How Do I start off #31DaysOfHalloween?!  With these super easy Spider Egg Meatballs!  They are simple to make and wonderful for parties or even a quick snack!  This recipe was adapted from Pillsbury and I prefer using their rolls  because they are nice and fluffy.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

1 can (10.2 oz) Pillsbury™ Grands!™ refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese

10 refrigerated or frozen cooked beef meatballs, thawed

1/4 cup LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted

2/3 cup finely crushed seasoned croutons

1 1/2 cups of pasta sauce, heated

Preparation

Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Separate dough into 5 biscuits. Split each biscuit to make 10 rounds. Press out each biscuit half to form 3-inch round.
Sprinkle each biscuit round with cheese to within 1/2 inch of edge. Top each with meatball. Bring up sides of dough over meatball; pinch edges to seal. Brush rounded tops and sides of dough with butter; coat with croutons. Place, seam side down, on cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Place appetizer pick in each biscuit-wrapped meatball to form meatball pop. Serve with warm pasta sauce for dipping.

Delicious, healthy, and simple veggie plate

What do you do with the leftover veggies from yesterday’s Monster Veggie Platter?  You make a new veggie plate and serve it up as a delicious snack while watching the World Series game!  Super easy and delicious!!

If you are hosting your holiday dinner this year, you are in luck, because I am about to encourage you to create something healthy, easy, and beautiful.  A crudité platter! For those of you who have never heard the term, a crudité plate is simply a pretty way of saying a vegetable platter.  However, it just sounds so much more schnazzy saying “crudités”.

What is a crudité, you may be asking?  Wikipedia defines Crudités as traditional French appetizers consisting of sliced or whole raw vegetables which are sometimes dipped in a vinaigrette  or other dipping sauces.  Crudités often include celery sticks, carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, bell pepper strips, broccoli, cauliflower,  fennel, and asparagus spears; sometimes olives, depending on local custom.

With crudités, its all about the “look”, which makes them a popular draw to the buffet table.  But for me, serving raw and cooked vegetables creates a “healthy zone” at my buffet spread, and healthy, is always good at a party!

As you can imagine, few rules apply to vegetable platters, but here are some that you may find useful.

1.  Don’t get caught up in the complexity of the arrangement, sometimes simple is better.  All of my crudités platter below are super simple, but still look beautiful.

Color goes a long way. But did you know that you can create beautiful monochromatic vegetable platters?  Here are two examples of easy vegetable platters where we went with a white look.  It is beautiful and unexpected!  Vegetables like cauliflower, endives, white squash, asparagus, cucumbers and even peeled radishes, can easily be incorporated into a white crudités platter.  Don’t worry, the vegetables do not have to be stark white… but even a hint of white adds impact.

Don’t be afraid to go with a theme, especially during the holidays.  Why not make your vegetable platter look like a Christmas tree or a wreath.  If there is anything that brings a smile to your guests’ faces, it will be your fun element you bring to your veggie plate.

Think outside the box when it comes to presentation.  Many of us think of veggie platters and crudités as the round plastic trays filled with celery and carrots at the grocery stores.  But don’t be afraid to be daring and out of the box.  The more creative you get, the more you’ll love putting the platters together.

Last but not least, don’t feel like the round plate is your only option to display your vegetables.  There are lots of different serving pieces you can use.  Various sized glasses, baskets, Chinese food “to go” boxes, and many more.

Last but not least, enjoy the process of putting a credités platter together.  There is NO WRONG way to do it… except not to do it at all!

Okay… so I don’t typically take photos of myself in a bathroom, but I had to share some photos from a wonderful bakery I visited in Downtown Overland Park called the The Upper Crust. The owners did such a great job on the design and ambiance. But the bathroom was my favorite. This place will make you feel like you just got a big hug. Oh, and the pies are yummy too!

Do you love marshmallows and Cheerios? I do too! And as much as I would love to tell you that I came up with an incredible new recipe, that just isn’t the case. But I’m on a 4th of July recipe marathon, so this should count… soldes chaussures adidas right? As you can tell, this is a simple modified recipe of Marshmallow Treats and I used Cheerios instead of rice cereal. Chaussures Asics Femme Honestly, you can substitute any cereal for this and it will come out delicious! Don’t forget the red, white, and blue sprinkles for the 4th of July feel! WARNING: These lasted about 10 minutes in my house… nike air max 1 ultra flyknit femme chances are, they’ll disappear just as quickly in yours!

Ingredients

• 4 oz butter
• 10 oz bag Marshmallows
• 4-5 cups Cheerios
• red white and blue sprinkles
• 9 x 9 square pan

In a small saucepan cook the butter over low heat, until the butter is fully melted. Add the marshmallows little by little and stir until they are fully melted. goedkoop nike air max 2017 Add the cereal cup by cup. If you like to have super gooey bars, you may want to use 3-4 cups of cereal. shirt-tshirt If you like to have a nice balance, add more cereal 4-5 cups (or even six). Believe it or not, but I don’t like my bars to be super gooey, so I use more cereal. Stir until the cereal is fully coated.Press it into the pan. You may want to put some butter on your hands or a rubber spatula to prevent it from sticking. Sprinkle with sprinkles. Cool in the refrigerator for an hour. nike schoenen nederland Cut… serve…

Can you guess what’s in season?  Cherries, cherries, cherries!!!  Why am I so excited? Because typically cherries are really expensive, I can easily pay $10 or more for a few pounds… but not when they are in season!  I love cherries and honestly, I don’t need to do anything to them.  I can just sit down and enjoy them individually, but when I’m planning a party, there is nothing like serving these cherries in a light candy coating!  You can do chocolate, vanilla, or whatever coating you choose.  Serve them in a martini glass with the rim dipped in candy coating as well, and you WILL be rewarded with oohs and aahs from your guests…this I guarantee!!

And the best part, it’s the easiest dessert to make.  No baking, mixing, or tons of ingredients.  So without further delay, here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound of cherries
1/2 bag of white candy coating ( available at Michael’s or JoAnn’s).  You can use chocolate too, I just like the contrasting colors of white and red.  Great for the holidays too!

PREPARATION:

Melt candy.  Wash cherries well and dry them completely.  Put out parchment paper to rest your cherries on after you cover them with candy.  Choose the cherries with stems, eat the ones that are missing the stems!!!  While holding the stems, dip the cherries in the candy coating and place them on top of the parchment paper.  Let them dry and serve.  For an extra “wow”, dip a martini glass rim in the candy coating and add some gold or silver sprinkles.  Let dry.  Serve the cherries in the martini glass.  These are also great to make a day ahead of time, store them in the refrigerator inside the glass.

If you love swiss cheese, this is your recipe!  It’s so easy and it is such an interesting way to enjoy your cheese.  Plus, it’s wonderful for parties and scores big with the low carb party guests.  It’s a win-win, so try it today.  The recipe is so easy, you can literally enjoy it in about 5 minutes!  Oh, and before I forget to make everyone’s day… this works pretty much with any sliced cheese, including CHEDDAR… my other favorite cheese :-).

INGREDIENTS

5 slices of swiss cheese (Yep, that’s it!)

PREPARATION

Rip your cheese slice in half, and place it on a plate.  Cook in microwave for 3 minutes.  Once done, peel the cheese off the plate and place on a paper towel.  Wait for it to cool and dry and enjoy your cheese chips.  The longer they dry, the crispier they’ll get.  You can also serve them with your favorite dip, although I prefer to eat the chips all by themselves!

Get ready for the ultimate 4th of July dessert… Red, White, and Blue Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries! Place them on top of a cupcake or eat them on their own, I guarantee that it will be a huge hit at your next patriotic party!  CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE.

• Single layer store-bought cake or bake your own cake (make sure it is only one tier and no taller than 2.5 inches)
• 2 large bags of snack-sized Kit Kat bars.  These are full sized Kit Kats but will come in a package of two, instead of four. Do not buy the mini Kit Kats.
• 1 large package of fresh strawberries
• 1 pkg of fresh blackberries
• 1/2 jar of jam, fruit preserves, or lemon curd

Take your store bought cake out of its package and place on your serving plate or cake stand. You can also bake your own cake, just make sure it is no taller than 2.5 inches.

Make sure your cake is well iced or has plenty of frosting.  Open the Kit Kat packages and place the Kit Kats around the cake. (I recommend you refrigerate the Kit Kats for about an hour, this helps harden them a bit so they won’t break as easily when you are handling them). When the cake is fully surrounded with Kit Kats, tie a pretty ribbon around the cake.

Wash the strawberries and blackberries and pat them dry.  Place the strawberries on the cake and begin piling them to make a pretty presentation.  The good news is that there is no real science behind it,  just pile them any way you like.  When the strawberries cover up the cake entirely, start placing the blackberries in some of the crevices left by the strawberries.

Put the 1/2 jar of fruit preserves in a microwave safe bowl and add 1/4 cup of water.  Microwave for about 30 seconds or until the entire mixture is liquefied.  Mix the water and preserves to make a nice smooth mixture.  Take a brush, and dip it into the preserves soaking it fully. Start brushing the strawberries and blackberries with the preserves, giving them a beautiful shine.  Continue brushing them until they are glistening and are fully covered.

You can refrigerate this cake for up to 24 hours prior to serving.  Or, you can serve immediately.

The best way to serve the cake, is to initially scoop out the fruit from the top, put them in one area of the plate.  Then, take off the Kit Kats and set them next to the strawberries.  Once you have room to cut the cake, slice a piece and place it next to the strawberries and Kit Kats.

Another option for serving is pre-cutting the cake before decorating it with Kit Kats and strawberries.

My husband and I had the pleasure of spending the day at the Wynn and Encore in Las Vegas during the winter holidays.  I can’t tell you how beautiful both these hotels are.  There are literally visual surprises behind every turn.  These are some of my favorite photos of our hotel room as well as some vignettes from their “Home” store.  The silk butterfly bedding was my favorite!

I love this houndstooth wallpaper!(above) This stunning elevator lobby at the Wynn is breathtaking!!(below)

This 3-D wallpaper at the Encore makes every other wallpaper seem… boring! (below)

Gorgeous lobby at the Encore! (below)

Love, love this floral carousel and hot air balloon in the Wynn lobby. It was created by the famous wedding planner, Preston Bailey. (below)

Gorgeous “zen” nook at the Wynn Home Store! (above).  In love with the living room seating at the Wynn Home Store.  The artwork are bird feathers… strange… but beautiful! (below)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, the silk butterfly bedding and the stunning black accent wall! (below)

In the full spirit of Vegas, this swarovski crystal bathroom mirror… YES!!!! (below)