Beef Bourguignon

Fete Avec Moi

So we are trying to eat healthier. Vegetables are never what I gravitate towards. But I know they are what we need to start enjoying to better fuel our bodies. So yesterday, I shopped at our local FairWay. I filled our pantry, freezer, and fridge with more healthy alternatives. So I know my blog usually covers the entertaining we do for friends. But once in awhile it is nice to prepare something special for just us. So this evening's dinner started with a package of Trader Joe's beef bourguignon. This dish can't be beat. 2 servings in a microwave ready tray (6 minutes in microwave). Nice! Now while that microwaved, I made some mushroom pappardelle (2-3 minutes in boiling water) that I had picked up yesterday at Fair Way. I asked the darling husband if he would prefer corn or broccoli with dinner. He opted for corn (4 minute steamer bag). So there lies the crux of the culinary mixture of this evening. In a deep fry pan that I have I sauteed the papparedelle, corn, red onion, pepper chunks, and balsamic vinaigrette. After the beef finished cooking I added that to the fry pan. Sauteed the whole thing for a little bit. Served up by placing some of the pappardelle noodles, then layering the beef, then the corn mixture. I had extra so I made another plate for our neighbor. She just called to tell me how delicious it was and asked how I made the beef bourguignon. I was glad to share my secret Trader Joe's did the hard part. I just added to it.

Trying to embrace vegetables in different ways where I don't notice/hate them. Mushroom Pappardelle was a great way to get more veggies into our dinner. FairWay had a terrific bag of fresh spinach. After washing I served with goat cheese, dried cranberries, and a yogurt Boat House salad dressing. I refuse to eat cardboard. But I need to stop eating such processed horrible food too. So this weekend we began a new phase. Hopefully this phase will be just the next step on our road to a healthier life rather than just a passing fad.  If you are looking for a quick and yummy dinner, may I suggest trying this one night.

Ere Long Leprechaun Luncheon

Today I hosted my Ere Long Leprechaun Lunch. My husband had to work today. So I figured this would be the perfect time to have the girls over for some fun and food. This way tomorrow the husband can relax and enjoy his day off/St. Patrick's Day. Luckily a couple of my friends were free to come celebrate with me.

Guests were greeted first by the rainbow on the stoop railing. This was featured previously on my blog post.

I guess my friends enjoy playing games and having fun too at my parties. I recently had two parties where I didn't go quite as grandiose. Guess my friends noticed and as our apartment steps echo I heard their comments coming up the stairs. I have overheard, "There aren't any decorations downstairs," "I was looking to see if you hid stuff on the steps and outside," and "What no games!"Some would think my friends at our age would be bored/over/vexed by my ideas for games. Apparently not. Yay! I enjoy spending a few hours having fun and acting immature. All work and no play makes Neene a dull lady, right?

So here is a brief recap of today's fun:

Fete Avec Moi

 Food is always a focus. I provided a buffet including:

• crock pot corned beef and cabbage [beer, chicken broth, cinnamon, a sprig of thyme]
• salad [red cabbage and brussel sprouts]
• Golden potato salad [store bought potato and egg salad]
• Greened potatoes [microwaveable mashed potatoes, steamed spinach, cheddar cheese, ranch dressing, and scallions]
• "Pesto" pasta [spinach, agave nectar, olive oil, egg noodles]

Desserts:

I love creative desserts. Since the theme was Leprechauns and pots of gold I found a great lemon bar mix.

Sounded so good in theory. The crust cooked up nice and golden brown. The lemon filling didn't bleeping cook through. Not serving those.

Darn it! So I ran out this morning to Stop and Shop. They had a heart shaped cake that they decorated like a leprechaun face. That will work! Sadly, I didn't think to photograph it before we dissected him.

I had found green sweet things: green blowpop lollipops, green and white starlight mints, green M&Ms, green wrapped rolo chocolates. So martini glasses were filled with each item to display them for the guests to enjoy. I had seen online a very creative blogger that dipped oreos in yellow icing and then rolled them in yellow sprinkles. Very cute pots of gold. This gave me an idea. What if I cut off the top of a chocolate donut 

hole and dipped them in sprinkles. I rushed off mid-week to our local Stop and Shop for supplies. They actually had gold (not yellow but gold) sprinkles. I sliced a donut hole. I dipped it in the sugar crystals. They didn't stick that well. So friday when I went food shopping I scooped up a can of spritzable yellow icing. Now the came out quite adorably. 

Games:

Fun 1: I found an ever so cute leprechaun printable puzzle online.

http://spoonful.com/printables/leapin-leprechaun-puzzle-st-patricks-day). I printed one for each guest. I placed all the pieces from each one into an

envelope. Each friend received an envelope. If they were able to complete the puzzle they earned a prize. The squeals of laughter were well worth it. The prize was a rubiks cube typed toy with St. Patrick's Day themes. Reminiscing about playing with these in the past was a ton of fun.

Fun 2: Have you heard of building a leprechaun trap? This is one tradition that I have never participated in before. But I found this online. How cute! Apparently  people create traps to catch a visiting leprechaun. The attract them with green, gold, and shiny things. So I placed a basket with grass and gold under a box and set the

trap. I tied 1 cauldron (like a little pot of gold) to the trap stand bar. All the rest were simply taped to the bar. I had my friends pull a number out of a hat. Then they each picked up the corresponding numbered cauldron. We all pulled and followed the strings until only one remained tied. This would be our lucky winner. The winner received a gold nugget candy, a leprechaun teddy bear, and a green lunch container.

Everyone received a pot of gold (gold chocolate coins) as a favor.

Now to recap the decorations:

I found a fabulous beer mug shaped stuffed thing. I think it was meant to be a hat. I stuffed it with green roses that I made from a roll of crepe paper. I saw this idea online while looking for St. Valentine's Day ideas.

I found a $.99 plastic green St. Patrick's Day hat. I filled it with 2 single

serve containers of Lucky Charms. And mixed this with a bag of popcorn and green sprinkles. A perfect combo of salt and sweet. Just the right amount of crunch.

Yes, I even decorated the cups. I found shamrock stickers that started it. I placed a sticker on each cup for the coffee. Then I realized hey I could draw shamrocks too. So on the second set I drew shamrocks with a green permanent marker. 

I covered all my tables with blue tablecloths to let the green accessories stand out in contrast. At the Christmas Tree Shop, I found sparkly shamrock cut outs. At ShopRite, I found a small potted clover plant. This rounded out the table decorations.

At this party as my friends came up the stairs I heard, "Oh my goodness would you look at this!" "How does she come up with this stuff?!" and "Oh I hate you how do you do all this". I just loved hearing these comments as I opened my door to guests. Thanks for joing me ladies. Thanks for embracing the fun. Looking forward to the next party. Now to dream up the next party idea.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow... Irish Eyes Are Smiling

So last year, as I celebrated St. Patrick's Day, I dug out the big witches cauldrons that I have for Halloween. I tied one to each side of our front steps. I put gold bows taped along the top to resemble a pot of gold. It was cute, but something was just missing. On about March 15th I realized what it needed...
A Rainbow

Fete Ave Moi

So this year, I planned ahead. I visited a local dollar store. Yes $1 each for plastic rectangle shaped table cloths. R-O-Y-G-B-I-V it's amazing how mneumonic devices really do work.  All these years letter I still remember the colors of a rainbow's light spectrum should range appropriately from red to violet. I also invested in a large pack of black hair ties ($1.99 for about 36). Lastly 2 gold table cloths to fill the pot (along with some Halloween stones for weight) and voila. Eleven dollars later we have an adorable, waterproof rainbow cascading down our steps into a pot of gold. Perfectly fit for any leprechaun.

Fete Avec Moi

We also have another set of steps that sit closer to the road down our hill. Needed a splash of color there. A green garland from the Christmas Tree Shop did just nicely.

Luckily, we have a lovely next door neighbor who looks forward to my decorations. So I get to decorate the landing on our level and our hallway too. I haven't gone all out yet. I have a few more ideas in mind for this weekend. But at least I have started adding a little cheer. I still have the $2.99 lit branches I had purchased around Halloween. Love getting a second use out of something so inexpensive. I placed them inside another cauldron, covered the bases with a navy blanket, and wrapped a green clover garland wire ($.49) around the branches. It looks rather ethereal I think. Especially at night when I can light them. They are powered by batteries. Another green garland wraps along the railing of our hallway stairs. Shamrock cutouts that were purchased in a multi-pack for $1.49 were the finishing touch. A few years ago, I purchased a set of bells covered in white and green ribbon that I just love on our apartment door for St. Patrick's Day. Of course, I dug them out.  A large green pull bow that I had in the closet from earlier gift wrap packages completes the look on the landing. When it comes to seasonal decorations I truly believe in choosing a color scheme and re-purposing items that you already have. Free decorating.

Of course, after all that decorating I had to relax and reward myself with a McDonald's Shamrock Shake and some time on the couch with magazines. This would have been the perfect end to a perfect Saturday. Except... then it snowed. Of course it did! I decorated for Spring. Glad all my decorations were waterproof.