Tequila Cocktail Recipes

One of the best parts (in my opinion) of Cinco de Mayo is the cocktails! Tequila is Mexico's national drink and what better time to incorporate some into your own Fiesta! There are actually a few different types of tequila. In case you want to impress your friends with some trivia, or are just curious, here is a great breakdown, provided by Divine Dinner Party:

Tequila Blanco/Plata: (White/Silver Tequila) This is a clear version of tequila, which isn't aged before bottled-- it's placed in the bottle right after being distilled (or, sometimes, is aged a maximum of two months before bottling).

Tequila Joven/Oro: (Young/Gold Tequila) This is going to be your typical bottle of Jose Cuervo, for instance, and is a blend of Tequila blanco and one of the more aged varieties described below.

Tequila Reposado: ("Rested" Tequila) This is a tequila that's slightly aged, generally in oak barrels, for less than a year. This is what gives it its characteristic color.

Tequila Añejo: ("Vintage" Tequila) Like a Spanish wine, añejo means that a particular drink is well-aged, a minimum of one year (but generally less than three).

Tequila Extra Añejo: (Extra Aged Tequila) This is a fairly new category for tequilas, and means that a tequila was aged three years or more in oak barrels, which makes it very smooth and gives it a characteristic flavor.

So now you know all of the different varieties of Tequila...so how should you use it? Why not try one of these delicious recipes for your Cinco de Mayo dinner!

Blackberry Tequila Cooler

Tequila-Grapefruit Cocktail

Sparkle in Your Eye Cocktail

Cuervo Especial Oasis Cocktail

Pineapple and Vanilla Margarita Tequila Mockingbird Cocktail

Easy Cinco De Mayo Dinner Menu

Cinco De Mayo is coming up next week and what better excuse to bust out the tortilla chips, margaritas, and enchiladas! I love Mexican food and today I am going to share some of my favorite, EASY recipes with you. Now you have no excuse....so get cooking!

The Best Chicken Enchilada's....ever.
(Trust me, I make them all the time!)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup

1/2 cup milk

2 cups diced cooked chicken

1/2 cup Picante Sauce (I recommend Medium, it adds more flavor. Mild was a little bland).

1 can (about 4 ounces) chopped green chiles

1 teaspoon chili powder

8 flour tortillas (8-inch), warmed

• Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl.
• Stir 2 tablespoons soup mixture, chicken, picante sauce, chiles and chili powder in a medium bowl.
• Spoon about 1/3 cup chicken mixture down the center of each tortilla. Roll the tortillas around the filling and place seam-side down in a greased 3-quart shallow baking dish.
• Pour the remaining soup mixture over the filled enchiladas. Cover the baking dish.
• Bake at 375°F. for 35 minutes or until the filling is hot.

Time for a few delicious sides....

Homemade Refried Beans
Mexican Rice
10 Minute Zesty Salsa

And saving the best for last.....

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
• 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup honey

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

Recipes from All Recipes and Campbells

Stay tuned tommorrow when I share some great Mexican inspired cocktail recipes and ideas for the perfect Cinco de Mayo tablescape!

DIY Doily Chandelier

I am still swooning over the gorgeous pictures I found over at Martha Stewart Weddings. How incredible is this DIY chandelier made from doilies?! It is stunning! The chair swags are breathtaking as well. The perfect combination of DIY and chic. Love!
Here's how to make your own:

You will need:

A 12-inch and 24-inch wreath form
ribbon
4-inch doilies
thread
needle

1. Fold 4-inch doilies in half twice. Open them, and scrunch them up a little at the center to give them the ruffled appearance of flowers.

2. Thread flowers onto yarn to make strands 12 to 16 inches long, and tie to wreath. Attach extra flowers to wire with double-sided tape to fill in gaps.

3. Hang with ribbon, placing the smaller ring lower than the larger. (Use pushpins or adhesive hooks to secure to ceiling.)

Kids Easter Crafts: Decorated Marshmallows

Yesterday I posted a great recipe to make your own homemade marshmallows and today, I'm going to show you a perfect way to use them, this weekend for Easter, with the kids. Thanks to Meaghan, from The Decorated Cookie, she shows you how to decorate them using some simple techniques! So easy for the kids, no mess, and a lot of fun! Head over here to find out how to make your own!

Marshmallow Recipe

Today's post features a super easy recipe that works great for dessert bars, favors, gifts, or are just yummy to eat all by themselves! What am I talking about......Marshmallows! You can make them in so many different flavors, and shapes and sizes so they are great to customize to meet the needs of the events you are planning. They are so versatile, easy to make, and tasty to boot!

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray

Directions

1. Place the gelatin into the bowl of a stand mixer along with 1/2 cup of the water. Have the whisk attachment standing by.
2. In a small saucepan combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, granulated sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium high heat, cover and allow to cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Uncover, clip a candy thermometer onto the side of the pan and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 240 degrees F, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Once the mixture reaches this temperature, immediately remove from the heat.
3. Turn the mixer on low speed and, while running, slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture.
4. Once you have added all of the syrup, increase the speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture becomes very thick and is lukewarm, approximately 12 to 15 minutes. Add the vanilla during the last minute of whipping. While the mixture is whipping prepare the pans as follows.
5. Combine the confectioners' sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl.
6. Lightly spray a 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture and move around to completely coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Return the remaining mixture to the bowl for later use.
7. When ready, pour the mixture into the prepared pan, using a lightly oiled spatula for spreading evenly into the pan. Dust the top with enough of the remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture to lightly cover. Reserve the rest for later. Allow the marshmallows to sit uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
8. Turn the marshmallows out onto a cutting board and cut into 1-inch squares using a pizza wheel dusted with the confectioners' sugar mixture. Once cut, lightly dust all sides of each marshmallow with the remaining mixture, using additional if necessary. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks.

Makes about 9 dozen.

Create fun shapes using your cookie cutters! Or use them for a fondue party! The possibilities are endless! Enjoy!

Recipe and photo from Yum Sugar

Nature Inspired Tablescape

In honor of Earth Day, that is this week on Friday, April 22nd, I thought I would feature some AMAZING nature inspired table designs for Tablescape Tuesday. (Found via Quincy Cottage) The tables were created for the Macy's Spring Bohemian Gardens event a few years ago and are truly stunning! The pictures speak for themselves....Enjoy!

Little "Cutie" Baby Shower

Some of you may have seen this baby shower featured on Pizzazzerie yesterday but I recently had the opportunity to style this amazing "Cutie" themed baby shower. If you couldn't tell Cuties (as in the little citrus oranges) were the theme for the event. The mom-to-be didn't want to find out the sex of the baby (how often does that happen these days?!) so it was fun finding a theme and color scheme that didn't lean towards one gender more than another. I came upon the "Little Cutie" theme while walking around in the grocery store, and the party hostess loved the idea! I kept everything orange related from the food, decor, and even the invites.

Heather from Chickabug created the invitations. I added the green and orange ribbons, that I weaved through the top, to give it more of a "country" feel. I wanted the event to have a "fresh from the orchard" feeling.

I created a juice bar where guests were served virgin "Tangerita's" and ice water. I dressed up the ice cubes by freezing slices of Cuties in them and in others I also shaved some of the orange peel and froze them in ice cubes as well. I loved the little "Organic" tags that I tied onto the Margarita glass stems!

For the table, I used Cuties as place cards, using leaves with guests' names printed on them. I had a local flower shop create centerpieces using Cuties and orange roses. They turned out gorgeous! For the main centerpiece on the table, I used tree branches and adorned the branch with leaf cutouts, green polka dot ribbon, and hanging Cuties, to create a miniature orange tree! They turned out so cute!

I also created a dessert table, resembling a fruit stand, featuring orange cupcakes, orange cake pops, and orange cookies. The cupcakes were topped off with edible sugar leaves to resemble oranges! Guests took home little fruit baskets, filled with yummy orange sugar cookies, and lined with green checkered tissue paper.

Guests were served various orange flavored food including "Cutie" salad with fennel, feta, and honey citrus dressing and orange ginger chicken with orange salsa. I loved the appetizers that were served! They were Cutie kabobs, which were paired with a honey mint yogurt dip. They were created using Cutie wedges, strawberries, and mint leaves. They were a big hit!

The shower was fabulous and all of the guests left with their full daily dose of Vitamin C!

I worked with some AMAZING vendors! A big thank you to all of them!

Printables created by Chickabug including menu's, invites, and cake pop tags
Flowers created by Dahlia's
Custom Cake Pops from Heavenly Cake Pops
Custom cookies by The Cookie Jar on Etsy
Edible Sugar Leaves (on cupcakes) from Sugar Robot on Etsy

Pretzel Recipe

It's almost time for carnivals, the circus, and outdoor events of all kinds...and what's the best part about those events? The food! Today I decided to feature a recipe that some think of as difficult but in reality is really quite easy! Pretzel's are so yummy and so fun to customize with different toppings and dips...make some with your family or friends this weekend! I know I will!

Soft Pretzels:

1 cup warm water (110F), divided
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 package)
2 tbsp honey
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt

2 tbsp baking soda
1 cup cold water

In a large bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the warm water with yeast. Stir to combine and let stand for 5 minutes, until foamy. Stir in the rest of the water, honey, 1 1/2 cups flour and salt, mixing until smooth. Add remaining flour a few tablespoons at a time, stirring until the dough comes together into a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 4-5 minutes. Place dough into a lightly greased bowl and let rise, covered with plastic wrap, until doubled in size, about 60 minutes in a warm room.

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dissolve baking soda in cold water in a medium bowl and set aside.

Gently deflate dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each piece into a "snake" about 16-18 inches long. Twist into a pretzel shape as shown in the photo below.

Dip each formed pretzel in baking soda solution and place on prepared baking sheet. When all the pretzels have been dipped, sprinkle with coarse sea salt or coarse kosher salt and slide into the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until dark golden brown.

Eat hot out of the oven, or freeze for later when cooled. Reheat at 375F for 5 minutes to re-crisp from frozen.

Makes 8 pretzels.

Photo's and recipe from Slashfood

Willy Wonka Party

It has always been on my party wish list to create an amazing Willy Wonka themed party (who know's...maybe it will be an upcoming Halloween party theme for me!) so when I saw these photos, I was instantly in love! The details from this birthday party, created by Tracie from TSJ Photography, are fab. The chocolate bar invitation with the golden ticket is beyond perfect, the dessert bar is amazing, the printables are genius, and I can't stand how cute those little gumdrops are! But the very best part....? The fact that you can recreate this party yourself with the exact same custom printables from Nellie Design! (She's the one that made them for this party!) Head over to Nellie's blog to see more great pictures from this event or head here to order your very own! Amazing job ladies!