Happy CAMper Birthday Party!

MY baby. My BABY. My itty, bitty, teeny, tiny baby turned 1 yesterday. Yep. 1 Whole Year Old. I'll save the tears for my pillow, and instead share with you the celebration part. The part that helped this entertaining loving momma look past the fact that we were entertaining because my baby is now a toddler.

Months ago, I was trying to come up with a theme of sorts. I thought the whole "Winter ONEderland" thing was adorable, but probably better suited for a girl. Back to the drawing board, and it dawned on me. Let's have a CAMping party. And it began. I am certainly not the first one to have a camping themed party, because as soon as I started searching I was bombarded with tons of cute ideas. I do believe, as far as the Internet goes, that I was the first person to have a CAMping party though, and that is where my creative intellectual property ends :)

I will warn you. It's time for photo overload. I am going to keep the dialogue to a minimum or this will, seriously, be the longest post in Blogger history.  Please feel free to ask any detail questions in the comments or the FB page!  :)

The Menu

• CAMping Chili
• CAMping Corn Chowder
• Baked Potatoes
• Potato Bar
• Fresh Cut Vegetables & Dip
• Dirt Pudding Cups
• Dirt Cupcakes
• S'Mores Bars
• Ants on a Log
• Bug Juice (Punch)
• Canteen Water (Punch)
• Bottled Water
• Assorted Beer
• Coffee

Weekend Prior: All decor and favors were completed

Thursday Prior: Cupcakes were baked

Friday: Chili and Chowder were made and refrigerated.  Dirt cups made and refrigerated.  S'mores Bars made and refrigerated.  Set up was started.

Day of: Cupcakes frosted, punch made, ants on a log made, all food was set up.

 

Kids received a "hiking bandana" with candy, homemade hot chocolate packets & Play-Doh

Adults received a take out box with homemade hot chocolate packets and homemade trail mix

I couldn't have been happier with how it all turned out.  We had about 50 guests, and just to tell you how big our families are, that accounted for no friends...at least that aren't family. :)  We are so fortunate to have had so many people come and celebrate with Cam!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

On the 7th & 8th Days of Christmas

...the Happy House gives to yoooooou...Cookie Party Details!

The 3rd Annual Cookie Party Plan

Lunch Menu:
Deli Honey Ham, Roast Turkey & Hard Salami
Whole Wheat and Honey White Sliced Bread
Mustard & Mayo
Cut Romaine Lettuce
Cut Vegetables and Dip (brought by my sister)
Baked Macaroni & Cheese (brought by my mom)
Assorted Soda
Ice Water
Homemade Hot Chocolate

Cookie Assortment:
Sugar Cutout Cookies
Swedish Spritz Cookies
Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

Tips for Planning:

1. Make Cookie Dough the night prior- can be kept in the fridge
2. Do all cleaning the night before- I always wait to do the half bath the day of
3. Have boxes available for guests to take cookies home
4. Don't bother cleaning the floors ;) A good sweep is good prior, the floor is a sprinkle magnet!
5. Use plastic/paper tablecloths. Frosting will get everywhere.
6. This is the perfect occasion to buy some cute paper plates and napkins. The kitchen sink and dishwasher will be busy with baking dishes. Keep the lunch dishes simple!
   

A Cookie Party Recap :)

I set things up just a touch differently this year. Something I've realized is we don't all actually sit down at the same time to eat lunch. We mostly focus on the kids so they can get to decorating. So my key was not to worry about having 20+ seats. I simply opened up the dining table, and we set up some tables in the basement for some extra seating. The kids like to play down there while they are waiting for the cookies to cool anyway!

I set up all the food on the dining table as well, it worked just fine! I only have a picture with the sandwich goods, I was too busy once everything else was there.
Simple. Not fussy. Not even a tiny bit!

The plates, napkins and silverware were on the sideboard. And I had cake stands all over the place awaiting the cookies.

The beverages were in their normal spot. I did cans this year, and it worked great! This was before the ice, but I just poured it over the cans. Don't forget to set a Sharpie out by the cups. 10+ kids will never remember which one is theirs!


And then the overview of cookie central.


Lastly, here is our newest ornament for the tree. My sister gets me an ornament each year to remember the cookie party. This one is perfect!

(and because I always like to take away a lesson or two at the end of any party)

Things Learned for Next Year:

1. Make 5 batches of cookie dough (instead of 4) and start baking the cutouts the night prior- will allow for more time to bake other types of cookies and no wait time for cooling cookies
   
2. Designate someone to take photos during the actual festivities. I really wish I had done this this year. I was way too busy in the kitchen, and as you can see, I only have the prep photos :(

Overall, it was a HUGE success. I got phone calls and emails from my sisters the next day saying how much they love cookie day. Can't wait for next year!

Entertaining: Game Night Style

One of Carl's oldest friends said we needed a game night. Challenge accepted. I'll jump at any opportunity to host, especially with this group of friends. It's always a good time.

Menu

Appetizers:
Vegetable Plate with Dip
Cheese, Grape and Cracker Plate

Dinner:
Classic Beef Chili
Baked Potatoes with Loaded Bar

Dessert:
Apple & Cherry Hand Pies

Beverages:
Assortment of Holiday Beer
Hot Cider with Spiced Rum
Ice Water

Overall Plan

Friday

• Come up with a menu and cleaning plan
• Grocery shop

Saturday:

• Clean
• Prep, bake, cook all food

We kept this really simple. It was a game night, so obviously not formal. The focus was more on keeping the evening comfortable and low key. Which also meant my tasks were minimal since there was no table to make beautiful. But no worries, I still had lots of food spots to prep :)

The rest of the details are accompanied by photos, because I know that's what you actually are here for anyway, right?

Here is my to do list on the dry erase board of our Daily System. I just wrote down what I needed to do on Saturday so I wouldn't forget anything. It's also helpful for Carl to know what I need to get done in case he has spare time and can help.



This isn't the first time you've seen these appetizers. They are my go tos. They are diverse enough to make everyone happy and are always gone at the end of the night. Plus they are simple. No reason to not stick with what I know. But I have some entertaining coming up where I'll, hopefully, kick things up a notch, I'm excited for that!

Cheese, Crack and Grape Plate:


Assorted Vegetables & Dip with my Appetizer Plates in the background:

Assorted Beer which is Carl's job

Spiced Cider (with the option of Spiced Rum)- I simply added some cinnamon sticks to a slow cooker with apple cider. Gives it an extra kick and the hot cider really was a hit!

Baked potatoes were wrapped in aluminum foil, and cooked in the roaster at 400 degrees for 90 minutes. It kept them warm through the night as well. The chili cooked in the slow cooker. Both these details helped me get prepared throughout the day rather than a mad dash right before the guests arrived.


Baked Potato Add Ons- Chopped Green Onions, Chopped Bacon, Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Sour Cream, and pre-sliced Butter separated with Parchment Paper.

Cherry & Apple Hand Pies. The "recipe" will be up on My Happy Meals shortly.

All in all, simple, tasty, fun and relaxing. We ate and then played games until well into the morning, especially since we gained an hour that evening. I'm not sure why we don't do this more often! Have I inspired you? Are you ready to entertain? Are you..."game"? ;)

Easter Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend turned out great! Not only did our weather here in Michigan rock, but all three of the events we had were lovely! I can't help but believe that planning is the key to a successful gathering. :)

You can see what all we had planned for in this post, but I'll just recap Easter Brunch since that was my main event for the weekend. I had planned out the menu:

Cherry Chicken Salad Croissants
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Egg Salad (brought by Carl's mom)
Vegetable Tray
Fruit Tray
Simple Punch (ended up skipping this)
Coffee

At first I had planned on using our china, but then I thought that my fun spring pieces Carl got me for my birthday last year would be much more festive. Plus, keeping it a touch more casual worked nicely as I could throw all the dishes in the dishwasher before we left to head to my parents' house. I loved how it turned out! Here is how it looked before we went to bed on Saturday night. The table was set as much as possible.


Sunday morning was spent arranging the vegetables, cutting and arranging the fruit, assembling the sandwiches and doing the last minute cleaning. Here it is right before Carl's family arrived. All the food tasted delicious! It was the perfect lighter meal seeing as everyone had heavier dinner plans later in the day. The menu will definitely be on my go to list!


You know I love me some tulips, so of course those were my flower of choice, but the aqua vases give them a different look from my normal choice of clear glass vases.



Did you do any entertaining or contribute food this weekend? This gets me so excited for BBQs this summer! I simply can't wait. And I don't have to wait too long. Cam's Baptism is in May, so you'll definitely see those details starting soon!

Prepping for Easter Weekend

This weekend will be a busy one. I love Easter though, so I'm OK with it. Saturday we are having an Easter Egg Hunt at Carl's Aunt's house. I offered to coordinate the menu which includes bringing a few things.

Easter Egg Hung Menu:

• Cherry Chicken Salad on Croissants
• Egg Salad
• Deviled Eggs
• Vegetable Tray
• Fruit Tray
• Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
• Cupcakes

I'm only on the hook for the Cherry Chicken Salad, Croissants and Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, but Sunday gets a touch more complicated. We are having a very similar menu, but I'm in charge of more.

Sunday Brunch:
Cherry Chicken Salad on Croissants
Egg Salad
Fruit Tray
Vegetable Tray
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Simple Punch

Lastly, we'll head to my parents' house for dinner. Since we'll arrive later, I volunteered a dessert rather than an appetizer.

Easter Dinner:
Lattice Top Classic Apple Pie

I really wanted to also make a strawberry rhubarb pie but rhubarb isn't in season yet. Boo. As soon as I see it at the store, I'm making one gosh darn-it!

I've got my work cut out for me the next few days, but by breaking it up, it makes it seem less daunting. I started on my tasks tonight and I'm already pooped. C'mon self! You can make it!

Tonight:
Grocery shopped
Cooked chicken for salad

Friday:
Make cherry chicken salad
Deep clean in preparation for Sunday

Saturday:
Make Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Make Apple Pies
Prepare and arrange croissants
Prep vegetables and fruit for Sunday
Set table and arrange dishes for Sunday
Go to Easter Egg hunt and then church

Sunday:
Spot Clean
Arrange vegetable and fruit trays
Set up food and beverage area
Brunch and then head out for Easter Dinner

What's on your to do list this weekend? Big plans for cooking or baking? Do you have the honor of hosting something? Tell me about it! I love hearing your ideas!

Holiday Bake, Decorate & Take Party Recap

I'm a bit late in my recap here, but I haven't been looking forward to this post, because I completely forgot to take pictures of the set up before everyone arrived. :( My sister arrived early with my nephew and then we were totally consumed with playing with him, photos were the last thing on my mind. But it is what it is and I'm sure you forgive me, so we'll move on. (You can see the prep post here)

This year was extremely similar to last year with a few slight changes. One change we did was I had enough seating in the dining/living room for everyone to eat lunch. This kept the kitchen clear for a small buffet line table and the rest was reserved so we could get the cookies started right away. Here is the set up broken down by room and was how I had it just prior to everyone arriving.

Dining Room/Living Room Set Up:

• Put both leaves in the dining table to maximize seating there
• Set up one 6 foot folding table with folding chairs for the little kids
• Decor was simple- just used what I already have on the table for the holidays
• Tablecloths were simple white paper ones to make cleaning up easy...I am 35 weeks pregnant, gotta take breaks where I can!

Kitchen Set Up:

• Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer and ingredients for frosting and baking mat, roller, cookie sheets and cooling racks out on the counter ready for cookie prep
• Eat in kitchen table set up with plastic tablecloth (kids are messy when dealing with sprinkles and frosting!)
• Plastic plates to decorate the cookies on were on the table along with all the containers of sprinkles
• New for this year, we had a 4 foot table that has adjustable heights- we chose the highest which is counter height- for the buffet table. Deli Sandwich and Salad Bar along with Mac & Cheese bites in a chafing dish.

Once lunch was done, I got started on the cookies, my sister got working on the frosting and my mom put away the lunch items so we'd have room to set out the cookies once they were frosted. The kids were decorating the cookies much faster than we could bake them! Everyone took home cookies in the little Styrofoam containers I had bought last year and I made sure to fill up my own container before they were all gone.

This was after all the cookies were rolled, but you can see where the cookie/frosting prep was and then the kids were able to just circle around the kitchen table to decorate. The non-cookie prepping adults were all comfortable in the family room :)

Sadly, this is the best shot I have for you of the buffet table. The chafing dish (since it was still hot) is still there, but believe me, the mac & cheese is long gone! Then we just set the plates of finished cookies there. But just imagine a really lovely spread of fresh turkey, ham, cheese, lettuce and bread on the left and all the fixings for salads on the right. Drinks were on our small section of the counter next to the fridge.

See the need for a PLASTIC tablecloth here folks? That's a lot of frosting and sprinkles people. I love these messy kids!

And this is what happens when you decide to host a party for 10 adults and 10 kids when you are in the home stretch of making your own kid. After about 8 hours of being on my feet, I relaxed the rest of the time with a glass of water, which I'm fairly certain all of it made it's way to my ankles a few hours later...oops.
Overall, another raving success! I'm trying to imagine how difficult it will be next year with an 11 month old in the mix, but we'll see when we get there. As chaotic as it might sound/look, I promise it really wasn't. We had such a good time, and I really am looking forward to next year. If you didn't have time to organize a Christmas Cookie party, why not start planning one for Valentine's day? Some cute heart shaped cookies would be adorable!!

Cookie Bake, Decorate & Take Party Prep

It's time for my Annual (I guess since my sister called it that last year) Cookie Party. See, she even brought this cute little ornament to make sure I'd remember this year :)


The idea came about because my sister used to make oodles of cookies and give them to all of us at Christmas, but I thought it would be more fun to make them all together! Last year I made it a girls and kids thing. The guys got mad and my brother came anyway. So, this year, everyone was invited :)

So now to the important stuff, the planning. Here was my list of to dos:

• Pick a date: Check! (December 11th)
• Send out the Evite: Check!
  
• Choose a menu: Check! (Below)
• Go grocery shopping: Check!
• Clean the first floor: Will be done throughout the week- but we have a good jump start from our mega clean last weekend
• Make 4 batches of sugar cookie dough: Friday Night
• Get all the tables set up for lunch and cookie decorating: Friday Night
• Clean sweep of the house: Saturday Morning
• Bake first couple rounds of cookies: Saturday Morning (this is to help with the lull we had last year since the kids were decorating so fast!)

I like to serve lunch to give our stomachs a nice non-sugary base before we start "decorating" the cookies which we all know turns into a lot of cookie eating! My immediate family (including siblings, spouses and kids) is 24. Yes. 24. So lunch is simple as it's not the main focus.

SANDWICH STATION:

• Deli Oven Roasted Turkey & Honey Ham
• Swiss and Colby Jack Cheese Slices
• Bacon
• Lettuce and Tomato
• Mustard and Mayo
• Whole Wheat and Honey White Bread

SALAD STATION:

• Romaine Lettuce
• Diced Tomato
• Diced Cucumber
• Cheddar Cheese
• Sliced Mushrooms
• Green Onion
• Croutons
  
• Ranch & Homemade Italian Dressing
  

MACARONI & CHEESE BITES

DRINK STATION:

• Hot Chocolate Packets with Hot Water
• Cold Apple Cider
• Regular & Diet Soda
• Ice Water

Are you hosting any holiday parties this year? If not, it's still not too late! Part of the reason I love this party is that none of my siblings (or myself for that matter) are rushing to make to the in-laws that day. We just get to spend some quality time together and make a mess while we're at it! Sometimes the casual parties are the most fun. Gather up your family or friends and enjoy the season! But remember, casual =/= no planning. C'mon that's the fun part!

Bachelorette Party Recap

Can I just say how great it feels to have enough energy to host again? Zombie Baby is finally letting me do things, anything, something that doesn't involve my butt on the couch for hours at a time! I've already got a handful of events in my back pocket just waiting to get planned. Yes, yes, I know my energy might not last long, but I'm going to try :)

So, back to the reason we are here. I hosted a small Bachelorette Party for Carl's cousin's fiancee who also happens to be one of my very dear friends. She had already had her crazy last girl's night out on a weekend trip, but she wanted something low key that could include those that couldn't travel. Essentially, this was a quaint girls' night, which ended up being the perfect Saturday evening!

I'm not really into the typical Bachelorette type stuff, and neither is she. We're quite alike my "little sister" and I :) She wanted a simple, classy party. I opted to just have everyone meet at my house for a drink and some hors d'oerves before heading out to our favorite local sushi spot.

Since we were going out to dinner, I wanted to keep the eating at my house light. I went with:

• Chili Cheese Chip Dip (Served in the slow cooker in the kitchen with tortilla chips)
• Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Cracker and Grape Platter (served in the dining room)
• Chocolate Covered Strawberries

*Give your table dimension by varying heights of your platters- cake stands and upside down bowls are easy ways to get elevation.
*Wash and DRY DRY DRY your strawberries before dipping them in the chocolate to ensure the melted chocolate sticks well.

For Beverages, I also kept it simple

• Pre-made Pomegranate Martinis (on ice in the aluminum container)
  
• Sam Adam's Oktoberfest (on ice in the aluminum container)
• Wine
  
• Soda
• Ice Water

*I bought that tin last year for like $8 at Home Depot and it was worth every single penny. It makes keeping cold beverages on ice easy! Plus, it makes an adorable way to display them :)
*Using actual glassware and ceramic plates is an easy way to up the fancy factor. Looks better and more personal than plastic and paper.

Decorations were easy since I had just had the Cider Mill Crawl at my house the Sunday prior. The sunflowers were still looking good- talk about some worth-the-money fresh flowers- two events in one!
*Change the water daily and trim the stems every other day to make your fresh flowers last longer.
*Candlelight Candlelight Candlelight. (That's self explanatory)

As always, I tried to do as much ahead of time as possible, but other than cleaning this was all mostly gametime prepping. I made the chocolate covered strawberries just a few hours before go time and then put together the cheese platter and kept them in the fridge. The dip was started about an hour before guests were to arrive so it could get nice and melty and hot!

Surprisingly, with the 8 girls in attendance, all the dip was eaten and the chocolate covered strawberries...well, there was no trace they ever existed! Dinner was a huge success, I'm guessing, since we were at the restaurant for close to 3 hours! Thank goodness they weren't too busy that night or we might have gotten the evil eye from the staff.

Aaaand that's the recap. Have I inspired you to have some girl friends over? Don't let it be intimidating! Snacks + Drinks + Girls = Copious amounts of chatter and a good time!

2nd Annual Cider Mill Prep & Recap

I definitely didn't have time last night to put together a prep post on the 2nd Annual Cider Mill Crawl, but I'll combine my prep with the recap today instead :) First of all, if you have no idea what I'm talking about when I say Cider Mill Crawl, you can read about the first one here.

Prep:
Luckily, my good friend Shelly really took the reigns planning this year's event. We had decided to keep last year's winner in the competition and revolved the rest of the crawl around that. We picked two other mills to add to the challenge.

Last year we had lunch prior to leaving and then I had dinner for us back at my house afterward. That on top of mounds of doughnuts was way too much. What? Last year was a learning process :) To improve this year, we opted for no lunch prior, to get an earlier start, eat a liiiittle less doughnuts and then just have a nice big salad bar waiting for our return while we rated the mills. This also made the planning a little easier since everyone could just bring some of their favorite salad toppings and we'd have a huge selection.

So that brings us to my actual prep which was mostly cleaning and decorating.

Saturday:

• Finish buying decor, flowers, etc.
• Clean dining room and living room
• Choose all platters
• Set up table

This is how things looked on Saturday night:
*And as always, you can click on the pictures to see them larger



Sunday:

• Finish cleaning the first floor- kitchen, living room, 1/2 bath and foyer
• Finish up little details- hard boil eggs for salad, wipe down platters
• Get ready

Recap:

I tackled all the above projects in about 2 hours prior to our start time. We left as soon as everyone arrived (after putting any refrigerated salad items in the fridge) since we had 3 cider mills to get to and each one was about 15 minutes away from the next. Like I said before, we kept the doughnut tasting at the mills to a minimum- a much better plan than last year. We bought 6 doughnuts and a 1/2 gallon of cider at each location. We weren't all in doughnut comas before even getting home, so that was a positive! As soon as we got back, we made our really yummy salads and started tallying up our scores.

I had to rush off to work after we were done, but once I got back I finished cleaning up and now I'm just waiting for the dishwasher to finish so I can unload...and reload, but for now, please enjoy for your viewing pleasure, a little photographic proof.

Baby H's first Cider Mill Crawl:
In the midst of our final tasting/scoring:





The whole gang with bellies full of cider and doughnuts, the best kind of belly :)


My Crawl Tips:

1. Have a GPS system to make navigating a breeze.

2. Limit yourself to 3 Cider Mills- trust me, you will have more than necessary to test :)

3. Keep your non-doughnut menu items light- the salad was a much better choice this year.

4. Be sure to check hours of operation before finalizing plans.

My General Tips:

1. As always with any function, do as much ahead of time as possible. Having the table set the night before is such a time saver!

2. Guests notice the little details- fresh flowers, the little location cards, bows on the glasses, candles, etc. Small touches make a big difference :)

3. Take note of the things that didn't go the way you thought they might and make it a learning experience.

We were already discussing plans for next year. For those of you not near cider mills, get creative! Maybe you have a local festival that has different foods you can rank or maybe you want to find the best pizza in the area. Get a group of friends and make an event out of it! Then, of course, tell me about it :)

Thanks girls for another successful crawl!