Relief Society Valentine's Dinner

This event happened last February. I had blogged about it on my personal blog but kept putting it off for this one. So here are some ideas of how to feed 80-100 people for around $350 if you do all of it yourself and pull resources from people around you.

In my church I have the opportunity to plan our monthly activities for the women (called the Relief Society). I LOVE this assignment. And I have an awesome committee full of talented and willing ladies. We've done some wonderful things together as a committee to unite the women in our area and I feel we've been achieving our goals each month we have a meeting. But in February, we had our biggest meeting yet and for the year. We pumped it up for months ahead to get the greatest turn out possible. As is common in each activity, there were a few hiccups along the way and the night of, otherwise it was nearly flawless. We worked well together and from the comments from those in attendance, we know it was a success.

The theme: Enhancing Personal Relationships. We used an Italian theme with the food and for decor we kept it to the month of love with a red, white and pink color palate. Here are some photos and some descriptions. In a budget under $350 we served an elegant dinner to 100 people (including youth servers and children's class helpers), took a love language quiz and listened to professional counselor (who happens to be in the RS Presidency) teach us about enhancing our marriages. I thought we did a pretty nice job!

Here is the gym. We only used half of it to make it more intimate. We fit 10 round tables with 8 people at each, on this half.

The entrance.

Carnations from Costco, handed out to each sister (after I remembered) at the end. We had them each wear a nametag. Flower ball on clearance at Michael's after Valentine's Day sales.

Here is Nina and her daughter Sarita. Nina, on our committee, lovingly made all the paper good items including these nametags, with her many papercrafting supplies. Here she is greeting the sisters as they came in.

The buffet table. Rhonda, who has catering experience, suggested we put Christmas lights underneath the tablecloth. I liked the softened look and then the lights don't get in the way or dirty when serving the food.

I made a little fabric garland with fabric donated by my friend Raylynn a while ago. You never know when you'll use your fabric scraps so keep them anyway!

I made these silk topiaries with fabric I had in my stash. I'll share a tutorial sometime. I made the topiaries and garlands myself with my own materials to save money and so that I could keep them, which helped with the budget as well.

One our committee members, Michelle, suggested that we ask for volunteers to decorate individual tables. Each was unique and brought a nice personal touch. I gave them a 12" x12" piece of glittery cardstock as a guideline for how much space they could use. Here are a few examples.

Here is the speaker's table.

Nina made an "events" card with results form the quiz on the back. Notice the goblets? She also donated use of these that she had previously used in her daughter's wedding. When the women first entered this was one of the first things they noticed, these beautiful goblets. It added an elegant touch. Nina found them on clearance for $3 a box and was happy to be able to use them again. We didn't break one! She also had battery operated tea lights

We had menu's printed on a tri-fold with a quiz printed on the inside. As the women were seated and waiting to start the evening we had them take a version of the 5 Love Language quiz, which unbeknown to me, was part of Marlene's talk. The little red heart was supposed to act as a little cupid's heart. I had specially ordered red golf pencils on ebay but they did not ship on time (grrrrr) so we had to gather regular pencils (including my children's attractive printed holiday ones they get from school and other places) and didn't have time to punch holes in them to make the cupid affect. Minor detail. I used an 8 1/2" x 11" glittery piece of cardstock as a placemat.


One of the highlights of the evening was having a live quartet playing classical music. Nina's son-in-law created a group of his musical friends and they willingly volunteered their time (only in exchange for a free meal) to play background music. They were so good that when my husband walked through to pick up the kids, he thought it was a cd!


After they took the quiz we welcomed them and invited them to start on their salads (which were placed on the tables beforehand) and warm bread.

Here is the serving line with the food.

Here are some of the committee members slaving away. I stayed out of the kitchen as I was working on decorating and making sure everything was in order. Some of us ran around like chicken's with our heads cut off, especially right at the last minute when everything comes together. I think we all managed to be able to sit down for a few minutes to at least eat a little.

Here I am sharpening pencils beforehand after my ebay glitch. And I am thinner there too. What the?!!?!

Here are some of our cute servers. They really took their job to heart and were so willing and helpful. They kept our water filled and assisted the many elderly sisters in our ward by serving them their food directly so they didn't have to wait in line for their food.

The Menu. Rhonda came up with a delicious and fairly simple menu. We had a tight budget but wanted it to be delicious. She cooked most of it, hours before, herself. Alicia and Michelle helped in the kitchen as she instructed them.
We had two pastas. Regular spaghetti, with a nice meat marinara sauce. The second was a garlic cheese white sauce that she pre-mixed with pasta.
The salad was a copycat version of Olive Garden's.
She roasted garlic slices and mixed them with olive oil and herbs. We dipped our warm bread (from Costco, the Italian version) in this herbed oil spread.

We simplified our dessert by purchasing fresh mixed berry Gelato from our Costco cafe with a piece of biscotti. Simple, elegant, rich, unique, easy.


Marlene, our upbeat and funny speaker. Sadly, I couldn't listen to all of it but what I did gather was helpful.

It was a wonderful evening with few and simple decorations that made a strong impact, music to add to the ambiance, dimmed lights, delicious yet inexpensive food, a slow pace and the little details all added to a wonderful evening together. I know that each person was enriched by coming! Several said it was the best Church activity they had been to! That's the greatest compliment!

Thanks again to my committee and to Marianne for lending me your camera and taking some candid shots! 

Peppermint Popcorn

Oops! A day early....I was going to post this tomorrow. This was supposed to be posted on Thursday, the 19th, and I didn't even know it's National Popcorn Day! Happy Popcorn Day!

Looking for a way to get rid of your leftover Christmas candy? Peppermints and candy canes? Peppermint Hershey Kisses? 

I had a variation of this at my book club (along with the Cranberry Cilantro Relish Spread....I have cool friends) but she made it with chex cereal. Well, I had some peppermint candies left and peppermint kisses from these Double Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. My children wanted a treat and I wanted to deliver some goodies off to a recovering friend (get this! My friend went to the ER for an appendicitis only to have it removed with the good, and scary, news that there was a cancerous tumor on the appendix! Blessing in disguise!) who really liked the peppermint treat at the book club. So I brought her some. This would also make a fun Valentine's treat. It's so pink with nice crunchy satisfying peppermint bits.

Peppermint Popcorn
adapted from Skip to My Lou and Plain Chicken

*1 cup peppermints, approximately 40 hard peppermint candies or 10 candy canes, finely ground
*1 pound melted vanilla candy---I used a combination of pink Wilton's candy melts &  30 Peppermint Hershey kisses. You could also use almond bark or white chocolate chips. Or try Andes peppermint chocolates.
*12 cups air popped corn, use this easy microwave tutorial 
*1 cup Frosted Animal Cookies, optional. It adds a nice texture and added flavor

1. Pop corn according to tutorial. Pour into a giant mixing bowl.
2. Crush peppermints in a small food processor. This is quite aggressive and it sounds like you're breaking glass but your processor can handle it. I have a tiny one and ground them in batches. The smaller the bits, the better. Set aside.
3. Break animal cookies into pea sized bits. Set aside.
4. Melt your candies and kisses in a glass pyrex measuring cup or medium sized microwave bowl. Stir every 30 seconds and continue cooking, stirring after each round, until completely melted.
5. Pour over popcorn and stir until evenly spread.
6. Spread a cookie sheet sized piece of wax paper or parchment out. Pour the popcorn onto it. Sprinle with peppermint bits and cookie bits.
7. Let dry completely, until it hardens and is no longer gooey, about 30 minutes. Then it's ready to eat and place in a cello or ziplock bag.

Alice in Winter Wonderland Tea Party

Jocelyn wanted a tea party, peacock feathers, and we wanted to incorporate Otis, our white pet rabbit. So it made sense to have an Alice in Wonderland Party! Peacocks, gold, blue, green, purple, snowflakes and feathers! And for $52.40 for favors, food and decor and a bit of time setting up! But so worth it after seeing the girls reaction. It was fun to see their reactions as they saw the canopied table and lanterns. It felt so magical. And I have to give credit to Pinterest for so much inspiration!! I don't usually incorporate each photo that I've pinned but I usually pin because there is one or more elements that have inspired a thought, image or arrangement. You can follow this inspiration board here, or any of my others too!

The events were as follows. We had "Alice in Wonderland" (the Disney animated version) playing while we waited for all the guests to arrive. Then we painted fingernails. Had the tea party, sang the birthday song, ate the cake (well, I did, there wasn't much eating by the girls going on), opened gifts, played with gifts, and ended with decorating their favor boxes with stickers and feathers.

The happy 5 year old with pet white rabbit, Otis. Her adorable headband was made by Ellie. You can check out her fun blog here. The Alice dress was borrowed from my cousin, Micaela.

 

Peacock frosted cupcakes. Inspired by these cupcakes I found on Pitnerest. My friend Melanie made them and I added the "Eat Me" straw flag and pipe cleaner head.

Otis was a little scared atop the table.

Peacocks &  glitter. Perfect.

Peacock Cake made from a box and tub of frosting. Sometimes quick and easy outweighs time and stress levels.

Peacock inspired place cards. Each number corresponded with the girls age. 

Each girl was able to take their teacup home. I found all 6 sets in one shopping spree to the local D.I. (thrift store). Jocelyn was very excited for her friends to try herbal tea, her favorite morning treat. We served mixed berry and about half the girls actually drank it. I love the white lace gloves with adorned with feathers. I found them on Halloween clearance at Target.

Ribbon &  ring.

The nail & party favor station. Jocelyn loves to paint anyone's nails. It got a little chaotic though and I had to remind each girl to make sure their nails were completely dry before playing. 

White gable boxes that they decorated and then fit all of their goodies in to take home.

Snowflake Wands. Super easy to make. 

"Drink Me" bottles. I saw these POM(egranate) juice bottles and thought they were the perfect size and shape to give each girl. They are seasonal (winter) so I was happy to find them. I'll be surprised if any of the girls actually like drinking it, it's very strong because it's pure pomegranate. But the bottles can be dish washed on the top rack and my children like to drink out of them because of their fun shape. 

Flamingo Croquet pens, they went home with a bag of "hedgehogs" too (gummy bears).

Price breakdown: $52.40
Birds--gifted and Christmas clearance, Joanns &  Pier 1 Imports = $4
Glitter decor fillers--Christmas clearance, Joanns &   Michaels (some of those individual strands, including the snowflake wand tops were only 30 cents a piece, and this was 80% a week to three weeks after Christmas)--$10
Cake & Cupcake & Tea--$4, traded goods for the cupcakes :)
POM juice--seasonal, Walmart, 6 oz = $10 after coupons,  $2.28 each,
Rings--$1, clearance at Charlotte Russe, pack of 5
Tea sets-- Thrift store, set of 7 mismatched, I kept the plates for other projects and because they didn't fit in the boxes = $8
Lanterns--Zurchers &  my mom's closet = $5
Snowflake Wands--handmade, $2
Flamingo Pens--Dollar Tree = $6
Gold doileys &   playing cards = Free from personal stash & mom's closet. It was worth hanging onto those mismatched cards.
Gable Boxes--Expedx = $2.40 for set of 6, on sale
Fresh flowers--Costco, gift card
Canopy, teapot, and other accessories--Free from mom's closet
Blue tablecloth--vintage from mother, also used for my French themed party 

I hope this party can inspire your next Alice in Wonderland or Tea Party themed birthday. Please share if it has!

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Tea Party coming up

My middle child turned 5 over the Christmas holidays. I can't believe our little princess is already 5....going on 15. She's a drama girl but so bright with the memory of....I don't know. What kind of animal has a good memory? A dog? No, that doesn't work. Anyway, she remembers things from years ago that I'd forgotten about. She is beautiful, a great help to me and a great sister. I love my little J.

For her birthday we thought it fit we involve the pet bunny,Otis, you may remember him from this. So I declared it was to be an Alice in Wonderland themed party. Plus Jocelyn loves tea parties, so the unbirthday party setting was perfect. She also loves peacock feathers from my parents house and it's wintery so it evolved into a "Alice in Winter Wonderland Tea Party." I will be feverishly working on this and her birthday gift all this week for the party on Friday. But here is a sneak peak. I used these invitations from my cousin Sarah Jane's shop. Complete with white bunny and all! It is a summer tea party in the invite but it works nonetheless. They having tea. They are little girls. There is a white rabbit and bunting!

To see more of my inspiration check out my Pinterest Board.

Best of 2011 Kitchen

My little play kitchen was chosen as part of the top ten play kitchens featured in 2011 on Ohdeedoh! Wow, I'm flattered! Thanks for pinning, spreading and sharing the love! If my play kitchen inspired your play kitchen, please share! Leave me a comment or better yet, pin it to my DIY play kitchen board so we can all see your creation!

I am planning my daughter's "Alice in Winter Wonderland Peacock Tea Party" in addition to making her birthday gift so I'll be busy for the next two weeks. I'm really excited with how both will turn out so stay tuned for pictures and details!

Pomegranate Jello Salad

Happy New Year!! I am excited for this 2012 year. I am nervous because there will be changes in my personal life but I look forward to it as well.  How did you celebrate last night? We ate lots of party foods and played games together as a family. It was great though after staying up way too late for the past week is making me very very tired. Last night I was able to eat this beautiful fruit, the pomegranate. I took this photo before the jello set and by the time the jello did set, it was dark and my photos turned out, so blah!

So, be patient. There is a good one at the bottom. I have taken a photo of this dessert 3 times over the past year. Yes, it took that many and I still don't like the ones I settled with. However, although this recipe is not the most beautiful to photograph, I assure you it is incredibly delicious. The pomegranate garnish on top does help attract the patron to try this recipe. And jello with whipped topping? Sure! Sounds great. But you've got to try this extraordinary jello salad with this unique fruit.  Please, forgive my lack of photography skills and try this recipe out for yourself.

Is it a jello? A salad? A side dish or dessert? I'm not really sure but I think it can be all of them! My aunt Julie D. gave this recipe to me several years ago and I look forward to making it every year. The pomegranates start debuting around Thanksgiving and disappear again in January, usually. They are seasonal and so I try to find any excuse I can to make this jello. It's fresh, red and is a great side dish or dessert for any holiday gathering.  Plus you get to whack open a pomegranate. 

See? My ISO was off. I like the twinkling lights but yeah, it's a little yellow.

 And this...well, the cream looks white but the angle and lighting are not so great. Really, it was just the timing. The dessert was never made until right before the party and it's always dark in the winter at night. So, that's my excuse. I just need to make this further in advance to capture the true goodness.

Neither not so pinworthy. But if you DO pin this, pin the top photo of just the pretty fruit. That'll get some attention....maybe? 


Finally, I got a decent photo. My sister and I catered an event for my great aunt and we made this jello. She suggested we served them individually in clear cups so we didn't have to sloppily serve it individually on each plate. And look how pretty they look. Much nicer. And so fun to serve a party.

Okay, here is the recipe. 

Pomegranate Jello Salad 

Yield: 15-20 servings 

 

Ingredients: 

1 6 oz box of jello, any red flavor

2 C boiling water

1 C whole cranberry sauce

1 12 oz. can of crushed pineapple, undrained

3 small apples or pear, chopped fine (or very tiny chunks or slivers)

1 pomegranate, seeded (save about 1/4 cup to sprinkle on the top)

Boil 2 cups water. Add box of jello. Stir until jello dissolves. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into a 9x13 pan. Cover with saran wrap and store in fridge until completely, about 4 hours.

TIP for getting the seeds out of the pomegranate. Cut the fruit in half and then whack the back of it with a large metal serving spoon or a large metal ladle. Do this over a large enough bowl and in a sink, it will look like you are in a crime scene with all the juice that flies out as well.

Topping:

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sugar

2 c. whipped cream or whipped topping (thawed)

1 tsp. vanilla

Whip softened cream cheese until soft and aerated. Add whip cream and combine. Then add remaining ingredients until combined. Do not overmix or it will turn into a buttery curdled like topping.

Sprinkle with remaining pomegranate seeds.

Enjoy!