Category — Entertaining

Kim made a delicious and beautiful assortment of four bruschettas for Marissa’s bridal shower. All flavors in the variety are inspired by the bruschetta menu from the ever-popular (since its opening in 2001) Postino Wine Cafe. Kim didn’t have recipes to give me, since she just throws these babies together organically and naturally. But don’t worry, I’ve written up recipes for you. There are no specific quantities, make as many or as few as you need.

At Postino, French bread is used as the base and then the slices are cut in half after they are topped. For the shower, Kim used baguettes to make smaller, more individual-sized pieces.

Bread

• 1 baguette, cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
• Olive oil
• 3 peeled garlic cloves, flattened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drizzle bread slices with olive oil and bake at 350 just until warm and slightly crisp.  Remove from oven and rub with garlic cloves let cool for a few minutes before topping.

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Here is the recipe for Barb’s delicious tart…. enjoy!

Asparagus and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Tart

Pastry

• 1  1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 1 pound fresh asparagus
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, seeded, peeled, and diced
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• Salt and pepper to taste

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My dear friends, Barb and Kim, made the most delicious food for Marissa’s bridal shower. Kim made four different bruschetta and Barb made a beautiful salad and savory tarts.

I didn’t get any photos of the individual dishes, so I’ll do the best I can cropping from the few buffet photos I do have, my apologies ahead of time because the photos won’t do the recipes justice.

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What should I share first? The good or the bad? I think we’ll start with the bad/ugly, that way we’ll end on a good/pretty note.

Even the bad craft starts out pretty…

I spotted these adorable folded book art pieces in the San Francisco Nordstrom’s Wedding Suite, while dress shopping with Marissa and Kaley, back in November.

I knew that I wanted to make one for Marissa, so when the theme was set for the shower, this was a no-brainer.

I went online to find out how but since I could not find any step-by-step instructions, I had to wing it.

I found a cool vintage hardback book and decided to go with the easiest design, a heart.

As I folded back the pages, it quickly became evident that this is harder than it looks. Plus, the book I chose was too vintage, the pages were delicate and would tear as I folded.

Stupidly, I kept at it far too long. It was very clear that this was not working, long before I threw in the towel.

I grabbed another, not-so-vintage thicker book, and started over.

Then, for obvious reasons, I gave up! My gut feeling is that there must be math involved in this project. No wonder it was too difficult for me … I do not “do” math!

I still wanted Marissa to have a book like this, even if not in time for the shower. So, I have purchased one from a professional folded-book artist HERE.  I am not going to share which book, since I haven’t given it to her yet, but rest assured, it is pretty!

I had much better results with this next project:

My favorite craft/decor item for Marissa’s bridal shower was these succulent book planters! Of course, I found the idea on Pinterest!

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Sloane and I got together on Sunday afternoons for several weeks before Marissa’s bridal shower to make crafts.  It was a fun reason to get together for sister-bonding time.

We wrapped wine bottles with pages from a large Currier and Ives picture book that I found at Sweet Salvage a couple of years ago. A heart punch was used on the book pages that were used for the inside of small canning jars.

The same punches were used to make book-page heart confetti.

The bottles were topped off with large burlap bows.

While the jars were trimmed with twine.  The wine bottles held miniature pink and white roses and the jars were lit up with battery-operated votives. They were then scattered around the buffet, lunch table, bar, and dessert credenza.

We rolled and wrapped white cloth napkins with torn book pages, tied with baker’s twine and embellished with tiny “congratulations” flags.

One of the few details that slipped through the cracks that busy morning was making sure that Marissa’s place-setting received the napkin that said “A King and His Queen.”  It makes me wonder if the guest who had that napkin noticed and thought anything about it.

A few weeks after Valentine’s Day, I was in Micheal’s (I spend a lot of time at Micheal’s and Hobby Lobby!) and found these simple berry baskets on clearance. I scooped them up without an idea in mind about what I would do with them. Once Sloane and I decided on the “Milk & Cookies” dessert idea … they found their purpose. We lined the inside with book pages and decorated the outside with our heart confetti.

We used stencils, book pages, and a couple of burlap flag banners from Hobby Lobby to make these.

It took some time to come up with just how to fit “The Future Mrs. Sandell” on a banner with only twelve flags!

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As I mentioned yesterday, I used the invites to set the theme for Marissa’s Literary Bridal Shower.

I found them HERE on Etsy. The creator of the invites, Kendra, was an absolute joy to work with.

When I told Kendra that I wanted book-page lined envelopes, she said, ‘No problem.”

After she sent me the proof of the layout, I asked if she could you a date-stamp instead of the typewriter for the two dates on the invite. She did not hesitate.

Once they arrived and I began addressing and stuffing them, I discovered that she accidentally sent five less than I ordered. I let her know and she cranked them out and I had them in my hands a couple of days later.

Did I mention that each invite was handmade, one at a time, on a 1970s typewriter? So cool! I love Etsy!

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After a long hiatus, as promised, the next week will be filled with photos, crafts, recipes, and details from my daughter’s beautiful bridal shower. But before I begin, I want to let you know that I’ve missed creating and sharing recipes. I’ve really missed blogging. I’ve missed posting. I’ve missed you! It feels good to be back, even if only for a week.

Today will be mostly a pictorial, giving an overview of the party. Tomorrow, the details will begin.

As any good invitation should do, this one set the theme.

Marissa is a voracious reader. She loves books. Her degree in Journalism with a Creative Writing minor, so a literary theme fit her to a tee.

Immediately upon entering, guests were greeted by a table filled with library bookplates with their names on them. The bridal party’s bookplates had a little bling tied to theirs.

A chalkboard sign instructed them what to do with their bookplate. Marissa’s maid-of-honor, Kaley, used her perfect penmanship and artistic flair to create all the chalkboard signs for the shower. Thank you, Kaley!

When guests walked into Barbara Fenzl’s beautiful backyard, this is the table where they had their choice of seats.

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I know! It’s only been 10 days since my self-induced “break” – but it’s the day before Easter and I can’t help myself!

Just in case you haven’t already figured out your Easter meal decor, and since there is still time to get to Costco or the grocery store… I felt like I should at least share this cheap and easy floral display today.

I was at Costco yesterday to buy Easter supper stuff. I knew I wanted to get the carrot soup taken care of, well ahead of time, and I didn’t have the patience or the time to go to the grocery store to buy the carrots.  Instead, I bought a huge 10-pound bag of carrots at Costco!

Laziness wins out over practicability!

I knew that having an extra 6 pounds of carrots in my house wasn’t a problem because if I peel, trim and cut them, Dave will have those polished off in a matter of days. He LOVES carrots!

I also picked up three bunches of tulips and one huge bundle of white stock.  I knew what the plan for the tulips was but hadn’t given much thought to the stock until this morning while I was peeling the 4 pounds of carrots for the soup…

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My sweet sister, Sloane, along with my dear friends, Barb and Kim, are throwing Marissa a bridal shower in May.

They are the dream team of hostesses. Barb and Kim, the talented cooking instructors, are handling the food. And Sloane is an event and wedding coordinator. Dream Team, indeed!

Sloane asked for my help with the theme and decor. Since Marissa has a degree in Journalism and is a voracious reader, I decided on a literary theme.

Sloane and I are meeting each weekend between now and then, working on decor for the shower. I wish I could start sharing it with you now, but of course, we want it to be a surprise for Marissa and her guests.  Let’s just say, there is a lot of crafting involved!

Since they have been mailed and received, the one thing I can share now is the invite. I knew exactly what sort of invite I wanted to set the tone and theme, so I insisted on ordering and paying for the invites. It’s the least I can do for my gracious and generous sister and friends!

I ordered them from HERE on Etsy. Kendra was a dream to work with, I’d order from her again in a heartbeat.

Let me show you all the sweet details of these unique and one-of-a-kind invites.

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Zak and Zoey, the darling children of my dear friend, Tram, celebrated their first birthday on Saturday!

Wow, the year has flown by! It seems like only yesterday that I was throwing Tram her baby shower!

Tram asked me to come over early to decorate. The twins were down for their nap, so decorating went smooth and quick.

We kept it simple, mostly just photos of the twins scattered on the tables, streamers, pom poms and balloons.

Tram had picked up a couple of light-up Z’s, so I placed them on either side of a family portrait for the buffet.

The breakfast table was the most elaborately decorated area, with not only the pom-poms and balloons but also chalkboard art that daddy-extraordinaire, Steve, had made for each twin.

Zak’s first-year milestones…

… and Zoey’s.

Of course, the three (yes, 3!) cakes were the showstoppers of the table.

Zak’s!

Zoey’s!

And a third cake that Chef Mel Mecinas, of the Four Seasons Scottsdale, had his pastry chef make for the twins, based on their favorite book, Five Little Monkey’s Jumping on the Bed. Adorable!

Then there was Tram’s beautiful handwritten menu board. I love that huge board, and I love Tram’s exquisite writing!

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