animals - a whale, a goose andddd a lobster tail, whammy!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic and Cranberries
I've never made Brussels sprouts before this because I don't care for the bitter almost pungent flavor, but after this recipe I am a changed chicky! I didn't even know they were "Brussels" sprouts, as in the location, and have always referred to them in the singular!  Learned something (or 57 things) new!  I used premade balsamic glaze to save time and just tossed the roasted sprouts w the Craisins and glaze until it looked pretty!

Check out that Stalk o' Sprouts!  

Roasted Potatoes and Cippolinis
This is a ridiculously easy, foolproof recipe that I've made a dozen times. I ran out of dried rosemary so I subbed an Italian blend of dried herbs (not fresh!). If you can't find Cippolinis you can chunk up a large onion into similar sized pieces and throw it in instead! I used a fingerling blend that included purple potatoes, who doesn't love that??



Dijon and Horseradish Crusted Tenderloin
This monster was a super easy prep with pretty good results. I marinated for 24 hours which could be why it didn't get a true crust.  It was good, but not super duper great flavor.   Also I cooked it at the same time as the potatoes, so I had to add about 10 min to the cook time for medium-rare. SUCH a tender cut of meat, which I love!  Even after my future sister-in-law nuked hers to a dark gray puck, it was still pretty tender apparently!  

Lather on the goodness!

Salted Caramel Cheesecakes
Oh. My. Goodness. These were amazing. Like make every day and hide them in your pocket amazing. I made 12 for 7 people in case of breakage during playing, which I'm glad I did - not because a single one broke, but because I have 5, FIVE! to devour today!  I made these 6 hours in advance and you definitely need to refrigerate up till the moment you're ready to plate.   I cheated here too and used a squeeze bottle of Ghirardeli caramel to drizzle on top to save time. The salt is a MUST on top.  AND they're from Cooking Light and relatively low cal (254 calories each!)

Drinkable.

Golden little crusties

Such a fabulous meal with fabulous family!

Holiday Party Fashion

This morning I woke up, one eye open to the impending Birmingham chill and daily work out debate.  I diligently checked my Pinterest crew's faux-creative discoveries, the daily whining world of Facebook and the comedic musings of my Tweeter peeps.  And then!  My baby blog!  Aladdin pops in my head - a whole new worlddddd!  Still up, still shiny and new!  

Email is up next.  Immediate drama.  AdSense has denied me.  2 days old and already getting bullied on the playground.  Shameful.  As it turns out, Google is unimpressed that my traffic consists of 3 hits from spam sites... And 14 by me.  Fiancé is in trouble.

By now I have successfully occupied myself beyond my allotted workout window (a never-ending struggle - to jumping jack, or not to jumping jack...)  Then it's off to work, but not before drooling over some new holiday wishlist items, in time for the company Xmas party at the Fox??

BCBG Daphine

BCBG Prish

Henri Bendel Bangle - 25% with Free Shipping!