Monday, March 26, 2012

Just For Fun Parties: Dessert Party {recipe #1}

This idea is nothing new. I first caught wind of them and hosted a couple when I was in college, but I'm sure they've been around a lot longer then that. You can do a dessert party for any occasion; shower, birthday, engagement, baptism, blessing.


When it comes to dessert parties, there is a wide variety of desserts you could include. You could center it around one type of dessert; cookies, cupcakes, bars, pies, etc. Or you could do a mixed dessert party. I typically do the latter.

The first dessert recipe I'm going to share with you is the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I've been told I'm a master cookie baker. I'm not sure about that, but I'll credit my baking skills to my genes. My grandpa was a baker and owned his own bakery and my mom worked there as she grew up. My uncle later took over the bakery and I used to visit all the time, so I say it's in my blood. The love for sweets is also in my blood, which is not a good thing, if you know what I mean.



Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
1½ – 2 cups Oatmeal
1 cup Shortening
2 cups Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
About 2 cups Milk Chocolate Chips

Directions:
  •      Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  •      Lightly grease cookies sheets
  •      Beat to combine: Shortening, Brown Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla (WET)
  •      Whisk to combine: Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Oatmeal (DRY)
  •      Add the DRY mixture to the WET (in 3 additions)
  •      Stir in the Chocolate Chips
  •      Spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets.
  •      Bake 8-10 minutes, a tiny bit golden on top.
  •      Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then move to a cooling rack.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

From Body To Bed

When my baby was a newborn, he'd wake up every time we'd put him in his bed. We wondered what the cause was, because frankly, it could've been a number of things. But after using our noggins and trying a thing or two, we found the trick to keeping him asleep.


Heating up his bed was the trick. 

When we'd take him away from our warm bodies and put him in a cold bed, it'd wake him up. As a result, we got a little heating pad and warmed up his bed before putting him in it, that way his bed matched our body heat. And being safe as always, we'd move and turn off the heating pad before laying him down.


So if you find that your baby is waking up when you put them in bed, try this trick, especially if it's colder out!

Friday, March 16, 2012

What To Ask Your Caterer

When it comes to your wedding or party, you want to be well informed. You want to know all the little details. And you want to get the best bang for your buck. There are so many questions to be asked and one group you should be asking a lot of questions to, are potential caterers.


Here are some questions you should ask caterers.
What does the cost include:

  • Do they provide the linens or do I need to find those elsewhere?
  • Do they do the set-up and take-down of tables, chairs, table settings, buffet, etc.?
  • Do kids eat free? If so, at what age do you have pay for them? 
  • If more people come then planned on, then what will happen? Will I be charged extra? If so, how much?
  • What if there is left-over food, what happens to that?
  • What's the customary amount of gratuity people give?


These are just a few questions that you could ask caterers. Hopefully this will get the question juices flowing.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Preventing Baby Hair Loss

I can't claim this next tip as my own; I got it from a friend.

If you don't want your baby to rub all their hair off when they sleep, then buy some satin and put it in their crib. It doesn't necessarily have to be satin, just a slick fabric. I don't think I bought satin, I just bought what was cheapest.

I folded the fabric so it was just big enough to cover the whole area of his head. You also want it long enough so you can tuck it into the sides of the mattress, you don't want loose fabric for safety and efficiency reasons. It's that simple!

If you really want to prevent hair loss, then you could have a piece of fabric that you move around with baby, so that wherever baby is, satin is there too. I think that's a hassle, but if you're all for it, more power to ya!

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Party Dress

I don't know how I have failed to blog about THIS WEBSITE. I stumbled across it some time ago; perhaps a year or two ago.


I absolutely love it! It is SO inspirational and it just makes me want to throw and host constant parties. Not only do they have inspirational ideas, but they have a shop where you can purchase some of their fabulous products.

They also started a magazine; they just released the 5th issue, which you can read here. It's great being able to view the magazine online, but you can also purchase a wonderful copy to hold in your hands. One day I'll catch up and buy them all or if I'm lucky, I'll win the give away that's going on right now.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be the one randomly selected!
So I highly recommend taking a peek! And I guarantee if you do, that peek will turn into an obsession.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Ditch The Stink & Cut Down On Trips

I think there is some debate out there on whether or not a diaper pail is a necessity.


I have to say for me, it is.
I live in a condo on the third floor, so to take a dirty diaper to the trash every time I change one isn't realistic. If I lived in a house with my own garbage can just outside the door, then it might be a different story.
But even then, it is still a hassle to take multiple trips to the outside trash can, that is why they invented diaper pails. You cut down the number of trips to the outside garbage, but contain the stinky smell (for the most part).

The diaper pail I have, Baby Trend Diaper Champ, works great! Bonus: you don't have to buy special trash bags for it, you can just buy the generic brand. It keeps the stinky smell trapped for the most part. The exception is when you open the trap door to throw a diaper away or to change the bag, a little bit of stink slips out. I'm trying to find a way to neutralize the smell, so if you have any tips for that, I'd love to hear them!

So if you'd like less trips to the trash can and a stink-free baby room, then I'd definitely invest in a diaper pail!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Wedding Program

If your wedding calls for a program i.e. a sit-down function, then you want it to flow. Keep the speaking portion short and sweet. Yes it's nice to hear from your loved ones and to express your gratitude, but you don't want your guests to get bored, as well as yourself. It's a party, not a conference.

Here is an example of a program outline from my wedding:

  • Dads speak 
  • Bride's "person" speaks
  • Groom's "person" speaks
  • Bride & Groom thank everyone
  • Bride & Groom start the buffet line
  • Cutting of the cake
  • Bouquet & garter toss
  • Dancing: Daddy-daughter THEN Bride-Groom 
  • Bride & Groom send-off

This is not "the way" to do it, just an example that flowed well and was short & sweet. 
Good luck creating your program!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Just For Fun Parties: Idea #1

I've been thinking of ways that I could share some of my favorite recipes and still have them connected with the purpose of the blog. So I've come up with some ideas for "just because parties." These will be themed around food. Here is the first idea.

A pizza dinner party.

Each guest can make their own pizza. Supply all sorts of sauces and toppings.
Some of these could include marinara, Alfredo, BBQ sauce, chicken, pepperoni, artichokes, sundried tomatoes, fresh veggies, ricotta cheese, and on and on.
You could really get creative with your toppings.


I have a great pizza dough recipe that is fairly simple and quick to make, as well as on the healthier side. Unfortunately, I can't claim this as my own recipe. I got it here.
Just a side note, it tends to be a thicker, heartier dough, so be sure to roll it out thin enough.


Enjoy!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

I Never Told You

I failed to let you know the result of these.



They ended up in here.


Here is the story why.

When I got to work the following Monday, there was a floral arrangement on their kitchen counter, but it wasn't one of mine. It was in one of the vases I used though. 

I was a little curious what the situation was. My guess was that someone else had brought an arrangement and she gave all the ones away that I had arranged and kept that one. I planned on calling her to see how things went on Saturday, but she called me first and this was what had happened.

I had called Noah's on Friday to arrange bringing the flowers that night so they would already be there for Diana Saturday morning. I, with the help of my husband and two friends, delivered the arrangements Friday evening and the girl working at Noah's was expecting me. She showed me to a small room where I could put the arrangements for the night and the room would stay locked. I left a message on Diana's phone telling her where the flowers were.

Well.......Diana never saw the flowers. There was a miscommunication with the cleaning lady and she threw them all out Friday night! What made it worse is that room usually doesn't get cleaned on Friday night. Just my luck!

As Diana told me what had happened, I got a little sick and emotional. I had worked hard on those and I felt they looking pretty dang good and NO ONE saw my work! That was the most devastating part! I thought for sure that once I got off the phone with her I was going to shed a few tears, but I stayed tuff and didn't. I told her I had pictures and would show her. It was neither mine nor her fault; it was Noah's!

So Noah's staff used their floral people and had one made up for her, no charge. I don't think it looks nearly as good as mine DID

Hopefully next time I do arrangements for something similar, they won't get thrown out.