Make it Delightful!

Almond "Joy" for Valentines

This is a delightful way to begin or end your Valentines celebration. It is served to wine tasters at the Wilson Creek Winery in Temecula and greeted with great delight. You may purchase it just about anywhere they sell sparkling champagne. Just fill a chocolate cup with Almond Sparkling Wine and there you have it! Yummm!

You could also fill cups with Strawberry, Raspberry or any other Sparkling wine depending on your preferences.

Whatever you do...Make It Delightful!

Debbie

New Book "How To Host A Delightful Tea"

http://www.thebookpatch.com/BookStore/how-to-host-a-delightful-tea/da629302-4508-43eb-9b27-7a67027d1eb3?isbn=978168

Writing and publishing a book has always been a dream of mine. Forever on my bucket list, something I can now cross off! However, I must say, publishing a book is like having a baby. I immediately want to write another one. I still have ideas rolling around in my noggin.

I self-published this book and am so proud of it. I know it isn't the caliber of Martha Stewart, although in some ways it is even better. It is super special to me because it includes Teas I have hosted and ideas that I want to share to make anyone who desires to host a Tea have a great experience. It's full of instructions on hosting an event that is above average. I believe it takes just a bit more effort to take something from average to above average. In my case, I wanted it to include the word "Delightful" in the title. because it is always my goal to make any event I host delightful for my guests, and for me!

I created it in a spiral format because I want people to use it. Fold it back, copy a list from it, or a recipe when needed. I tried to price it fairly as books are not inexpensive to publish, especially in color with lots of photographs. I chose to design it that way because I'm very visual so I must have pictures to give me the inspiration I need.

This is a first for selling an item on my blog. I don't inundate you with ads. It's available to you if you wish to buy one, or ten ;-). Just click here.

Thanks for your continued viewing and support. I'm so very grateful for each of you.

Debbie

New Year's Tablescape

I had to laugh as I started to write this blog post as my husband and I never stay up until midnight much anymore. So I wasn't about to name this post "New Years Eve Tablescape". Because there are such positive messages on the plates I used, I decided I would use them all month and remain in the mood of great beginnings.

These plates cheer me up just looking at them and I love seeing and using them daily.

These flowers have stayed really fresh for over two weeks!

They were a real bargain at Trader Joe's.

I love the inspiration on each plate.

I wish you all of these sentiments and all the Lord's blessings upon you in the new year.

Below is a fun activity you can feature at your dinner to stimulate conversations and get to know your guests even better. Print these, cut them out, and place one under each guests charger or dinner plate and reveal when ready to use.

You should be able to click on the document and print it.

Happy New Year!

Easy & Inexpensive Christmas Snowman Party Favors

Isn't this an adorable party favor?

It would also be a very clever hostess gift during the Christmas season.

You can make it in about five minutes if you have all of the materials on hand..

Here's what you will need:

Sturdy large paper or plastic plates (if making more than one.)
Large plastic plant liners to invert as domes.
A mini colander for each gift. (They come in red, white, green, and blue at World Market for $2.00 each.)
A variety of small to medium ornamental snowflakes (The larger ones are too big)
Real or artificial greenery. (I used small round artificial pine circles purchased from an online craft store.)
Pine or cinnamon candles from The Dollar Store.
Snap-on snowmen, or whatever other type of embellishments you might want (Santas, reindeer, elves, or owls, etc. You could use nests, birds, and flowers for Christmas or other occasions. I wanted mine to resemble snow globes.
A measure of coordinating ribbon to tie around the colander.
Glue dots

Arrange as shown.

If you use the dome and plates, which you don't have to, place rolled glue dots on four sides of the bottom of the dome and secure it to the plate.

Your done!

Can you tell me about a clever party favor you have seen or made?

What made it special to you?

I love to hear from you!

Debbie

Easy To Make Melted Snowman Cookies

Are you ready to make a really fun Christmas cookie?

These cookies are sure to bring a smile to the faces of those you serve them too.

This is what mine looked like just after being frosted and decorated. :-)

I placed them on individual plates and sprinkled some cake glitter over them and the plate

to emphasize the snowy effect.

Below is the recipe I used. I am also going to share with you what NOT to do!

I used Betty Crocker's Sugar Cookie Mix in the pouch. Yep! They weren't from scratch, but, they tasted good, and most importantly, they worked!

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Follow the directions on the back of the package.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper,
Form the base of the cookie into the shape of a golf ball.
Place the cookie balls on the paper and press them down without trying to have perfectly rounded edges. (Remember, it's supposed to look like it is melted.)
Next, form the rest of the dough into balls about the size of large grapes.
Leave them in that shape, don't press them down.
Bake the cookies for about 8-10 minutes until edges start to turn golden brown.
Check for to see if they have thoroughly cooked.
Remove the cookies on the parchment paper to a counter top service and let cool, .

When the cookies are cool, mix together one bag of powdered (Confectioners) sugar with about 1/3 cup of milk. Mix together with a mixer. Add milk if it is not thin enough. You want a consistency that you can drip over the cookies.
Frost the bottom cookie by spooning frosting over the cookie to cover it. Let it drip over the edge. It adds to the melted effect.
Add the baked smaller balls which have flattened somewhat to the top of the cookie and off to one edge. Cover it with frosting too.
Decorate as you wish. I used small gold candy balls placed fairly close together for the eyes, two M & M's for buttons for buttons, a purchased holly candy embellishment and the first time, the orange part of a piece of candy corn, trimmed. It looked great, however, because I had to make them two days in advance, they melted and spread into the cookie. I had to completely dig out that piece of candy and the frosting, and re-frost it with a firmer frosting I had on hand for cupcakes I made. Then I cut orange M & M's in half and laid then on the top, right before serving. I think the candy corn noses looked better. I would use them again next time, but I wouldn't put them on until just before serving.
Sprinkle the cookie and the plate with cake glitter.

Have fun! I know the people you serve these to will be delighted.

XOXOX, Debbie

CHRISTmas Snowman Dinner

The table was set with the utmost of care,

in anticipation of the wonderful friends that soon would be there.

My royal friend, Shannon, with her Christmas cracker surprises. Notice the crown made out of tissue paper! We all received one of those inside! What GREAT sports my friends are! They actually wore them...for a long time. Everyone received a different color. We had so much fun reading and laughing at the fun jokes that were included. I thought this gift would bomb, but surprisingly, we all had a lot of fun with it.

Some of the party girls!

I love all of these woman so much. THEY are gifts from God to me!

The picture above shows how I gazed upon my table for days before my guests arrived. The colander with the candle was to be their party favor to take home, so I had to remove them, and set them aside to give them to my friends towards the end of the evening. I'm pretty sure they were ALL delighted!

That the colanders were not only cute but also a practical gift was a good idea to me. How many times do you wish you had a small colander to rinse berries, etc.? The cinnamon scented candle can be used anywhere. The rest of the items were simply, but whimsically, embellishments to make it look CUTE! See the finished version below towards the end of this blog post.

I could hardly wait for my guests to arrive and partake!

The anticipation is part of the fun for a hostess who wishes to delight her guests. ;-)

Large snowflakes were strategically place around the table and hung from the chandelier with care. Be careful of hot bulbs when hanging snowflakes though! I burned my finger not keeping this in mind.

Do you notice the red striped theme blending with the snowman theme?

When my guest arrived I had placed the snowflake name tags on their ruby red plates to welcome them to the dining table. The napkins were placed inside small snowman stockings found at Home Depot.

Cream of Christmas Tree Soup

(AKA Cream of Asparagus Soup) with bell pepper Christmas tree cut-outs.

This was a really delicious salad made with Romaine lettuce, avocado slices, pomegranate seeds, candied pecans, and snowflake and star jicama cut outs. Served with Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette Dressing, the one with the artichoke artwork on the label.

I served my guests an almost authentic Swedish Meatball dinner. It was absolutely fabulous, if I do say so myself. It was sooooo easy to make. Did you know in Sweden they mix all of these ingredients together and eat it that way?! I had this very dish in Stockholm this summer. It was amazing there and I duplicated it very easily. Accompanying the mashed potatoes and meatballs were pickled cucumbers and lingonberry sauce. So good! I've read the Swedes add those two ingredients to many of their dishes.

After our main course, I gave each lady a melted snowman cookie and a copy of a poem I read about how the world makes us feel deflated, but God makes us feel elated. My friends seemed to like it. In case you missed it on my previous post. Here it is again.

Here's a close-up of the melting snowman sugar cookie.

I was beyond excited to serve them their Grand Finale Snow Globe dessert of an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) coconut cupcake with a snowman cheese spreader inserted into the cupcake. I then topped it with a snow globe dome and wrapped a ribbon around the base. I saw similar ones on Pinterest, however, they were fashioned with gelatin, which I wasn't brave enough to attempt! I opted for a sure bet and less time. That's about the cutest darn dessert I have ever seen.

So last, but not least, is the domed colander party favor. I hate to admit it but it was so inexpensive to make. The colanders were $2 at World Market, the cinnamon candles came from the Dollar Tree store. I ordered the mini pine artificial wreaths from an online craft store and purchased the medium and small snowflakes at Hobby Lobby. I believe, all in they cost me about $5 each to make, but oh what a unique take home gift to remember the theme of our party.

Upon washing all the dishes, glassware and flatware, I re-set my table for my niece and her husband and two daughters who will be coming on Christmas Eve with a slightly different look as we don''t need name tags. For this table, I used my whimsical snowman plates