My beautiful friend and neighbor, Cheryl, held her 15th annual ornament exchange luncheon last Saturday.

Cheryl is an amazing cook…

… and the consummate hostess.

My idea of the perfect hostess is summed up perfectly in this excerpt from Woman’s Day Magazine – February 1957

“Many people say entertaining is an art.  More truly, it is an attitude.  It has to begin in the heart.  The hostess who has learned to open her heart as freely as she opens her door has learned how to make people feel at home in her house.  This is the hostess who does not look at entertaining as a chore or a duty.  She welcomes every guest with anticipation, knowing that there is an opportunity to share her home, her family, and herself with people who will enjoy whatever she has to give.  And while she gives her best she is secure in the knowledge that her best is good enough because she has learned that entertaining is not pretending.  Here we are, her welcome seems to say.  This is our house, this is our food, this is our heart.  The most wonderful thing that can happen is that you enjoy it with us.  While you are here, all this is yours.”   

That is the perfect definition of Cheryl too.

The 13th annual party, in 2012, was the first one I was invited to. It was wonderful, I had the best time and I couldn’t wait to go back again the next year. Unfortunately, I booked a class that same day, so I was unable to attend in 2013.

The moment the invite for this year’s party arrived, I began to ponder what ornament I would bring. I was disappointed with my choice from that first year – I knew I needed to up my game.

[Read more →]

I brought these pretty and tasty little morsels to a family Christmas party on Saturday night. I made a double batch so that I’d have them in my freezer for the rest of the holiday season, ready to pull out on a moments notice.

They were made of necessity, not only the need to bring something to a party but also the urgency to use over 2 pounds of fresh spinach that I reluctantly had in my refrigerator.

Later in the week, I’ll share a Salmon and Spinach recipe that called for 2 pounds of fresh spinach. The recipe was from my day at Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland and I was sharing it with the students in my cooking class at Les Gourmettes Cooking School here in Phoenix.

Anyhow, I was doubling the Salmon recipe to feed sixteen – so according to the recipe, I’d need 4 pounds of spinach. That’s A LOT of spinach. While shopping for the class at Costco, I realized that would have been 4 boxes of Costco baby spinach. I had not realized that each box was 1 pound until I looked, so I cut back and only bought 3 boxes. Well, I didn’t cut back enough! In the end, I did not even use 1 full box of spinach (1 pound) to make the double recipe for the cooking class.

That’s way too much leftover spinach, so this recipe was born out of the wish to not waste food.  If you would rather substitute frozen chopped spinach for the recipe, rest assured, that is perfectly fine. A 10-oz package of frozen spinach is almost the same as 1 pound of fresh spinach, once the spinach is cooked.

If you want to be extra smart, like me, make a double batch and freeze it for your later entertaining needs.

To Freeze: Place the unbaked filled muffin tins in the freezer for at least 3 hours. Once frozen solid, use the tip of a paring knife to pop each mini tart out and place it in a freezer quality zip-lock bag. Write on the bag, not only what they are, but also the date and baking directions (Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.)

I did a test to see if it was best to bake the frozen tarts in or out of the muffin tins. The good news – is you may bake them on a baking sheet, no need to dig out the muffin tins again. In the photo above – the top two were baked on a sheet pan and the bottom two were placed back in the mini muffin tin and baked. Fantastic, they hold their shape!

One more thing…

Did you know that Trader Joe’s carries puff pastry during the holiday season? Yes, they do and it’s better than the Pepperidge Farm brand that you buy at the grocery store.

It actually has real butter in it… unlike that other brand (which is still pretty good stuff) that uses only shortening. Additionally, the TJ’s puff pastry sheets are rolled, whereas the PF sheets are folded in thirds. The rolled sheets are MUCH easier to work with.

I buy not only what I’ll use in December and January but at least another 8 packages to have for the rest of the year. Super Smart!

[Read more →]

I am having a bit of a panic attack. I don’t want to give you one too, but…

Thanksgiving is 2 weeks from today!

If that wasn’t bad enough….

Christmas is 6 weeks from today!!!!

• How does this happen every single year?
• How do these major holidays sneak up on me?
• What the heck am I doing the other 10 months of the year that I can’t be better prepared?
• Does this happen to you?

Above is a true sign of my full-blown attack – I start asking rapid fire questions in complete and utter disbelief!

Breathe! In and out. Slow and deep breaths.

OK, I’m going to gather myself and dive head first in the holiday season by showing you how I’m going to get crafty with a recent windfall that was bestowed on me.

My dear, very sweet, thoughtful and generous friend, Kim, is moving. She has dropped off goodies to me for a few weeks now. Love!

The other day she brought a box filled with tartlet and candy tin molds.

[Read more →]

How completely adorable and at the same time, sophisticated, is this? It’s the picture perfect elegant appetizer.

A cute and savory Smoked Salmon Mini “Ice Cream” Cone.

It is eaten in a bite or two. It is a flavor explosion in your mouth, a combination of creamy, sweet, smoking … perfection!

Believe it or not, it is also a breeze to make. Really, it could not be more simple.

I purchased the mini ice cream cones on Amazon HERE. They came perfectly wrapped and not one was cracked or broken.

I made these for my last week of cooking classes at Les Gourmettes. We served them as they were made during the class, so there was no need for a beautiful table presentation.

In fact, I made a “cone holder” with a heavy-duty cardboard box, an ice pick and, a chopstick. I made the first hole with the ice pick then made it large enough to hold a cone, using the larger end of the chopstick.

You could do the same, even for a more presentable presentation. Just wrap the box in some colorful fabric or simple butcher paper. Or you can buy a holder HERE.

These would be perfect for any entertaining event… say a Christmas Open House, a cocktail party or, maybe even … a wedding.

[Read more →]

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.
We did.
Of course, the best part is having all my loves home with me!

For Christmas Eve, we brought back a tradition we began last year (when I had a fractured pelvis and could not stand up in the kitchen to cook) and we once again had blue cheese fondue. We are all in love with the new simple, fun, and communal approach to a special family meal. The kids voted that we add in chocolate fondue for dessert in 2014. Dave and I made that vote unanimous.

This was our Christmas day tablescape.

For our Christmas day dinner, the main course was something I taught at Les Gourmettes, individual beef Wellingtons.

You’ll notice that some of the photos below were taken while I was prepping for that class.

I purchased a full beef tenderloin and cut it into 16 pieces. This was the most economical way to feed a crowd.

For our holiday meal, I purchased already cut filet mignon.

[Read more →]

This recipe came from the food section of our newspaper and was provided by our local dairy, Shamrock Farms.

We didn’t trim our tree until Saturday, once the kids and my mother-in-law arrived. So the night before, I put together this breakfast dish while I waited for Marissa’s plane to get in from San Francisco. It was scheduled for midnight but delayed until 2:00 AM. I made good use of the extra two hours and wrote out all my Christmas cards as well… blurry-eyed, but I got it done!

We all enjoyed breakfast and tree-trimming, with carols playing in the background and coffee and hot chocolate mugs in our hands.

I made a few changes to the recipe; using actual rum instead of rum extract and subbing cinnamon bread for the firm white or whole wheat that was suggested. Additionally, I’ve decreased the number of eggs used in the mixture.

This eggnog French toast was a huge hit with the family and will likely become a new holiday tradition for us.

[Read more →]

As usual, I found all the craft ideas for the 2013 Christmas Craft Party on Pinterest. This is a craft I really wanted to do but wasn’t able to finalize until 2 days before the party.

The problem was finding reasonably priced frames. Even with 50% off at Hobby Lobby and Micheal’s, the best I could find was around $19, and that was just for the frame. I’d still need to add in the cost for the bells, ribbon, and twine.

I was about to give up when I decided to give Micheal’s one more look-see. I found the clearance aisle and lo and behold, I found 10 perfect frames!  They were exactly what I had in mind and they were marked down to only $8.00. I bought all the red, white, and black ones off the shelves.

Then, I went to get the bells and found that they were on sale for 50% off.

Now that’s what I call a successful shopping excursion!

Find the easy instructions below and then be sure to read to the end and hear (and see) my pitiful and sad bow story – that has a happy ending.

[Read more →]

As of 4:30 PM yesterday, my house is nearly back to normal. With a boat-load of help from Connor, Christmas is packed up and put back in the crawl space.

I still need to clean up my sitting room, which served as “the wrapping station” this year. Since I was using a walker during the time I was wrapping, it looks as though a bomb went off in that area. I’ll get that cleaned up today and all the regular “decor” put back into place. Then I am done!

So what’s with that photo above, taken of stacks of apples at Costco, you ask?

You see, my husband, David, eats an apple every single morning. Seriously! Every. Day. He rarely gets sick, so I suppose it is true, that an apple a day does keep the doctor away.

Costco sells apples in these wonderful little domed containers.  Back in October, I began to save them with the thought that they would be perfect to hold and store Christmas ornaments.

They are perfect!

The space between every two apple rounds doesn’t come up completely, so you can even place long ornaments there and take up two spaces.

Next, I placed a sheet of bubble wrap on top to prevent items from slipping and jiggling. Then I just closed and sealed the lid, and everything is safe and sound.

Turns out, the container is perfect for my delicate bottle brush trees too. No crushed or damaged trees to deal with next year!

[Read more →]

Being laid up this Christmas forced me to slow down, take it easy, and back off on the usual excess.

I’m sure you are now expecting me to say something along the lines of, “Man, slowing down and taking it easy sure did feel great! I’m going to try and do that next year and in all the years to come!”

Um, No!  In fact, it didn’t feel all that good. I love going crazy at Christmas! I thrive in the excess, the excitement, and the commotion. I am in my element in the hustle and the bustle.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I still thoroughly enjoyed this Christmas.

How could I not? My injury is minor compared to what it could have been! Both of my kids are home, which is, and will always be, the best present of all! We still went to Christmas Eve mass and had my mom and sister over for Christmas Eve dinner.  We still relaxed and hung out on Christmas day with my dad.

But, I’d planned to do so much more. Create, grocery shop for, and execute two big meals. Decorate more! Be creative and make more crafty Pinterest-worthy homemade stuff.

That’s OK. Next year!

So, this year, instead of the usual crown pork roast on Christmas Eve, we had a HoneyBaked Ham. (Thank you, sweet Amy, for picking that up for me!) We served the ham on King’s Hawaiian rolls with my homemade mustards and horseradish.

Marissa and Connor worked together to make our favorite Brussels Sprout Salad plus a Haricot Verts Salad.

Sloane brought over a bread pudding and I made a simple rum sauce for it. We served that along with the Freezer Eggnog Pie for dessert.

All of it was simple, festive, easy, and delicious.

Sadly, we did not have our traditional potato rolls and they were sorely missed.  Thankfully, I did have enough of the dough leftover from Thanksgiving, that I had frozen, so we still had our traditional Cinnamon Rolls and Brown Sugar Bacon on Christmas morning.  The only difference – Marissa made the sweet rolls this year ~ and they were perfect!

Above you can see her mixing the cinnamon and sugar together before sprinkling it onto the dough she rolled out into the perfect 10-inch by 16-inch rectangle.  There on the island, in the background, is the bacon, ready for the oven.

And instead of the usual beef tenderloin for Christmas dinner, we had fondue! Blue Cheese Fondue, and it was delicious and fun! Marissa made the fondue and Connor helped with the dippers, the prep, and clean-up.

I have the best kids in the world!

Yes, I adore them, today and every day! They even posed, trying to reenact a portrait that they sat for some 19 years ago. At 21, Connor doesn’t quite have that 2-year-old pout down anymore, but they’re still cute!

OK, enough about how fabulous my kids are and what we ate!

Time to get down to business – the tablescapes!

Since I wasn’t able to help much with clean-up, I went low-key on that too. None of the usual hand-washing of dishes on Christmas Eve, everything was dishwasher-safe.

[Read more →]

She Cooks She Made Something!

Yeah, I was going to say that I cooked, but then as I was typing up the recipe, I realized I didn’t really cook at all, but I did put together a freezer pie! No true cooking was involved, but I did stand at the kitchen counter, use the walker to maneuver around the kitchen and pantry and I made something from scratch! That’s saying something after two full weeks of kitchen nothingness!

I made a quick and easy Eggnog Pie. The recipe makes two pies, so one went to our Annual Lorts’ Christmas Party last night, and the other will be served either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, here at home.

Lorts is my mom’s maiden name, she is the oldest of eight, so it’s quite the bash! My Uncle Mike (#6 of the 8) and Aunt Sylvia always host in their beautiful Paradise Valley home. There were three generations represented. My mom’s generation, mine, and my kids. We do the “white elephant gift stealing thing” which, as you might imagine, gets a bit out of hand. Good Times!

Then this morning, Marissa, Connor, and my daughter-from-another-mother, Alyse, went to Oink Café for breakfast. There, the four of us split two bacon doughnuts. Yes, you heard that right, Maple Glazed Bacon Doughnuts! So rich and decadent that half if more than enough! OH, SO Good!!!

[Read more →]