Party Like a Rock Star

The Skype and W(H)INE Girls Night 

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 Hostesses with the mostestess rejoice! Ellen Clifford, actress and blogger over at Scrumptious Gruel (http://scrumptiousgruel.wordpress.com) is here to share a wonderful party idea for a girls night with your friends who live in different cities.

Allow me to introduce you to two recipes. One is for the Campari Champagne Cocktail. The other is a recipe for maintaining long-distance relationships and your bank account:

The Skype and W(h)ine Date

Or, if you are not into vino and venting:

The Skype and Cocktail

The Skype and W(h)ine or Cocktail Date

Ingredients:

1) Friends you will love forever

2) Drink of choice

3) A computer and webcam or camera phone with Skype

Method:

1) Decide via text message(or email if you are going to be old-school about it) on a matching cocktail recipe, or a particular grape or region of wine.

2) If you want it to be a nice girl-date you can have pink cocktails.

3) Set a date and time keeping in mind time difference betwixt you and your chum.

4) When the time comes, skype each other up! You can open your wine or mix your cocktail in advance though I like to do this with my friends. Now, before the first sip the most important factor: the camera toast-this is my best girl back in St. Louis:

Then sample drinks and discuss. Just as good if not better than being at a loud, overcrowded bar. The initial layout for some of the booze used in cocktails may be high but hey, you’d easily spend that much on one night on the town, whereas you get literally dozens of drinks out of one pricy bottle at home. And it’s certainly less expensive than a plane flight.

 Now, to take your mind off the money I give you:

The Campari Champagne Cocktail

(from the Ultimate Bar Book)

1 oz. Campari

3-5 oz. chilled champagne(its ok to use a less expensive one since it’s being mixed)

Orange peel twist

Add champagne to your glass, Slowly pour in the bubbly, stirring a bit. Run orange rind around the rim of the glass and drop in.

Delightful. These may look like girly drinks but due to the Campari they pack a saucy bitter kick.  These are not just girl drinks, They are Woman Drinks.

Enjoy!

The Perfect Party Suit

Unique Hipster Bathing Suits

The Hostess Handbook loves kitschy things and these bathing suits certainly fit the bill! They are the perfect “look at me” hostess bathing suits for a summer pool party. These will also spark a lot of conversation! Weird, Wacky, Wild fun! Would you wear any of these? We are obsessed with the Candy Lip suit from Urban Outfitters!

   H&M Black Top will run you $18!

Urban Outfitters Skeleton Suit-  This unique hipster bathing suite will run you $150.00

Tasty Tip

Spring Pea and Radicchio Salad

with Mint Vinaigrette

 Contributing Chef- Abby Reibman- Author of  The Desk and The Stove

Super easy to prepare, spring salads are all about the right combination of ingredients; this crunchy combination of peas, radicchio, zucchini, and radish definitely fits the bill.  Impress your friends at a spring soiree with an elegant feast for both the eyes and the taste buds – This spring pea and radicchio salad with mint vinaigrette is the perfect tasty treat for lazy evenings shared with friends (and a glass or two of bubbly!)

 For the Salad…

for the vinaigrette…

For The Directions…

1-    Boil the peas for 3-5 min or until they rise to the top (cooked), drain and rinse with cold water.  Set aside.

2-    Sauté the zucchini sticks in a bit of olive oil and the crushed garlic for 2-4 minutes, just barely cooked.  Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

3-    Combine the thinly sliced radicchio and radish with the cooked peas and barely cooked zucchini in a large salad bowl.  Add the chopped dill and mint chiffonade and season with salt and pepper.

4-    Prepare the vinaigrette by combining all the ingredients into a squeeze bottle and shaking vigorously for 2 min.  Taste and adjust seasonings. Refrigerate until needed.

5-    Dress the salad with the mint vinaigrette and toss altogether.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

Hostess Gifts

Must Have Summer Kitchen Accessories

There are so many fun kitchen items for the summer season and The Hostess Handbook thinks they make perfect Hostess Gifts to bring to a party!  These colorful and unique must have kitchen accessories are all on your budget and super useful!

 These Sparrow Clips are a great kitchen item and so useful for sealing up your food bags! These will run you $9.99!

The Hostess Handbook is obvi obsessed with flowers and this flower pot measuring set is just so darling! We want to eat it up or measure it up or something! You get the drift!

The Hostess Handbook is also loving this yellow flower kitchen gloves and brush set from World Market! They are so FABtastic and now the gloves are on SALE! Oh how we love that word! $4.99 for the gloves and $7.99 for the brush. Get on it my budget babes!

DIY Diva

Krylon Chalk Paint Serving Spoons

The Hostess Handbook is sooo obsessed with chalk paint! Summer  is approaching and these Krylon Chalk paint serving spoons are FABtastic way to mark your food for a BBQ or backyard party! No more need for description cards at each food station on the buffet! These ‘Buffet Cards” are so simple to make and super cute to boot! And did we mention practical?

Take wooden serving spoons and paint about 3 inches in the middle of the handle. Make sure to use two coats and let dry fully before writing with chalk.

We like using these Krylon chalk paint serving spoons for specific dishes such as wild rice and lemon chicken. The serving spoons will make any dish kitschy and they are super inexpensive to make and can be used over and over again!

Try this DIY Diva project this summer and send in pictures of your crafts in action!

Party Like a Rock Star

Faux Pas Restaurant Review

A newbie French bistro on 3rd St, Faux Pas Bistro, checks out to be a goodie! This restaurant reminds us of an establishment you would find in NYC! Chic and cool but still laid back and set up for a good time. The restaurant has a great big bar area in the middle with two dinning rooms on either side. One room is a bit more fancy than the other allowing guests a more upscale experience while the other room caters to a more pub crowd! A big ole rustic fireplace makes this eatery seem like home!

The menu is the same in both rooms and is oh so delicious! The presentation is great and the portions enormous! The Hostess Handbook suggests you go with a big group of girlfriends and visit the bar for a bit on your way out! This is also a great Mothers Day brunch spot!

Diggin these Dishes:

-Seared Ahi Tuna

-Scottish Salmon

-Brussels Sprouts