Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Holiday entertaining

With Christmas right around the corner if you are hosting a christmas dinner it could seem quite overwhelming. It can be, but if you stick to a plan and stay organized it can be done. The first thing you need to consider is your guest count.  Are you considering a semi formal dinner for adults only
or a buffett for a big crowd? Will there be kids ?

For decor consider this basic formula that is a no fail for any dinner occasion.

1. A set of basic white dinner plates (these can be used for any style dinner party). They can be purchased from a big box store like Target,Walmart or Cost Plus World Market. The ones below are from pottery barn.


2. A set of basic white or decorative smaller salad plates. This is a way to inject the personality and theme of the dinner. You can choose a coordinating solid color or a fun print.This particular one is from Crate and Barrel.


3. Dinner napkins. These can also be a solid coordinated color or a fun print. The ones below are also from pottery barn but you can also get some beautiful styles if you are on a budget from TJMAXX or Marshalls.


4. Chargers to dress up your plate.
5. A table runner
6. Centerpiece elements. You can use different heights of candles, floral arrangements. ornaments. You are only limited by your imagination. Below is one example of  how using these basic elements can dress up a table.



Once you've decided on those basics its time to figure out the menu. You can create a menu for each place setting to really dress it up using cardstock coordinated to your color scheme and ribbon. You can create and format a menu on microsoft word.



Try to stick to the formula of two or three meats for variety. An example could be chicken, pork, red meat with sides to compliment each meat and make sure to include your vegetables. One example of a red meat I have had recently that is delicious I actually discovered at Publix. It is part of their aprons simple meals. Its a rib roast with a chitpotle bleu cheese sauce and mushroom brie cups.




Here's the recipe....
Rib Roast
Ingredients
cooking spray
8 celery ribs
1 standing rib roast (4–5 lb)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground pepper
5 oz Deli soft-ripened blue cheese, cubed
3 1/2 tablespoons herb garlic butter (1/2 stick), cubed
1 cup yogurt blue cheese dressing
2 teaspoons chipotle pepper sauce

Steps
  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Coat medium-size roasting pan with spray. Cut celery into 7-inch ribs; lay across center of pan. Place roast on top of celery (wash hands); sprinkle salt and pepper over roast. Bake 20 minutes or until roast has browned.
  2. Reduce oven to 350°F; cook 2 more hours or until roast is 145°F (medium-rare) up to 170°F (well-done). Use a meat thermometer to accurately ensure doneness. Transfer roast to cutting board; let stand 10–15 minutes before slicing.
  3. Cut cheese and butter into small cubes. Place both in medium saucepan on medium heat; cook and stir 2–3 minutes or until melted. Stir in dressing and pepper sauce; remove from heat when sauce is bubbly. Serve roast with sauce. (Makes 8 servings.)

Mushroom Brie Cups
Ingredients
6 frozen puff pastry cups
6 oz fresh whole portabellas, coarsely chopped
8 oz fresh whole white mushrooms, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
8 oz Deli brie cheese, divided, cubed
3 1/2 tablespoons herb garlic butter (1/2 stick), cubed
3/4 cup beefy mushroom condensed soup
1 teaspoon garlic powder with parsley
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Steps
Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake puff pastry cups following package instructions.
  1. Chop mushrooms, shallots, and chives; cut brie and butter. Combine all remaining ingredients (except pastry and one-half of the brie); transfer to 2-qt baking dish.
  2. Bake 15–20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Use fork to remove "top" of shells and soft pastry underneath. Place remaining half of brie in center of cups; add mushroom mixture over brie. Serve.

I hope that this posts help eases some of the stress if you are hosting for the holidays.
Happy Holidays

Love, Peace & Style,
Belle Creations LLC  ;)

















Sunday, December 1, 2013

Halloween! Trunk or Treat..




Treats and more treats.For Halloween I designed a dessert table that really was a treat to create. There were pies,cookies and chocolate..Oh My!

 I spooked it up with cob webs and glittery pumpkins. I used black and white as my base and used the candy for splashes of color.
 These sweets tasted as good as they looked.


 This was one of many pies.

 Brownies galore!

My spooky glam pumpkin.


Treats, friends and fun that is what it is all about!
Until next post..

Hello Kitty Birthday Party


My daughter turned the big five this year and I enjoyed creating a Hello Kitty birthday party for her. She loves hello kitty and I do to. Lets just say that I have been waiting for this moment all my life...to have a daughter and have this party. 



I used cupcakes for my feature table. I wanted to use poppy colors likes blues and pinks and greens.


 The gift bags were filled with lots of colorful candy and hello kitty favors that were scented.

 The kids were so excited and they had so much fun! My daughter was so happy and just seeing her smile made it all worth it!

Hope you guys like it too!
Until next post.