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Posts Tagged ‘quick and easy ideas’

Outdoor Open House

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, tagged , , , on June 12, 2009| 1 Comment »

red wagonAs we head into the warm, wonderful days of summer, think about hosting an outdoor open house. Most people love to be outside in the fresh air and what better way to connect with family and friends than at an outdoor party!

Here are a few quick tips to make your outdoor celebration run more smoothly:

• Position ice-filled coolers, buckets or even large planters filled with small bottles of water and your choice of beverages in several locations. Make sure guests are always in easy reach of hydration.

• Fill a basket, sand-bucket or other fun container with outdoor necessities like bug-spray, sunscreen, and hand wipes.

• If you don’t have a lot of shade, bring out a basket of assorted  ball caps and wide-brimmed straw hats. You don’t want sunburned guests when you entertain.

• Have citronella candles and umbrellas at the ready to protect guests from an evening attack of mosquitoes or an unexpected downpour.

• If you don’t have outdoor speakers, bring out a CD player or radio. Make sure the music is loud enough for guests to enjoy, but not loud enough to disturb the neighbors.

• Make sure hot foods are hot and cold foods are cold. In the heat, it is very easy for food to spoil quickly. Put hot dishes in servers that can be warmed by sterno or votives or set on warmed bricks. Put cold foods on ice. Use dip chillers or create bowls of ice by placing water in a bowl to cover the bottom and freeze. Add more water, place a smaller bowl inside so water comes up sides and freeze. Once frozen, remove the ice bowl from the larger bowl. Use the smaller bowl inside of the ice bowl to serve. Make sure you place ice bowls over a pan or somewhere they can drip.  Or fill festive containers with ice and nestle your bowls inside, like the red wagon shown here.

•  Guests are generally good to clean up after themselves if you provide a place for it. Have garbage cans handy and have a dishpan or container to handle dirty utensils and dishes.

Invite some guests over this weekend, relax, enjoy and take the party outdoors! If you have any outdoor entertaining tips to share, I’d love to hear from you. Post a comment, subscribe to my newsletter or contact me directly.

Happy Entertaining!

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Dessert is No Trifling Matter

Posted in Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Fast Recipes, tagged , , , on June 9, 2009| 3 Comments »

berry-trifleOne of my favorite desserts to make is a trifle. It is fast, easy and for whatever reason, guests always assume you’ve gone to a lot of effort to prepare it.

It has an elegant presentation and the best thing about it is you can change it up to whatever flavors you are craving or fruits that are in season.

You can make a one large dessert in a trifle or pedestal bowl or you can make individual desserts that are quite eye-catching and appealing.

The basic ingredients for a trifle include:

Cake, cut into bite-sized cubes

Pudding

Whipping Cream, whipped and lightly sweetened (add a dash of Confectioner’s Sugar)

Fruit

The wonderful thing about trifles is that you can use any combination and come up with something so tasty. You start with the cake cubes, then layer pudding, fruit and whipping cream and continue layering until your bowl or container is full.  If you are in a really big hurry or have company drop by unexpectedly, you can use a pre-made cake, instant pudding, a can of pie filling and frozen dairy topping and have a show-stopping dessert ready in mere minutes.

My favorite combination is pound cake*, chocolate and vanilla pudding, strawberries and raspberries and real whipping cream. On the layers, I alternate the chocolate pudding with the raspberries and the vanilla pudding with the strawberries. Top with a layer of the whipping cream and then shave chocolate curls across the top and finish with one glorious berry.

You can use any type of cake but pound cakes, angel food cakes and sponge cakes work well. You can also use any type of fruit. In the summer, fresh peaches, nectarines and berries are so good. In the winter,  I like to use tropical fruits like pineapple and mandarin orange sections. You can use kiwi and bananas or any type of pie filling. Use any flavor of pudding. Spring is a great time to try lemon with sponge cake and berries. Autumn is a perfect time to blend gingerbread with pumpkin pudding and candied nuts or cinnamon cake with apples and caramel sauce.

The combinations you can create are only limited by your imagination. Have fun with this and I guarantee your guests will not only be impressed, but delighted with the delicious blend of flavors.

What is your favorite combination? I’d love to know! Please leave a comment!

*For information about the pound cake I use or the serving pieces in the photo, please subscribe to my newsletter.

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Quick Cleaning Your Bathroom

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Quick and Easy, tagged , , on May 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

If you are running behind and have guests arriving at your door any minute, make sure you do a quick cleaning in your bathroom. This is one area that people will notice if things aren’t quite up to par. Take just a few minutes and follow these simple tips to have your bathroom looking spiffy in a jiffy!

If you have a love affair with white or light colored linens – let it go! Royal blue, navy, plum, cabernet, emerald green even black linens will keep your bathroom looking fresh and be much easier on you!

Empty the garbage can. There is nothing worse than an overflowing garbage can to make guests feel uncomfortable.

Drop one of those blue cleaner tablets into the toilet tank and no one will know that your bowl is in less than pristine condition. Wipe down the sink, the tub edge and toilet seat. Give the mirrors a quick swipe with glass cleaner.

Give the shower curtain a  shake, straighten the rugs and give the floor a fast wipe with the glass cleaner towel from the mirror.

Light a fragrant candle, set out a fresh hand towel and you are good to go!

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