Apres Ski

For our annual winter cocktail party we decided to celebrate 'National Hot Toddy Day'!  I wanted our place to feel like a cozy chalet that invited you to curl up with your Hot Toddy after a long day on the slopes.

We filled the place with rustic touches like old snow shoes and sleds and classic activities like jenga, connect four, and a custom puzzle which were all a big hit.  To add to the snowy atmosphere we projected extreme sking films on the wall by famous skiing filmographer Warren Miller.

But the best part of any great Apres Ski event is the food and drink!  I dreamed up some twists on classic comfort foods including chicken sausage slices on mini waffles and smoked salmon on sweet potato waffle fries.  We also served 3 different classic Hot Toddies with the crowd favorite (and easiest!) being hot apple cider mixed with Fireball Whiskey!

Cocktails and Confetti

Happy New Year!!  After moving from the beach (and chased away by Sandy) we are all settled into our new place.  We celebrated with our annual Winter Cocktail Party which doubled as a great housewarming!  Last years theme focused more on silvery snowflakes but this year I decided to warm it up a bit.  I am obsessed with the look of gold confetti dots, they just scream glamorous party to me!  Check out my Pinterest board for this party and you'll see the trend.  So from the invites to the buffet table - everything had a healthy dose of confetti!

I'm also getting more into champagne and aside from a signature cocktail, we offered up mini individual sized champagnes for guests to grab up - encouraged by a lipstick message on the mirror.  Liquor bottles were available for mix-your-own and kept neat in a gold tray.  Garnishes were elevated and classy in martini and wine glassware.  They included white rock candy swizzles and gold rimming sugar for guests to sweeten up their cocktails.

This year's all white dessert display featured candies and cookies including candied grapefruit, white chocolate covered gummi bears and champagne bubble gumdrops!!  I upped the glitz by laying a long mirror on the dining table before parading out my display towers, mercury glass ornaments, winter scenes in cloches, traditional poppers, candles, and a sprinkling of 'snow' and hand punched confetti.

Photo Credit: my wonderful friend Joan Tsen of Applesky Photography

Have Yourself a Merry Little Cocktail

"Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in smiles."~ Unknown

I love how this is the most festive time of the year! It seems like no one can resist adding a little sparkle to their homes - and themselves - sounds like the perfect reason to throw a cocktail party!! So I got to making some elaborte decorations, overstocking the bar, and cooking up too much food!

Decor

As soon as I walked into my new apartment with its double height living room ceilings I knew it was meant for a party! My sweet boyfriend agreed to the task of stringing up dozens of foam snowflakes at varying heights so they could cascade down over the guests. My collection of old Christmas cards came in handy and I selected my most favorites to hang from ribbons at intervals along an evergreen garland the length of the apartment. Sparkly gold and red ornaments and candles clustered together with (free!) evergreen scrap trimmings from the tree lot in glass jars placed throughout the apartment created a cozy glow!

Signature Cocktail

My friends and I love mojitos so why should they be just a summer drink?! I mixed up a batch (see recipe below) and poured it into martini glasses hooked up with mini candy canes and voila! Peppermint Winter Mojitos!


Simple Mojito Recipe:

• Muddle together fresh mint leaves & lime slices with sugar in a tall pitcher
  
• Add 1 parts Bacardi Rum and 2 parts Sprite
• Stir in ice and pour through slotted spoon
  

Paper Party

"My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whisky." ~ William Faulkner

'Tis the Season for Holiday parties!! This past week, I felt as though my annual work party needed an extra festive touch... despite no budget and no time, its amazing what you can do with a pile of scrap paper, a lunch break, and enthusiastic coworkers!

Besides traditional snowflake cut outs, I did a quick internet search for paper crafts and found a few that could be whipped up in a snap... paper rosettes and paper ornaments. For the rosettes, cut two long rectangles, accordion fold them, and fold in half. Open up the accordion halves, making a fan and staple both fans together to form a whole circle. For the ornament, cut two long strips of paper, to medium length strips, and one short. Stack the strips together, long, medium, short, medium, long and staple the one end together. Bunch up the strips to align the other end and staple it as well. We had a lot of fun as we transformed the plain white scrap paper for a wintery look but you can use colorful paper such as wrapping paper scraps, magazine pages, etc. for any occasion that needs dressing up! Once they were all hung by rustic jute string, I added some white twinkle lights, and the company library was finally ready for a party!

*Rosette*

*Ornament*

I ♥ Brunch

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas - Dale Evens

My girlfriends and I love love love brunch... but our schedules don't always work out to align with the moon, the stars and Sunday morning! So for our Christmas Girl's Night, they came over for a decadent meal of stuffed french toast and mimosas!


The table was set to reflect the festive occasion... A gathering of greenery, gold sprayed pine cones and candles at various heights created the simple centerpiece. The gold and red of the centerpiece was echoed by the tablecloth and napkins for a pretty backdrop for the feast to come! When all else fails, just dim the overheads and bask in the glow of the Christmas lights!


For the stuffed French Toast, I searched for a recipe that came close to the delicious treat we had all shared at a popular brunch spot in Philadelphia - but also easy to make! The one I found was from Rachel Ray and came out great! I didn't add the chocolate chips or make the syrup and instead just topped the stuffed french toast with a berry compote made from a bag of frozen mixed berries cooked down with some sugar. And I couldn't forget to finish the whole dish off with a light dusting of powdered sugar! For our cocktail, I made a twist on the traditional mimosa by adding pineapple juice to the orange juice and champagne. I also floated Cara Cara pink(!) oranges in it for extra color and flavor. Cheers and Merry Christmas!