"What to Wear, What to Wear...."

I come from the Emma Watson school of thought when it comes to modesty and sexiness. Some of you may have read her famous quotation: "What’s sexy about saying, ‘I’m here with my boobs out and a short skirt, have a look at everything I’ve got?’ My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder." What class! We could use more of that kind of thinking in the world, am I right? Most of my close friends feel the way I do. Even before I had two babies, when I felt great in my own skin, I still kept my skirts down to my knees and even covered my shoulders (unless, of course, I was working out or playing sports or something.) I think modesty shows confidence; it shows that you believe you have qualities that are more deserving of display than your sex appeal. Leading your personal introduction to a room of people with sex is a misguided attempt at attracting the cream of the crop at best, and a deliberate selling out of oneself at worst. I know there are many women who will say they dress the way they do simply because those are the clothes they like. I've heard it. I get it. Do I think all women have to cover their shoulders like I do in order to be considered modest? No. But people assume you put your best foot forward, so when the "foot" you've chosen to start with is your body, don't be surprised if your mind and character go overlooked.

Where have all the Hepburns gone? 

Okay, I got a little carried away there on accident... Back to dinner parties!

The reason I said all of that is because I'm about to show you some of my favorite party looks that I've come across while perusing Pinterest, and a couple of them I'd have to alter in some way in order feel comfortable. Still, I think these looks are so beautiful, so I use them for inspiration. And I thought maybe you'd like some inspiration for your next party too! Most of these are dressy, which I think is perfect for Winter.

Tell me what you think!

Source: collagevintage.com

Source

Source: thechloeconspiracy.com

Source: 26.media.tumblr.com

Source: fashforfashion.com

Source: Cinco_Mom @ flickr

Source: chrisanthemums.tumblr.com

Source: popbee.com

Santa Brought Me a Second Husband: Gunter Wilhelm!

I don't often shop at Whole Foods because of the steep toll it takes on our bank account, but whenever I do go I like to play Count-the-North-Face-Jackets. I'm telling you, the next time you're in Whole Foods or R.E.I. or some other outdoorsy or earth-friendly shop, do it. 1/3 of the people there will be wearing one. Also try to notice how good everyone looks! Healthy and smart.

Besides brushing shoulders with the eco-minded, North-Face-donning elite, another reason I love Whole Foods is their gorgeous produce section. I have never seen a more pristine display of fruits and veggies as exists in one of their Northern Virginia locations that I was at last week. It was like the Garden of Eden for tree huggers and everyone there seemed to be under its spell. World's freshest onion, ma'am? How about a few completely unblemished zucchinis? A variety of yam that actually crisps when you roast it? Perhaps one of these intriguing, pokey little green things you've never seen before? Don't mind if I do! I imagine something like this kind of internal dialogue happening in all of our minds as we peruse the kaleidoscopic pyramids of glory.

Finally, I love Whole Foods because they do things like wrap their deli meat in brown paper like so:

Thanks to Shawn's co-workers for giving us a gift card to Whole Foods as a congratulations on the arrival of baby Louisa!

Makes me feel legit.

Speaking of things that can make you feel legit, I got the knives of my dreams, the 11-piece set from Gunter Wilhelm, for Christmas from my awesome parents-in-law! I may or may not have cried a few happy tears when I opened them. Anyway, Gunter Wilhelm is now my second husband since he's the only man other than Shawn that I plan to spend the rest of my life with. These German-steel beauties have a lifetime replacement warranty! *sigh* I'm in love.

Aren't they gorgeous? Am I spoiled, or what? Here I am about to take my first slice with my first GW knife. (I kept thinking how big and boxy the Santoku was until I realized I was using the Asian Cleaver. hahaha  I have a lot to learn still, apparently.)

The Taj Mahal of cutlery. I felt like I was going to chop right through the cutting board! If you want to test them out, Gunter Wilhelm tours various Costco locations and sells them there at a generous discount.

Happy New Year! Anyone have any exciting resolutions?

Grandma Helen's Lasagna (from Italy!)

Grandma's lasagna, steaming hot from the oven...

Bongiorno! It's only January 3rd, but I can still be proud that I'm off to a good start on my New Year's resolutions, right? Last night I made one of Shawn's favorites- his mom's lasagna that she got from her mom that she got from an Italian lady she met. Gotta be good if it's from Italy, right? It's a little different than others you might be used to. This one calls for a creamy cottage cheese (don't be afraid), and, as you can see, is topped with tomatoes and sausage instead of mozzarella. No need to be sad; there's plenty of mozzarella to be had inside. I've had this many times now, and it is deee-licious and certainly guest-worthy.

To make it extra special, serve it with Red Grape Caesar Salad, Italian Sodas, and Jane Maynard's yummy Roasted Garlic Bulbs, which conveniently bake for the same amount of time as the lasagna. Since the bulbs call for a little extra heat than the lasagna, what I would do is raise the heat to 400 after the lasagna's done and leave the garlic in the oven for another 10 minutes or so while the lasagna's setting. Serve them with olive oil, freshly grated, quality parmesan, balsamic vinegar, and, of course, a fresh loaf of good Italian bread. Offer each guest their own small appetizer/bread plate so they may concoct their own little dipping blend!

Restaurant-inspired Roasted Garlic Bulbs from This Week for Dinner.

Back to the main affair...

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Grandma Helen's Lasagna adapted slightly by Janna Patterson

Serves 12

Ingredients

1 lb Italian sausage (Find a great fennel sausage, or go with a medium or hot if you can handle the heat. I think there's more flavor this way.)

1 clove minced garlic

2 T fresh basil

1/2 tsp salt

1 lb can whole tomatoes

2 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 (10-oz) pkg lasagna noodles 

3 c creamy cottage cheese (or small curd cottage cheese if you can't find this. I added a tiny amount of heavy cream to my small curd cottage cheese to make it creamier..)

2 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (the good kind)

2 T parsley flakes

1 1/2 lbs mozzarella cheese sliced thin (you can use shredded, but sliced works best)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Brown sausage slowly. Spoon off fat. 

Add next 5 ingredients. Simmer uncovered until flavors are blended. 

Cook lasagna noodles until tender in a large amount of (salted) boiling water and some olive oil to prevent sticking. 

Mix cottage cheese, eggs, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and parsley to make the cheese filling. 

Place half the cooked noodles at the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread noodles with half of the cheese filling. Cover with half of the mozzarella cheese, and then half the meat sauce. Repeat layers. (There should be two of each layer, ending with the meat/tomato mixture on top.) Bake for 30 min. 

Before cutting, let stand for 10 minutes to allow filling to set.

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Hosting in the New Year

The New Year's Party was a success, I'm happy to report! Many young children buzzed out on Italian sodas running around the kid zone in the basement and lots of adults engaged in conversation while the music played in the background and the icicle lights hung securely in place, thank goodness. Let me tell you, hosting an Appetizers Three Ways Party is the way to go! Easy, easy, easy, and so much fun. The food was fantastic! Bruschetta, meatballs, dumplings, spinach dip, cocktail wieners, amazing fruit and fruit dip, cookies three very creative ways, veggies... Yum, yum, yum, yum. One couple was fresh into town so they were unable to get too creative in the kitchen. Instead, they brought chocolate three ways. No complaining here, let me tell you! I want you all to be able to share in the festivities, so I'm working on getting you a recipe for some fruit bruschetta I tried. So cool and so delicious! 

Okay, here's what I have around the corner in the first part of 2012. Shawn's birthday is just two weeks away, and he's also turning 30. Being the introvert that he is, he wants something quiet and intimate- just the two of us celebrating. After all the holiday bustle, I can't say I'm disappointed he's wanting to go small. Still, I want it to be special. More to come on his birthday. For now, just know that it'll involve some use of this beauty we received for Christmas from my awesome in-laws:

Vitamix 5200

After that we have Valentine's Day which is on the rather unromantic day of Tues. We'll see if we can't make it something to talk about anyway. 5 days later is my 30th birthday. 4 weeks after, though I can hardly believe it, will be our little Kate's first birthday! Whew! Off to a busy start! 

I hope hosting is on your New Year's Resolution list. Maybe even try going beyond hosting birthday or holiday parties, and into the realm of just-because hosting: my favorite! Isn't there something therapeutic about celebrating life and friendship without any particular reason or pre-established date? You can do it! Start planning soon, and come back and tell us what you've got up your sleeve! 

Happy 2012!

New Year's Eve Party Prep

Three days left of 2011, which means I have about two days to go before my little New Year's Eve Party. Today, I focussed on decorations. I should tell you that I am not particularly crafty, so unless the DIY decor is pretty easy, I tend to rely on lighting.

For this particular party, I've opted for icicle lights inside! Besides being appropriate because it's Winter, the drop-down look mimics the gorgeous visual fanfare of balloon ribbons hanging from the ceiling, such as in this photo featured on marthastewart.com. String the lights from wall to wall across the ceiling diagonally. The more narrow the angles you make, the more lights you can string, and the more drama you'll create. Why am I hanging them days in advance? Besides wanting to lighten my to-do list as I approach party time, I want to make sure that if anything were to go wrong with the lights, like a string falling loose, it happens well in advance of the guests arriving so I have time to fix it. If you don't have any icicle lights in your collection, now would be a great time to make the investment, as you may very well find them discounted as part of post-Christmas sales! 

Italian Sodas, Part II / New Year's Eve Party (Last Minute!)

I don't know if there's ever been a Christmas when I didn't know what my plans would be at least several months in advance. Lots of people know what they'll be doing for the next five Christmases. But I can think of many years that I found myself in the few days leading up to New Year's Eve still having no idea where I'd be celebrating. Apparently, I'm not alone. Turns out a handful of our friends have been planning to wing it this year. Well, not on my watch! My awesome husband is indulging me, once again, and has agreed to throw a last-minute New Year's gathering with a few friends. 

Here's how we're doing it:

• INVITATIONS: Pingg is where I go. If I'm hosting something formal, I might send out paper invitations, but otherwise, I'm a Pingg girl (though you can send out paper invitations through them, come to think of it!) Try it! I think you'll like it better than Evite. Anyway, they go out this weekend.
• START TIME: Typically a New Year's Eve party might begin around 8:00 or 9:00, but our guests have kids that are too young to stay up late, so we're doing our social celebration early, around 5:30-6:00.
• CHILDCARE (if needed:) Save your guests the headache of finding someone to watch their kids at home. If you know a good sitter, have her/him come over with a few of their friends and hire them to man a designated kid-friendly space. Parents can bring activities for the kids, and you can keep a couple of fun films on hand as a back-up.
• FOOD: Appetizers three ways... for dinner. You could do it earlier in the day or later in the evening, but it works out best for our guests to do it around dinner time. Which puts us in a food dilemma. I really hate to just forget about the fact that the food usually served on New Year's Eve is ours devours. So, I'm throwing out dinner time rules, and we're eating appetizers. For a fun twist, we're asking each couple to bring one appetizer prepared three ways. Want to do the same? Here are some classics that you and your guests can get creative with:

          -Chips and dip

          -Bruchetta

          -Pigs in a blanket

          -Jalapeno poppers

          -Lettuce wraps

          -Shrimp

          -Fruit salad

          -Dumplings

          -Egg Rolls

          -Cheese and crackers/bread

          -Crudites

          -Guacamole

          -Mozzarella sticks

          -Mini quiche

          -Finger sandwiches

          -Quesadillas

          -Deviled Eggs

          -Fondue 

          -Skewers

We are doing the drinks: Italian Sodas Three Ways

Vanilla and raspberry are all-time favorites, and I couldn't pass up the pomegranate. 

Seltzer water and club soda are virtually the same, so choose either. Costco sells a big case of seltzer for under $6.

Torani's tasty and affordable. Get them at World Market for $7/each. The pumps are about $2.50/each.

Cream and stirrers

We don't have actual stirrers, but we do have a slew of chopsticks!

Just needs a good stir....

...and she's ready. :)

Italian Sodas, Part I

If you read the fine print on my Amaretto Pound Cake a la Mode, you'll see that I didn't use actual amaretto, but a syrup (since we don't use alcohol unless it's cooked out.) Here's where I'll also confess that I had a hard time finding almond flavored syrup, and improvised with English Toffee and a wee bit of almond extract. But I learned that you CAN get almond syrup without having to order it! It's at World Market! Anyway, so I have all this syrup now and was trying to figure out what to do with it. Back in college I worked for a time as a server at a restaurant that offered Italian sodas, and since I had some heavy cream in the refrigerator asking to be put to good use, it was a no-brainer. Some club soda from the store, ice from the freezer, and badda bing, I had myself some fancy drinks. ..Well, fancier than the water and milk that I drink 99.9% of the time.
Here's a photo tutorial of how to make one of these puppies, and tomorrow I'll show you how I intend to use them to ring in the New Year!

Fill with ice, oh, about half way or a little more if you'd like.

If you're using a pump, your Italian soda will probably take about 4 pumps of syrup, give or take depending on the size of the glass, of course.

Pour in club soda..

...up until about there, leaving a little bit of room for...

...the heavy cream! Lots of Italian sodas don't have cream, but why not offer it and people can make them however they want?

Stir, stir, stir and serve! Note: it kind of looks cool to stir the syrup and soda before adding the cream and then just stir it a little once the cream is in. That's not how I did it this time, but there's always tomorrow. :)