Something Borrowed to Something Blue

A friend of mine just recently got engaged and has asked me to post some of the details from my wedding. I had much the same wedding as any other girl, but I did add some creative touches to make the day unique.  Some of these touches are still remembered by guests and mentioned regularly even though our wedding was over four years ago in July of 2007.

Something Old:  I always had the dream of wearing my mother's wedding dress as my something old, but when I got engaged and asked to try it on, I found that not only was her white dress stained a pee-colored yellow with time, but also that my mom was super skinny! Let's just say that it zipped, but I couldn't really breathe too well! So, I went with a plan B. I found a lace handkerchief from my grandmother that I decided to incorporate into my attire. I have heard of people carrying it or sewing it into the dress, but I wanted it to be visual without having to directly hold it.  Instead, I took it to my florist, Marina, and asked her to wrap it as part of my bouquet.  I just love how it turned out...

Something New:  My dress, veil, and shoes were my something new.  The unique aspect was the added touch I did with my shoes.  I asked each of my bridesmaids to sign the bottom and write a little message.  Each of them had walked with me on my journey through life and through the craziness of planning of wedding, so it was fitting to have them walk "with me" down the aisle. Although nobody saw this aspect, I did mention it in the program which informed guests of many of the "special touches" or details I added to our wedding day.

Something Borrowed:  I borrowed a necklace and earrings from my best friend, Jennifer, and hair clip from my friend, Michelle.  Both girls were bridesmaids in the wedding. One unique touch that I incorporated into the wedding was labeling each bridesmaid with a specific characteristic that I absolutely love about them. This was an idea I got from a friend of mine's wedding, and I just loved it.  For example, my friend Nazly is my constant source of laughter, and I have so many funny memories together, so her characteristic was "Laughter".  I created little tags in our wedding colors and attached these to each of the girl's bouquets. It was also mentioned in the program.

As a gift for each of the bridesmaids, I crafted an album of our friendship.  Each girl had a "How we Met Page," a "Favorite Memory" page, and other pages with photos and notes tracking our friendship. The last page was a spot to put a photo of us from the wedding. I gave these to the girls the night before the wedding.

Something Blue: To add a touch of blue, I asked my mom to hand stitch our names on wedding date into my gown in blue.  She did an excellent job.  If my daughter asks to use my wedding dress years from now (I had mine preserved so it hopefully will stay white!), then it will be neat to have this touch and add her wedding information as well.

For the sake of length, I think I will break up the posts about our wedding details into three posts. Stay tuned for "I Do...Added Touches" and "Wedding Reception: A Personal Touch".  Also...please comment on this post to add your thoughts or ideas for brides!

*All photos taken by Joel Eckman Maus of Studio EMP, Inc.

Ready for New Years?

New Year's Eve is only a week away, so I thought I would post some fun menu ideas for a new year's dinner party.  I hosted this dinner party a few days after the actual new year, but it was still very fun (and yummy!).  The party I hosted was themed A New York New Year, so my decor and menu centered around that theme.  

Since I am in California, the time frame for dinner worked well with this theme as well because of the time difference.  For invitations, design cards using a circle cutter, silver glitter, and string so it looks like the ball that drops in New York.  Put your party details on the back.  Or...if your guests live locally, why not craft a glitter ball and hang it from their front porch, so they see it as they walk out the door!  You can do this using a lightweight ball or even a white balloon that you cover with glitter.  Suspend the ball/balloon from the porch, and then dangle a card with the party details from it!  Here is the text I used on my invitation...

New Year's Resolutions:
1.  See my friends more
2.  Drink more wine
3.  Laugh more
4.  Create happy memories with my friends

Do these sound like some of yourNew Year's Resolutions? 
Let's accomplish them all on one night!

We'll recreate the new year by pretending we are in New York for the famousball drop & celebrate...

"A New York New Year!"
Dress in cocktail attire (as if you are going out in New York City) and come ready to
"Party Like It's 2008!"

Decor: This party was back in 2008, so my decor was a lot simpler in those days!!  I bought a New York background to hang on the wall and blow horns/poppers to spread out on the table. I also used New Years napkins.  All these items I found at Party City.  I used a white tablecloth on table, but also spread a smaller black tablecloth on top to add color.  My place cards were apples on which I attached a homemade tag that read "Welcome to New Years in the Big Apple" and the guest's name. I also had a ball hanging from the ceiling over the table (just like described in the invitation idea).

The silly paper hats were the "prize" in the poppers.

Menu:  I tried to serve everything New York related.  I started with Buffalo, New York Chicken Wings and dip as the appetizer.  These were very yummy!  My main dish was New York steak which I served with baked potato and vegetables.  Dessert was New York cheesecake which I topped with cherries. A very filling dessert, but delicious all the same.  Here are the recipes... 

Buffalo, New York Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

12 Chicken Wings (about 2 pounds)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

3 tablespoons bottled hot pepper sauce

2 teaspoons paprika

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

Dip:

½ cup sour cream

½ cup mayonnaise or salad dressing

½ cup crumbled blue cheese

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 clove garlic (minced)

For marinade, stir together melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, and red pepper.  Pour over chicken wings; seal bag.  Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Drain. Discard marinade.  Place chicken wing pieces on unheated rack of a broiler pan.  Broil 4 to 5 inches from heat about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Turn chicken wings.  Broil for 10 to 15 minutes more or until chicken is tender & no longer pink.

For dip, combine all ingredients in a blue or food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Cover and chill for up to one week.

New York Steak

Trim fat from steaks and marinate in Worchesire sauce overnight.

Grill for approximately 25 minutes rotating sides until desired doneness.

 Baked Potato with Chef’s Cheese Sauce

Potatoes for the number of guests attending

2 tablespoons margarine (soft)

¼ cup cheese

¼ cup sour cream

1-2 teaspoons snipped green onion

Crumbled bacon (optional)

Bake potatoes in oven or on grill.  Whip butter and cheese with mixer until fluffy.  Add remaining ingredients and beat until well blended.  Chill until ready to serve.  Place crumbled bacon on the side for guests to add if desired.  Cheese sauce feeds 2-3 people.

 

Sensational Foil-Pack Vegetables

1 cup zucchini chunks

1 cup button mushrooms

1 cup each red and yellow pepper chunks

1 cup large red cherry tomatoes

¼ cup Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.  Toss vegetables and tomatoes with dressing.  Place in center of an 18-inch long piece of heavy-duty foil.  Bring up foil sides and double fold top and ends to seal packet, leaving room for heat circulation inside.  Grill 8 to 10 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender, turning after 4 minutes.  Cut slits in foil to release steam.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Makes 6 servings.

 New York Cheesecake Supreme

1½ cups finely crushed graham crackers

¼ cup finely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup butter, melted

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup milk

3 slightly beaten eggs

½ teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel (optional)

1 can cherry pie filling

For the crust, in a small bowl, combine graham crackers, walnuts, the tablespoon sugar, and if desired, cinnamon.  Stir in melted butter.  Press crumb mixture onto the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of an 8 or 9 inch springform pan.  Set aside.  For filling, in a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, the 1 cup sugar, flour, and vanilla with an electric mixer until combined.  Beat in milk until smooth.  Stir in eggs and, if desired, lemon peel.  Pour filling into crust-lined pan.  Place pan in a shallow backing pan.  Bake in a 375 degree oven 40 to 45 minutes for an 8-inch pan, about 35 for a 9-inch pan, or until a 2½ inch area around the outside edge appears set when gently shaken. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.  Using a sharp knife, loosen the crust and cool for 30 minutes more.  Remove the sides of the pan and cool cheesecake completely.  Cover with cherry pie filling.  Cover and chill at least 4 hours.

That's it for this simple party.  Not a lot of photos of this one either (sorry).  If I had known in January of 2008 that I would eventually start a blog and need good photos, things might have been different! Oh well...happy New Year!

Time for Toy Story

For my monthly dinner this past Monday, I wanted to tie in the holidays and the season, but didn't want to do a plain Christmas theme.  I decided to host a Toy Story movie-themed party and ask guests to bring an unwrapped toy to donate to a child this Christmas.  Boy was this one fun to decorate! There was a lot to do with this theme (sorry this post will be a long one)

 Decor:  As guest's entered, I had a welcome table with various toys including an Etch-a-Sketch with "Welcome Girls" designed on the screen.  I decorated my table with a red tablecloth and Toy Story characters as the centerpiece.  Each place setting had a paper lunch sack cut/folded to make it look like a sheriff's shirt with a sheriff's badge (found at Target) attached to twine.  Inside each bag was the evening's menu which I titled "Woody's Roundup".

I also had plastic army men parachuting from the ceiling over the dinner table as well as over both serving tables.  Guest's placed their donated toys under the Christmas tree where I had more army men carrying a walkie-talkie.  For each guest's place card, I made an etch-a-sketch out of scrapbook paper with their name on the screen.

Menu: I served the meal cafeteria -style on two tables.  The first table was the (Mr.) Potato Bar.  The table had several Mr. Potato head toys on it as well as a dump truck with toothpicks inside.  I set out bowls of various vegetables, cheese, and chicken for guests to design their own Mr. Potato head!

This was so fun!!  Look at the creativity in these...

The other serving table was decorated with the Toy Story characters represented in the meal. 

First, there was Hamm and Split Pea Soup. This is my mom's recipe, and it is delicious. I used a toy telephone to hold the soup spoons and of course had Hamm next to the crock pot.

Split Pea Soup

Hambone or 3 ham hocks

2 small onions, chopped (1 cup)

1 pound dry split peas

1 bay leaf

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon thyme

1 cup chopped celery with leaves

½ cup chopped carrots

Simmer the hambone with onions covered in approximately 2 quarts of water for 30 minutes.  Add split peas. Bay, leaf, thyme, and pepper.  Simmer 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add vegetables. Cook slowly 30-40 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.  Remove bone and meat from soup.  Cut meat into small pieces.  Set aside.  Sieve peas and vegetables(or put in blender and blend until smooth).  Return diced meat to soup.  Salt to taste and heat to serving temperature.

Total cooking time: 2½ to 3 hours.

I made melon balls out of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew. I called them Buzz Lightyear's Space Balls.  I served these out of a spaceship I made.  I took a container I bought grapes in at Costco and made a spaceship around it using cut cardboard, butcher paper, styrofoam cups, and colored scrapbook paper!

For dessert, I served Jessie's Cowgirl Hat Cookies.  These were very simple to make.  The only problem I had was finding the red gumdrops for the top. I finally found them at Sweet Factory, but they did not have enough, so I had to buy the crescent shaped ones as well and attempt to melt them/reshape them (not an easy task).  The Jessie doll (as well as the other Toy Story dolls you see in these photos, I borrowed from friends).

Jessie’s Cowgirl Hat Cookies

Sugar Cookie Dough (homemade or store bought)

Flour

Red cookie icing

Large red gumdrops

White decorator’s icing

Roll out the sugar cookie dough between sheets of flour-dusted wax paper to a ¼-inch thickness.  Cut out the cookies using a 2” round cookie cutter and place them on a tray.  Then place the tray in a refrigerator to chill the cookies while you heat the oven to the proper temperature.  When the oven is heated, place the cookies on a baking sheet and cookie about 15 minutes (or designated time on store bought dough packaging). Turn the cookies so the flat surfaces are facing up and frost them with the red icing.  Once the icing has set, add a top to each hat by slicing the domed top off of a red gumdrop.  Then squeeze a quarter size dollop of white icing onto the bottom of the gumdrop and gently press it down onto the center of the cookie so the icing spreads around the base and resembles a white hatband.  Pipe a line of trip around the perimeter of each cookie hat brim.  Then pipe a series of short lines over the top of the trip to resemble white lacing.

I also served Green Alien cupcakes. These were also very simple to make & they look totally cute!  I think they would be a bit more expensive to make for an entire birthday party, but since I was only making 12, they were not bad.  The Pizza Planet decoration, was handmade by a friend of mine for his daughter's birthday party...so cute!! It is basically made with cardboard and covered with a white trash bag!

Green Alien Cupcakes

Cupcakes

White frosting

Neon Green food coloring

*Mint-flavored chewable candies (found packaged in rolls)

Green apple sour belts

Green apple straws, cut in 2” pieces

Black decorator icing

  Prepare your alien ears by cutting ears, shaped like teardrops, from the green apple belts. I used kitchen shears, but you could use a small leaf cookie cutter.  Frost cupcakes and insert a 2” sour straw as the antenna.  Press your ears into the sides of the cupcake.  Line up three mint candies as eyes (*I used Mentos), and dot with black icing for pupils.  Give your aliens an awed expression by drawing on a circle for a mouth.

This etch-a-sketch was a cute photo op throughout the evening.  All in all, we had a fun party creating our Mr. Potato heads and acting like kids again. It was also great to bring toys to donate to those that don't have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas the way many of us do.

25 Days of Christmas

Although this is not a party posting, a friend of mine recently shared a holiday idea that I think is perfect.  It is a way to get you and your family in the holiday spirit by carving out time in the day rather than just "waiting to see" if something will fit into your hectic schedule.  On the 25 days leading up to Christmas, you plan one holiday "activity" for your family to do together.  This can be something simple that you would do anyway, like decorate the Christmas tree..or something a bit more challenging like a holiday craft or outing somewhere.  Here is how my husband and I plan to do it with our family....

We bought this Christmas advent calendar at Target.  Inside we are going to have an M&M for our daughter as well as a small scrap of paper (fortune cookie size) with a clipart photo to tell the day's activity.  Our daughter is only 2 and our son is 5 months, so words wouldn't work for us.  We'll have a photo of Santa if our activity is visiting Santa that day, a cookie if we are going to bake cookies, etc. Since we lead very busy lives, my husband and I will decide each evening after the kids are in bed which strip to put in the box for the next day.  That way, we can make sure it works with our schedule.

Here is what our family tentatively has on our list (in no particular order):

1.  Go see Santa

2.  Decorate the Christmas tree
3.  Watch a holiday movie in our Christmas PJs with Hot Chocolate
4.  Make footprint Christmas tree craft

5.  Put up Christmas lights outside/decorate the house
6.  Build a gingerbread house (we bought a foam kit from Michaels)
7.  Make candy cane and wreath ornaments for the tree

8.  Host a Holiday party
9.  Ride the Christmas train at Irvine Park
10.  Bake cookies (okay..mine won't look like this with a 2 year old,but how cute are these!)

11.  Make holiday cards for the neighbors
12.  Wrap presents for our family
13.  Purchase a toy to donate to a child in need.  Take it to the local fire station Spark of Love
14.  Make marshmallow snowmen...

15.  Go sledding/play in the snow (this means driving to the mountains for us)
16.  Write a letter to Santa and mail it
17.  Take family holiday photo
18.  Make reindeer craft

19.  Put stamps/address labels on Holiday cards and mail them
20.  Donate old clothing to our church Gift of Giving collection
21.  Go see Christmas lights
22.  Make pine cone Christmas tree

23.  Sing at the Holiday Concert for daycare

24.  Go to Christmas eve church service/leave cookies for Santa
25.  Give and unwrap presents on Christmas!

These are just ideas we have come up with so far.  I am sure we will add/delete days as the month continues and more fun activities take shape.  If reading this inspires you to create your own list, please comment on this post!  Include any additional activities your family might do, and maybe you can inspire me to add them to my list!!

*All craft photos courtesy of Pinterest.

THANK Goodness for Thanksgiving!

My mom recently hosted a Thank Offering luncheon at church, and she came to me looking for ideas on a centerpiece and thank you gifts.  For the centerpiece, she wanted something easy to make and inexpensive. I wanted to find something that had a personal touch as well. What I found on Playful Craft Creations was perfect...

This is very easy to make AND personal.  You can customize the strips to say whatever you are thankful for. You can even change the color scheme and use this as a Halloween centerpiece if you wanted to add to your Halloween decor.  Here is how we made them:

2 Sheets of Cardstock (2 colors)

2 Brads

Green Construction Paper

Brown Pipe Cleaner

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  Type your "I am thankful for (insert your idea)" spaced out evenly on strips of cardstock.

2.  Cut cardstock paper into strips -- 1.5" x 8.5"  (need 10 strips for pumpkin)

3.  Make a small hole in the center of both ends of each strip. 

(Use small hole puncher or another tool to make the small holes.)
4.  Alternate the "I am thankful" strips by color and put them into a stack.
5.  Feed the prongs of a brad thru the holes on one end of the stack with the metal circle 

of the brad resting on the side with the writing.  Secure Brad.
6.  Fan out the slips with the writing side facing the table.
7.  Pull up one strip and feed the prongs of the 2nd brad thru the hole with the metal circle 

resting on the blank side of the strips.  Continue putting strips on brad going in a circular pattern.
8.  When all of the strips are on the brad and you have formed a ball, 

secure the brad by pushing the prongs down in opposite directions.
9. Cut 2 leaf shapes from the green construction paper.  Make a small hole at bottom of each leaf.
10. Wrap the brown pipe cleaner around a pencil to make a spiral shape.  

Gently slide the pipe cleaner off to keep spiral shape.
11. Lift up prongs of brad, hold brad in place from below, and slide on leaves.
12. Place brown pipe cleaner next to prongs, push prongs down on top of pipe cleaner 

to securely attach the leaves and "stem".

These cute turkey magnets are also very easy to make. To make these cuties you need:

An artificial sunflower or gerbera daisy

Beige, red, and orange cardstock

Googly eyes
Small magnet

INSTRUCTIONS:

 1.  Trim the petals from one side of the flower as shown in photo. 

2. Make the turkey's face by gluing two googly eyes and a colored card-stock beak and wattle onto a large brown button or paper circle (cardstock was used here). 

3.  Glue the face to the flower center.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

A Merry Thanksgiving Party

I love the holidays.  Spending time with family and friends is so amazing which is why I love both Thanksgiving (my mom is a fabulous cook) and Christmas.  In 2008, my monthly dinner fell just after Thanksgiving at the very beginning of December. I decided to split the holidays, and host A Merry Thanksgiving dinner.  This would enable me to have the yummy food from both of these great holidays.

Decor:  I decorated my table to be half Thanksgiving and half Christmas.  On the Thanksgiving side, I used a gold tablecloth and a fall leaf designed runner that I folded in half to only cover half the table.  Each place setting had a fabric napkin made out of a similar fall fabric. I placed an orange candle as part of the centerpiece as well as a pumpkin I made out of a dryer hose.

Pumpkin Centerpiece

28-30" dryer hose that is 4" in diameter

Floral Wire

Orange paint (I used Delta paint from Michaels)

Cut wire with wire cutters.  Use floral wire in several places to hold cut edges together to form a complete circle (drawn close in middle).  Paint with orange craft paint. Once dry, glue a twisted piece of a brown paper bag to the top center as a stem (glue upright).  Add a piece of small silk ivy as the vine 4-6" or less, if desired.

The other half of the table I decorated with a red tablecloth and Christmas table runner and matching fabric napkins. I used a Santa head cookie jar as my centerpiece on this side along with a white and red Christmas candle.

The placecard was a turkey wearing a Santa hat which I made stand up using a Hershey kiss behind it.  This was before I owned a Cricut machine, so the turkeys were cut from a pattern I found online at the time.

On each plate, I also had a simple activity/task for guests to complete which we shared aloud during the meal.  The top half of the activity asked guest's to list two things they were thankful for, and the bottom half asked guests to list two things that they wanted for Christmas.  I used holiday theme scrapbook paper to back each.  This is my card for the night on which I announced my pregnancy for the first time!

Menu:  The menu was traditional meals that are normally served at these two holidays. As our main dishes, I served turkey and ham which I paired with mashed potatoes and stuffing.  I also served a small plate with two jellos -- one a mandarin orange to represent Thanksgiving and the other a cranberry red to represent Christmas.

Cranberry Marble Mold

 2 (3 ounce) packages of cherry jello

2 cups boiling water

1 (8¾ ounce) can crushed pineapple

1 (1 pound) can whole cranberry sauce

1 cup sour cream

Dissolve jello in water.  Stir in pineapple.  Chill until partially set.  Fold in cranberries and turn into an 8” square pan.  Spoon sour cream a top.  Stir to marble.

 Mandarin Orange Salad

 1 (3 ounce) package of orange gelatin

1 cup boiling water

1 (6 ounce) can frozen orange juice

½ cup cold water

1 can Mandarin oranges, drained

2 bananas, sliced

Dissolve gelatin in hot water; add frozen orange juice and cold water.  Chill.  Add Mandarin oranges and bananas.  Chill until firm.  Serve on lettuce lined plates.  Serves 8.

For dessert, I made turkey cupcakes and mini cherry cheesecakes.  The turkeys are very simple to make - just use chocolate frosting to cover a cupcake adding extra to use as the head.  Chocolate sprinkles add feathers to give the turkey's body texture.  I used candycorns for the tail feathers and nose.  The eyes are piped on using white and red frosting.  For the cheesecakes, I used a holly cupcake liner to tie it with the Christmas theme.

 Petite Cherry Cheesecakes

 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

24 vanilla wafers

1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling

Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla till light and fluffy. Line small muffin pans with paper baking cups and place a vanilla wafer in the bottom of each cup.  Fill the cups 2/3 full with cream cheese mixture.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 15-20minutes or till set.  Top each with about 1 tablespoon pie filling; chill.  Makes about 20.

 *Need 1½ times the recipe for 24 muffin cups.

As Thanksgiving approaches this year, I would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. May you enjoy this time with family and friends.  If Thanksgiving passes and you find yourself needing to plan a dinner, why not try out this fun mix of both holidays.  Just love this season!!

Red, White, and Blue Through and Through - Part II

Part II of Red, White, and Blue Through and Through is a party I hosted on December 7th, 2010. Since the Monthly Dinner party fell on this date, I decided our theme would be Remembering Pearl Harbor. I asked guests to dress in Navy or Nurse attire or to wear red, white, and blue.

Decor:  I used a red tablecloth and set up my old Hasbro Battleship game as the centerpiece.  I draped the game with white pearls and added small American flags. The runner and napkins were made with patriotic fabric found at Joanns.  The place card at each setting was a dogtag I bought at Party City and then wrote each guest's name.  I also printed out Japanese flags and wrapped them around shot glasses to serve kamikaze shots.

Menu:  I wanted to make sure the menu somehow went with my theme, but I was having difficulty deciding.  I finally decided to serve a simple chicken dish over rice, but it serve it in MRE kits.  I used tinfoil to create origami boxes with lids and added a label on the front. I served the food in these.  I bought peaches already packaged in individual plastic containers to serve as my fruit.

My favor for the evening was homemade caramel corn that I shaped into balls and wrapped in tinfoil to look like bombs.  I added a paper fuse and a tag that read "Thanks for making this dinner the BOMB.  Hope you had a BLAST!"  Anytime I can be cheesy, I usually am!! 

 Caramel Corn

2 ½ quarts popped corn (10 cups)

2 ¼ cups brown sugar

½ cup light corn syrup

½ cup water

½ cup butter

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup salted peanuts

Keep popped corn crisp in oven at 300-325 degrees.  In large saucepan, combine sugar, syrup, water, butter, and salt.  Cook over moderate heat stirring occasionally until syrup reaches soft crack stage (290 or 270 degrees).  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

In large buttered bowl/pan, mix nuts and popcorn.  Pour syrup in a fine stream over mixture.  Working quickly, mix well until coated.  Spread out on thin buttered cookie sheet.  Quickly separate into bite-size clusters with two buttered forks. Cool. Makes 3½ quarters.

Again, I want to thank those that serve in our armed forces at home and abroad this Veteran's Day weekend.  To the many Veterans including my dad, thank you for your dedicated service to our nation.

Red, White, and Blue Through and Through - Part I

In honor of Veteran's Day, I thought I would post two of the parties I have hosted that have been a patriotic theme.  The first party (hosted in November of 2008) was a Rock the Vote party in honor of the Presidential Elections that year, but the color scheme/patriotic theme/menu could definitely be used for Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th....any day to celebrate the good ol' red, white, and blue.

Decor:  The table was a simple red tablecloth with a red, white and blue hat centerpiece.  My mom made the hat out of needlepoint.  I placed small American flags and wooden stars coming out of it. I also placed white and blue star confetti along the table, and used white plates and blue napkins. On each plate, I made jello jigglers for decoration:

Jello Star Jigglers

 Stir 2½ cups boiling water into 2 packages (8-serving size each) gelatin in bowl for 3 minutes or until dissolved.  Pour into 13x9 inch pan.  Refrigerate 3 hours until firm.  Dip bottom of pan in warm water about 15 seconds.  Cut into 1-inch squares with star cookie cutter.  Lift from pan.

Since this particular party was centered around the Presidential Election, each place card was a voting box.  I used origami to fold a box and cut a whole for the "ballot" which had the guest's name written on it.  We also had a voting themed game which asked guest's to Rock the Vote by choosing their favorites: Coke vs. Pepsi, indoors vs outdoors, etc.  This was a great discussion starter for various topics and stories throughout the evening.

Menu:  I wanted to serve very American food at this dinner.  What is more American than fried chicken and corn on the cob!  Here are the recipes I used:

Oven Fried Chicken

 12 chicken thighs

3 eggs

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon paprika

½ cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place flour in shallow bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Put the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl and beat the eggs in another bowl.  Dredge the chicken piece by piece in the flour, then the eggs, then the bread crumbs, until all pieces are coated.  Pour the oil into a 9x13 inch baking dish.  Add the chicken to the dish and sprinkle with paprika to taste.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, then turn the pieces over and bake for another 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and drain on paper towels.

Mashed Potatoes

2 pounds of potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup of half and half

6 tablespoons butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel and quarter the potatoes.  Add the potatoes to a large pot with enough cold water to cover them by an inch or so. Add salt and bring the water to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. (About 15 minutes). Drain the potatoes return them to the pot and cook the drained potatoes over low heat for a couple of minutes to evaporate some of the water still in the potato. Mash by your method of choice. Blend in butter, half & half, and any other ingredients you prefer. Season with salt and pepper.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Ears of Corn

Salt and Pepper

Butter

Rub ears of corn with butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap completely in tin foil and place on the grill for approximately 15 minutes.

For dessert, I made a Flag Cake with blueberries and strawberries.  This is popular recipe I see in magazines all the time near the 4th of July, and I had always wanted to try it.*

Flag Cake

2 pints of strawberries, divided

1 pkg. (10.75 oz.) frozen pound cake, thawed, cut into 10 slices

1 1/3 cup blueberries, divided

1 tub (12 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed

Slice 1 cup strawberries; set aside.  Halve remaining strawberries; set aside.  Line bottom of 13x9 inch baking dish with cake slices.  Top with 1 cup sliced strawberries, 1 cup blueberries and whipped topping.  Place strawberry halves and remaining blueberries on whipped topping to create a flag design.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Makes 15 servings.

It is always the right time to celebrate American and all that we stand for.  This Veteran's Day weekend, I really want to thank all the service men and women who have fought and those that continue to fight for our freedom.

*Since I did not happen to take a photo of my cake, this photo was found on Google.  However, it represents the exact cake I made.