Sleigh Bells Ring... Thanks for Listening...well reading

Many years ago while in college, my mother suggested that I host a “Christmas Cookie Swap” party. A what?! I looked online. No mention. I looked in cookbooks. No mention. What on earth are you talking about. My mother explained that her mother (my Nana) and her friends use to have them all the time.

So I hosted my first Cookie Swap party. The next year I found a book Betty Crocker's Christmas Exchange Book (http://www.bettycrocker.com). It was like a minimag at the checkout at our food store. Hmmmm, there it is! Then the next addition was the Wilton line at Michael's Arts and Crafts (http://www.michaels.com ) started carrying Cookie awards and cookie boxes and more. It seems after about my fourth yearly Cookie Swap party suddenly they have come into vogue again. Everywhere you turn someone is talking about ideas for a “Cookie Exchange” as the magazines now refer to it. Love that my mom was ahead of the time. I have honestly lost count at how many Cookie Exchanges I have hosted. But I have loved them all. So here is the recap of this year's party – with a Sleigh bell/Country Christmas theme.

The inspiration for this year's theme came from a gift last Christmas from a friend. She gave me a large container of red sleigh bells. The brought to mind all those lovely Currier and Ives scenes that so beautifully represent the holiday season. So after several stages of visual word association in my head – I conjured up mental images of sleighs, sleigh bells, vintage parcels of brown paper with beautiful ribbons, mason jars of cinnamon and sugar, and more. So the party prep began.

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At the dollar store I found a great brown and white gingham printed table cloth. Grabbed one for each of our tables. Add a little greenery – things are simply decorated. I wanted brown and red gingham ribbon. This year I could not find it anywhere. My husband joked that he is beginning to believe that the manufacturers are reading my blog and borrowing ideas the next year. (Isn't he sweet!) But watch next year, when I no longer need it, the correct ribbon will be available. So I settled for a nice green and red plaid ribbon from the Christmas Tree store. At $2 a roll they couldn't be passed up. 

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Along the way I found a slightly nicer ribbon (red and beige gingham). This now adorns our Christmas tree. From an ice tea party (see former blog post), I still had plastic orange and lemon slices. I made a small slit in each and added them to the branches of the Christmas Tree. Our Christmas Tree Store had brown sleigh bells with gingham ribbon ties on a garland of old fashioned style string. Of course several of these were immediately purchased at $3 a garland.

At a Michael's Arts and Crafts, I found a lovely gold sleigh. I filled it with greenery and mason jars containing greenery, salt (to look like snow) and a gold faux candle. At the Christmas Tree Store I found snow blankets $2.99 a bag. And each bag when unrolled really has quite a lot of “snow” in it. They are perfect.

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This lined the landing in our apartment hallway. A wooden sled welcomed guests and wished them Happy Holidays. A wooden set of mittens hung in the hall window also cast a warm hello to guests.

Now what party is a party without favors. Of course since this is a Cookie Swap (Or Cookie Exchange as others like to call it now), the was the obligatory box for cookies. This year's was beige with mini gingerbread on the pattern. A large tin of Cookie cutters served as another favor. And then I visited my favorite dollar store, The 1$ Zone on Central Avenue. They have such great items. There I found (http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/One.Dollar.Zone.914-793-7640 ) wooden spatulas (serving utensil kind), plastic mini spatulas (the removing batter from a bowl kind), and aprons. One for each of my friends was purchased and tied up with cinnamon sticks and ribbon.

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Since it was expected to be a chilly afternoon in the forecast, I made a big crockpot of vegetarian chili and another of cheese tortellini in chicken broth. Of course we had to have some snacks. Gingerbread flavored popcorn was interesting find. Regular popcorn. Cheese platter. The usual.

Then it was party time. My friends thankfully arrived despite the threat of snow and the cold. They each brought cookies to share. And recipes – or information about the bakery. And we sat around enjoying a hot chocolate bar, chili, pasta and warm thoughts. Thanks for coming girls. Hope everyone had a great time!

Cookies Galore - Fete Avec Moi

  

Favors - Fete Avec Moi

Facebook inspired Front Door Decoration - Fete Avec Moi

Thanks, Dad!

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Thanksgiving is fast approaching. It was time to update our apartment's front stoop. Several years ago, I purchased these adorable pilgrims from The Christmas Tree Shops. The amazing thing is despite acid rain, neighbors' children, and all they are still in good shape. This weekend I hauled them out and propped them up. Of course a yellow ribbon was tied around their waste so that they don't blow away in the wind. This afternoon was quite breezy.

I remember going for walks with my father near Iona College in years gone by. Many an afternoon of my childhood was spent on that campus. And this was long before I was old enough to even be thinking of which college I was going to attend. My dad was a quiet man. But a kind man. He quietly made a difference in many students' lives. Several are immensely grateful for his assistance in getting into Medical School or Schools of Engineering. I learned to tinker from him. He use to call me his little engineer. Well while looking up ideas for holiday decorations (don't want to give away too much to spoil blog posts to come), I came across a great idea. Taking a man's belt and adding sleigh bells. You can see the original concept blog at: http://restlessoasis.blogspot.ca/2012/12/diy-sleigh-bells.html. So simple; yet so elegant. The blogger at Restless Oasis was more clever and poked holes all down the belt. But for me this was enough bling.

My dad worked hard in his early years. His father passed away when he was just a small child. Small tidbits of information still float around in my brain about his jobs in gladiola fields, silver shops, and something with leather. Before becoming the great professor of Chemistry that he is more famous for having done.

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Luckily my mother still had some of my dad's brown belts. Thanks for having them for me, Mom. Today at the Christmas Tree Shop, I found inexpensive gold glittered sleigh bells. I fed those through the holes of dad's well worn belt. I love that the hide of the belt is strained from all the tightening and un-tightening from dad wearing it. I think it gives it added character. I topped it off with a nice green, gold, and red bow.

I think this sleigh bell decoration is perfect for this time of year. So many generations took this time of year to reconnect with family. They bundled the family into the wagon and drove to visit family. As the song says, “Over the river and through the woods...” To me, this decoration is reminiscent of that and reminds me of my Dad. As my father passed away the morning after Thanksgiving celebrations one year, this time of year also always brings him to mind. This piece will continue to do that for me as I walk past it hanging in our dining area.

"MARVEL"-ous Halloween

The summer seemed to speed past our eyes quicker than the speed of light (fading daylight apparently that is). The warm summer days give way to cool autumn nights. As we dig out the blankets, jackets, urgh real shoes, it is time to admit that Fall is upon us. I loathe saying goodbye to flip-flops (well at work anyway). They still adorn my feet for grocery getting. But still my more rational side must admit - It's Fall.

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The few highlights of the Fall are the return of pumpkin infused everything! Muffins, donuts, coffee, even macaroni and cheese, and pancakes now get a little touch of pumpkin. Bring on the yum. And once I begin enjoying the Halloween Captain Crunch, you know it is time to begin thinking about Halloween. Well for normal people. I've been thinking about Halloween since the early summer. Deciding on our costume theme takes priority. Then that leads to our decoration theme. And then that leads to our Halloween theme. And voila the magic begins.
I was a good girl for the neighbors. I decorated just the upstairs hallway at the beginning of October. I didn't go marching in all barrels blazing with festivities. But now that it is time, yep I had fun.

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The second weekend in October was the perfect spot on the calendar to break out this year's decorations for the front walkway. My husband teases me that if I do this much with just an apartment stoop and walkway, things will probably be quite amazing when we have storage and decoration real estate.  So since we are dressing as characters from The X-men I started planning X-men themed ideas. But then somewhere along the way I remembered wait X-men started as that great MARVEL comic book series that i loved.

So MARVEL lead me to super heroes. Which had me tie blue and yellow (wolverine colors) with masks and capes and then the web searches began. So during the summer the hunt for MARVEL (no I'm specific not DC - so no Superman, no Wonder Woman, no Batman, etc.) kids costumes began. I had this picture in my mind of several costumes hanging on the front step railings. I wanted child sized costumes as I didn't want them to be too scary for neighborhood children.

Walmart has a great selection of children's dress up clothes (wasn't really costume season yet). But if you get creative and explore the Clearance racks, you will be surprised what you can find. I found a Spiderman mask and pant set on sale for $6.00 in the clearance bin. It was missing the shirt but okay. So while visiting a friend in Pennsylvania I found a red shirt. Outfit complete. At the BigLots in CT I found an ironman costume. In Vermont on vacation I found a few more decorations. On a weekend away we visited the PEZ tourist center. Guess what they had? MARVEL Pez dispensers. Of course we had to snap them up for prizes. On the drive home we stopped at a Christmas Tree Store and found an Incredible Hulk costume. Then it was time to wait. Search online. Complete our costumes. Curate ideas for our annual Halloween fun.

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Then finally after sitting on my hands long enough this past weekend it was time to decorate. In my searches I found several adorable pictures of wall art scenes that could be used for photo-ops. My friends seem to really enjoy participating with these when they are visiting. So I just had to recreate something similar as: sample one and sample two for our hallway.

After Halloween of course I will have more to share. But I don't want to ruin all the fun for our guests. Hope you will check back after Halloween to see the additional updates.

Simple Summer Tea

Summer – brings to mind warm days, family gatherings, sun, and fun. The last few weeks have been very busy. Sorry I haven't blogged. There wasn't much time or energy for entertaining. But I need to remind myself entertaining for two is just as important as doing so for a group of friends.

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Recently at our local Christmas Tree Store, I found the greatest glasses. They look like a clear glass slipped inside a Ball Jar with a lid and straw. Perfect for summer days and nights (anti-bug design).

Last year, I remembered you don't need to waste your money on iced tea powder chemical garbage. My mom and her friend, Anita (who growing up always had a pitcher of the most delicious iced tea ready to serve) always made theirs from regular tea bags. They brewed real tea, then let it cool and poured over ice. But during the course of the summer last year, I discovered that you don't actually need to heat the tea. Many companies now make cold brew tea bags. Our local target tonight had 2 boxes of 24 cold brew tea bags on sale for $4.50. I am horrible at math but won't this come down to something like $.10 a pitcher.

Now during this year, I learned about water infusions. Adding cucumbers, lemons, oranges or other fruits and vegetables to your water can alter the flavor. So now I combine both ideas. Into my pitcher I slice a lemon or two or an orange, sweeten lightly (maybe a tablespoon of sugar to the whole thing), hang a tea bag (any flavor – cold brew or hot brew) off the side, fill with water. Refrigerate for a few hours. Remove the tea bag. Yes, I hear my mother's warnings about not letting the tea bags sit for too long or the tanic acid builds up. And for the rest of the day I have a nice pitcher of infused iced tea. You might like to try it too. My favorite blend so far has been an orange sliced with a blueberry acai tea bag. What combination works for you? I'd love to hear what you have come up with.

Lucky in Love

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Another belated update:

One of our colleagues was recently engaged. Yay! We were so excited for her. Our director had the great idea to turn one of our monthly meetings into a breakfast Engagement Party. She asked for a little help with decorating. Thankfully she has a great connection at a deli that provides wonderful fare. It took a little while to devise a theme. Black and silver? Technology... Black and Green? Matrix... Then our director suggested that she could bring red velvet muffins iced with a white icing. Okay red and white it is. Hmm red and white... Red, hearts. Okay, a start. Red and white, hmm. Playing cards. Luck. “Lucky in Love” and “Wishing you Luck”. This led me to the heart suit of the playing card deck. I found a great graphic of a slot machine. I texted our friend who was recently engaged to find out when they became engaged.

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Believe it or not 3 – 31 – 13. Love it. Talk about lucky in love. How cool do those numbers look on a slot machine. Jackpot! She's engaged.

Okay so I started thinkin/researching for ideas for breakfast foods on the theme. I found a great heart shaped cheese board. Bought two. One was wrapped as a gift. One was used for cheese slices.

I vaguely remembered seeing heart shaped cereal. I went online to find it. Yes, it does exist! It is made by Quaker. It is called Whole Hearts. The website claimed that it was sold at one location. Visit the location. No dice. Urgh not so lucky. Thought about it. Let me try the A&P. Believe it or not, they had it. Yay! 2 boxes, add to cart. Grabbed a container of greek yogurt and a container of milk. Picked up strawberries and pineapple chucks. Turned them into skewers which surprisingly were very well received.

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Being a technology department we had to “techify” things. So I had battery operated lights to decorate with. At Party City I found over-sized playing cards, regular decks of cards, dice, poker chips, and playing card dishes and food picks. Together I think it made for a simple but festive breakfast buffet.

Our director joined in the decorating fun by arranging the single serve orange juice containers she brought into the shape of a heart. How clever!

Using a Word template for Avery labels I created a graphic with playing cards that announced her engagement. These labels were then wrapped around chocolate bars. At

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Michael's Arts and Crafts I found boxes of mini-playing cards. These were wrapped with the saying "2 of a kind. A perfect pair." Nothing like easy favors to help everyone remember the day.

Thank goodness for our wonderful, local dollar stores. White and red table cloths, red cups, very pretty filigree red plates, red forks, knives, and spoonsk, etc all finished off the look.

In my party planning explorations, I also found one of those game night sets. This was wrapped in beautiful wrapping paper and a graphic was taped to the top that spoke to “The couple that plays together; stays together”. We are so thrilled for our colleague and wish her and her intended a lifetime of luck and happiness.  

Spring Training

Forgot to share this recent work event. I needed a way to offer colleagues a moment to spend their time with me to learn how to use a new tool at their disposal. What better way to get people to visit then offer light refreshments. So my mind mulled over a few ideas and I believe hit one out of the park with a baseball/Spring Training theme. The only thing I miss are those little snack cakes from Hostess that use to be shaped like baseballs. Problem is the company is no more. Urgh. But here is what I came up with to embrace the theme – Spring Training.

I found a great tablecloth with baseballs at Party City. This covered a filing cabinet which served as our food table. Stop and Shop sells Marshmallow Peanuts. As real peanuts are no longer allowed due to possible allergies this was the way to go. I found a large bag of Double Bubble which was placed in a serving dish I made from green construction paper. It made it look like grass on the field.

Fete Avec Moi - Spring Training

Always remember to explore the clearance area in your party stores. Last year's item will probably serve your needs quite well this year but cost you far less. How about a plastic baseball hat for $1.50? Of course I grabbed two. The website that I wanted to staff to visit was written across the hat as a reminder of where to navigate to on the web.

Stop and Shop also carries these cupcake trays. They are iced in away that looks like one big cake. But they are really individual cupcakes. Clever! Since we were celebrating Spring I chose the ones decorated with butterflies and flowers. They made quite a festive display on the food table. I am also impressed with how long they last. Must have quite a bit of preservative. But they were rather yummy so it is all good.

Creative thinking regarding how to view food from local food stores, Target, and Party City led to a spread that included Cotton Candy, Animal crackers, popcorn (served in a large baseball bowl [$1.89 in the clearance section], brownies with spring sprinkles, Oreos, and butterfly shaped Little Debbie snack cakes. A few baseball themed items (whistles, banks, wiffle ball bat, etc) finished off the decorations. Lunch time professional development sessions with a little fun and flair for a very small budget. Just the way I like it. I hope you like the photos of our festivities.

 

Beef Bourguignon

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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.