{late night snack tray with starbucks}

For the second post in my series in partnership with Starbucks® flavored K-Cup® Packs, I thought it would be fun to think about times other than the morning to serve coffee (see the first post in the series here).  I love to pull inspiration for dinner parties and entertaining in our home from wedding blogs (especially my two faves: 100 Layer Cake & Grey Likes Weddings).  One thing that I have seen become a staple at weddings is the idea of late night snacks that reinvigorate guests for an evening of dancing well after the dinner plates have been cleared (we even did late night milk and cookies at our wedding!).  I decided to try that idea on a smaller scale with a late night snack tray accompanied by a little caffeine jolt from fresh cups of coffee.

After guests have arrived, enjoyed your meticulously arranged appetizers, served themselves a few cocktails and settled in for a night of lively conversation there will ultimately come a lull in the evening.  How fun would it be to reinvigorate your get-together by presenting your friends with this fun snack at your next cocktail party?  The key is to pick small bite foods that won't have you prepping in the kitchen for hours.  I chose to pick some easy frozen treats like mini tacos and churros- not necessarily items I would normally present guests, but later in the evening they are the exact comfort foods that people love!

I always opt in for a late night cup of coffee to end a long dinner so I figured serving the dessert inspired Starbucks® Cinnamon Dolce K-Cup® Packs as a little evening kick would be the perfect accompaniment to the snack tray!  The best part of a Keurig machine is the ease of use- so rather than having to ask each of your guests whether they want coffee and how they prefer to take it you can easily set up your machine in an accessible place alongside a selection of mugs and coffee toppings so that guests can serve themselves.  We actually did this for a big group brunch a while back and it worked perfectly to have people serve themselves.  This time around I placed this Keurig on our outdoor bar cart along with sugar, cream, a selection of K-Cups and glass mugs!

 {tossing the freshly baked fries with a little garlic and truffle salt to give them a special touch}

{a handful of freshly baked fries served with ketchup and chipotle aioli in these mini cups} 

I'd love to hear about your favorite tricks for fall entertaining!! Share in the comments what you like to do to delight your guests at fall get-togethers.

The rich aromas and sweet flavors you love from Starbucks®, now brewing at home. Introducing two new K-Cup® flavors for fall, inspired by our café favorites.

LEGAL: Developed in partnership with Starbucks Coffee Company and their new Starbucks® K-

Cup® packs. K-Cup® packs for use in Keurig® K-Cup® brewing systems. Keurig, the Cup and Star Design, Keurig Brewed, K-Cup and the Keurig brewer trade dress are trademarks of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., used with permission.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Starbucks Coffee Company, via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Starbucks Coffee Company.

{summer bbq gourmet hot dog bar video}

A few weeks back, I flew out to LA from Chicago to shoot two fun videos with Hebrew National- one of which centered around ideas for an easy yet chic summer BBQ (the other video will be out later this summer and I cannot wait to share the theme for that one!!).  You guys know I love a good DIY toppings bar, whether it's a grilled cheese situation or a slider bar, so for the video we came up with the idea to do a gourmet hot dog bar.  Instead of slaving away making each guest's hot dog to their specifications, simply grill up some hot dogs and toast some fresh buns then let you guests do the rest of the work creating an interesting flavor combos from your toppings bar.  The sky's the limit with toppings, but a handful of interesting sauces such as salsas or spicy ketchup alongside fresh veggies like avocado or red onions is a great place to start.  A fun place to find inspiration for toppings is to look up your favorite gourmet sandwich shop's menu and use some of their flavor combos.  Check out the video above for more details as well as three of my favorite flavor combos for a gourmet hot dog bar.  

While celebrating the 4th this past weekend with family and friends in Huntington Beach, we even whipped up a few of the Banh Mi style hot dogs inspired by the video.  I have always loved Banh Mi sandwiches ever since a friend introduced me to Lee's back in high school (thank god a great spot for Banh Mi opened around the corner from our new place!).  Recipe and directions for a Banh Mi dog at the end of this post! 

Banh Mi Hot Dog

what you need:

• Hebrew National Bun length hot dogs
• hot dog buns
• one white onion
• 1 cup vinegar
• cilantro
• jalapeño
• shredded carrots
• Hunts Ketchup
• cucumber

1. Slice the white onion and place in a bowl with the vinegar for at least an hour to pickle.  Drain vinegar and place in individual serving bowl. 
2. Chop cilantro, cucumber, and jalapeño.  Place in individual serving bowls. 
3. Grill up hot dogs and lightly toast buns. 
4. Allow guests to create their own or you can plate their Banh Mi hot dogs for them by placing a spoonful carrots, onions and cucumber along the bun topped with a few jalapeno slices, two pinches of cilantro and ketchup if desired!
5. Enjoy!

With grilling season upon us, everyone is craving an all-American hot dog. What makes a kosher hot dog different? It's all about what makes the cut (and what doesn't). Hebrew National is choosy about what goes into their franks – only 100% pure kosher beef so you know what you’re getting and they taste great.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Hebrew National via Mode Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Hebrew National.

{holiday party idea: blind wine tasting}

A couple years ago, our friends hosted a super fun wine tasting party at their place that I have been dying to recreate.  So when Target asked me to put together a little holiday party inspiration using some of their new products,  I immediately thought the wine tasting idea would be perfect for a quick and easy holiday party!

The way this party works is you will ask each guest or couple to bring a bottle of wine under $25 - you can even specify a varietal like Pinot Noir. When the guests enter have them hand you the bottle so that you can wrap it in kraft paper or a brown bag and then assign their bottle a number without anyone else seeing (as the host you will be the only one who knows all the different bottles and their corresponding numbers).  Ideally you will have one glass per bottle per guest so that guests can try the different wines and refer back to them rather than emptying out their glass.  We have a shocking amount of wine glasses in our house, but if you don't own enough wine glasses to make this possible then you can easily rent some.

Serve appetizers as well as some sweets and let guests mingle while trying the different wines then reporting their thoughts on printed "notes" cards.  Tally up the favorite bottle selections at the end of the night (this bottle of Pinot Noir won the year we did this) and give the guest who brought the winning bottle a nice bottle of wine or another fun gift!  Links to items used for this party are under each photo and the download links to the printables are at the bottom of this post!

{gold Nate Berkus vase, gold prism tray, wine glasses}

 {wine tag printable}

 {wine bottle number printable}

 {gold rimmed decanters}

 {leftover florals from our Thanksgiving dinner which I will be sharing later this week}

 {gold rimmed agate tray, white ceramic trophy vase from older Target collection but find a similar one here, wine notes printables}

 {vintage black milk glass cake stands - find similar here}

 {gold prism tray by Nate Berkus, gold/black wrapping paper from holiday dept at Target}

  {I like the idea of setting up a spot for each guest to keep their glasses so that they aren't trying to roam your party holding 3 or 4 in one hand- I used simple place cards to designate an area for each person}

{free download link for wine tasting party printables}

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Target via Glam Media.  The 

opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of 

the opinions or positions of Target.

{2013 Printable Emmy Ballots}

The Emmys really snuck up on me this year.  I can't believe they are coming up this weekend!  While we aren't planning on going all out like we did for last year's Oscars Party, I still plan on filling out my ballot, enjoying some champagne cocktails & watching the primetime Emmy awards this Sunday (and judging people's dress choices...obviously).   I really loved the booklet format we used for our Oscars ballot so I decided to repeat that idea for the Emmy ballot printable. I really hope you have a chance to print and enjoy these!! I also hope I don't embarrass myself horribly with my ballot choices like I have in the past....

Links to all the free printable pages for the ballots are at the bottom of this post!

{In addition to the friendly competition of the ballot selections, I also included this amazing drinking game that Gotham News put together in this year's ballot.  Let's face it...if you aren't turning an awards ceremony into a drinking game then you aren't doing it right.}

 {I realize not everyone has the time to put together booklets so I also created a simple 4 page pdf that you can print directly onto regular copy paper with no assembly required!}

PRINTABLE PAGES TO ASSEMBLE BOOKLET FORMAT BALLOT (requires assembly)

assembly instructions:

print "page one-front" then flip page over and run it through your printer again when you print "page-back."  Repeat this process with the files "page two-front" & "page two-back."  I assembled my booklets by placing two hole punches in the middle of the book along the folded seam then I ran a piece of gold twine through them and tied it in a knot to secure.  For faster assembly you can place two staples on the outside seam as close to the folded edge as possible. 

PRINTABLE FULL COPY PAGE PDF (no assembly)