Holiday Bucket List - Cocktails with Friends

I learned early on that every party deserves a signature cocktail. And who better to learn the ropes than from Sandra Lee! It's always cocktail time at Aunt Sandy's. I've used her cocktail recipes for years. However, I've been dabbling in dessert versions of cocktails over the years so I decided to take a crack on creating my own holiday cocktail to serve the girls when toasting them this season.

I got to work yesterday at my mom's house, she has all the booze, and came up with two versions of what I'm calling the Peppermint Stick! And man was it tasty! Here is what you'll need!

I am using a milk chocolate liqueur and a white chocolate liqueur. I've also got peppermint Schnapps, smashed up candy canes, and candy canes for garnish. The marshmallows are for a follow up cocktail..... I love making drinks in Mason Jars, but you can also get super festive and make them in fun holiday glasses. I have a shot glass and small spoon for mixing.

Fill your glass half way with ice. Pour in a shot of the milk chocolate liqueur, the peppermint Schnapps, and stir until mixed. Top with crushed peppermint and garnish with a broken off piece of a candy cane for a instant stirrer!

Do the exact same thing with the white chocolate liqueur and use a mini candy cane for garnish. It can also be used for a stirrer when the cocktail needs to be mixed! My mom preferred the white chocolate version and I preferred milk chocolate!

I love the idea of having all of my mixes in cute little pitchers versus having all the bottles out. It's less cluttered and makes it a little fancier. If you were going to have a Self Serve bar, write out the direction on a tiny chalk board so your guests know the amounts to add to their glass. Obviously, they can add more or less depending on taste. 

If you want to make a non-alcoholic version, use chocolate milk and peppermint simple syrup. You can still add the crushed peppermint candies and a candy cane for garnish. Perfect for the kiddos!

XO,

Andrea

McKinley's Holiday Cookie Decorating Party

Sunday was probably one of the best days ever! McKinley hosted his very first holiday party for five of his friend and it consisted of holiday cookie decorating. I asked McKinley weeks ago what type of cookies he wanted to decorate and he immediately answered with gingerbread houses. As most of you know, if you read the previous posts, I wasn't going to make gingerbread houses or buy them. I ended up using the super helpful instructions found on Pinterest for building houses out of graham crackers. 

My mom and I had purchased all the necessary items a couple of weeks ago and got to work on Friday of last week. It took us a couple of hours, and a bottle of champagne later, to complete the project and they were so cute! We used sugar cones for the trees and I ended up going back over them with green icing late Saturday night. It was totally worth the extra effort too. They were darling! But back to the graham crackers. My mom was responsible for cutting out the houses and I made up a batch of royal icing and worked to glue all of the houses together. Awesome team work!

Saturday I spent most of the morning setting up the table. I purchased a throw away table cloth at the Dollar Tree so that I just had to scoop everything up at the end of the day and pitch it! Best $1 spent! With only six kids decorating, the table spacing was so easy. Three on each side with all of the candy between them. 

The candy toppings were a huge mix of things. Starlight mints in red and green, mini M&Ms in the same colors, sugared drops, and mini Starburst dots. The kids also used the chocolate chips and mini marshmallows from the hot cocoa bar. 

For the final set up, once the trees were all green, I added a cute pair of moose antlers to every kids station. I mean, who doesn't need antlers while decorating cookies!

And then it was time for the kids to arrive! Here's how it played out. 

  

I'm honestly not sure who had more fun! I know the kids did, but I did too. It was so much fun watching them create their own houses and then decorate gingerbread men. And I loved that moms stayed to help the kids as we rang in the holidays together. It was just a wonderful afternoon. 

If you have the time, and energy, this is definitely a party to add to your holiday list for next year. I promise, you won't care how much time it took to prep. Every minute is totally worth it.

XO,

Andrea

McKinley's Holiday Cookie Party

This year I've decided not to host an adult holiday party. Instead, I asked McKinley if he would like to host his own kid friendly party and he immediately said yes. I thought it would be super cute for him to host a holiday cookie decorating party for nine of his friends, ten total with him. I asked him which type of cookies he would like the group to decorate and he insisted on Gingerbread Houses. How could I say no! Gingerbread Houses it is! 

As you know, I love to send out personalized invites for parties, but for this one, I took the Evite route. I found the most darling invite with Gingerbread men dancing in a line. I realize it wasn't a house theme invite, but if you could see these Gingerbread men high kicking like the Rockette's, you would go to for it as well. And besides, the Gingerbread House was something about raising the roof and that didn't seem terribly appropriate. Dancing men it was! 

I've spent time on Pinterest, like I do when it comes to finding inspiration for my parties, and I've found tons of useful information. For instance, I'm making the houses out of graham crackers! Genius, right? I wasn't really going to bake my own gingerbread and then try to cut out house pieces. Nor was I going to invest in a ton of those pre-made houses. This graham cracker time saver, and cost savings, is a savior! However, I will be making my own icing. It's super easy too. It's confectioner sugar, cream of tartar, egg whites, and water. You need it to be a little thick so it acts like glue. I plan to make these on Friday so they have time to dry and harden. Oh, and how adorable is this idea for a tree in the yard. Take a sugar cone and turn it upside down on the board. Darling! (I found the idea from That Mommy Blog.)

I've already purchased all the goodies for the houses. We got round peppermints in red and green, spiced gumball candies, mini candy canes, mini chewy Starbursts, and so much more. Each child will get their own bag of frosting to apply the candies and to create snow on the houses. And, I'm thinking of added coconut for each child to create 3-D snow! I found the cutest idea to place all the candies in a six cup muffin tin and place them down the table. This allows each kid access to candies within their reach. Also, I'm going to take large rectangle cake boards and cut them down to individual boards for each house. That way they have a creating surface and a way to transport them home. 

If time permits, I want to make gingerbread cookies for them to eat either while their decorating or after. I'll have Christmas music playing and I hope to have time for them to watch a classic Christmas movie. Possibly Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman. And you're going to need something to sip on and I plan to have a hot cocoa bar. I've been inspired by my research on Pinterest to recreate one of these three stand versions. Are they not the sweetest things you've ever seen? My mom found these Santa and Mrs. Clause mugs at Pottery Barn and they are perfection! (I have an antique version I've collected but would never dare use.) I found my three tiered stand at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. And, I can take it apart and lay it flat when not in use. Love the space saver version!!

This is the Pottery Barn version. So sweet!

How cute are these mugs? See the foursome above. It doesn't include the Reindeer or the Snowman.

One last thing. I've asked all the parents to stay so we can all toast in some holiday cheer. I'm thinking of serving a mulled wine, but I did just see a peppermint vodka hot chocolate that just might make the cut! Nothing like a little warm drink to help keep us in the holiday spirit.

I'm pretty sure I'm more excited than McKinley for this party. And I hope the kids coming are as well. I think it's just as important for them to have a special event to attend during the holidays as it is for adults. Now, I may find time to throw something together last minute for friends. But if I don't, this will last me all season long!

XO,

Andrea