In honor of the unofficial beginning of the grill season, I’ve compiled a list of amazing grill-inspired recipes. Whether you’re looking for healthy steak rub, a sauce to spice up any grilled meat, the perfect portable cookie or a signature drink to serve the masses, there’s something for everyone in this Hip Hostess grill-inspired recipe roundup.
Use leftover gift tags to hang a sweet note on a homemade Mother’s Day bouquet. Write a little note and tie it to one of the flowers in your arrangement for a pretty little detail that mom is sure to appreciate. Happy Mother’s Day!
In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I’ve compiled a short list of some of my favorite Mexican-inspired recipes. Margaritas, guacamole, salsa, chips and a few of these great recipes are all you need to get your party started. (more…)
Enliven your table with an arrangement of mini bouquets set in juice glasses or small mugs. These mini bouquets are adorable and economical: A few bunches of inexpensive spring flowers pepper your entire table. Pick a few small-budded flowers in similar hues, such as tulips, daisies and daffodils. Trim the stems short enough so the flowers will peek over the rims of the glasses or mugs. If using mugs, place a small round metal floral frog in each mug to help shape and hold down the arrangements (the frog will show through clear juice glasses, so rather than using the frog, just fill them a bit tighter to keep the stems in place).
This is a great idea for a spring shower or brunch. After your event is over, place one of the mini arrangements next to the sink in your bathroom and the rest on bedside or end tables around the house.
My newest obsession is yogurt from White Cow Dairy – a small, family farm in Western New York that uses dairy produced from their grass-fed cows. White Cow yogurt is hands-down the most delicious yogurt I have ever tasted. Their flavors are amazing: rueberry (rhubarb berry), lemon raspberry, lemon ginger, pumpkin and red fruit (grapefruit) are a few of my favorites. The flavors are seasonal and change often.
The yogurts contain purees and chunks of fruit rather than being flavored and strained. The grass-fed milk produces a wonderful texture – rich and creamy with a luxurious mouth-feel.
These amazing yogurts are pricey ($3.25/ 5.5 oz jar), but worth every penny. They’re a nice treat and would be wonderful to serve at brunch. Set out several jars in various flavors with pretty teaspoons to give your guests a taste of this truly special yogurt.
White Cow yogurts are available in select Western New York store (including Wegmans) and in NYC at Murray’s Cheese (both locations). Hopefully they’ll expand their retail outlets. For now, they’re worth a special trip.
In these healthy “pizzas” large portobello mushroom caps stand in for pizza dough. Serve several with a side of steamed greens for a healthy and filling vegetarian (and gluten-free) meal. They’re also a great appetizer for any Italian theme menu.
Portobello Mushroom “Pizzas”
6 large Portobello mushroom caps
¾ shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
15oz can pizza sauce
1 tsp. dried oregano
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with tin foil and set aside. Carefully remove any dirt from mushroom cap using a damp paper towel. Remove gills from inside mushroom by gently scraping with a spoon, leaving sides of mushroom intact. Place cleaned mushrooms on baking sheet.
2. Fill each mushroom with ¼ cup pizza sauce and top with 2 Tbs. cheese. Bake 15 minutes in preheated oven, or until mushrooms are softened and cheese is melted and golden brown in spots. Sprinkle each mushroom “pizza” with a pinch of dried oregano.
6 servings
Nutritional Info per serving: 85 calories; 2.8g fat (1.8g saturated fat); 7.5 mg. cholesterol; 475mg sodium; 10g carbs; 2.3g fiber; 6.6g protein.
I totally forgot about this trick for making tulips bloom and stand upright until a facebook friend reminded me via her status. Here’s the great tip: Place a shiny copper penny in the water with tulips to make the buds open and prevent the stems from flopping. The copper in the penny acts as a natural antibacterial and will even extend the life of your fresh-cut flowers. Using a shiny/ new penny will yield the best results.
Spice up your cedar by serving horseradish – a traditional Passover ingredient – in an unexpected way. Several different brands make horseradish cheddar cheese, and the best ones (in my opinion) have large chunks of fresh horseradish in them. Here are a few horseradish cheeses to look for:
I’ve been on a monkey kick for parties lately – between a sock monkey theme baby shower and a monkey themed 1st birthday party – there are a lot of cute monkey ideas swinging around in my head. Today I’m sharing a recipe for a monkey cake, which is amazingly impressive and doable even for non-bakers. This cake doesn’t require any real shape trimming: The cake is baked in a metal bowl and a cupcake is used to create the ears. Even if you don’t pipe the frosting perfectly, it will still come out looking great.
