Jewelry, Chocolate and Good Friends!

The "CHOCTAILS and Jewelry" party was a lot of fun! I had 12 guests plus my personal jeweler, Jerrie. Since we were encouraging gift shopping for Valentine's Day, I used a red, pink and white color scheme and of course we had PLENTY of chocolate. My Cherry Cheesecake Brownie Bites turned out delicious. They are so easy to make and tasted oh so yummy! I will definitely keep this recipe handy for the future.

Fresh strawberries with whipped chocolate dip were a big hit.

My heart-shaped cake turned out nicely. I decided to frost it with chocolate fudge icing instead of the marshmallow creme frosting listed on my recipe.

It was 6:25pm and everything was set and ready!

My "personal jeweler", Jerrie arrived to set up the jewelry display. I met Jerrie such a few months ago. She moved to my area from the coastal part of NC. She is a sweet, sweet lady, so funny and so good at accessorizing fashion.

She set up two tables of jewelry - everything was so pretty. Sterling silver, gold, rhodium, hand made glass beads, oh my!

This is my friend Christina. She works with me in the home interior business. She came out to support me and order some silver jewelry.

Meet Marsha and Michelle. Yes, they are sisters and from my home state of WV!

These ladies are always up for a "get together". Both of them have such wonderful personalities and are so funny.

I even had a couple of husbands in attendance. Here's John with his lovely wife, Teddie. I think a Valentine present was on his agenda for the evening.

The tulips I purchased Wednesday morning opened up just in time for the party.

This is another good friend, Shelly. We go to church together. Shelly loves bling! Before the night was over she was decked out!

Veronica (another sistah from WV) and Jerrie posing for the "blogcam".

The party was so fun. The food turned out so good. But the friendship and the conversation was priceless. You know with the current state of our nation, the trouble and concern that fills so many of the faces I see everyday, it is good to extend hospitality to each other, support one another in enterprise, love and encourage each other on a DAILY basis.

The Message puts it like this:

"Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly.

And the best of the three is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13b

Find someone today and tell them you love them. Call someone you haven't spoken to in a little while and let them know how important they are to you. As the old commercial jingle used to say, "Reach out and touch someone".

I hope you all have a FABULOUS Saturday. I don't have any big plans - organize my closet, finish up some laundry and make a quick trip to a furniture consignment shop up-town. I'm looking for a couple of accent chairs for a "makeover" project. Next week I hope to share another "Junk to Gems" feature and my Grannie Isaacs' "Chicken and Dumplings" recipe on "The Cook's Corner". The powder room makeover is FINISHED! I was going to post the reveal yesterday but I volunteer at my son's high school and so I was tied up with that most of the day. Once I came home is was time to get ready for the party....

Since we are close to Monday, I will post the reveal for Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com so be sure to check it out. Until then,

Happy Decorating!

~Alisa

The Cook's Corner - Choctails & Jewelry

Welcome to The Cook's Corner! I wanted to share some delicious, quick and easy dessert recipes today. I am preparing for a "Choctails & Jewelry" party on Friday night and thought I would get some of my "do ahead" items off my list today. I also want to do a run through with my decorations. My very good friend Jerrie opened her own jewelry business last fall with Premier Designs Jewelry. You may not be familiar with it but it is high quality fashion jewelry. Many of the pieces remind me of Brighton Jewelry and the prices are similar. So I scheduled Jerrie to come on Friday night and present her lovely jewelry to a group of my friends while us girls celebrate Valentine's Day just a little early. The party is at 7pm and since most of the girls will have had dinner by then, my theme is "Choctails". Everything on my menu will be CHOCOLATE! I have 4 recipes to share. The first one comes from my Easy to Bake, Easy to Make cards.

Valentine Heart Cake

1 package white chocolate cake mix or cherry chip

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

2 large egg whites

1 jar marshmallow creme

1-2 tablespoons heart-shaped cake decors

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line one 9-inch square cake pan and one 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper or waxed paper. I use parchment paper.
• Prepare cake mix according to package directions. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers of cakes comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Cool on wire racks.
• Mix sugar, water, and egg whites in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, beating continuously with an electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, add marshmallow creme; beat mixture on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes longer.
• Remove cakes from pans and remove paper liners. Place square cake on serving platter. Cut round cake in half.
• Place round cake halves against 2 adjacent sides of square cake to form heart shape. Spread top and sides with marshmallow creme frosting and decorate with heart-shaped decors as desired.

My next recipe was found in Women's World magazine a couple of weeks ago.

Cherry Cheesecake Brownie Bars

1 tube refrigerated triple chocolate chunk brownie batter

2 packages cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 can, 21 oz., cherry pie filling

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line 9" square baking pan with foil, leaving 2" overhang; coat with cooking spray.
• Spread tube of brownie batter in pan. Bake 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until fluffy.
• Spread over brownie. Bake 20 minutes or until cream cheese topping is set.
• Cool on rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until chilled, about 1-2 hours. Use foil to help lift from pan. Just before serving cut into bars and then top with cherry pie filling. I use about a tablespoon of cherry pie filling per bar. Garnish with white and dark chocolate curls.

The next recipe I plan to use came out of Southern Living magazine a couple of years ago during the Christmas holiday season. This is easy-peazy and tastes oh so good!

Chocolate Passion Bowl

3 cups cold milk

2 packages Jell-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding

1 tub French Vanilla Whipped Topping, thawed and divided. Such as Cool Whip brand.

1 baked 9-inch square brownie layer, cooled and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 cups fresh raspberries

• Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the whipped topping.
• Place half of brownie cubes in 2-quart serving bowl or trifle bowl, top with half of the pudding mixture, half of the raspberries and half of the remaining whipped topping. Repeat all layer.
• Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

I scanned the picture from the magazine. Doesn't this look like just the perfect dessert for Valentine's Day? Red, White and Chocolate!

Back in 2005, I was in a Williams-Sonoma and found these little heart-shaped silicon molds. They are perfect for making individual cupcakes, muffins or Valentine treats. I think I will make little heart-shaped Chocolate Lava cakes using this mold. For the beverage I plan to make an Iced Mocha Punch. The recipe is super easy and you can make it ahead of time and let it chill in the fridge until the day of your party.

Iced Mocha Punch

3 cups strong coffee

1 1/2 cup chocolate syrup

1 gallon 2% milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 gallon French Vanilla ice cream

Blend coffee, chocolate syrup, milk, sugar and vanilla extract together. Chill until ready to serve. Then, scoop softened ice cream into punch bowl and pour mocha mixture over it. Carefully fold mixture together. This makes about 50 punch cup servings. I am really excited about using my Grandmother's milk glass punch bowl and cups.

While I was at W-S, I also found these adorable pancake molds. The heart with the arrow through it makes a great cookie cutter too! The cookies are rather large using this, about the size of two regular sized Chocolate Chip cookies.

I decided I would do a run through of my decorations for Friday night. I had these two red, pink and white striped runners and decided to crisscross them along my island. I found these at TJMaxx a few years ago. About the only time I use them is at Valentine's Day. When decorating for Valentine's you really don't have to worry about matching your room's decor. It's more about setting a festive and fun atmosphere that reflects that special occasion.

I purchased a bunch of Pink Gerbera Daisies and Red Tulips from the market this morning. Remember my Grandmother's milk glass from a few blogs back? Well, I decided to use the collection of bud vases and place single stems in each one then cluster them in the center.

Since there is only going to be 10 of us on Friday night, I really wanted to use real plates and napkins. I pulled out 10 cherry red satin napkins and placed Pink Gerbera Daisy napkin rings on each one. I used 5 of the napkins to form a cluster on either end of the island. I found the napkin rings at Bed, Bath and Beyond for 99 cents each a few years ago.

The heart-shaped topiary is from Marshalls. This was another find from a few years ago. The topiary is made with fuchsia and red rose buds. It really adds a touch of whimsy and Valentine's Day flair to the centerpiece.

So pretty and girlie!

Now all I have to do is prepare my desserts and fill my silver serving platters. I should have the paramedics standing by just in case we truly have a "death by chocolate"!

I will take plenty of pictures and share them with you on Saturday. Until then,

Happy Entertaining!

~Alisa

An Apple A Day... A color story

I'm sure you've all heard that "an apple a day, keeps the Doctor away...". Well, one of my goals for 2009 is to eat more natural foods so I decided that after the holidays were over, I would clear out the refined sugars and replace them with delicious fresh fruits. After my trip to the local grocery store's produce department, I had a dilemma - what am I going to do with all of this fruit? A pretty footed glass bowl became home to my Red Delicious Apples! Don't these look yummy? I love the deep saturated color of the apple skins and the touch of gold seen a the top and bottom of the apple. I thought this would be a perfect accent in my living room. All the Christmas decor has come down and things were looking a little bare so my bowl of apples found a home on the coffee table. I'm not sure how long they will last though ; ) I have had a love affair with RED for many years! Once I even purchased a RED sofa, club chair and ottoman! Red as a primary color is HOT, eye-stopping and a little risky. Because its so visually demanding, intense red should be used with care. Subtle variations of primary red works much better in interior spaces. For a traditional color scheme apple red or cherry red works wonders with navy or Cadet blue. For a modern and contemporary space try adding lipstick red to pink or even hot pink tones such as fuchsia.
In my living room I use liberal doses of deep dark red. My living room walls are painted a warm golden hue so the red accent adds an element of depth and authority to the color story. Here is a picture of a table scape in my living room. A table runner from Pottery Barn - Spice Trade - covers the table, a black and gold wrought-iron tray holds two palm tree candle holders, an antique clock and a red pottery vase of deep purple, red and orange blooms.

This is an accent chair that has recently been given a make-over. Before, this chair was a light, bleached wood and covered in a mauve fabric from the early 90's. We rescued it and put it through several makeovers before this one. Last month I decided I wanted to move this chair to the living room. In order to make the chair fit the color scheme, it had to undergo a little "surgery". (I am sorry I don't have a before shot of the chair :( ). As you can see the frame was painted glossy black, the upholstery was updated with a rich mustard yellow silk with a red, rust and teal blue floral pattern woven in a chenille thread. The black frame of the chair pairs well with the black and gold picture frames on the wall art above. I added a punch of color by using the red silk decorative pillow. I love how the black, gold and red come together for a classic trio of colors. True neutrals - black, gray, white - balance the vibrancy of reds and make them safer. Updated neutrals such as khaki, camel, cocoa, ecru, linen, charcoal, coffee bean, and chestnut pick up energy from reds such as cranberry and Bordeaux while calming the shades of ripe tomato and Chile pepper red.

In this shot you see a pair of framed prints with a full-bodied deep RED background.

These two prints were the inspiration for the color scheme in the living room and dinning room - gold, RED and black with just enough touches of white in the trim and woodwork to add balance. Here I've featured a mosaic plate in shades of rust, orange, red, gold and ruby.

Warm colors - and RED is the warmest of all - appear to advance, and pull in the space.

Rooms where red is used in liberal doses seem more intimate and cozy.

My dinning room and living room are open to each other and somewhat large, only separated by two white columns. When choosing a color story for these two rooms, I knew I wanted them to be warm and inviting. Using the framed prints as my guide, I chose a cheery complementary gold color for the walls and let the red accents take center stage.

Do you have a love affair with red too? I'd love to hear about how and where you use RED in your home. No matter what shade of RED you choose, let it warm up the interiors of your home this winter! Even small accents can add warmth and cheer!

Happy Decorating!

~ Alisa