Polenta Squares with Sun-Dried Tomato & Walnut Tapenade

This past weekend my sister-in-law, her hubs & my sweet little niece came over for a visit. I channeled my inner mother, went out on a limb & tried a new recipe that I had never tried to serve our guests.  I tried this recipe for polenta squares with sun-dried tomato & walnut tapenade.

I think it came out pretty tasty, although now looking back at my photos & the photo they show on food52.com, my polenta squares look a little thin (note to self: next time I’ll make them a bit thicker). I have to admit I was a bit spastic at making my squares or rectangles as I now see that’s really what shape they were. I’ll note where I spazed out in the directions in hopes you'll learn from my mistakes.

PS: happy birthday to my cool-little-dude nephew, Chris! I love you!

Ladybug 1st Birthday Party Inspiration

This past weekend we celebrated my little niece, Claire's 1st birthday.  So far it seems Claire's lot in life is to be surrounded by lots of love & amazingly themed parties (remember Marie's baby shower before Claire was born? - refresh your memory here).  Claire's party was chockfull of every little lady bug detail you can imagine thanks to the imagination of her mom (Marie!) & labors of love by both of her grandmothers.  Take a peek there's a table cloth with hand cut felt lady bug spots (over 300 of them!), a ladybug cake, ladybug cupcakes & even ladybug deviled eggs plus all the other accessories that coordinated perfectly like cutlery & party hats.

If you're planning a lady bug first birthday party this is a great place to be inspired!

PS: Happy birthday to my fabulous sister-in-law, Truly! I love you girl :)
PPS: Thanks for sharing Claire's special day with my blogosphere, Marie & Greg :)

Sweet & Spicy Party Nuts

The great thing about these nuts besides being addictively sweet, spicy & crunchy all at once, is that they are uber easy to whip up, clean up an & keep on hand.  Yep these only require FIVE ingredients.  If you bake them on parchment paper it makes cleanup almost non-existent.  Make large batches & freeze them for later.

During the holidays I jar these nuts as little gifts.  In the summer I chop them up & add them to salads. Most often I serve them in small bowls for a little nosh at cocktail parties.

Greek Salad Party Kebabs

At my work we celebrate A LOT. It's pretty awesome. One of the things we celebrate for sure is birthdays. Each team member draws a name at the beginning of the year and then is in charge of the festivities for the person she has drawn. This year I got Jess.  As part of the Jess-tivities, I wanted to serve some food.  We're mad snackers in our office and Jess might just wear the crown jewel in that department which she literally gets from her mama (Happy Mother's Day Elizabeth!).

Since we would be celebrating in the happier hours of the day I thought we could just something refreshing and savory that would also pair nicely with some lets-drink-wine-at-work-to-celebrate-your-birthday-wine. They're super easy to make. No cooking involved. All you need to know is how to chop, spear, stir and pour to make these fancy little party kebabs.

Learn how after the jump!

Oh and of course: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my Mama Jeannie, my grandma, Mary O and all of the fabulous mommies out there!