NYE Party Appetizers!

I am a New Years Eve sucker. I love NYE because I feel like there are endless & unknown possibilities that lie ahead. It's such fun to guess what may come your way, but it's also a great time to reflect on what you'd like to change or accomplish in the next 365 days. I haven't finished my resolution list yet, but will share those on our facebook page tomorrow, so make sure you check it out!

Don't get me wrong 2012 has been great to my family - a house, a baby, a career change, good friends (old & new), and much more. However, I am excited for a new year because its the year my daughter will turn one, take her first steps and babble her first words. 2013 also will mark my husband & my 2nd wedding anniversary, 5th year of dating, will be our first time we go abroad together and offers the ability to grow & change the more we get to know each other. So I feel like its a good year to celebrate and am so lucky to have a good friend, Shauna, hosting a fantastic NYE get together tonight.

She has asked everyone to bring an appetizer, which I immediately thought of my take on Texas Caviar.  NYE is not complete without a little bubbly, so I thought Champagne Jello Shots would be something fun to share with friends. Both have turned out wonderfully & I am here to share my recipes!

Jenny's Texas Caviar
1 can of black beans (drained)
1 can of pinto beans (drained)
1 can of petite diced tomatoes (drained)
1 can of sweet corn (drained)
1/2 green pepper
1/2 red onion
1/2 jalapeno (this sucker was hot, so I used 1/2 but you could use a whole depending on your taste)
2 green onions
2 Goya seasoning Packets
1/2 avacado (added right before serving to keep it from getting mushy)
Olive Oil
Red Wine Vinegar
Garlic Powder
Cumin
Lime or Lemon juice
Salt & Pepper

This recipe is the best because you simply throw everything (besides Avocado) together in a bowl, mix it up and pop it in the fridge for 3 hours or overnight to let the flavors meld. I add the avocado & any additional seasonings, mix it up again and serve! This dish is generally the first to go when I put it out, so you may want to make a little extra!

Not the best photo - kind of looks like a scallop, huh?

Champagne Jello Shots

2 cups of White Grape Juice
1 cup of water
4 packets of unflavored gelatin
3 cups of Champagne (enjoy the leftovers immediately!)
Topping: gold sugar, pop rocks, sprinkles, etc

Add white grape juice, water & gelatin in a pan. Let the gelatin soak for 2 -3 minutes. Turn on heat and stir constantly until the gelatin is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the champagne. Pour the mixture into a glass pan, baking dish or individual shot glasses (or paper cups, ha) and place in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Place bottom of dish in warm water to loosen up the jello before beginning to cut it out of the pan. Dip in whatever topping of your choice immediately before serving.

I hope you have enjoyed both of this quick & easy recipes. Enjoy the jello shots responsibly because they sure go down easy ;-)

Peppermint Wreath Tutorial!

Hi All! I am so sorry for the delay in getting this post up, but as we all know the holidays just seem to make the days go even quicker than usual. It's just plain crazy!

I don't know if you know this about me, but I go gaga over wreaths. I have always been drawn to circular objects as I think they just look so clean & crisp. All of the flowers at my wedding were in circular form - see the photos below for proof!

 

Church Floral

Reception

Early in December my mom had asked me to make her a DIY gift for Christmas. I began brainstorming and  realized I not only wanted to make her a wreath for her front door, but also personalize it so that it reminded me of her. I then thought of starlight mints as my mom always has a million in her purse & is constantly offering one to me (Ok, Mom...I get the hint, ha!) I began perusing my online love, Pinterest, and found a beautiful picture of a mint wreath and knew this was what I need to make.  Here is a picture of the finished wreath I made for my equally beautiful and sweet Mother.

What I used:

(1) 10'' styrofoam ring

(2) 120 piece bags of Starlite Mints

(2) 4 yd. red ribbon

(1) hot glue gun & a ton of glue

(1) spray can of acrylic sealant

Green ribbon for fun accent

How I made the wreath:

I hot glued on end of the red ribbon on the backside of the wreath. I then wrapped the entire styrofoam ring in ribbon. Doing this makes it much easier to glue the mints onto the ring as the ribbon is not as porous as styrofoam.

                                 

After I wrapped the entire ring, I heated up my glue gun & unwrapped 240 mints. Thankfully I was watching reality tv while unwrapping the mints, so they incredibly time consuming task wasn't as bad as it sounds. I began gluing the mints to the ring one at a time. I started at the top of the wreath & then would move directly below it & glue on another mint. I did not glue the mints to the back of the wreath as you cannot see the mints and I was afraid the mints would hit the door and begin to chip. With a 10 month old crawling around our house, we didn't want any mint fragments ending up in her mouth :)

Once I thought the wreath looked nice & mintiful (ha!), I brought the wreath to my 3 seasons room and covered it with acrylic sealant. This helps give it a nice shine and prevents the mints from melting. After the wreath was dry, I took my green piece of ribbon & wrapped it around a part of the wreath that I thought looked a little funky. The mints didn't line up perfectly at that point, so I simply covered them up with the green ribbon. I then made a bow with the leftover red ribbon, glued the bow to the green loop & then glued to the loose ends of the bow to the mints. 

It was a fun project and my mom loved the wreath. She thought the mints created such a cool visual effect and hung it up right away (score!).

If you're looking for more mintastic crafts, check out my friend Rose's blog from Be Rosy Events. She's super crafty, talented & really fun!

Thanksgiving 2012

2012 has been a year of firsts for me & my family. I quit my full-time job in January, had a beautiful baby girl in february, bought & moved into our first home in June, assisted with the coordination of a large gala in September and began my business in October. So when our families began thinking about Thanksgiving & who would be able to open up their home (and oven!), we thought "why the heck not?". This how the Gailey family became the hosts of Thanksgiving 2012!

While I love to cook & made some pretty delicious dishes, I was more excited to decorate the table! It was the first time we were going to be using our table for something special, so I wanted it to impress our guests but also not spend fortune. It's a time to give thanks for what you have, so I did my best to use what I already had in my home.

I used leftover wheat grass to create a simple centerpiece, mini pumpkins to bring in the fall feeling, mini red carnations in candle holders to give our table a little color and gifted Irish candlesticks to give a little nod to my ancestors.

                                   
After spending all day cooking in the kitchen with my mom & mother-in-law, it was time to light the candles and sit down together. I was overwhelmed by how beautiful the table looked and realized it looked perfect because my family was sitting around it.   

                                          

That evening I realized that the Thanksgiving meal was not what I was most excited about, but the fact that I was opening up my home to my family to share in a tradition that so many before us have celebrated. A day full of giving thanks, love and celebrating how blessed life can truly be should happen more often than once a year. I will try & celebrate  these gifts every day, how about you?