Throwing a party is hard work (unless you hire The Party Planning Committee to put together the fete for you...)! Give all of those hard-working hosts and hostesses something great this holiday!
Here are some of our favourite picks this year:
1. Flowering teapot (Available at Canadian Tire - around $20 with tea flowers).
2, A handsome Christmas ornament (we're impressed with Bowring's selection this year) 3. New kitchen tools wrapped and tied with ribbon in a festive oven mitt.
4. Personalized Pyrex dish full of brownies! (Glass etching cream and stencils are available at Michaels.)
5. If you're handy in the kitchen, these homemade stained glass cookies from Martha Stewart are a showstopper! Even if you're not so handy, buy a roll of Pillsbury sugar cookie dough, cut out ornament shapes, and fill the centre with crushed hard candy (like Jolly Ranchers). Punch a small hole at the top before baking and tie with a ribbon! 6. We love these Kate Spade gold dot napkins. Even better - DIY some with linen napkins, a pencil eraser and gold fabric paint!
- rosemary infused sea salt put your sea salt and rosemary in a sauté pan and warm up for about 15 minutes. Then discard the rosemary and pour salt into individual containers.
7. Rosemary infused sea salt (Warm sea salt and rosemary in a pan and for 15 minutes. Discard rosemary and pour salt into individual containers with fresh rosemary). What hostess gifts do you love giving?
Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra
We created this rosemary hors d'oeuvre wreath for a client's pre-lunch get together with three friends today. Our client wanted something compact, as her condo is quite small, and we thought this would fit the bill nicely. On a quiche dish, we layered rosemary branches in the shape of a wreath, and studded it with pistachio-encrusted grape and chevre truffles, parmesan tuile cups with a colourful heirloom tomato salad, and cayenne chocolate-covered bacon strips. For the chocolate-covered bacon, we fried the bacon until it was nice and crisp, cut it in half while it was still warm (to avoid cracking), and let it cool before dipping it in melted chocolate and sprinkling it with cayenne pepper. The parmesan tuile cups were made by baking shredded parmesan and draping them over a small glass while they were hot. They'll be filled by the hostess with the heirloom tomato salad just prior to her guests arriving in order to avoid the cups becoming soggy. Red seedless grapes were covered in chevre, and rolled in crushed pistachios to create little truffles. What interesting hors d'oeuvres are you serving at your holiday parties this year?
Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra
For those of you visiting the Rockcliffe Park Public School Book Fair this weekend, be sure to stop by our display and pick up some of our delicious, homemade goodies to enjoy with your book purchases! We've prepared some delectable chocolate confections, including: hot chocolate spoons - perfect for warming you up on these chilly fall days, oreo pops - for the kid in all of us, and gourmet chocolate-dipped pretzels! Even if you don't have a chance to snatch some up at the fair, here are the recipes so you can make them for your next event and dazzle your guests!
 Hot Chocolate Spoons
Ingredients (for 10 spoons): - 200 g milk (or dark) chocolate
- 2 drops of mint extract (optional)
- 50 g white chocolate
- 2 1/2 tbsp cacao powder
- 5 tbsp icing sugar
- Mini chocolate chips, or other edible decorations of your choice
- 10 small plastic (or wooden) spoons
- 10 small plastic shot glasses
Preparation:- Melt the 200g of chocolate in a medium-sized bowl in the microwave on medium temperature for 1 min. Remove bowl from microwave and stir chocolate; place back in microwave and repeat process until the chocolate has a smooth, fluid consistency. *Note: do not use a high temperature as the chocolate will burn and become unusable. Stir in the mint extract, if desired.
- Stir the cacao powder and icing sugar into the chocolate. This will result in a mixture with a play-doh-like texture.
- Fill spoons 2/3 of the way with the chocolate mixture. Be sure to press it down into the bottom and sides of the glass to remove any air bubbles.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on high for 1 min. *Note: white chocolate does not burn easily, so you can use a high temp here.
- Pour a thin layer of white chocolate into each of the shot glasses.
- Put the spoons into the glasses by slowly pressing the head down into the chocolate.
- Decorate the tops of the white chocolate with mini chocolate chips.
- Place assembled spoons in freezer for 5 min. Remove from freezer and dip into glass of warm water for approximately 30 sec, then gently pull spoon to remove it, and the attached chocolate, from the shot glass. Store in airtight container at room temperature until ready to use.
To prepare the hot chocolate, heat 1 cup of milk for each chocolate spoon. Melt chocolate in milk, stirring continuously. Enjoy!
 Oreo PopsIngredients (for 30 Oreos): - 200 g milk (or white) chocolate *Note that we used milk chocolate but these would be much easier to make with white chocolate due to its consistency
- 20 g white chocolate
- 1 box of Oreos (approximately 30 cookies)
- Mini chocolate chips, Skor bits, or any other topping you desire
- Wooden coffee stir sticks
Preparation: - Melt the 20 g of white chocolate in the microwave on high for 1 min.
- Remove one side of the Oreo cookie. Dip one end of a stir stick in the chocolate and place in the filling of the cookie. Put the removed side of the cookie on top. Let the Oreo cookie pops sit for several minutes to allow the chocolate to set and create a bond.
- Melt the 200g of milk chocolate in a medium-sized bowl in the microwave on medium temperature for 1 min. Remove bowl from microwave and stir chocolate; place back in microwave and repeat process until the chocolate has a smooth, fluid consistency. *Note: do not use a high temperature as the chocolate will burn and become unusable. **If using white chocolate follow instructions from step 1.
- Dip the Oreo cookie pop into the melted chocolate. Cover both sides then tap off the excess chocolate. You may need a knife or spatula to spread the chocolate evenly over all edges of the cookie.
- Place one side of the Oreo pop in the mini chocolate chips, or Skor bits, or other toppings.
- Place the Oreo pop on wax paper, undecorated side up and allow to dry for 20-30 minutes.
 Chocolate -Dipped PretzelsIngredients (for approximately 30 pretzel sticks): - 280 g pretzel sticks
- 340 g white chocolate
- Mini chocolate and butterscotch chips, Skor bits, or any other desired topping
Preparation:- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave on high for 1 min.
- Dip 2/3 of a pretzel stick in chocolate. You may need a knife or spatula to spread evenly.
- Allow the chocolate to set a little (but not dry completely) by balancing it in a small glass.
- Sprinkle the toppings onto the stick. You may need to press the toppings down gently so that they stay in place. Or, place your toppings on wax paper and roll each pretzel stick in the topping.
- Lay the pretzel sticks on the wax paper to dry completely.
We hope you enjoy these delicious, chocolately treats that are great for all ages!
Have any fun variations of these treats that you'd like to share?
Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra
Fall is here (though it's feeling more like winter!) and you may have taken a trip to the local orchard or farmers' market and are wondering what to do with all of those inspiring ingredients. Here is a quick and delicious recipe for individual-sized apple crumble dessert to serve at your next gathering!
 For this recipe you will need: - 8 medium apples, firm like Royal Gala, Macintosh
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup butter (or margarine)
- 2 tsp cinnamon, divided
- 3/4 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup flour
 For the apples: - Peel the apples and cut into thin slices, avoiding the core.
- Sprinkle the apple slices with 1 tsp of the cinnamon and divide evenly into 8 ramekin dishes.
 For the topping: - Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar together at medium-low speed.
- Mix in flour, oats and remaining 1 tsp of cinnamon, at low speed. Mixture should end up being crumbly, so be sure to not over-mix!
 Now to put everything together: - Divide the topping evenly over the apples in the individual dishes.
- Bake @ 350 F (for conventional oven)for approximately 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the contents bubbling.
- Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy!
You can bake these up to one day in advance to minimize work and maximize the fun on the day of your party!
For bite-sized versions, disposable tart cups could be used instead of ramekins. This recipe could also be made using peaches, pears, berries or any other of your favourite fruits. If you have a fun variation that you'd like to share, please do!
Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra
In two weeks, we're throwing a vintage farm-themed first birthday party, and we've come up with a menu full of farm-fresh recipes including these caprese salad bites.
Since our mothers told us never to serve untested recipes, we made these for our weekly Party Planning Committee dinner - and boy are they delish! We can see these little morsels being passed at a cocktail party, being served as an appetizer, or being scaled up to full side salad proportions for a dinner party.
We can think of tons of fun variations on this bite-sized salad:- BLT bites (swap the mozza and basil for bacon and lettuce)
- Greek salad bites (top a cucumber coin with a tomato filled with feta and oregano)
- Couscous or quinoa salad bites (fill the tomato with couscous or quinoa mixed with finely chopped onion and sweet onion dressing)
 Here's what you'll need for the caprese salad version:- 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes (we used grape tomatoes)
- Approx. 100g mozzarella (about 1/4 of the ball pictured)
- 4 leaves fresh basil
- Balsamic vinegar reduction (if you can't find this at your grocery store, simply heat balsamic vinegar in a saucepan over medium heat until thick and gooey)
Here's what to do:- Shave enough skin off of one side of each tomato so that it sits flat on a plate. Then, flip the tomato over and cut off enough that the seeds and inner flesh are exposed.
- Scoop out most of the innards and set aside for another recipe.
- Tear off triangular pieces of basil and insert to one side of the hollowed tomatoes.
4. Cut strips of mozzarella and arrange inside the tomatoes.
5. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar reduction, and voila! Scrumptious bite-sized salads!
Note: If you're making these in advance, refrigerate prior to drizzling with vinegar, and drizzle right before serving. We hope you and your guests enjoy these! Let us know how they turn out and what variations you come up with!
Love,
Ashley, Jen and Alessandra
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