Black and White and Yummy

Just settling down after our Pre-Halloween festivities. It was a fun day. Love when friends gather and provide feedback that makes my party planning and effort so worth while. Love all the oohs and ahhs as friends and family look around. So here's a little recap of the festivities.

As was mentioned in an earlier blog post, we went with a black and white theme inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and The Raven. Little touches here and there that pulled it all together.

Let's begin with today's menu.

Appetizers - J.Shields

Appetizers:

Cheese and grapes (simple fair presliced cheese and grapes)

Lemon Pepper Cheese Balls (a mix of alouette and cream cheese with lemon pepper rolled into balls)

Roasted Red Pepper Hearts (marinated roasted peppers cut in half)

Main Course:

Main Course Table - J.Shields

Black Bean Salad

• Black beans
• Cannelini beans
• Safflower oil
• Vinegar
• Salt
• Lemon Pepper
• Artificial Sweetner
  

  Refrigerate overnight

Tell-Tale Heart Salad

• Romaine Hearts
• Roasted Red Peppers
• Mozzarella balls
• Hearts of Palm
• Artichoke hearts
• Cranberry vinegrette

Raven Wings

Was going to cheat and order wings. Realized they may cause a health issue for a family member due to an allergy. So I made them from scratch.

Saute oil and minced onion

Braise chicken wings in the oil

Season with seasalt and lemon pepper

Prepare BBQ sauce (oil, minced onion, garlic pepper, brown sugar splenda, apricot jam, pomegranate jam, ketchup and white wine vinegar.)

After sauting add to the BBQ sauce and boil.

Refrigerated the wings overnight. The day of the party I simmered the wings in the sauce in a crockpot to serve warm.

Black and White Pasta

• L'Antica Madia Farfalle (black and white striped)
• Alfredo sauce
• Tomato sauce

Backbone Sandwiches

• Turkey sandwich roll-ups ordered from Costco

[insert picture of food table]

Desserts:

Oreos (black and white of course)

Cupcakes orders ½ chocolate with white icing and ½ yellow with chocolate icing

Candy Buffet (mounds, ghost peeps, blood orange dots, tootsie rolls, hershey bars, hershey cookie and cream bars, mints, chocolate eyes, tootsie roll minipops, and black and white lollipops)

Lady fingers

Soon I will have another post with some of the decorations and other preparations. But after all the festivities, I am a bit overtired. Time for a rest.

Fall in Love with Kitchen Therapy

Today was a sick day. So I decided on a little kitchen therapy. It's October 15^th, the perfect time to embrace a little pumpkin. I looked online for how long to cook a microwave muffin. I found this healthy treat online, http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=868006.

Great advice about starting at a minute and adding time as you go until perfect.

So here is what I did:

I had extra muffin papers from last year. And people wonder why I horde. Because then I have stuff like this to play with when I want to later!

In a plastic cup I mixed (all rough measurements I did this by eye).

Ingredients:

1 tbsp margarine

2 tbsp canned pure pumpkin (not pie mix)

4 packets of Splenda

1 ½ tbsp flour

1 tbsp canola oil

(You could add some baking powder to help these rise a bit, although I didn't on this second batch. 

The first had a bit of the baking powder taste so I left it out.)

I sprayed the muffin paper with nonstick cooking spray (bottom and side walls). Blend all ingredients in the cup. Scoop half into each muffin paper. Place muffin papers on a microwave safe paper plate, lined with a paper towel. Microwave for 1 minute. See how that goes. These needed 30 seconds more. About a minute and half was perfect. After the first minute, I sprinkled with a lovely spice that was purchased at The Christmas Tree Shop. Then continued microwaving.

Now to enjoy with a cup of Pumpkin Coffee and a Quick Cook Pumpkin Muffin. What a great way to end a sick day. Curled up on the couch with the husband and perfectly portioned 2 pumpkin muffins.

Sophisticated Halloween

August Inspiration - FeteAvecMoi

This summer while on vacation my mind wandered towards what will this year's Halloween theme be for 2012. I knew what our costumes would be. [No spoilers]. Didn't want to decorate the apartment in that theme exactly. But hoped for decorations that would pair well. While shopping with my mother in late August, I found these great plates.

Inspiration found, August 24th. Care to eavesdrop on my internal monologue? It went something like this: moons, haunted houses, black, black and white, bats... no...crows...no ravens.... The Raven... Nevermore... Poe... Eureka! I always marvel at how the brain works. In my 80's raised brain, I hear that old tune, "Connect the dots la,la,la".

The Raven Inspired - FeteAvecMoi

So I started collecting. I saw a white pumpkin on a TV show. Hmmm black and white pumpkins would be cool. Visited our local Michael's Arts and Crafts, http://www.michaels.com and purchased some. At a dollar store I found black and white garlands. At another dollar store I found black ravens. Building, building. Thinking, thinking. Planning, planning.

At a local Marshall's, I found faux book boxes. Love those! So this led to a thought of going vintage.  Of course now my online crawling began. Black, ravens, natural, classic. Ideas swirled in my head.

 I found this adorable display. So very cute. I had to borrow this idea. I decided to just make three. Each carrying a trick-or-treat bag. Labelled one "Trick", one "Or" and one "Treat". Ordered baby sneakers and 18 month old jeans from Walmart. Yes, please bring Halloween decorations and deliver them to me. Lol. I cut a small hole in the jeans seat. Ran old flag poles down through the jeans into the hook on the back of the sneakers. At PartyCity, I found these hanging ghost decorations. They have a dual sytrofoam tube under the heads. Perfect to slip into jeans. Tied underneath with pipecleaners to hold together and form hands to hold the bags. I believe they are simply adorable.

I also found a Nevermore wall cling on Etsy from VinylDecalOutlet. Definitely, had to have. I also found some black feather hair accessories. Broke them off and added them to the wall cling.

As I shop in all the Halloween decorations available in stores I have this theme in mind. While away at the Montgomery, NY car show I purchased a few magazines. Curled up to relax and marveled at all the ideas on the same theme. Only thing I found that I liked was the concept of using a chalkboard and chalk. White on black. Simple. Elegant if you can print nicely. I learned calligraphy as a summer activity one year in highschool. Turn the pages quickly. Scan for ideas.  The rest of the decoration ideas, I either had, didn't want, or had better. Guess shopping early all the way back in August helps.

Now, September progresses and each night I plan a little more. I found a pillow on Etsy with a raven that said “Nevermore”. But it sadly had already sold. But it gave me the idea. I searched online for an interesting photo of Edgar Allan Poe. I landed upon this one. I printed it out on paper. I traced on a dollar store pillow case. I colored in with a permanent marker. I slipped it over an old pillow and now have an adorable decoration for the apartment.

My web-searches brought me to this fabulous decoration. I bought 20 black and white masks for $.99 each. I had every intention of making this wreath for our door. But as I saw them laid out on the table I realized they would look more interesting as a garland. So I stapled them end to end and added black and white ribbon curls. Now they adorn our stairway railing leading up to the apartment.

More photos will come after Halloween. I don't want to give EVERYTHING away before my friends get to stop by for coffee or something more...

But here is a before and after of our front steps:

Before Decorating -FeteAvecMoi

After Decorating - FeteAvecMoi

After Decorating the Walkway - FeteAvecMoi

Garlic Onion Chicken Soup

Today is first weekend in October. Time to accept that the Fall Season is truly here. Started the afternoon with some Halloween decorating. [Blog post to come soon on this topic.] Settled in with some pumpkin coffee and some Nook magazines. Dinner was the remainder of a rotisserie chicken purchased earlier in the week, some mashed potatoes, and broccoli.  Than I had an idea. Why not make some nice chicken soup for next week?! Placed my minced onion and safflower oil (my new favorite) in the pot. Tossed in my chicken left overs. Reached for my chicken broth (I usually have on my shelf). Small problem, no broth container waiting for me. Urgh, time to restock the shelves with stock. But I did find the last half on envelope of Onion soup mix from the last time I made dip. Well worth a try...  Added water. Cooked away. Added minced garlic, cinnamon, Herbs de Provence, lemon pepper, and garlic pepper. The apartment was quickly filled with the most delicious aromas. Another light bulb lit over my head. I have Ronzoni Pasta Portions (small servings of pasta in 3 minute boil in bags). I added a bag to the soup. Let it cook for 3 minutes, covered. Removed the lid and enjoyed the sweet spicy smells. Drained the pasta and added it to the soup. Yummy, I admit. Felt I needed to share my discovery. Grabbed my camera phone and clicked a quick picture so I could add this to my blog. Hope someone else enjoys this tip when you don't have chicken stock readily available.

Last Minute ~Lee Denim Day

A few years ago, a teacher at school discovered a great program, Lee National Denim Day (http://denimday.com). This is a yearly event sponsored by Lee Denim Company. They have now partnered directly with The American Cancer Society. I have helped organize a team at our school for the last 5 years. Thank you administration for granting us permission. Every year I am so impressed with how large our donation towards Breast Cancer Research becomes. Thank you all!






This year however, I admit I have been quite busy with the opening of school. I had totally forgotten to register our team this year. Luckily a kind teacher asked me a few days ago, if we would be forming a team again. I requested permission on Wednesday. Thanks to technology and a connected administration, I had permission shortly after. I worked quickly to register, locate pink decorations, pink snacks, and an inexpensive pair of children's jeans. We sign a pair to represent our team each year as a reflection of those that have made a donation. It is amazing what a little creativity, supportive colleagues, and enthusiasm can produce. Everyone who donated was grateful for the little thank yous that I left in the faculty lounge.  But I am so grateful for those that stopped me in the halls and in the parking lot to offer support and make a contribution towards our donation. Can't wait to see just how much we will raise this year!

Purchases for this quickly put together "pink party":

• Nerds Candies: Stop & Shop 2/$5 (sorted out all the pink ones)
• Pink mints: $1 Stop & Shop
• Oreos (berry=pink): 2/$5 at Stop & Shop
• $1 pink table cloth: 1$ Zone
• $3.99 children's jeans: Jembro
• Sugar cookies, pink: $1.29
• Pink frame: $8.99 Staples
• Pens: sent to us gratis by Lee Denim Day
• Pink ribbon decoration: $1 purchased over summer at dollar store
• Envelopes with labels: $5 and effort to setup

I don't know about you... but I think this came together well for something that only started planning (except for the plastic ribbon I bought this summer) on Wednesday and took place on Monday. I'd love to hear your opinion. Any ideas to suggest that we could incorporate next year?

Our team website can be found at denimday (team 230230),
 if you would like to make a contribution.

Wounded Warrior Project Fundraiser

Our mustang car club, New York Mustangs, hosted a Wounded Warrior Fundraiser. I offered to decorate the pavilion that was being used for the main BBQ. In support of our troops and American muscle cars, we went with a red, white, and blue theme. So here is what I prepared:

My newest, favorite decor item is the Pop-up trash cans. I purchased two from Party City inexpensively. They make a great place for people to throw their trash, and yet add to the flair of the day. While on vacation I collected items to make the prep work easier. Mini flags, large flags, ribbons, streamers, etc.

Since we would be dinning outside, I didn't want our paper goods to blow away. So I took a picnic basket and put all the American flag themed cups, plates, and napkins inside.

At a local Christmas Tree Store, I found a wall poster with the statue of liberty on it. Exactly what a New York car club needs for decor. I poked holes in the four corners and used ribbon to tie the vinyl poster to the tables. Similarly, I found two large American flags with grommets in the top corners. I used ribbon to tie these to the tables as well. (Making sure not to let the flags touch the ground).

Along the outside of the pavilion, we placed American flags in the rafters. And strung red, white, and blue star twine between the beams. The finishing touch was the most work. I bought a balloon hand-pump. Used it in the beginning and then gave up. Guess I am full of hot air, for I was faster lol ;) But we found some great balloon tape that helps you separate balloons in a line. We doubled over the strip and hung from the rafters. I think this really added to the visual as you approached the pavilion from the parking lot below.

I had promised to bring dessert. So I made marshmallow pops. My new favorite dessert. Sorry I forgot to photograph them. But I made some red and some blue ones. I was lucky and found JUMBO and I mean J-U-M-B-O marshmallows to use. What a festive addition they made! Each was individually wrapped and they were all placed inside a white plastic planter for added height. Simple, yet elegant.

Also, I bought large bags of Twizzlers and wrapped them with an image I found on the web in support of The Wounded Warrior Project.

All in all, I think the decorations added to the fun. May the fundraiser have been a success so that we can help our Wounded Soldiers help each other.

Great Work Ahead

J.Shields - Great Work Ahead

Today was the first real day back to school. As a thank you to staff for their patience while we get everything connected, I brought in some treats. Just a way to encourage colleagues to come visit to reset passwords, ask questions, and discuss future possible projects. During my summer vacation, I found some great construction themed items. Mixing those with some creativity, I think I created a nice atmosphere for beginning the school year. Many teachers thanked me for my generosity and creativity. Their kind words were appreciated.



Below are some pictures showing our fun. For breakfast I served: bricks (breakfast bars), tires (donettes), wrecking balls (clementines), nuts and bolts (trail mix) and coffee.

J.Shields - Bricks

J.Shields - Wrecking Balls

For lunch, I offered traditional construction sandwich lunches (peanut butter and jelly Uncrustables), pizza,  bottles of water, beams (sugar-free chocolate wafers) and more.

J.Shields - Traditional Construction Worker Lunch

Special thanks needs to go out to http://blog.thecelebrationshoppe.com/2010/05/10/real-parties-under-construction/. After seeing their photo online, I had Clementines to offer. I try to include healthy snack items too. But I was struggling for ideas besides snack mix. Luckily I found this blog online with their wonderful party buffet and the "Wrecking Balls".  Thank you for the inspiration.