Monday, August 31, 2009

Rustic, mountain style birthday party

I've been pulling together some ideas for a small get-together for my husband's birthday this Labor Day weekend. Since we will be in the mountain community of Monteagle, Tennessee, I thought it would be fun to have a rustic, woodsy theme.

Here's a look at the inspiration board I put together on this relaxed woodsy look. I love the mossy, ferny accents, so that is probably the way I will go.

Think ferns and herbs in place of flowers and wooden boards and twisted willow baskets for food presentation. I'm going to try to pull this woodsy party theme together without bringing a lot of extra items from home -- since this is a weekend getaway I am determined to travel light! I found several PERFECT invitations that complement my relaxed theme on Fine Stationery's website.Above - Crane & Co. Ecru Fern Flat Card from Finestationery.comAbove - William Arthur Fern Invitation from Finestationery.com
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Posted by AnnieB at 10:19 PM 0 comments
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Friday, August 28, 2009

Desserts and Drinks Girls' Night

I invited some girlfriends over for a "Girls' Night" last week. Instead of doing a blowout dinner party or just cocktails, I decided to serve desserts and drinks and invited everyone to come over at 7:30pm. I made a dessert buffet and served wine and champagne. Here's the menu...



Dessert Buffet
Mini Key Lime Pies (recipe below)
Whole strawberries with sour cream and brown sugar for dipping
Chocolate chip pound cake
Cherry cobbler bars
Chocolate covered caramels with almond bits


Since I work full time, it can be challenging to pull something like this together on a weeknight. So I decided to make one to two desserts a night during the week of the party. I made the chocolate dipped caramels and key lime pies first, since they need a bit of time in the fridge to set up, then I made the cherry cobbler bars, and last I made the chocolate chip pound cake -- so that it would taste super fresh.

Here's another look at the invitation that I emailed to the girls and a shot of the desserts. For the centerpiece of the dessert table I used two bunches of fresh cut zinnias in a simple clear vase. It added a splash of summery color to the table.



I think the mini key lime pies were the favorite dessert among my friends. Here's the recipe I used. I have always been a bit intimidated by key lime pie, but this recipe helped me get over that! I made the mini pies in a mini cheesecake pan that my husband's grandmother gave to me, but you could use a mini muffin pan or just bake them in a 8x8 pan and slice into bars.

Mini Key Lime Pies or Key Lime Bars
(Printable Recipe)
1 1/4 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice , (you can use the bottled juice too)
1 can sweetened condensed milk, (14 ounces)
2 Key limes, thinly sliced into half-moons (optional for garnish)

Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, nuts, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and butter in a small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of an 8-inch square glass baking dish or into individual mini muffin cups. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.(Leave oven on.)

Make filling: Put egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.
Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is just set, about 10minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or overnight).

Cut into 2-by-2-inch bars or gently remove from muffin pan. Ungarnished, these baked bars can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 3 days.
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Posted by AnnieB at 7:30 AM 1 comments
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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Invitation inspiration

I have been on a kick of designing invitations for anything and everything these days. For my birthday, we headed up to the lake with a group of friends for the weekend. I came up with an invitation to reflect the fun and festive nature of the birthday weekend. Recently my invites have had a relaxed and somewhat playful look. Next Thursday, I've invited friends over for a girls' night of drinks and desserts. I'm going to serve champagne, wine and an assortment of desserts.
Here's the invitation I sent out to a group of girlfriends. I will likely play off of the bright colors in the invitation for the "look" of the party. More to come soon...
On another note, my friend Ellen threw a birthday party with a pink theme for one of her friends. Take a look at her fabulous tablescape and creative decor!
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Posted by AnnieB at 8:02 PM 0 comments
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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Southern chic engagement party

My mom's friend, Becky, asked me to help her setup for a Thursday night wedding kickoff party that she and several other couples were throwing for a couple that is getting married this weekend. I just love the idea of a Thursday-night-before-the-wedding parties.
From my own experience as a bride, the Thursday night party was the perfect opportunity to spend quality time visiting with close friends and family before the wedding. As everyone knows, weddings can be a hectic time for the bride and groom, and it's easy for the celebration to be over in the blink of an eye. The Thursday night party allowed me a chance to visit with my closest friends in a more relaxed way that I was able to on the actual night of our wedding.

Here's a look at the flowers I arranged for the centerpiece of the buffet table. I used white lilies, green hydrangea, and a few white gerbera daisies.



This picture gives a bit more perspective of how large this arrangement turned out to be! It looked much better on Becky's larger dining room table than mine.


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Posted by AnnieB at 10:00 PM 1 comments
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A summer treat: flip-flop shaped sugar cookies

I decided to make a batch of flip-flop sugar cookies to take up to the lake this weekend. Since I didn’t have a flippy floppy shaped cookie cutter, I drew my own template onto parchment paper and cut it out; then I placed the template on the rolled-out dough and traced around the template with a small knife to cut out each cookie. This may be too tedious for some, and I must admit, my cookies looked a lot like square monster feet at first, but once I added the first layer of icing and then the decorative “straps”, my flip flops came to life!


These flip-flop cookies would be fun to serve at a pool party or to bring as a hostess gift for a trip to the beach! And as always, I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe and the delicious but oh-so-simple icing. Bon appetit!
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Posted by AnnieB at 7:50 AM 0 comments
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