December 12, 2011

an easy peasy caprese....

last weekend was a tad bit busy.
on saturday night i realized that i had about an hour to get ready for a party and prepare an appetizer...YIKES!
i always do this.  
i never leave myself enough time to make something worthy of sharing.
.....until now!!!
 meet the simplest appetizer i have ever made.
(forgive my photo quality...it's from my iphone)
caprese salad bites
here is what you need...
cherry tomatoes (or any small tomato) - cut in half
fresh basil - chopped into squares
fresh mozzarella cheese pearls - cut in half
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
course sea salt & pepper
toothpicks

take a tomato halve and stick it on the toothpick
add a mozzarella halve
then a square of basil
then top it with the other half of tomato.

lay all your little skewers on a plate all pretty like.
drizzle olive oil over the top.
take some of your balsamic vinegar and heat it up over medium high heat in a pan until it boils down to a thick reduction, not globby, 
but thicker than it was before.
(sorry, i'm not an exact science recipe girl when i make things up)
pour the balsamic reduction over the skewers.
finish by sprinkling sea salt and pepper over the top.
chill till it's time to serve.

this totally saved me and will be my new go-to 
when i need to share an appetizer.

what kinds of recipes do you rely on when you're running short on time?









December 4, 2011

SPARK YOUR CHRISTMAS 2011

hi friends...
this is my beautiful girlfriend...MARGIE ROMNEY-ASLETT
she is golden.  and everything she touches SPARKles!
BIG TIME!!!
tomorrow, december 5th, my margie girl is launching an online workshop called
"SPARK YOUR CHRISTMAS!!!"
that you will NOT want to miss.  
It comes on the heals of margie's creative event called...
"SPARK"
(i have an entire other blog post to share with you about this amazing event, 
but just let it be said that every single one of you girls should be there next year!!!)
One of the things that is just so amazing about SPARK is that every single one of the decorations is "handmade"...that's right...EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
Margie has the most amazing knack for using as little cashola as she can and as much creativity as she can muster...(which is a WHOLE lot..) and creating crazy, over the top, beautiful decor.
"SPARK YOUR CHRISTMAS" is an online class filled with SPARK inspired projects from gift ideas to decorations to garlands and more...for your christmas pleasure!!!

follow THIS LINK....
for more info and to sign up...it's not too late!!!


************
also....
don't forget that tomorrow, december 5th starts the 
12 ARTSY ORNAMENT OF CHRISTMAS
(Margie is also one of the amazing artists participating with me in this workshop)


follow THIS LINK....
for more info and to sign up!


and as always...i would LOVE to know what you are doing to 
CUL*TI*VATE a wonderful holiday season in your homes!!!


xo!