Sunday Soiree | Blood Orange

Not only are these images from White on Rice Couple vibrant and lovely but these blood orange bars with a brown butter crust look delicious! What better way to celebrate the end of cold winter months and the start of sunny spring days than with these fresh, sweet, festive treats. I see them pairing nicely with a cup of coffee, good book, and a leisurely Sunday.

Cheers!

Sunday Soiree | Peas, Pasta and Kale, Oh My!

Images: Fresh Mint and Pea Pasta, Meyer Lemony Pasta, Spaghetti with Kale

Hello and Happy New Year!

While home visiting family for the holidays, I tried to fit in as much lounging, champagne sipping, and treat eating as possible. Because, as everyone knows, come January 1st, the resolutions begin! I seem to always make a few too many than I could ever possibly keep up. As I write this blog post, glass of bubbly in hand, I figured this year I should make a few reasonable resolutions. Eating more healthy and nutritious is always on the list but this year to make it a bit more manageable, why not enjoy a colorful pasta dish as opposed to a salad sans dressing. While searching around the blog world for recipes I came up with a few great ones. All three of these pasta options are fresh and simple. You can follow a recipe or easily come up with your own version using what you have on hand. This is a resolution I think I can follow!

Sunday Soiree | Holiday Cranberry Mojitos

I think it's ironic how I keep posting about seasonal cocktails, especially now that I am only allowed mocktails, but at least I can live vicariously through you all, right? And just because water is my drink of choice of late it doesn't mean my holiday get-togethers won't still feature some festive cheer for my guests.

Via 

In years prior, my hubs and I always whipped up some of that festive cheer for hanging the lights and trimming the tree, so I thought it was fitting to shine a little light on this seasonal cranberry mojito.

Hope your weekend was great, enjoy your Sunday!

Sunday Soiree: Stress Free Party Ideas

From left to right:  Bakers Royale ,Oh Happy Day,Hello Giggles

For today's Sunday Soiree I wanted to share some fun stress-free party ideas. There's something so relaxing and festive about getting together with friends in the comfort of your home. Both of these parties keep it simple with guests taking part in preparing their own treats. Whether you're throwing a grown up wine and cheese tasting, or getting guests of all ages together for a tasty dessert bar, you can simplify your hostess duties with the help of some butcher paper or chalk board paint. Instead of running around making sure glasses are filled and appetizers are passed, you'll be able to relax and enjoy yourself. Check out the tip about having cute to go boxes and twine on hand for leftovers, not only will clean up be easier but guests will have a little treat to take home for later.
Happy Sunday Soiree-ing!

Sunday Soiree | Pomegranate Champagne

The holiday season is my absolute favorite time of year- I can't get enough of the Christmas music, the weather, and as someone asked me the other day- yes I even love the crowds that the season brings. But what I love most is the time spent with family- on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas, we often spend all day together well into the night, playing games, noshing on all kinds of food (brings new meaning to stuffed turkey!), and indulging in holiday cocktails. For us, it really is the merriest time of year.

So with turkey day coming up so soon, I thought I would share one of my favorite cocktails of the season, pomegranate liqueur with champagne. Not only is it a light sipper, but a festive one at that:

Photo Via

Please note: This is my personal recipe, so you may alter some of the portions to your taste. There are also many versions of the recipe with juice and other ingredients added, but I prefer this natural, simple version:

1 Glass of sweet or brut bubbly of choice, I prefer the sweeter versions

1 oz Pomegranate liqueur

Seeds of a pomegranate dropped in- you can eat them too

The perfect cocktail is bubbly, rose in color, with the pomegranate seeds floating throughout. Enjoy your holiday season and let us know if you try this out! For another twist on champagne varietals, try this cranberry recipe. 

Sunday Soiree | Pumpkin Spice Latte

My favorite seasonal coffee drink of  has to be the pumpkin spice latte. Of course I have to be every baristas worst nightmare and order it with "half the amount of pumpkin, three shots of espresso, half skim milk half soy milk, and light whip cream".....half skim half soy? I'm sure they think I've dreamed this up just to make their lives more complicated but really, give it a try sometime it's delicious! But when I ran across not only this lovely image from dailynibbles.com, but a whole recipe for making this delectable beverage at home I was intrigued. This version will save you cash, undoubtedly some calories, and sometimes I'll admit it, I am just too lazy to leave my house on a Sunday, even for the hard task of getting a morning latte. You can find the full recipe here along with pretty pictures detailing each step. If you end up giving it a try shoot us a comment and let us know how it turned out, or better yet, post a picture of your own lovely mug to our facebook wall!

Sunday Soiree | Sunday Brunch

Photo Courtesy of Daily Candy

With the beginning of Fall I think everyone’s minds start to wander to cozy settings, comforting meals, and warm drinks. Instead of barbeques and picnics I’m craving indoor get-togethers, big sweaters, and pumpkin spice candles.

When I saw this image from Daily Candy I instantly pictured a lazy Sunday morning with friends, holding a mug of strong coffee, nibbling on sweet and savory bites and perhaps sipping a mimosa. Sounds lovely right? Bring Sunday Brunch home this week and invite some friends over for a morning of leisure. Keep it simple with breakfast basics like the ones shown here or get fancy and whip up something like this from Design Crush or this from Celebrations at Home. Either way you’re set for a great time with good friends. Happy Sunday Soiree Brunch-ing! 

Sunday Soiree | All The Pretty Paper {less}

With all of the party-throwing we know you love to do, sometimes a fete calls for a way to invite lots of  your friends all at once. Enter the email invite (otherwise known as the Evite). For parties with a less formal intent (read: you're still not allowed to email wedding invitations), sometimes a fun, easy invitation to relay all of the details of your dinner party is just what the cocktails ordered.

If you're anything like us, even an email invitation needs to have style about it, and Kate Spade has come to our rescue, once again, with their Paperless Post line:

These little ditties are less than $.50 each and are a fabulous way to throw a stylish, carefree party while staying true to you.

~Happy Planning!

Sunday Soiree-Mini S'mores Tarts

September-cool nights, hot days, and the the end of all things Summer.  In today's Sunday Soiree, a favorite campfire treat gets a cute little makeover in the form of mini s'mores tarts.

Whether you're busy this weekend planning your upcoming wedding, cheering on your team at the kickoff of football season, or getting your kids ready for school, we hope you take time out to whip up some of these tasty tarts! You can find the full recipe here: http://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2012/09/mini-smores-tarts.html#

P.S. Don't let the sight of the torched topping scare you off, the recipe says you can just as easily set them under the broiler:) Happy Sunday from Stephanie and the rest of the Soiree team!

Sunday Soiree | Lemonade Makeover

Loved these ideas to make your lemonade even better....perfect for summer fetes.

~Happy Sunday!

Sunday Soiree | Cranberry Champagne Cocktail

via

Every year on Thanksgiving (and Christmas for that matter), my family breaks out the champagne as our sipper of choice. We usually end up at my parent's house around noon, and spend the next few hours watching football, munching, and having our signature Jenga tournaments (and yes, I am the reigning champion. It's all in the tap of the finger, folks). I don't know when exactly we started the tradition of having the bubbly during the holidays, but it's been around for a while and we look forward to it every year. Here's a super simple twist on the drink, by adding cranberry to it. Enjoy and happy planning this Thanksgiving week!

Cranberry Champagne Cocktail (by Tyler Florence)

Ingredients

• 1-ounce cranberry juice (sweetened)
• 1 wedge lime
• Champagne or sparkling wine
• Cranberries (frozen)

Directions

In a chilled Champagne flute add cranberry juice and a squeeze of lime. Top off the glass with Champagne. Garnish with 3 or 4 cranberries.

xx,

Brandi

Sunday Soiree | 33 Cupcake Favorites

Sunday Soiree is another new series we're starting on the Soiree Blog. Recipes, party ideas, entertaining how-to's and cocktails are all things you'll see on Sundays. Besides being a wedding planner, throwing a party is another passion of mine. I love to cook, try out different wines, and I love love love having a full house of people to entertain. My husband doesn't understand it, but I go all out with centerpieces, linen napkins, and personalized place settings- but I also know how to relax with paper napkins, old fashioned BBQ and a game of Bocce Ball. So I thought Sunday was a perfect day to indulge in all things food and parties- it's usually what I'm doing on a Sunday anyways...cooking, blogging, finding new recipes to try...and lazing around (in my pajamas) with a glass of wine. Hope you enjoy it!

First up are these incredibly ridiculous cupcakes. I don't bake- give me a box with some instructions on it and that's about as far as I'm trusted- but if you've got the baking bug, here are 33 different cupcake recipes to try. Ming Makes Cupcakes is a site that had our eyes round as saucers and drooling- from Nutella cupcakes to varieties complete with Guinness...if you've been looking for a sweet treat to wow your guests, we're betting you'll find one here. A few of our favorites we salivated over on the spot:







See all 33 recipes here. If you try any of them- tell us how it turned out in the comments!

Happy Sunday!