For Valentine’s dinner, Dave requested a version of these potatoes, which he had seen in the food section of the Arizona Republic.

The original recipe did not call for the half-and-half or thyme, but I felt it needed both for extra creaminess and flavor.

They were divine!

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Dave’s brother, Roger, has been visiting all week and was here on Valentine’s Day.

Roger’s specialty is grilled bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin. Dave’s specialty is perfect garlic bread.

Roger also wanted to grill salmon, so I came up with this spice rub. The potato recipe will be shared in tomorrow’s post.

Fennel-Orange Spice Rub for Salmon

• 1 tablespoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
• Zest from 1 orange

• Salmon
• Olive oil
• Red wine vinegar

Place the fennel seeds, salt, and peppercorns in a spice grinder and grind.

Stir in the smoked paprika and orange zest.

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Today is the last day of “Cocktails & Cupcakes” bridal shower details and recipes.

What better note to end a week on than cocktails!?!

We’ll start with the recipes and end with a fun decor item that the mother of the bride, Laura, her sister, Mary, and I created.

These following two cocktails come from The Bar Book Elements of Cocktail Techniques by Jeffery Morgenthaler with Martha Holmberg. Martha taught a modern sauces class at Les Gourmettes last month and I was the happy recipient of this bar book.

Tom Collins

• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) gin
• 3/4 ounce (1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons) fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 ounces (1 tablespoon) simple syrup*
• Ice cubes
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) chilled soda water
• 1 lemon peel for garnish

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It’s finally time for the cupcake recipes from Megan’s “Cocktails & Cupcakes” bridal shower!

Actually, time for the cupcake recipe. Only one cupcake is new to this blog. Links to the remaining cupcakes from the shower area at the end of this post.

I found the recipe for these Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes through Pinterest and I had some trouble with it. The problem was with the frosting. It’s similar to the frosting for Toffee Crunch Mini Cupcakes (which works perfectly) but this one still gave me fits.

The frosting was a nice consistency until it was time to add in the strawberry purée and the other liquids, then it became a runny mess, and the only way I could fix it was to add cups (so very many cups) of powdered sugar. The result was an overly sweet – basically pure sugar – frosting. I’ve corrected the recipe, but please still take extra care when adding the strawberry purée, add a little at a time and keep an eye on the consistency. If you do this, you should not have to add any powdered sugar!

Also, when looking at the photos, please keep in mind that I made a double the batch so that I could make regular and mini cupcakes. So when you see 4 eggs instead of the 2 called for – don’t be concerned.

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Some people may think I was crazy to host two bridal showers in as many weeks. Crazy like a fox is what I say!

The shower that Abigail, Kaley, Alyse, and Marissa threw for Lindsey left me with a bounty of items and ideas to use for Megan’s shower, two weeks later.

Kaley did such a beautiful job with the chalkboard art that I immediately knew I’d be using it again!

Abigail left behind a wonderful bulletin board where she had guests write words of sage advice for the bride-to-be, Lindsey.

I just had to recycle it for Megan’s shower, as seen on the left edge of the photo below.

Then there were the “Welcome” and “Presents” banners that Abigail made.

Yes, I reused them as well.

So, as you can see, hosting two versions of the same sort of party in a short amount of time is easier than hosting just one!

Here is another appetizer from Megan’s shower.

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All week I will post photos and recipes from Megan’s bridal shower.

How cute is the invite?!? Laura ordered them from HERE on Etsy.

Megan is Laura’s daughter. Laura is my best friend from high school. She was my maid of honor and I was a bridesmaid at her wedding. Laura is Marissa’s godmother and I am godmother to two of her sons. So, yeah, we have lots of loving ties to each other.

Three generations of beautiful women! Laura’s mom, Coleen, the guest of honor, Megan, and my dear friend, Laura.

The theme may have been cocktails and cupcakes, but the shower began at 5:00, so dinner was on the menu too!

Megan’s Bridal Shower Menu

The Appetizers

• Bloody Mary Shrimp Spoons
• Korean-Style Turkey Meatballs

The Cocktails

• Classic Tom Collins
• Maple Old-Fashioned
• Rojo Sangria
• Moscow Mule

The Savory

• Build Your Own Nià§oise Salad
• Cheese Board

The Cupcakes

• Mini-Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Curd and Lemon Buttercream Frosting
• Toffee Crunch Mini Cupcakes
• Maple-Bacon Mini-Cupcakes
• Stout and Irish Whiskey Mini Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting
• Mini Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes

I had a lot of inspiration from my wonderful neighbors, Cindi and Cheryl.

Cindi is the queen of hosting bridal showers! She has some really unique ideas to make bridal showers memorable. She took her daughter, Stephie’s, vanity out of the bedroom and used it as a champagne bar.

Cindi generously offered the vanity for me to use. But I had already used Marissa’s mirrored vanity.

I moved it downstairs and outside and used it to serve the Maple Old Fashioned drinks. Such a glamorous look!

Cindi also loaned me a wedding dress that she used as the front door decor. Doesn’t it look fabulous on her gorgeous front door?!?

Not quite as impressive on my door, but the guests still thought it was beautiful, of course, they didn’t know any better! Since I have the double doors, I had to somehow balance it out, so I used the vintage window frame/chicken wire frame that Peggy made for me.

It’s pretty darn cute!

Lastly, Cindi loaned me big “diamond” ring napkin rings. Not the best photo of them, but they were darling. Thank you Cindi for all your help and inspiration. xoxo

Now it’s time to share the inspiration from Cheryl. Do you remember this photo from back in December? This is what she made for her annual Ornament Exchange and I’ve been dying to recreate it ever since! As you’ll see in the recipe below, I copied Cheryl’s salad down to the order in which the components are placed on the platter. No need to mess with perfection! Thank you, Cheryl! xoxo

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I haven’t been posting much this week for several reasons…

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I made a themed dinner for Super Bowl Sunday. Crab cakes for New England and coffee ice cream for Seattle.  To be honest, I didn’t make the ice cream, I bought it but it’s the thought that counts and you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t think “coffee” when the think Seattle!

In the recipe, I give you instructions on how to smoke tomatoes on an outdoor grill. I actually used an indoor stovetop smoker that I own and love.

If you like to smoke a variety of foods, it’s a pretty good investment. You can find it HERE. If not, just keep using your grill.

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Did you enjoy the Super Bowl? It was very low-key at our house. A few weeks ago, Dave and I received an invite to a party, but we turned it down because we didn’t want to leave Connor and my dad hanging out to dry.

A few days ago I talked to my dad and was asking what time he wanted to come over and he informed me that he was going to a Super Bowl party! How do you like that? Too funny really. So it was just the three of us chilling at the house all day.

I had some chips and salsa on hand, so that was snack #1. I needed something more but I had no intention of going grocery shopping, so I came up with this tasty treat.

I’d baked a few potatoes the other night and had two left. Plus there was leftover prosciutto and cheese from last weekend’s bridal shower. That’s all it took!

The recipe made 16, I ate 2 of them, and the rest quickly disappeared, so I guess the boys really like them!

Prosciutto Wrapped Cheesy Potato Wedges

• 2 baked potatoes, cut into 8 wedges each
• 16 pieces of Port Salut or Brie cheese (cut into 2-inch long sticks)
• 8 thin slices prosciutto, cut in half lengthwise

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