Italian Raspberry Cocktail

I found this gem of a cocktail in the June 2012 issue of Sunset Magazine, what an easy drink to make and a smash hit amongst my party guests....well, the female ones at least!  I'm not sure any of the guys tried this one! 

It does call for a raspberry simple syrup which you will want to make ahead of time.  I've included the recipe below!

Enjoy this refreshing cocktail this summer - I know I will again!

Italian Raspberry Cocktail

Serves 2

Recipe courtesy of Sunset Magazine

Simple Syrup Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups raspberries

To make the raspberry simple syrup, stir together 3/4 cup each water and sugar in a small saucepan.  Add 1 1/2 cups raspberries.  Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  Cool, then strain.  Keeps 1 week, chilled.

Italian Raspberry Cocktail Ingredients

Campari

Lemon juice

Orange juice

Club soda

Raspberries and cucmber slices for garnish

For the cocktail, combine 1/4 cup Campari, 6 tablespoons raspberry simple syrup, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons orange juice.  Divide between 2 ice filled glasses.  Top each with 1/3 cup club soda, stir.  Garnish with raspberries and cucumber slices. 

Note:  I forgot to buy cumcumber slices at the store!  Mine was only garnished with raspberries!

Train Party - Final Touches

Always remember your thank you notes!  If you have time to send out invitations, you have time to send out thank you notes! 

I decided to make these cute thank you notes with the font and design I used to create the train party ticket invitation.

This was quick and easy, I printed them on 8 1/2 x 11" card stock, two to a page, cut the paper in half, and folded them.  They fit perfectly into a standard, invitation-size envelope.

Here is the link to the full post for the Train Birthday Party.

Summertime Sangria

I love a good summer cocktail!  We have some friends with whom we spend almost every weekend and it was "his turn" to produce the weekend cocktail over Memorial Day  We had some other friends in town as well - so he produced a most excellent Summertime Sangria!  I do need to give recipe credits to his wife!   The drink dispenser was an awesome find at Cost Plus World Market - it was calling to him as he entered the store looking for exactly that! 

The amounts for this recipe are to fill this dispenser which holds 10 liters....and we drank it all!  But - bear in mind a lot of the space is taken up by fruit!  Please plan ahead on this one - it MUST sit overnight in order for it to taste most excellent!

Ingredients

6 bottles Merlot
6 oranges, quartered
6 limes, quartered
6 lemons, quartered
6 cans pineapple, with juice
A whole bunch of berries, raspberries and blackberries are good
6 shots gin
2 liters ginger ale

In a large dispenser, add Merlot - then start adding fruit.  Squeeze in juice from oranges, limes, and lemons and drop in fruit.  Add pineapple and berries.  Top off with 6 shots of gin.

Let sit overnight.

When ready to serve, fill a glass with ice, add ginger ale to about 1/3 full, fill with Sangria, add a shot of gin on top, stir and serve!

Cosmopolitan Jello Shots

As I have said before, I am not a huge fan of desserts, but I know that a lot of other people are!  We recently hosted a Couples Euchre where I decided to serve Cosmopolitan Jello Shots as the dessert!  It was a little "foo-foo" - but most of the men tried it too and everyone seemed to enjoy!  They were very easy to make, I found the original recipe here on Tablespoon, they were super easy to prepare and a great make ahead dessert!

I used mini muffin tins as the mold, I didn't think I'd be able to cut them even enough to just let them set in a pan!  I did put a little bit of grapeseed oil in the pans before pouring in the jello so that it would be easier to get them out.  Once set, I used a small spatula to scoop them out of the molds!  They are garnished with quartered maraschino cherries and lime zest. 

Cosmopolitan Jello Shots
Makes 32
Recipe courtesy of Tablespoon

1 1/4 cup cranberry juice cocktail
2 1/2 envelopes Knox plain gelatin
1/4 cup Rose's lime juice (or fresh lime juice with a health dash of simple syrup)
1/4 cup Grand Marnier, or Cointreau (use Cointreau or Triple Sec for a milder tasting jelly shot)
3/4 cup orange flavored vodka (I used Ketel One Oranje)
Small amount grapeseed oil, to grease the mini muffin cups
Quartered maraschino cherries, for garnish

Zest of 1 lime, for garnish

Pour cranberry and lime juices into a small saucepan and sprinkle with gelatin. Allow to soak for a few minutes. Heat on low, stirring constantly, until gelatin is fully dissolved (about 5 minutes).

Stir in the liquors, making sure to fully incorporate.

With a paper towel, put a little bit of grapeseed oil into each muffin cup.

Pour into pan or molds, and chill until set, several hours or overnight.

To serve, remove from molds with a small spatula or cut into desired shapes and garnish with maraschino cherries and lime zest, if desired.

Choo-Choo Train Birthday Party

I recently threw a party for my little one's 3rd birthday - at his request, it was a "Choo-Choo Train" Birthday Party!  I had a lot of fun planning and executing this one!  I experienced some "scope creep" in the last few days of the party preparations, but that's to be expected!  Maybe I should just plan for that next time!

I designed the train ticket invitation in MS Publisher, I usually use Photoshop, but decided to give Publisher a try.  It was quite easy!  I found several ideas from the internet and then built it from there!  I used a small hole punch for the month and day to make it even more authentic!

For the cake, I had this design in my head - but wasn't really sure how it was going to come together until I started to decorate it!  My son wanted a white cake with white frosting!   I used Wilton Sugar Sheets to make the tunnel and the black on the railroad crossing signs, a simple black decorating gel for the train tracks, I made fondant from scratch and added some yellow food coloring for the signs, and grabbed a few items from my boys' train table to complete the look!  I also added a train ribbon around the bottom of the cake stand as a finishing touch.

I got the idea for the little round signs from Phoenix Event Planning, I did make those in Photoshop, printed 2 copies onto heavy paper, inserted a wooden skewer in between the two pieces of paper, and glued them together. 

The blue gingham plates and napkins were from Oriental Trading Company, I bought red forks from Party City and found the red bandana ribbon from Michael's. 

For the buffet, I made a train track using tan felt and cut rails out of black felt.  I used small tins to which I attached paper wheels as "snack cars" and lined up a couple of other rectangular plates behind them for serving.   On the menu I served many of my little one's favorites!  We had chicken nuggets, tortellini, mixed berries, watermelon, "train" cheese and crackers, and I made wraps for the adults as well.  The wraps were a big hit, I found the idea from On My Side Of The Room. 

For the favors, I bought red and navy bandanas as well as the engineer caps from Oriental Trading.  I was leery of the whistles from Oriental Trading based upon the reviews, so I ended up buying them from Aero1Toys on Etsy.  We had three babies, under the age of one, at the party, I thought it was a little much to give them the same favors as the older children, so I found some cute, soft, jingle balls with trains on the fabric at the LittleLadybugz store on Etsy.  I wrapped a red bandana around them and they were ready to go!   Lastly, I found these cute tags from Hello, Good Gravy! that were ready to download, print, and cut out! 

Overall, the party was a big success!  Both the kids and the parents had a great time!  Thanks to everyone who helped me pull this together!  Enjoy the photos below - special thanks to Gretchen Wakeman Photography who took most of the photos and I added a couple of my own! 

 

 

 

 

The Buffet!

The Cake!  Photo Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography at www.gretchenwakeman.com



The Party Favors!  Photo Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography at www.gretchenwakeman.com





 

Banana-Quinoa Waffles

I stumbled across this recipe in the June 2012 issue of Parents Magazine and decided to give it a try!  I hadn't made anything with quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) yet, but have seen so many recipes with it, I was ready to incorporate it into my family's diet!

These banana-quinoa waffles were both tasty and filling.  You do need to cook the quinoa ahead of time, only about 10-12 minutes, then let cool.  But the beauty of this recipe is that you can make the batter the night before and it is ready to go for breakfast the next day!  I made these on a Thursday night, which is brinner in our house (breakfast for dinner) and prepared the batter earlier in the day just to see how it would hold up - they were delicious! 

I hope you make these for your family, either for breakfast or brinner!

Banana-Quinoa Waffles
Makes 10 waffles

Recipe adapted from Parents Magazine.

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup quinoa
1 2/3 cups white whole-wheat flour (I just used whole-wheat flour)
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas
3 eggs, separated
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
Real maple syrup, butter, blueberries, raspberries, and/or sliced strawberries for serving

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil.  Stir in quinoa.  Reduce heat; cover, and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat.  Transfer to a small bowl and chill 1 to 2 hours. 

In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar baking powder, and salt.  Add quinoa, banana, egg yolks, butter, and milk.  Stir to combine.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.  Fold them into batter.

At this point, the batter can be stored overnight if preparing ahead for breakfast.

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions. 

Cook batter in waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions.  Top with butter, syrup, and berries.

Corporate Sunset Dinner Cruise on The Desert Belle

I recently planned an event that was held this week - it was a corporate sunset dinner cruise, and it was a huge success!  The party was held on the Desert Belle that launched from the Saguaro Lake Marina in Mesa, AZ.  We chartered the Desert Belle to cruise around the lake for three hours and served a dinner buffet from Special Moments Catering along with the beverages from the bar on board. 

The guests were allowed to board 30 minutes prior to the boat launching.  I did take a photo of each group/couple as they arrived as a keepsake for them.  Once we left the dock, some key members of the company welcomed the guests, thanked everyone for their hard work, and reminded everyone to drink responsibly - always important! 

The Desert Belle offered a guided tour, provided music, or allowed us to bring our own.  We decided to have the captain point out key areas of the lake while it was still daylight, but for the most part we hooked up the music we brought on an iPhone and listened to a playlist we put together.  We had four crew members - captain, concierge, and two bartenders.  They all had great personalities which made it that much more fun for our guests!  - and definitely helped each other out throughout the party!

Special Moments Catering did an awesome job with the food!  We had some very specific requirements with one of the dishes as there is a large Indian population within the company.  They prepared Paneer Mekhani, which I learned (from Wikipedia of course!) while planning this event that Paneer is a fresh cheese found in South Asian cuisine.  To make Paneer Mekhani, the cheese is cubed and cooked in a rich cream-based, tomato gravy.  This is typically served with Vegetable Biryani, Indian rice to which vegetables are added.   For our event, we offered Lemon Zest and Herb Mediterranean Quinoa, which was a great pairing!  This was not something Special Moments had created before, but they knocked it out of the park!  It was delicious and a big hit with everyone on board.  We also served a more traditional Lemon Chicken along with rolls, butter, mixed greens with a raspberry vinaigrette and an assortment of mini desserts.  We had a banquet captain and a server from Special Moments throughout the event. 

At the end of the night, we handed out favor bags to all of our guests. Since we were hosting the event in Mesa, I decided to reach out to the Mesa Visitors Bureau.  They were kind enough to give us bags, chapstick, and some literature about Mesa.  We also included mints with the company's logo along with small bags of cookies and some candy. 

I would highly recommend using either one of these companies for a future party!  Or - even taking a tour on the Desert Belle is a great time too.  Because of the private charter, I was able to bring the hubby and two boys on a regular tour about a week before the event so that we could check it out, meet our concierge, and finalize details for our party.    Thanks to the Desert Belle, Special Moments Catering, and the Mesa Visitors Bureau for helping us make our party a big success!

Grilled Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella, Provolone, and Parmesan Topped with Arugula Salad

With the rising temperatures, the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven....I'd much rather heat up the grill!  I thought my boys would be more interested in making their own pizzas, not so much, perhaps the novelty has worn off!  The older one did help me make the dough earlier in the day - but neither one wanted to get too crazy with the toppings, they both chose their standard - cheese pizza.

I, on the other hand, made a grilled pizza with fresh Mozzarella, Provolone, grated Parmesan and I topped it with an arugula salad tossed in salt, pepper, Queen Creek Olive Mill's Tuscan Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Queen Creek Olive Mill's White Balsamic Vinegar.  It was soooooo good!  I love salad on a pizza!  I'm such a multi-tasker, might as well eat your salad right on top of your pizza!  If you have never tried arugula, I highly recommend it!  It is very unique and has a "peppery" taste, it pairs well with the creamy cheese on the pizza.  This was excellent with a glass of Sterling Vineyards Pinot Grigio.

Grilled Pizza with Fresh Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan Topped with Arugula Salad
Serves 2

I started with my standard pizza dough recipe which can be found here.  I did double the recipe and then cut the dough into thirds once it was fully risen.  This gave me two good sized kid pizzas and one larger grown up pizza. 

Pizza dough before it rose:

Pizza dough after it rose (probably should have used a larger bowl!)

Other ingredients:
note: this is for arugula topped pizza only

1/2 cup store bought tomato/pizza sauce (or homemade!)  You can add more here, but I'm not a huge fan of a ton of sauce on my pizza!
3 slices Provolone cheese
4 slices fresh Mozzarella
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 big handfuls of arugula
2 tablespoons (or to taste) extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons (or to taste) white balsamic vinegar (could also use a "regular" balsamic vinegar)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Once you are ready to roll out your pizza, go ahead and heat up your grill.  Roll out your pizzas and I would recommend that you still put the cornmeal on the pizza stone (can also use larger cutting board) so that the pizza will easily slide off onto the grill. You could also use a pizza paddle:



I topped mine with store bought tomato sauce, could certainly use homemade, along with the fresh Mozzarella cheese, Provolone cheese, and grated Parmesan.  

Once topped, take it out to the grill.  Clean your hot grill very well before adding your pizza.  Gently slide your pizza onto the grill.  Cook for 10 - 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the crust is cooked.

 
When you pizza is cooked, gently move it from the grill back to the pizza stone, cutting board, pizza paddle - whatever you used to get it out there.  Let is sit for 5 minutes or so.  Meanwhile, toss your arugula with your salt, pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar.  Top the pizza with the arugula salad.   Cut, serve, enjoy!