Two weeks ago, I shared part one, the pre-planning, of the owl-themed baby shower. This past weekend, my mom hosted the shower in her house, and I was asked to provide the desserts. I’ve learned over the years not to say no to my mom, and I certainly never say no to dessert! I didn’t attend the shower, but stopped by ahead of time to drop off the goodies. Everything looked adorable. She had all different kinds of pink candies arranged on her coffee table and baby pink roses in various arrangements. The favors went perfectly with the theme and invitation, little owl hand towels from Target and mini soaps from Bath and Body Works were wrapped up in cellophane bags for each guest. 

As for the desserts, I made made baby girl owl cupcakes inspired by Hello, Cupcake!, one of the best books out there on making cupcakes. What I love about these baker/authors is that they’ve designed cupcakes that anyone can make. You don’t need a piping kit. They show you how to cut Ziplocs to pipe. You don’t need to be a baker. They use cake from a box and fancy it up a bit. The candies used to decorate the cupcakes can be easily found at the grocery store. This is a must-have book for cupcake lovers! To make the cupcakes, I used large marshmallows and chocolate chips for the eyes. I found chocolate-covered sunflower seeds in my candy stash, which worked perfectly for beaks. I used a leaf piping tip for the ears and fur and melted a handful of red candy wafers to pipe little red bows.

As for the other sweets, I made brownie pops with Valentine sprinkles. My mom said these were a hit. What is it about these? I guess because they’re cute and taste good, people go crazy for them. I don’t know about you, but I  prefer the taste of brownie pops, over cake pops. Maybe I just haven’t found the perfect frosting to cake ratio yet. My all-time favorite pops though are cheesecake pops (recipe from the Sticky, Gooey, Mess,  Chewy cookbook) The recipe is posted on Hostess With the Mostess. These are a little more time intensive, and time is something I don’t have much of these days. I did, however, set aside time to make owl sugar cookies, because every party should end with sugar cookie favors. I know my favorite cookie blogger idols  (you know who you are) will agree!

I’ve had my pink, girly fix for awhile. I guess it’s back to legos, Pokemon, and the Nintendo DSI for now (Lord, help me! ).

Dear Kendall Jackson,

 I’m not sure how to break this to you …We’ve spent many holidays together, but this year it might be time for a change. According to my wine guru, Darren, chardonnay is oaky and too much for a large meal. But rest assured, Kendall, absence does make the heart grow fonder and you will always have your spot in my wine fridge.

 One night last week, my mom, one of my best girlfriends, Laura, and I spent the night drowning in research, or should I say wine. We spent the evening consulting with, Darren, the owner of Wineworks For You about what types of wine to serve on Thanksgiving. We had a great night and enjoyed tasting several different wines. In a nutshell, his advice is to go for the sparkling wines and white wines. Both types will pair well with the rich dishes placed on holiday tables.

 After much tasting and debating, here are our 5 Thanksgiving Wine Picks (in no particular order)…

1. The first pick is a white wine called, Barrel 27 High on the Hog which comes from Paso Robles, California. According to the wine makers, this wine is, “both weighty and silky in the mouth, flavors of candied lemon, melon, marzipan, melon and oyster shell mingle with notes sweet apple, slate and a hint of petrol.” This wine is crisp and sparkling and you can’t beat the price at $15 per bottle.

2. The second pick is another white wine called Schmelz Gruner Veltliner Loibner Garten. This one is light and mild and would go well with chicken or turkey.  It is reasonably priced at $22 per bottle. It is a white grape variety grown primarily in Austria by the Schmelz family who has been making wine for five generations. It shows!

3. Next up is D’arenberg “The Hermit Crab” Viognier Marsanne. According to the website, this wine is a, “perfumed white with a touch of green plum flavour. There are also faint apricot and herb overtones, and a suggestion of sweetness which adds to palate weight and texture.” You don’t need all of that flowery description, just trust me, this is good! This wine runs $12 – $14  per bottle.

4. Now for our pricey pick, Macphail Pinot Noir – Sonoma Coast Blend Red. Most red wines would be too heavy for a Thanksgiving dinner, but this is much lighter than a cabernet, and even me, the “say no to red wine girl” approved. Please note, this one is completely out of the single mom/teacher budget, so if you, too, fit either or both categories, skip this and move to pick #5. Had I known it had a $44 price tag, I probably wouldn’t have dared taste it. Prince Charming, if you’re reading this, this one is fabulous and is sure to impress my parents.

5. Last, but not least is Trajarinho. It actually goes great with seafood (not turkey), but I know several non-traditionalists who don’t eat turkey on Turkey Day (gasp!). This one is for you. We tried this with crab stuffed mushrooms, and both were great! It is crisp and citric with a classically dry style. The wine is made with Trajadura and Alvarinho grapes, hence the name “Trajarinho” and it runs about $9 per bottle.

Cheers to the beginning of a memory-making holiday season! So many reasons to be thankful this year!

Forgive me if it sounds a bit cliche, but when I saw you at the Nordstroms sale, it was love at first site. Yes, there have been many other pairs in my past, but somehow when I laid eyes on you, I knew that you were what I have been waiting for. You probably noticed that I have been avoiding you for awhile now. Please don’t take it personally. When I bought you, you were a little out of my league - zippable, but extremely snug! Somehow in the heat of passion, I couldn’t help myself and had to have you. Don’t worry, I plan on taking responsibility for my actions, if you’ll give me a chance. In a few weeks, I’ll take you out for a night on the town and we’ll start over. Promise I won’t let you down!

Love, The Girl Who Should Have Bought Jeans That Fit Her in the First Place!

Has anyone else ever bought clothes that were snug or even a size too small (with every intention of dropping those last five pounds)? I try not to do this, but did splurge on jeans this summer that sadly are still too snug (one too many cupcakes, I suspect!) Work and school are back in session and now it’s back to reality! It seems the treadmill and I have some catching up to do. Don’t think happy hour is on hiatus. Instead, I’ll be sipping the new LIGHT version of Mike’s Hard Lemonade- low carbs, 98 calories, and super tasty! Make sure you buy the one that says light!

Cheers to eating less, exercising more, but still enjoying a very happy hour! Have a great week!

“cupcake” defined…

1. a small cake, baked in a cup-shaped mold.

2. a beloved girl or woman

3. a chardonnay from the Central Coast of California that tastes great and is priced right.

Have you ever found yourself in the wine aisle lost amongst the sea of different labels (maybe it’s just me)? I guess the advice – “Don’t judge a book by its cover” can apply to wines…”Don’t judge a wine by its clever label.”. But if we’re being honest, when overwhelmed by options we are often swayed by the packaging.  So a wine with the label “Cupcake” on it naturally screams out “Pick me! Pick me!” to all of the cupcake connisseurs. A few months ago, I heard the pleas of one of those Cupcake wine bottles on the grocery store shelf and had to rescue it.

Does it taste like a cupcake? No…but I didn’t think it would. Since it’s a chardonnay, it will always be measured to my beloved…Kendall Jackson. Don’t get nervous Kendall, Cupcake Vineyards is a definite winner in my book, but you and I will never part ways. Cupcake Vineyards is flavorful and is similar in price - on sale for around $10.00. Costco had it not too long ago for $7.99 a bottle. James Laube of Wine Spectator recently gave it an excellent rating, 88 points on the commonly used wine scale (which means its a good, bordering on great choice). This is also a perfect bottle to bring as a hostess gift when visiting friends.

Cheers to cupcakes and cocktails all week long. I can tell it’s going to be a sweet week ahead!