Bow Tie Brunch Baby Shower

Have I mentioned that I love to throw parties?

Well, my friend Jennifer gave me an opportunity to do just that when she announced that she and her husband would be having a baby boy this summer!

Once I had decided on the theme, I immediately took to Pinterest for inspiration.  You can find most of the recipes and tutorials I used here on my Bow Tie Brunch Baby Shower board.  Jennifer is one of my best friends, and knowing her like I do, I knew she would appreciate all the little details I had planned for the day. 

I designed the invitation printable and all the signage for the party to match and then pulled it all together with scrapbook paper in the party colors.

In lieu of traditional baby shower games (which I believe everyone hates), I provided some fun activities for the ladies.  There was a "Make Your Own Sugar Scrub" bar and after Jennifer opened her gifts I passed out "Wishes for Baby" cards (pictured below) for each guest to fill out.  These were multitasking activities as they provided a take-home favor for the guests and, helped me create a meaningful keepsake for the mommy to be.



Dessert Table with Paper Lanterns



Mini Vanilla Cupcakes, Chocolate Ruffle Cake,
Bow Tie Sugar Cookies, and Powdered Donuts.

Bruchetta with Fresh Homemade Ricotta Cheese, Bow Tie Pasta Salad,
Roasted Red Perrper Soup Shots with Feta, Raspberry Sorbet Punch



Mimosa Bar

Bow tie onsie bunting over the activity table. 
I made the bow ties out of ribbon and tacked them on plain white onsies.
 Photo turned out blurry.



Hot Beverage Bar:  Hot Water, Coffee,
Cranberry Orange Scones and Tea Selection

The full menu also included a "yogurt bar" of cups filled with plain yogurt and blueberries, strawberries, granola and almonds in milkglass dishes.  I covered the breakfast portion of brunch with waflle and bacon bites on mini skewers and a spinach egg quiche. 

The party was a big hit and Jennifer got some great new stuff for baby Parker, who arrived on June 8!  Mom and baby are doing well!

XOXO

Morgan

Tried it Thursday

In an effort to be more consistent with my blogging (see: less lazy) I'm going to commit to a "Tried it Thursday" post every week.  Here I will share a recipe, product, activity or find that I have tried and let you know what I think. 

Today, I give you Rachel Ray's Super Sloppy Joes!

I've been trying to get away from using the packaged seasoning mixes when I cook.  It's mostly because of the sodium content and all those preservatives; oh, and because homemade tastes SO much better.  You see, I haven't always been in to cooking.  It's a fairly new passion of mine.  So, I used to think a package of Manwich on some browned ground beef equaled gourmet "homemade". 

I found this recipe online after a quick "ground beef meals" Google search.  I had some in the freezer and I did not want to run to the store before dinner.  I was very excited to find I had all (well, most) of the rest of these ingredients in my kitchen!

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/4 pounds ground beef sirloin

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon steak seasoning blend, such as McCormick brand Montreal Seasoning*

1 medium onion, chopped (I used red onion)

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cups tomato sauce**

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 crusty rolls, split, toasted, and lightly buttered***

*I didn't have the steak seasoning so I just seasoned with a bit of black pepper and seasoned salt.
**I'm lucky enough to have tomato sauce that my mom canned from her garden on hand, but the store bought kind will work too.
***Regular hamburger buns in the toaster work just fine!

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add oil and meat to the pan. Spread the meat around the pan and begin to break it up. Combine brown sugar and steak seasoning (or whatever seasoning you are using). Add sugar and spice mixture to the skillet and combine. When the meat has browned, add onion and red peppers to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions, peppers, red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce with meat for 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce and paste to pan. Stir to combine. Reduce heat to simmer and cook Sloppy Joe mixture 5 minutes longer.

This recipe made enough for my husband to have seconds and leftovers the next day. 

I made my mom's potato salad as a side.  It's one of those recipes that has never been written down, so all of these measurements are approximate and can be adjusted for your taste:

2 large potatoes, chopped and boiled until soft

1/2 cup Miracle Whip

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/4 cup sweet relish

2 hard boiled eggs, diced

pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!  I usually do a potato/person and adjust other ingredients accordingly.

I got two thumbs up from husband on this one and it was actually pretty quick and easy.  It will definitely be a repeat at our house!

XOXO Y'all!

Morgan