it was a "crafty" good time

How is it Monday already?! Sorry for the lack of posting last week. I won't go on and on about it but I've been dealing with some gnarly exhaustion and I started grinding my teeth in my sleep this weekend (thanks anxiety and stress) which has led to a whole lot of pain. So I apologize! Moving on.. This past weekend I hosted my second craft workshop/get together. Last time I hosted one of these it was pretty simple (we decorated pumpkins). This time I decided to step it up a bit and I showed the girls how to make garland. I made the decision last week to keep the snacks and bevys simple. The featured beverage was champagne over raspberry sorbet or ginger ale over raspberry sorbet. It was very yummy!  

more after the jump »

Party Food

When planning a party that will have food it's important to plan ahead. When I was planning Lauren's party, I already knew she wanted a BBQ. So hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers, etc. had to be there. I spent the weeks before her party carefully planning and making lists. Thanks to my new interest in coupons (blame Extreme Couponing) it helped with the cost. Of course you can't just have burgers at a party. You need other foods to snack on. I know Lauren loves chips and salsa so we made sure that was there. You can't have chips and salsa without guacamole so I found a market that sold guac by the pound. I also decided to make my pasta salad. It's easy to make and it's the perfect addition to a BBQ. I wanted some "fun" additions. I knew Lauren wanted jello shots at her party. However, she's a vegetarian so you can't go into a regular grocery store and purchase gelatin free "jello" (aka vegan gelatin). Thankfully Whole Foods came to the rescue. Btw - Jell-o shots are so easy to make. I also found a recipe for Corona Popsicles. You can read more about that here. Below is the recipe for Jell-o shots.

Basic Jell-o Shot

3 oz. Jell-o (or vegan gelatin)

8 oz. boiling water

3 oz. cold water

5 oz. alcohol you'd like to use (I used vodka)

You want to bring 8 oz. of water to a boil. Add in the 3 oz. mixture. Make sure the mixture is completely dissolved before adding the 3oz. of cold water. Once you have done that add 5 oz of whatever alcohol you'd like to use. Stir. Pour into whatever you want to use and refrigerate. Voila!

Corona Popsicles

I've been planning my best friend's birthday for the past month or so. Around Cinco de Mayo I came across a Corona Popsicle recipe. I figured it would be perfect for the theme of the party. They are very easy to make. Instead of waiting a few hours for it to solidify and then putting in the Popsicle sticks. I found it was much easier to use Dixie cups as the mold, cover with a little bit of tin foil, puncture a hole in the middle and put the Popsicle stick in. I guess it depends on your freezer but I found it took roughly around 5-6 hours to solidify. I recommend making these the night before. I wasn't able to see how they tasted but everyone who had one enjoyed them. Success!