So, yesterday, I posted a little St. Patrick’s Day party suggestion—hosting a Black & Tan tasting. I didn’t give credit where credit was due; my fabulous, wonderful, handsome, supportive husband came up with the idea for Supper Club and I stole it. My excuse, a Leprechaun made me do it!!!!
Thank you honey,
Your mischievous wife
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
What to do for St. Patrick’s Day? Hold a Black & Tan tasting. We did on Saturday night. It was a blast. Below are a few suggestions to get you going. My favorite– the Blacksmith.
US Black & Tan: Guinness Stout and Bass Ale
Half and Half: Harp’s Lager topped with Guinness. Half and half because both ales come from the Guinness Brewery.
Black & Sam: Guinness Stout and Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Blacksmith: Guinness Stout and Smithwick’s Irish Ale
Black and Red: Guinness and Killians Irish Red Lager
Irish American: Half Guinness and half Budweiser or Miller
Irish Canadian: Half Guinness and half Molson Canadian
Slanté,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Beat the cold, cold with a pot of chili in honor of National Chili Day. Serve your chili with a tasty ale; add some cornbread or French bread & a salad and you have a warm and satisfying dinner.
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
This week is National Pancake Week…celebrate by hosting a dinner party, serving family breakfast for dinner or by heading out with your best friends for some savory pancakes or crepes and Champagne? Even better, how about all three?
Invite your friends over for a savvy dinner party and serve them a different type of pancake with every course; you can tell them it’s National Pancake Week before the dinner party or at the end. A party favor, you ask, how about a cute brown bag of pancake mix?
Don’t be too serious with the tabletop–do something fun like Royal Tart’s red polka dot plates.
Suggested Menu:
Appetizer:
Buckwheat pancakes and caviar
Main Course:
Potato Pancakes with oven roasted salmon, tomatoes and spinach
Dessert:
Crepes Suzette
Yum!
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
It’s a big weekend coming up…there are so many reasons to throw a party…starting Friday we have Opening Celebration of The Vancouver Winter Olympics, then there is Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, President’s Day and if you want to keep partying there is Mardi Gras on Tuesday.
You can have a party everyday or put ‘em all together for the “Presidential Chinese Olympic Valentine Gras!”
Decorate for your party with a combination of hearts, Chinese dragons, chopsticks, Olympic Rings, top hats and masks. Serve take-out Chinese food on red-heart shaped plates, with Olympic or sports napkins and ask everyone to wear a powdered wig. For party favors, give out Mardi Gras beads—what a blast!!!!
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Celebrate…it is National Carrot Cake Day. Yum!
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Hey, so whether you are cheering for the New Orleans Saints or the Indianapolis Colts or just along for the party you can host an easy and fun Superbowl party by adding a twist to the traditional potluck.
Suggest that your friends bring a potluck item from their team’s hometown or region. This suggestion not only creates a cohesive potluck but also gives your guests a place to start when they are deciding what to bring.
A suggested New Orleans Saints Menu:
Shrimp w/ Remoulade
Red Beans & Rice
Gumbo
Mufaletta Sandwiches
Zapp’s Potato Chips
Hurricane Cocktails
Beignets
Chicory Coffee
A suggested menu for the Indianapolis Colts:
Breaded Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Indiana Dill Bread
Collins Caviar
Indiana Succotash
Hot Cider
Sugar Cream Pie
Butterscotch Pie
Enjoy your team oriented potluck.
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Celebrate Valentine’s Day like a real holiday; take the day off from work or since Valentine’s is on a Sunday this year, shift your Valentine’s celebration to Friday and take Friday off from work. Playing a little hooky might get you in the mood for some…
Spend the day in bed together, have breakfast in bed, rent romantic movies, light a fire, drink hot chocolate. Set a romantic table for two with a beautiful centerpiece and your fine china or with red & white (like Royal Tart’s polka dot plates). Go dancing, look at old pictures, make a homemade Valentine, take a drive, go for a walk, get a new puppy, listen to your favorite love songs, and eat chocolate in front of a roaring fire. Celebrate each other.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Celebrate Elvis Presley’s birthday (or the anniversary of his 75th birthday on January 8, 2010) by whipping up the sandwich he made famous–Fried Peanut Butter & ‘Nana. It’s a quick fix and the mini-celebration is the perfect pick-me-up for your post holiday blue suede shoes.
INGREDIENTS:
1 small ripe banana
2 slices white bread
2-3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, mash the banana witha fork. Toast the bread lightly. Spread the peanut butter on one slice of toast and the mashed banana on the other. Fry the sandwich in melted butter until each side is golden brown. Cut diagonally and serve hot.
Spin a few Elvis tunes and enjoy!
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Tick-tock, tick-tock…raise your glass and cheer…tick-tock, tick-tock…the birth of a New Year. A rock-the-clock cocktail soiree where midnight arrives every hour-or-so, with different countdown toasts to our hopes, our dreams, our loves…a proverbial toasting shower, of elation, jubilation, exultation…with love, with laughter, with merriment, raise your glass and cheer as each different time zone clock strikes midnight, you ring in the New Year!
As with every Royal Tart Celebration, a Royal Tart Let’s Get This Party Started Blueprint with Suggested Menu, Recipes & Celebration Tips is included. This particular Party Blueprint includes suggested appetizer recipes that correspond to each time you Rock-the Clock. Look for elegant, interesting and tasty recipes from South America, Russia, France as well as regional US recipes. Plus we’ve included a great Rock-the-Clock play list. This party is timeless, elegant and fun. Ask your guests to dress in their best black and white cocktail attire or go black-tie.
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
Check it out…the boys and I baked and decorated a gingerbread house wearing Royal Tart’s totally cute gingerbread aprons in three sizes: adult, medium child, small child. We had fun building our masterpiece and the boys loved their 3-D aprons. Plus their sticky fingers smeared their aprons not their shirts. You can purchase these cute aprons and other coordinating gingerbread items at www.RoyalTart.com. The aprons and other cute stuff including tea cups, favor bags, Merry Christmas Cookie Tray, etc. is from the Jumpin Gingerbread: Let’s Bake Holiday Celebration.
Happy Holidays.
Enjoy!
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
During the holiday month’s (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s) old family traditions arrive like comfy sweaters–sometimes we don’t even recognize them as traditions or as special. This year, as I have every year since I was an adult I served hot mulled (spiced) cider and rum. My parents made and served this cozy drink during my entire childhood. It never occurred to me that everyone didn’t know how to make this or thought it special. So, as I have learned over the last few social gatherings/parties this hot mulled cider with rum is special and very much a Blum family tradition. Below is the recipe. I hope you add it to your holiday entertaining repertoire and food traditions.
Hot Mulled Cider With Rum
Ingredients:
1 gallon cider (preferably organic, unfiltered but use whatever you can find)
1 crushed nutmeg
2-3 cinnamon sticks, more for garnish
10 cloves
peel from one orange (optional)
Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum
Directions:
In a large pot or slow cooker place a gallon of cider (unfiltered, if available), 2-3 cinnamon sticks, 10 cloves, crushed whole nutmeg, and the peel from one orange. Allow to simmer for 1-2 hours (you can simmer for less time but the spices really come alive the longer the cider is simmered). Ladle into a holiday mug, add a jigger (1 1/2 oz) of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum. Garnish with a cinnamon stick. Instant holiday warmth.
Tip: If you are having a big Christmas party continue to add new cider to the pot throughout the event.
Enjoy!
Happy Holidays.
cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
These twice bakers were a huge hit at our annual holiday book club potluck. Serve them up for a cozy Christmas dinner or a fancy schmancy New Years Eve dinner. Really you can add them to any menu knowing that you will serve your guests an unexpected and delicious side.
Bacon & Boursin Twice-Baked Potato Recipe:
Ingredients:
14 fist sized potatoes (small/medium)
1 package Boursin Garlic & Herb Cheese
2 sticks of gourmet butter
1 can evaporated milk
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup cooked and crumbled crispy gourmet bacon (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Prepare potatoes for baking; place potatoes into oven for an hour or so—check for doneness by gently squeezing potatoes. If they give they are done. Remove potatoes from the oven. Place butter and cheese into a large bowl. Cut potatoes in half; scoop insides of potatoes into bowl; add evaporated milk as needed; mash or rice potatoes as you would for regular mashed potatoes. Add more milk and salt and pepper to taste. Pipe or spoon potatoes back into skins. Garnish potatoes with bacon. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes or until tops get slightly puffy and crispy.
Tips:
Serves 12-16 people depending on size of appetites and potatoes; you may use smaller potatoes for a group that favors seconds or 6-7 large potatoes for big eaters. I took 24 potato halves to our book club holiday potluck. There were 16 people and only 2 potatoes leftover.
Potatoes may be made ahead up to 2 days in advance and covered in plastic wrap and refrigerated. Re-warm in a 350 degree oven for about 30-45 minutes.
You may place uncooked bacon in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake it for about 20 minutes while you are baking the potatoes or while you are mashing the potatoes. Baked bacon tastes great and you don’t have the bacon grease splattered all over your stove. Check the bacon periodically for crispness.
Cheers,
Tricia
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
The Holiday Season is a cherished time for many; but how does one create enchanting visual images in their home?
I know I have several boxes of Christmas and New Years decorations along with a few Hanukkah items which are best described as disparate holiday items. These items include various snowmen, Santas, trains and ornaments.
One of the best ways to create some order to your holiday assortment and create strong visual memories is to set up vignettes or little arrangements all over your home. Place your Santas on the mantel, your snowmen at the entry, your dreidels on the coffee table, gingerbread men dangling from the kitchen ceiling, etc.
You may also group seemingly disparate items together if they have a common style. For example you can arrange your tin decorations together, your glass pieces together, your 1950’s ornaments together.
By adding various little arrangements around your home you create charming layers of decorations throughout your home bringing Christmas joy to every room.
And of course once you get your home decorated you will know exactly where you can add new decorations you purchased this year. Check out Royal Tart’s holiday items at www.RoyalTart.com for new holiday items.
Happy Holiday Decorating,
Tricia
www.RoyalTart.com
Delivering Complete Prepackaged Designer Parties to Your Door
