Valentine scenes from my house

V-Day: I’m into it.

I believe in heart-shaped dinner plates and leaving presents from Cupid on the doorstep. I send Valentines in the mail and make ridiculous desserts.

I love Love.

What the holiday has looked like at my house, thus far:

Eat-your-heart-out-fudge.

Vintage peek-a-boo glasses that won my heart from across the store. My heart rate actually quickened. (Thanks for the shopping trip, Christina and Sarah.

Tulips in a vintage mercury glass ice bucket.

Pink-striped candy ribbons from Hammond’s. They’re cherry-flavored and delicious and feel like the kind of glories my Mom might have bought as a girl at the St. Johns drugstore soda fountain.

Lazy cake.

A topiary turned hostess gift — found at Trader Joe’s, dressed up with burlap.

Tulips at Puddinn’s house.

Vintage his and hers statues from Found. I like his outfit better.

My paper straw collection is getting a bit insane. Heart-dotted versions from the Alt hotel sweet shop, also at Crate & Barrel.

Australian Licorice in a candy dish for Mark and Angela’s visit. (We’re all so obsessed that last summer, in Lake Tahoe, we had a licorice tasting.)

I love to watch people’s faces when they look at sparklers. Everyone grins. I’m putting these mini hearts on V-Day dessert. (From Kitty at the Scottsdale Quarter)

The Valentines my nephew made for his kindergarten class:

(And I love my sister, for teaching her little boy about celebrating l’amour with homemade things.)

 

By |2012-02-22T07:44:16-07:00February 22nd, 2012|Parties|3 Comments
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Scarlett’s Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party

I thought the cutest thing I’d ever encountered was my 3-year-old niece Scarlett, calling me on the phone: “Jaimee, will you come to my Strawberry Shortcake birfday party?” Will I ever.

And then I went to her Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, which my sister Kapri turned into 3-year-old nirvana — also known as a tea party — and watched Scarlett running around in a strawberry tutu and a strawberry purse. And that was the cutest thing on the planet.

The invites:

The room:

Strawberry cake pops, made by my sister, (who may be nuts):

The outfit:

And yes, that is a baby strawberry purse.

 

The party favors for each guest — aprons monogrammed by my sister (certifiably nuts):

Birthday cupcakes, candles (and helpers named Blake):

Decorating with dolls:

Kapri, pouring “tea” . . .

. . . which was really water . . .

. . . or strawberry soda.

The food matched:

Did you know there are strawberry-shaped marshmallows?

Scarlett’s balloons:

And the second round of party favors:

A pinata to match:

Baby brother and Granni, dressed as decor:

And a happy little girl, who asked last week if she could have another Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, and when.

By |2012-01-12T20:11:10-07:00January 12th, 2012|Parties|9 Comments
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And so this was Christmas

The table set for Christmas breakfast:

Easy, glorious, gooey monkey bread:

The stockings my mother made, trimmed in Mongolian fur:

The obsessive-compulsive wrapping disorder in full tilt:

Pink, too:

Baubles and fresh pine branches, anywhere I could tuck them:

My mother’s bell jar tradition —  memories held beneath glass:

(At my mom’s house):

Peppermint treats in vintage silver dishes:

And in the end, Santa came, and he had a mini mascot, too.

Thanks for sharing my memories.

By |2012-01-11T12:43:58-07:00January 11th, 2012|Parties|0 Comments
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Pumpkin Brunch

Scenes from my pumpkin brunch:

(My new mercury glass bell jar from FOUND — a beloved birthday gift from Christina.)

Pumpkin mini muffins with maple cream cheese icing — my most evil creation of the year.

Pumpkin teapots (above) and pumpkins on the orchids (below):

Pink calla lilies with pumpkin undertones:

Happy friends:

A buffet piled high with pumpkin things: soup and muffins and yogurt-granola parfaits topped with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds.

Utensils lined up on a tray:

Pumpkins lined up on my table:

An autumnal salad with Gruyere, toasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds:

I cheated and used paper napkins, and you know what? The world is still turning.

Lynne Bonnell’s burlap pumpkins came, too:

Roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary:

Mimosas like mad:

Piles of pumpkins, everywhere I could fit them:

 

Homemade quiche — my first, and I’m converted (recipe here):

Treats galore:

And another one for the road:

(Pumpkin muffin recipe coming tomorrow, and I’m not sure whether to apologize or curtsy. They’re diabolical.)

By |2012-01-11T12:26:56-07:00January 11th, 2012|Parties|0 Comments
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And so this was Christmas

The table set for Christmas breakfast:

Easy, glorious, gooey monkey bread:

The stockings my mother made, trimmed in Mongolian fur:

The obsessive-compulsive wrapping disorder in full tilt:

Pink, too:

Baubles and fresh pine branches, anywhere I could tuck them:

My mother’s bell jar tradition —  memories held beneath glass:

(At my mom’s house):

Peppermint treats in vintage silver dishes:

And in the end, Santa came, and he had a mini mascot, too.

Thanks for sharing my memories.

By |2011-12-28T11:40:39-07:00December 28th, 2011|Parties|0 Comments
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White “thanks” pumpkin centerpiece

I dreamed this one up for a photo shoot years ago, and it’s still my favorite Thanksgiving centerpiece: print out letters from your computer, cut them out,  and use Elmer’s glue to paste them onto your pumpkins.

Photo by Wes Johnson

By |2011-11-18T03:36:32-07:00November 18th, 2011|Parties|0 Comments
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My Pumpkin Party: All the pretties and treats

Scenes from my pumpkin brunch:

(My new mercury glass bell jar from FOUND — a beloved birthday gift from Christina.)

Pumpkin mini muffins with maple cream cheese icing — my most evil creation of the year.

Pumpkin teapots (above) and pumpkins on the orchids (below):

Pink calla lilies with pumpkin undertones:

Happy friends:

A buffet piled high with pumpkin things: soup and muffins and yogurt-granola parfaits topped with dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds.

Utensils lined up on a tray:

Pumpkins lined up on my table:

An autumnal salad with Gruyere, toasted walnuts and pomegranate seeds:

I cheated and used paper napkins, and you know what? The world is still turning.

Lynne Bonnell’s burlap pumpkins came, too:

Roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary:

Mimosas like mad:

Piles of pumpkins, everywhere I could fit them:

 

Homemade quiche — my first, and I’m converted (recipe here):

Treats galore:

And another one for the road:

(Pumpkin muffin recipe coming tomorrow, and I’m not sure whether to apologize or curtsy. They’re diabolical.)

By |2011-11-10T12:40:52-07:00November 10th, 2011|Parties, Recipes|1 Comment
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My Mom’s Annual Spookfest, 2011

The annual Rose family spookfest was held this weekend, and we did it up in grand ghoulish style. There were candy apples and coiled intestines (ew), pink-cheeked little girls and a Grandpa with a grin, even severed hands hiding in corners, and on cupcakes.  A look inside our bash:

(The coffin that my sister’s husband built, now in its second year.)

Marshmallows, peanut butter, apple slices, and a total pain in the you-know-what.

Mini lady apples make these perfectly party-sized.

Layered burlap and cheesecloth for spook-tacular tablecloths.

I  made pumpkin-shaped Rice Krispie Treats, with fondant and tootsie roll leaves and stems:

Graveyard cupcakes:

Soup buffet:

Spooky seven-layer dip:

My sister’s awesome giant pumpkin popcorn ball (note the stem):

Happy little boys bobbing for apples:

Spooky decor:

Pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream cheese icing:

Our new favorite trick: a mechanical severed hand that walks across the floor on its own, triggered by motion nearby. My aunt SCREAMED. It was awesome. We dressed up this version from Grandin Road, which happily landed in my mailbox at work this summer and has been entertaining all visitors to my cubicle for months.

This year, we ventured into some extreme gory territory to please children who are now teenagers, and unimpressed with apple bobbing and dry ice in witches’ brew. Lesson of this experiment: people will eat anything.

Totally dorky, but it made us all laugh: Mount Mushmore (hummus with a peanut butter candy head garnish).

Revolting (cheeseball covered in prosciutto, courtesy Heidi).

And, I’m sorry, but it had to be done. Kitty Litter Cake:

(Will got to serve it, much to his delight.)

As ever, SCABS. (Beef jerky).

And the famous ribs:

Costumes: pretty kitties.

Pink cheeks.

Sleepy skeletons. Note the binky:

Homemade paper dolls and dice:

And a sweet little boy who I found hanging out on Grandpa’s lap:

Happy Halloween.

 

By |2011-11-01T03:01:27-07:00November 1st, 2011|Parties|3 Comments
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Ty’s birthday and the biggest carrot cake in the world

Next week, I will show you how to frost a layer cake and how to make silky smooth cream cheese icing (with no lumps). But first, the occasion: T’s birthday. Every year, all he wants is a homemade cake, which I find so charming that I bake him hulking cakes that all our friends have to come help him eat.

And, every year, I like to wrap his little presents in a theme, which is dorky, but I think/hope he finds that charming, too. He’s having a tennis moment, so behold the tennis birthday:

The tennis balls were created with fondant and waxed twine and were silly and fun to make. It’s like playing dolls, you know, except with food.

And the cake? Four layers, straight from the Joy of Cooking — minus the pineapple. It required two batches of cream cheese icing to stack and cover this confection. (That is two POUNDS of cream cheese, and a whole pound of butter. Yikes!) But T said it was the best carrot cake he’s ever had. And my family, who helped devour the cake at the hospital where my Granna continues to battle/recover, agreed.

(I think the secret is in knowing that carrot cake is merely a vehicle for the delivery of cream cheese frosting.)

By |2011-10-04T16:59:45-07:00October 4th, 2011|Parties|1 Comment
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Scarlett’s Strawberry Shortcake Tea Party

I thought the cutest thing I’d ever encountered was my 3-year-old niece Scarlett, calling me on the phone: “Jaimee, will you come to my Strawberry Shortcake birfday party?” Will I ever.

And then I went to her Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, which my sister Kapri turned into 3-year-old nirvana — also known as a tea party — and watched Scarlett running around in a strawberry tutu and a strawberry purse. And that was the cutest thing on the planet.

The invites:

The room:

Strawberry cake pops, made by my sister, (who may be nuts):

The outfit:

And yes, that is a baby strawberry purse.

 

The party favors for each guest — aprons monogrammed by my sister (certifiably nuts):

Birthday cupcakes, candles (and helpers named Blake):

Decorating with dolls:

Kapri, pouring “tea” . . .

. . . which was really water . . .

. . . or strawberry soda.

The food matched:

Did you know there are strawberry-shaped marshmallows?

Scarlett’s balloons:

And the second round of party favors:

A pinata to match:

Baby brother and Granni, dressed as decor:

And a happy little girl, who asked last week if she could have another Strawberry Shortcake birthday party, and when.

By |2011-09-20T18:02:31-07:00September 20th, 2011|Parties|1 Comment
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