A Few of my Favorite Things...

So, I saw this on Pinterest....
How many times have you heard that one?  I say it multiple times daily...just ask my friends!

This time, I will share with you the wonderful evening with cool friends that resulted from something I saw on Pinterest: A Favorite Things Party. I loved the concept I read about but I wasn't crazy about the rules (too many things, too high a price range) and the way the game part of the party was supposed to go.  I adapted the party to suit me and my guests and what I wanted us to get from the evening. At the end of the night we had some cool new things and some more cool new ideas for things we may love that we may not have gotten to take home. 

The concept is this: Invite some people over.  Ask them to bring 3 favorite things (the same three things) within a given price range.  I set the range to be $5-7 for the items my guests chose, so they spent anywhere from $15-20.  Guests will get to take three different things home-read on to see how my party rules went.

I was thoughtful about who I invited.  I thought about people I work with who don't get to spend time with each other in as much fun ways as we'd like, neighborhood mom friends whose company I absolutely adore and don't get to share time with enough and some other people I love to be with for a variety of reasons.  I wanted it to be a fun night for my friends and important people in my life to relax and unwind in a different kind of way.



Thank you basket with more of my favorite things

I wanted to give an extra thank you to my friends for taking a night out of their busy lives to trust me and come have fun doing something new and different so I made up a basket of other favorite things for them to choose from before they left.  This was a surprise until later in the night.  In the Thank You Basket I included:

• an issue of Cooking Light Magazine
• 479 Artisan popcorn
• square s'more marshmallows
• wine stoppers
• mini can of margarita (found for $1 at the grocery!)
• locally roasted organic, fair-trade coffee (this is what I use always!)
• stationary
• two bottles of Sally Hansen quick dry polish 
• Endangered Species brand chocolate bars and
• Burt's Bees chap stick.

I gathered some wine (of course!), simple foods and mint iced tea (that no one touched-go figure!) for snacking, set it all up nicely with a bouquet of flowers and away we went...

As my friends arrived, we put their favorite things out on the table I had ready for the night and asked them to write their names on little slips of paper I had ready.


To begin we had the always, sort of, uncomfortable introductions (you know, your name, how long you've known/how you met the host/ess), what you brought and why you chose to bring it.

After we were all acquainted (which didn't take long since my friends started chatting and introducing themselves before the actual introductions), the game began. I pulled the first name out of the jar.  That friend got first pick of anything on the table.  She then pulled the next name. Once all the names were pulled, we put the slips of paper back in the jar and started another round.  We did this a third time until all items on the table were picked.  It sounds like it should be quick, but we had lots of laughing and fun along the way!



Our table of favorite things

Favorite things brought by me and my guests:

• Plastic, stemless wine glasses
• Margarita mix
• Neutrogena Rainbath
• Nature's Path Organic Love Crunch Granola
• Baskets of fresh bread with dipping oil and checked napkin
• wine spouts
• guacamole recipe with ingredients and bowls
• mason jar drinking cups with straws 
• patterned head wraps

This party idea can be adapted to many budgets.  I had a hard time choosing what to bring to my own party because some of my favorite things were less than the price range! You could even theme it  to add more fun as well.  I liked it just as it was and I know my friends did because I got many messages of thanks and heard how much fun they all had.  It was a really great night with some of my favorite people and a wonderful way to start summer!  Can't wait to do it again...because, I mean, I think we all had a good time...

 

 

Bread Obsessed

Yes...Obsessed with baking my own bread.  Some people think I am crazy.  Some people wonder how I have the time. Some people think it's ridiculous. Some people think it's fabulous. And crazy. 
Well, I think it's kinda fun and fulfilling! It gives me a sense of pride and great satisfaction making something myself for people I love.  Bread.  It's that simple!  Have you ever made anything all by yourself, then stood back and said, "I made that!" and felt proud?  Bread does that to me every single time.  Oh, and then there's the amazingly wonderful aroma of fresh baked bread-you don't get that with the checkered bag!  And, I must not forget, the "yum!" and "wow!" I get from my kiddos!  They love when I pull bread fresh out of the oven (and freezer!).
I'm in my sixth month of baking our own sandwich bread for our household.  I am happy to report I have only purchased about 5 loaves of bread in the last 6 months.  Two of those loaves were because we were out of town, without my mixer, my flour and my bread pans.  The others were various reasons-sick, tired, kitchen mini-redo so I opted not to mix building materials with my dough!

So, how does she do it, you must be wondering?  Read on for some tips and thoughts.



Oatmeal Toasting & Sandwich Bread

• Find a good recipe, or two. I have found the best place for me to be King Arthur Flour's site: www.KingArthurFlour.com.  There are three go to recipes I have found myself rotating through.  Here' they are:
• Oatmeal Toasting & Sandwich Bread
• King Arthur's Classic White Sandwich Bread
• Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

• Using a dough hook and stand mixer make this less messy and so, so, so easy.  If you have a break maker still in the box from your wedding shower, then by all means, go dust if off and get started now.  You have NO excuses! 

•  Choose a good time of day to start the process.  The recipes I use all take 15 miutes or less to get the dough made.  It takes another hour or so to let it rise, so if I have some local errands to run that's a great time to start-before the quick running begins.  If it's a rainy day and we're home, then any time is good!  After the initial rise, it takes another hour or so.  Depending on the temperatures in the house it can take more or less time.  Then, of course, there is the cook time, usually no longer than 45 minutes.  So, in all, you'll need 4 hours.  I know this sounds like a ton of time, but most of it is waiting, not actual hands-on time.                                       I've also been known to start bread after dinner, using the wait time duing bath and bedtimes-that makes it super easy.  I always stay up later than I should, so at least I am using my time a little more wisely, huh?  Well, that's what I tell myself, anyway...

• Make more than one loaf at a time. I have made 2 sandwich loaves at once (often you can just double the recipe, except for the yeast (that stays the same), then separate your dough into 2 pans for the second rise time).  My mixer bowl isn't really that big, so I make one loaf after another or bake bread 2 days in a row. Once I have a couple loaves, I freeze them for later so when I am tired, or sick or have my kitchen in shambles, I have no excuse!  To freeze, once your loaf is cooled, wrap in plastic wrap then in aluminum foil.  Don't forget to write the date and what it is so you aren't playing a guessing game in a couple months!

• You must use BUTTER to grease your pans.  Lots of butter, smeared all around, especially the corners. I use a paper towel, folded in quarters and about a tablespoon of butter.  I use the paper towel to keep my hands from becoming a hot, greasy mess.  I hold the butter in it and smear away. You can imagine this must have been a learning opportunity for me, huh?  I was trying to save some calories and used oil and flour early on in my baking.  Nope.  Wrong. It kept sticking and I would be left with a huge hole in my bread-on the sides, bottoms or all sides and the bottom! I had a little chat with one of the people at King Arthur one day.  S/he steered me back on the right course.  Those little pop-ups on some web-pages that are there for questions...yeah, this site is awesome!  Use it if you have questions. They've answered some of my obviously amateur questions so kindly!  I've since come to love butter!  it works every single time.

Give it a try...Let me know how it turns out!  If you have a favorite bread recipe, please share it here!

~You are the boss of that dough...~

-Julia Child