Hostess Gift Ideas

Host/Hostess gifts are an absolute MUST in my opinion.  As someone who likes to entertain often, I always appreciate a guest showing up with some sort of gesture.  The gesture never has to be anything over the top, just some sort of contribution.  Personally, I am a huge fan of giving gifts that can be used by the host/hostess for entertaining in the moment or for a future gathering.  Food and beverage gifts are always appreciated and a great way to contribute, so for today's post I wanted to share a few of my favorite hostess gift ideas as of lately.  

Eat This Yum Gift Pack

January is the perfect time of year to stock up on those perishable holiday gift sets that are still lining the aisles of grocery and retail stores.  Why? Because they are now on sale and make for fabulous hostess gifts!

Eat This Yum is a gourmet preserve brand that I absolutely love (see this post)!  Their jams have the most delicious and unique flavor profiles, that can be served with an array of dishes and meals (ex. breakfast pastries, hors d'oeuvres, panini sandwiches and even alongside a cheesescape!).  I was fortunate to find this gift set on sale for $9.99 at Whole Foods, but even if you aren't able to find this set in stores, you can purchase it online for $18 (still very so reasonably priced).  This is a gift that any host/hostess will enjoy and appreciate having on hand for entertaining.   

Artisan Vinegars

Giving 2-3 different artisan vinegars as a gift to your host/hostess is another great idea.   Most of the time when we are grocery shopping, those fun and exotic ingredients always look tempting to purchase, but then practicality takes over and we refrain from buying those fancy condiments.  While they may not be practical items for weekly grocery shopping, they do make for excellent host/hostess gifts.  This pair of fruit pressed vinegars by A L'Olivier makes for a fabulous gift.  They can be used for marinating meats, making a salad vinegarette, etc. The set of 2 can cost anywhere between $30-$40, which makes it a very generous gift in addition to being both unique and delicious.  The best part?  You don't have to go to some uber-fancy specialty food store to find this type of gift! I found these vinegars at my local Whole Foods, making this not only a practical gift for your hostess, but also practical in terms of accessibility for you!

Olio Santo Olive Oil

Since I have made a point of suggesting artisan vinegars, it seems only fair to suggest my favorite gourmet Olive Oil, Olio Santo, for a hostess gift as well!  In all seriousness, this is a fabulous olive oil that comes in a very generous sized bottle and is something that almost any host/hostess will use for a variety of purposes.  Giving a practical, high quality gift like a delicious olive oil (wrapped with a few fresh sprigs of rosemary) is lovely, thoughtful and will surely be appreciated!

Skull Vodka

Crystal Vodka and The Rolling Stones have partnered to release a 50th Anniversary collectors edition skull vodka gift set that is nothing short of FABULOUS and in my opinion, a bar cart essential (see this Pinterest board).  I love this gift because it is unique, fun, functional and decorative (I mean, so beyond chic!).  Even after the vodka has been enjoyed, the skull bottle can be refilled and continue to adorn your bar/entertaining space.  This collectors gift typically retails for $90-$100, HOWEVER I have managed to find this fab gift for $29.99 at this local DC liquor store (you can call them for shipping details if you aren't in the DC area).  This gift is always a big hit and one that I highly suggest you consider not only for others, but for your own bar as well! 

January Kitchen Tools

It's the dead of winter and without fail, I find myself craving something warm and delicious for breakfast daily.  While oatmeal is always the healthy breakfast of choice, there are times (especially Saturday mornings) where I can't resist whipping up a batch of delicious homemade waffles to enjoy with my husband while watching TV in our pajamas.  So for today's post (and my list of this month's kitchen tools) I wanted to share my waffle making essentials with you all.  Whether you are making classic, belgian or even Funfetti (pictured above) these tools and tips will help you achieve waffle making perfection.

Waffle Iron

When it comes to selecting a waffle iron, here are a few things to consider: 

• Shape - Round, Square or Novelty Shaped
• Style - Belgian or Classic.  Each style of waffle requires a different recipe, and the size of the waffle iron will correlate to the style waffle.  Belgian waffles are thicker and fluffier, so the waffle iron will be larger and often is double the size of a standard iron.  A classic waffle, while still delicious is thinner both in size of the waffle and waffle iron.  
• Capacity - Waffle irons come in half and whole sizes, so it's important to determine if you are going to be using your waffle iron primarily for single serve use or to feed a family.   

I am all about a classic waffle, so I opted for the All-Clad Classic Round Waffle Maker.  It's user friendly, offers a variety of cooking settings and produces waffles with perfectly browned and crisp exteriors and fluffy soft interiors every time!  This waffle iron is also great for cooking up french toast (pictured above) in a snap with little to no mess!.  

Waffle Tongs

Waffle tongs are not something you typically think about when you're getting ready to make waffles, but you should.  Reason being, when it comes time to take the waffle off of the iron, people tend to resort to using forks or metal tongs which can and will scratch the nonstick surface of the waffle iron.  Scratches on nonstick metal surfaces will cause your food to stick and ultimately produce an imperfect/damaged product for every use.  These Williams-Sonoma Ultimate Waffle Tongs are great for removing waffles from a waffle iron, cooking paninis and even flipping bacon on a skillet!  Heat resistant, safe to use on most cookware and best of all, dishwasher safe!  In my opinion, every kitchen should be outfitted with a pair of waffle tongs.  

Cookie Scoop

When it comes to pouring the batter onto the waffle iron, I am all about using my cookie scoop.  Sure, there are plenty of batter dispensing devices on the market (like this one), but in my opinion, they take up a lot of storage space and at the end of the day, really only serves a single purpose.  Using a cookie scoop allows you to create waffles of various sizes and can also be used for pouring cupcake batter and of course the obvious…cookies!!!  The cookie scoop is a fabulous waffle making tool, affordable and of course, its also dishwasher safe!   

Waffle Book

I received the book, Waffles: Sweet & Savory Recipes for Every Meal by: Tara Duggan, as a gift for our wedding.  I didn't think much of it at first.  It was a nice book about waffles, but I mean how much could they really have to say about one food?  Of course, as soon as I opened the book I immediately ate my words!  This book not only has the most fabulously delicious waffle recipes, but it also teaches you how to go about making waffles from scratch (which has been life changing for me).  For those of you who have never experienced a waffle made from scratch, you are missing out!  They are packed with flavor, moist, fluffy and will put any box mix to shame.  If you have a chance to flip through this book, please do!  It has been a waffle making game changer for me and I think if you have the chance to read it, you will agree!

Closet Renovation Project

Over the past few months, we have been undergoing a bit of construction in our house to create a new butler's pantry and coat closet.  As I have mentioned in various posts, while I love my kitchen, it is not the biggest and the storage is limiting for someone who frequently cooks and entertains.  Just to be clear, by "limiting," I mean that every time I needed to use my food processor or get out my cake stand, I would have to go upstairs to the attic to pull those items out of storage.  Not ideal but hey, it worked.  

We had initially planned to have a built-in custom cabinet installed to the right of our existing coat closet, however the quotes we were receiving from various contractors had my husband and I turning white in the face.  It wasn't until my mom actually took a look at the space and suggested re-purposing our current closet, that we finally saw the light.  She suggested that we consider reducing the existing coat closet and inserting a pantry to create into a hybrid butler's pantry/coat closet. Finally we realized we were onto something!  Of course as the universe might have it, a California Closet's Store opened up down the street from our house right around this time, so we decided to go and talk to a closet consultant to see what they could do for us.  

After a store meeting and home meeting to measure the space, California Closets sent us 3 different proposals for how the space could be designed (at various price points).  My husband and I made a few additional tweaks to the proposal we liked best, the contract was finalized and the building process began!

The whole process took about 3 weeks including construction, below are the details from start to finish along with the options we selected.      

Phase 1

Before we could have the new closet unit installed, we needed to have a general contracting team come in and widen the existing door frame.  Widening the door frame would provide us with the necessary latitude to install maximum depth shelves, drawers and rolling shelves.  

The construction took approximately a day and a half to complete.  When all was said and done, it looked great and they were very respectful/careful with our property.  The one piece of advice I have for anyone about to undergo construction in their house is -- get ready for an invasion of dust!  Our construction team used tarps, cloths, etc… and still the dust that covered every surface post project was incredible.  If you are going to have any work done to your home, I would strongly encourage you to avoid having the work take place near any time when you plan to be entertaining.  

New Coat Closet

Our new coat closet is now a fraction of the size it used to be, but it's perfect for holding our everyday coats or our guests coats when entertaining, has a storage space above for all of Dolly's supplies (see this bin) and even room for a few everyday cleaning tools like our Swiffer!  My husband and I do not have extensive coat collections, so we found it much more beneficial to allocate the space towards kitchen/dining storage.  

Pantry

As I mentioned above, we opted to have the doorframe widened so that we could install the maximum depth shelf option.  We have enough room to house placemats, cheeseboards, cake plates, dry goods, baking supplies, the majority of my small kitchen appliances and even a few of these fabulous bin organizers.  I feel like I am honestly swimming in storage space these days, which is something I never dreamed would be possible given the size of my kitchen paired with my serious habit for kitchen equipment and entertaining accessories.  

Drawers

Oh what a luxury it is to finally have additional kitchen drawers!!  As I have mentioned in previous posts (like this one), our kitchen is only outfitted with two drawers, so having additional drawers included in our new butlers pantry was an absolute MUST.   Prior to having these new drawers, I was storing my kitchen linens in a basket situated in a high cabinet, which was a total nightmare.  These new drawers have given me the room to store and easily access my dish towels, oven mitts, aprons and table linens.  Talk about luxury!  

Rolling Shelves

We opted to have 2 rolling shelves installed on the two bottom levels of our pantry.  Reason being - who wants to crouch down onto the floor and dig around the back of a shelf for an item?  Definitely not me.  Adding the roller shelves allows for easy access to all items on both lower levels, which is especially helpful when you are storing big bulky kitchen appliances.  In addition, the lowest rolling shelf has doubled as a pet food/feeding storage space.  Dolly's bowls and kibbles can finally be stored in the same location, making her meal prep super easy and convenient.  

I would have to say that what I loved most about using California Closets for this project, was the ability to customize every single aspect of this cabinet.  We were able to choose the doors, interior and exterior hardware and stain colors for all shelves and drawers.  The best part?  Because California Closets is a closet manufacturing company, the cost to build this pantry was a fraction of what we were being quoted by various independent contractors.

As this project comes to a close, there are a few key takeaways that I wanted to make sure to share with you all while everything is still fresh in my mind. 

1. Before trying to create a new storage space, see if you can re-purpose an existing space.  You will save on expenses and keep your home from looking crowded if you use a space you already have. 
2. When it comes to specific home improvement work, you will save money by going to the experts instead of an independent contractor who is most likely not readily equipped with the materials that may be needed for proposed project (like a custom closet).
3. Err on the side of more details as opposed to less.  For this project, I pulled out everything I had wanted to store in this new closet so that the designers at California Closets could get a more accurate idea of my desired end goal. 

While we still have a few loose ends to tie up, like the two holes in the floor where the old door frame used to be, the lion's share of the work is complete and I couldn't be happier with the final product.  Starting off 2016 on an uber-organized note is the absolute best!

Styling My Bar Cart

I have been wanting a bar cart for some time now (by that, I mean years).  During that time, my desire to own, style and use a bar cart for my various entertaining activities has also grown significantly.  So much so that over Thanksgiving this past year, I put together a needs assessment for my husband detailing all possible uses for the cart including the obvious bar service, dessert and coffee station, birthday breakfast in bed delivery, etc. By the time Christmas came around, I think everyone was just tired of hearing me talk about the bar cart because my entire family had offered to buy it for me.  

To my delight and somewhat surprise, my husband came down the stairs on Christmas Eve with a large wrapped box containing none other than the bar cart!  Literally I felt like a little kid again, wanting to "play with my new toy" immediately.  I did manage to get it assembled before we left for Utah, but it wasn't until we returned from our trip that I actually had the opportunity to get to work styling it.  

I must admit I did spend an excessive amount of time on Pinterest researching various ideas for how to go about outfitting my bar cart (see this board).   Once I had conducted a fair amount of research, the next step was to assess and collect the items I already had in my house that I thought could be used/displayed on my bar cart.  I knew that my Williams Sonoma Bar Tool Set, Kim Seybert Linen Cocktail Napkins, Diamond-Cut Mixing Glass, Gold Foil Coasters (similar here) and Vintage Nut Dish would all be excellent additions to the bar cart, but it was actually my bottle of Napa Cellars Saint Helena Cabernet Sauvignon (part of their V Collection- a must try!) that ended up being the inspiration for my bar cart color story.

The next phase was shopping.  First stop?  Target of course!  Let me just start by saying that Target is definitely on point this season with their home decor collection!  In an effort to incorporate a few non-bar decorative items of various textures and sizes, I opted for this faux plant,  a Threshold Casted Metal Steer Skull on a Stand and this round basket to hold fresh lemons. Next, I went to World Market for a set of these gold stemless wine glasses to place next to my wine service on the top tier.  Finally, to finish off both levels of the cart I purchases an array of unique and delicious bottles of various liquors including: District Made Vodka (love including a fab local find), Hangar 1 Buddha's Hand Citron Vodka and Hendrick's Gin.  

I can assure you that my bar cart will most definitely be making regular appearances on the blog in the future.  I am so over the moon with this fabulous entertaining vehicle. The endless possibilities it holds for all of my hostessing and decorating endeavors has me completely inspired for 2016.  Stay tuned as there will be plenty more bar cart themed posts to come!

Healthy White Bean and Wheat Berry Soup

Now that the holidays are officially over, it's time to swap out my "festive" (aka indulgent) eating habits for some healthier choices.   Since we are in the dead of winter, I thought I would start by sharing a recent creation that is healthy, packed with vitamins and perfect for keeping warm during this chilly time of year-- White Bean, Veggie and Wheat Berry Soup!  This soup is filled with an array of delicious flavors and it is without a doubt my favorite go-to meal at the moment.   While it may look like a slightly complex recipe, I can assure you that it is totally do-able and the number of servings this recipe yields also helps to justify the time spent in the kitchen preparing this dish.  If you have time for a little cooking session this weekend, I strongly suggest giving this recipe a try.  

Ingredients

• 3 Lg Shallots
• Olive Oil
• 2 5oz pkgs Shiitake Mushrooms
• 3c Cooked Wheat Berries
• 1 Yellow Onion (quartered and sliced thin)
• 1 1/2c Diced Celery (4 Stalks)
• 4 Parsnips Peeled and Diced
• 1 Leek - Cleaned and Chopped (See this Video)
• 1 Parmesan Cheese Rind
• Bouquet Garni (Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme)
• 9c Vegetable Broth
• 3c Water
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Cracked Pepper 
• Whole Wheat Baguette (optional)

Initial Cooking Prep Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
2. Slice 2 large shallots thinly, spread on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper
3. Lightly spray shallots with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
4. Bake for 5-8 minutes, until slightly crispy, set aside
5. Meanwhile, in a 12-inch skillet, heat 2Tbs Olive oil on medium heat
6. When hot, add 2 packages of shiitake mushrooms (stems removed), sprinkle with salt and a splash of vegetable broth
7. Cook mushrooms until tender (8-10min) and set pan aside

For the Soup

1. In a large dutch oven, heat 3Tbs olive oil over medium high heat
2. When oil is hot, add 1 shallot (thinly sliced) and cook until it begins to turn golden brown
3. Add celery, onions, parsnips and leeks to dutch oven.
4. Cook down (aka Sweat) vegetables until onions begin to look translucent (about 8-10min)
5. Add vegetable broth, water, parmesan cheese rind and bouquet garni to dutch oven and simmer for 30 minutes (covered)
6. Once simmered, remove bouquet garni and cheese rind
7. Add cooked wheat berries, shiitake mushrooms and drained cannelloni beans to soup
8. Simmer for an additional 10 minutes
9. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.  **Note- you may need to add anywhere from 1-3tsp of salt to this recipe to properly season. 
10. Serve soup with a garnish of charred shallots on top and toasted whole wheat baguette slices on the side.