Winter & Holiday Entertaining
This category offers tips, inspiration and solutions for Winter Gatherings.
- CHRISTMAS, Dinner, ENTERTAINING, EVERYDAY LIVING, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, NEW YEARS, PRODUCTS WE LOVE, RECIPES, SPECIAL PROMOTIONS, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
Filet Mignon with Creamy Leek and Green Peppercorn Sauce + Kansas City Steak #GIVEAWAY
The holidays are all about bringing out your best and indulging in all your favorite recipes and flavors. My indulgently creamy fresh green peppercorn sauce is a traditional companion to steak. I couldn’t help but add and my other favorite filet mignon companion, leeks, to the creamy sauce. The bite of the bourbon and the tang of the brine-soaked green peppercorns offset the richness of the cream. It is the perfect topping to your favorite steak and you just happen to be in luck… scroll down for the recipe and further details on the Kansas City Steak Company giveaway. Crisp weather calls for cozy gatherings and great gifts to show…
- CHRISTMAS, ENTERTAINING, EVERYDAY LIVING, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, NEW YEARS, SEASONAL DECORATING, SEASONAL LIVING, TABLE IDEAS, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
5 Secrets To Hosting a Successful Holiday Open House
Your social calendar is filling up but you promised yourself you would make the time to host a Holiday Open House this year. What is a hostess to do?? Not to fear. My 5 Secrets to hosting a successful holiday open house is here to get you through with ease. Simply set the date, send out the invites and follow my 5 tips for hosting a Holiday Open House. #HolidayGoals coming true! Secret #1 to Hosting a Successful Holiday Open House :: Plan Ahead I know… I just told you that you can do this with only weeks left in the holiday entertaining season, and now I am talking about planning!…
- CHRISTMAS, COCKTAILS, EVERYDAY LIVING, Fall Entertaining, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, RECIPES, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
Wassail Holiday Open House Punch
One of my favorite ways to gather with friends and family during the holiday’s is by hosting a Holiday Open House and what better way to greet guests than with a bowl full of Holiday Wassail punch. WASSAIL defined NOUN 1 Spiced ale or mulled wine drunk during celebrations for Twelfth Night and Christmas Eve: 1.1 Lively and noisy festivities involving the drinking of plentiful amounts of alcohol; revelry: VERB [NO OBJECT]archaic 1 Drink plentiful amounts of alcohol and enjoy oneself with others in a noisy, lively way: 1.1historical :: drink to (fruit trees, typically apple trees) in a custom intended to ensure a fruitful crop: 2 Go from house…
- dessert, Fall Entertaining, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, RECIPES, SEASONAL LIVING, THANKSGIVING, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
Baked Sweet Dumpling Squash with Pumpkin Custard
As you know I LOVE a gourd. Gourds of all kinds can be found on my entranceway, dining room table and kitchen counter, but when I found out one of my fav was actually considered a squash my world was turned upside down! Sweet Dumpling Squash are readily available in the Fall and are great for filling kitchen island baskets with seasonal color but let’s open up our eyes – and mouths – to the wide variety of recipes for Sweet Dumpling Squash, a hit in my home is baked with pumpkin custard. Serve it for dessert on Thanksgiving or to end your upcoming Fall gathering. Squash versus Gourd versus…
- ENTERTAINING, EVERYDAY LIVING, Fall Entertaining, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, SEASONAL LIVING, TABLE IDEAS, THANKSGIVING, TIPS & LISTS, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
Plan Ahead For a Stress Free Thanksgiving Day
Whether you are a seasoned pro or it is your first time hosting Thanksgiving the number of details to keep track of can be daunting to say the least. You need the Ultimate Thanksgiving Planning Checklist. How many plates do I need? How will I serve the potatoes? How long do I defrost THE bird? How do I keep track of who is bringing what? What if I run out of forks before dessert? And the details add up if you are hosting overnight guests. Where will they sleep? Do I have time to put up the wall paper in the main floor powder room before Thanksgiving? What fork goes…
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5 Valentines Day Tablescape Ideas
Just like searching for true love, there are SO many way to set the perfect Valentines Day tablescape I thought it might be best to pull together my favorite looks from over the years here on An Appealing Plan and from the mighty web it self to inspire you this season. Still one of my favorites, this vintage über pretty pink tablescape features, Ombre XOX cookies set atop of a white china cake stand and a romantic combination of pink tulips, wax flower and pink stock. It is perfect for Galentine’s Day or a week day dinner for two. These ball jars filled with Red and Pink Ranunculus are perfect…
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Snowed In. Staying Cozy On A Snow Day.
This weekend as Jonas hit the Northeast and thousands of people where snowed in and homebound beneath 20 + inches of snow, we too grabbed our blankets, cuddled up on the couch, turned on the weather channel and imagined were snowed in. Perhaps its growing up in the Northeast, with the long grey winters broken up by the excitement of a magical snow day, it is one of those few childhood thrills you never really lose – thank god there are a handful left. We received pictures from friends “back home” of their towns, backyards, and talked about storms from the past. In the midst of the weekend it was…
- CHRISTMAS, CRAFTING, EVERYDAY LIVING, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, NEW YEARS, TABLE IDEAS, Where is Krayl, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
A Lustrous Holiday Entertaining Event at West Elm
I love sharing ideas about holiday entertaining and even more when it is in a a beautiful and inspirational venue like a West Elm shop! Recently I co-hosted a Lustrous Holiday Event at the West Elm Hyde Park location in Tampa, FL where we offered ideas about incorporating trends into your holiday style such as a Modern Relish Tray, a Raspberry Mocktail Punch and Metallic tablescapes with personalized votives. My co-hostess with the mostess Tabitha Blue, of Fresh Mommy Blog, welcomed the guests and discussed easy holiday wrapping ideas using craft paper – which we also covered the gorgeous West Elm tables with to protect them, but to also give…
- CHRISTMAS, COCKTAILS, ENTERTAINING, EVERYDAY LIVING, For Your Bar, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, NEW YEARS, RECIPES, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
Raspberry Mocktail Punch Recipe
I love my champers but when entertaining you must consider the needs of your guests and offer an non-alcoholic beverage. This Raspberry Mocktail Punch is fruity, festive and alcohol free. A mocktail is great for non-drinkers as well as hydrating all your guests but be sure you don’t skip on flavor. Just because you are skipping the alcohol doesn’t mean you should skimp on taste – in fact your flavor is could be even more important in this mocktail punch recipe! Using raspberry puree as the base for this punch you can add regular sparkling water or try a flavored water to add even more variety to your bar display.…
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Easy Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas
Wrapping Christmas gifts can be easy and chic with craft paper in white, chalkboard and traditional brown craft paper. Craft paper rolls are inexpensive and can be found in craft stores but also in office supply store and with the addition of a few clothes pins and yarn you can quickly create chic custom Christmas wrapping. Once the packages are wrapped in the craft paper use a hot glue gun to secure the clothespin and tuck a sprig of evergreen or rosemary in for a fragrant and festive detail. Use a metallic Sharpe to personalize the package. Black chalkboard paper adds style and can be stamped with chalk ink…
- Breakfast, Brunch, CHRISTMAS, GATHERINGS, HOLIDAYS, NEW YEARS, RECIPES, Winter & Holiday Entertaining
Orange Zest French Toast Bread Pudding
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No excuses needed – eat what you like when you like. Figure it out in January! During the week I am a breakfast smoothie girl, but on the weekends, especially special days like Christmas and New Years Day I love a breakfast you can linger over. We frequently have savory waffles or poached eggs however I was looking to switch it up this Christmas day and have something semi made ahead that I can pop in the oven while we are opening gifts and then enjoy throughout the day. I started looking at French Toast recipes but they always seem to leave…
