I had this absolutely delicious Christmas Sangria at a holiday party recently and just had to share the recipe with all of you! If you’re wondering How to Host a Christmas Open House, the perfect party punch can help make your holiday party a hit!
With fresh green apples and bright red cranberries, this drink not only looks like Christmas but tastes like it, too. Whip up a quick batch of the good stuff before guests arrive, and take a look at our other Christmas Party Ideas for more inspiration, too!
I love how the hostess served the sangria next to a Christmas arrangement. The arrangement had fresh evergreen, eucalyptus, red flowers, and orange with cloves. It was the perfect holiday touch (and smelled wonderful!).
Ingredients (makes one pitcher)
1 bottle pinot grigio
½ cup white grape juice
¼ cup sugar
1 cup fresh cranberries
Several sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 granny smith apples, diced
Directions
In a small pan, stir the grape juice, sugar, and one cup of wine. Bring the mixture to a boil, so the sugar dissolves.
Add the cranberries, and cook until they just begin to pop (30 seconds to a minute).
Strain the cranberries, putting the liquid off to the side.
In your pitcher, combine the remaining wine, cranberries, rosemary, and apples.
Then, chill in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Add the reserved liquid before serving.
To make the amount seen in the pictures, the hostess doubled this recipe.
I debuted this delicious pumpkin monkey bread at a fall family party, and I can’t wait to make it for Thanksgiving dinner. Along with pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll, this dessert recipe is sure to be a hit with my family and friends. It’s almost like a pumpkin cinnamon roll, only better! We’ve come up with a bunch of other Thanksgiving Ideas and Activities for you to choose from for your big holiday, too. Check them out!
Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cans Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
Cooking spray
Directions
Preheat your over to 350°F and spray a bundt pan with cooking spray
Open the cans of buttermilk biscuits, separate them, and cut each biscuit in half. You should have 32 pieces.
In a gallon Ziploc bag mix ½ cup sugar, the pumpkin spice, and cinnamon. Set off to the side.
Next, mix the cream cheese and the rest of the sugar (1/4 cup).
Flatten a piece of buttermilk biscuit. Put a small spoonful of the cream cheese in the center, and roll into a ball. Repeat this with the rest of the dough.
Put 5 balls of dough in the Ziploc bag mix and shake until the dough is coated. Place the dough balls evenly in the bundt pan.
Melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar. Pour the mixture evenly over the dough.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is brown and the biscuits are cooked through.
Enjoy making this delicious dessert, and Happy Thanksgiving from the Party Girl! Don't forget to check out our other great Thanksgiving Ideas as well:
My mother-in-law suggested I make these luau rice krispie desserts for my sister’s annual luau party. With teddy grahams swimming in peach ring inner tubes and sunbathing on the beach underneath umbrellas, this dessert is sure to be a favorite with both children and adult guests. Plus, they’re easy to make! Follow my how-to below, and if you need more Ideas for a Luau Party, jump on over to Party411.com. We have tons of Luau Party Ideas to peruse.
In a large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add rice krispies and stir thoroughly.
Using a greased spatula, press mixture into a 13 x 9 pan coated with cooking spray. Cool and cut into 2-3 inch squares.
To make the icing, mix the water, powdered sugar, and food coloring in a bowl. (Put in food coloring until it reaches desired color.) Dip the top and sides of each rice krispie square and place on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper.
Before the icing hardens, decorate with crushed graham crackers (“sand”), peach rings (“inner tubes”), teddy grahams (“swimmers and sunbathers”), and an umbrella pick (for “shade”).
Remove the treats from the sheet once they’re dry and display on a tray. Enjoy!
These adorable watermelon cookies were at a summer party I attended last week, and my family and friends couldn’t get over how cute (and tasty!) they were. I asked my brother-in-law for the recipe, and I thought I’d let my readers in on my new favorite summer cookie recipe. Also, wouldn’t these make cute favors for a watermelon theme summer party? Coordinate your shindig with matching Summer Watermelon Invitations and Party Favors, too. Check out the easy recipe below, and if you need more Backyard BBQ Party Ideas, head on over to Party411.com!
Preheat your oven to 375°F. Beat the butter, shortening, and sugar with a mixer until fluffy. Then, add the egg, vanilla, orange juice, and red food coloring until blended
Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt, and add to the butter mixture until dough is well formed. Wrap and chill for 3 hours.
Roll the dough to ¼ inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut with a 3 inch round cookie cutter. Then, cut the circles in half, place on an ungreased cookie sheet, and press 3-4 mini chocolate chips into each cookie. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
After cookies have cooled on a wire rack, mix the egg white and water in a bowl and brush the mixture on the rounded edge of each cookie and then roll in green sugar.
Take a peek at our other summer party tips and tricks, too:
My family makes this delicious white sangria for many of our summer parties (see some of our other awesome Summer Party Ideas, too), and I recently made it for my sister-in-law’s wedding shower. (It was a special request from the bride herself!) I love this recipe because it’s not only easy to make but also has a mouth-watering fruity flavor. It’s hard to have just one glass! Follow the simple recipe below to make this colorful sangria, and take a peek at our Backyard BBQ Party Ideas to help make your celebration a success.
Materials
1 750 ml bottle of white wine (the cheaper the better!)
¼ cup triple sec
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup frozen peaches
1 lemon sliced into rounds
4 cups ginger ale
Ice
Directions
**I tripled this recipe for a wedding shower with about 35 attendees.**
Mix the wine, triple sec, raspberries, peaches, and lemon in a pitcher or jar.
Refrigerate the mixture for 1-2 hours.
Before serving add the ginger ale, and serve with ice.
Enjoy planning your summer party, and don’t forget to follow some of our tips and tricks over at Party411.com:
For the southern theme wedding shower I hosted for my sister-in-law, the hostesses and I wanted to make sure our buffet menu included all sorts of classic southern recipes along with some family party favorites! We all pitched in and created an overflowing buffet that guests loved. They kept asking me for recipes, and I thought it might be a good idea to share a few for you here. Below are the drink, buffet, and dessert menus along with my reasoning (and some recipes!) behind these choices. Don’t forget to take a look at our other Bridal Shower Theme Ideas to help make your planning process easy!
When we designed our drink table we wanted to give guests lots of choices while also making drinks easily accessible. We used simple powdered sweet tea and lemonade and made several batches of white sangria from scratch. Don't forget the personalized bridal shower water bottle labels we made beforehand!
We combined family favorite recipes and southern classics for our buffet menu. From the traditional buttermilk biscuits (made from a Charleston recipe) to the baked peaches, guests had a variety of delicious dishes from which to choose. We made sure to have egg, meat, fruit, dairy, and starch dishes to appeal to our guests' tastes.
Buffet Menu
Scrambled Egg Bake (Bacon, Sausage, and Vegetable - see my grandma's recipe below)
Baked Peaches Recipe (makes one 9x13 dish, serves about 15-20 people)
6-7 cup sliced peaches (used about 10-12 peaches)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
Cooking spray
Aluminium foil
Preheat your oven to 375° F. Mix the peaches, brown sugar, lemon juice, flower, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
Place peaches in a greased 9x13 glass baking dish.
Bake covered (I used alumnium foil) for 35-45 minutes or until peaches are soft. Enjoy!
Scrambled Egg Bake (see picture above)
1 lb sausage or 1 lb bacon, browned
8 eggs
8 slices white bread
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
Beat eggs. Add milk, cheese, bread (broken into pieces), salt, pepper and meat.
Pour into ungreased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 325° F, and then bake uncovered for 1 1/4 hours. Enjoy!
The crowning glory of the party was our beautiful dessert table! Each hostess made a different dessert, and we placed bite size portions in paper liners and placed them on trays. We made sure to include a variety of desserts as well; we had nuts, fruit, citrus, chocolate, and cake options! I've written a full post on the dessert table, so check it out.
Dessert Menu
Sweet and Salty Pecans
Pecan Bars
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Key Lime Squares
Oreo Cupcakes
Take a look at my other posts on this southern theme bridal shower, and don't forget to follow our other tips an tricks to throw an unforgettable event:
Nothing says Christmas more than a tray of right-from-the-oven cookies! Every family has a few of their traditional favorites. (My family loves snowballs and chocolate chip cookie bars!) Whatever your family favorite, you can bet that the guests at your next Christmas party will expect a tray overflowing with cookies.
If you’re going to a Cookie Exchange or you want to impress your family and friends with a dessert table to die for, than make sure you decorate and serve your party trays with a little Christmas flair. I came up with ten ways to jazz up your presentation while still making sure you follow the Christmas tradition of serving everyone’s favorite cookies. I also included a recipe for one of my family classics: Peppermint Snowballs (see recipe below). After trying one or two of these ideas to make your cookies trays stand out, take a look at our other Christmas Party Ideas, too!
Like the picture above, try lining the tray with holiday candy. Red, green, and white M&Ms are festive, but peppermint or holiday sprinkles work well too!
If you’re using a tiered stand filled with cookies, finish off the top tier with an elaborately decorated gingerbread house. Guests can take a cookie without destroying your handiwork.
Give your guests something to do by setting up a cookie decorating station. Have undecorated sugar cookies along with bowls of colored icing, sprinkles, and toppings ready to go (i.e. chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows). Family and friends can pile cookies high with their favorite treats and even take them home as favors! This activity is a great way to keep the kids occupied, too!
On a white tray, pipe melted milk chocolate in swirling designs. Allow the chocolate to harden in the fridge before piling the tray with cookies. As guests take cookies from the tray, they reveal your design!
If your guests enjoy drop cookies like chocolate chip or peanut butter, tray stacking them in groups of three and tying with baker’s twine. Cookie lovers can grab a stack instead of just one or two to enjoy with their coffee and hot chocolate.
Make your dessert table vertical with tall clear vases filled with durable cookies (like chocolate chip) and chocolate covered pretzel rods. Have guests use tongs to remove the cookies from the vases.
Fill large glass bowls with bite-size sugar cookies. Add a scoop to each bowl and make paper bags available, so family and friends can fill a bag with a dozen or two.
Instead of having a tray of cookies on a table, hang them from your Christmas tree! Before baking, poke a hole in the top of each sugar cookie with a straw. After baking and decorating, string the cookies with baker’s twine and hang them among your evergreen branches. Family and friends can pick their dessert straight from your tree!
Get your family and friends involved by hosting a Christmas Cookie Potluck! On your invitation, ask each guest to a bring few dozen of their favorite cookie. (Make sure beforehand that everyone isn’t bringing chocolate chip!) Set up a cookie bar with personalized Christmas favor bags, and family and friends can fill them up as favors. Yum!
If you’re not the baking type, you can always order some custom Christmas cookies from Party411.com. Add your own holiday greeting for a personal touch!
Peppermint Snowball Recipe (makes about 2 dozen)
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup butter or margarine melted
½ cup sugar
¼ cup crushed peppermint
½ cup powdered sugar
Directions: Preheat oven to 400 ° F. Blend sugar and margarine until mixed well. Add flour and crushed peppermint. Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar until completely covered. Cook for 10-12 minutes on an ungreased cookie tray.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and there’s no better way to get in the “giving” spirit then to handout Thanksgiving Party Favors at your next get-together. I made these adorable favors for my family’s annual fall party, and I had several requests to bring these acorn desserts to Thanksgiving dinner.
Besides bringing a plate of these goodies to put on the dessert table, I’m also going to put 4-5 of these treats in cellophane bags, top them with a tag, and hand them out as favors. I’ve been thinking of some appropriate phrasing to put on the tags, too. Something like, “Thanksgiving Blessings from the Phelps Family” or “Thankful for You! Love, The Phelps.” If you like this favor, make sure to check out my easy how-to below, and take a look at our other Thanksgiving Ideas and Activities, too!
Materials
1 Bag Milk Chocolate Hersey Kisses
1 Box Mini Nilla Wafers (must be mini!)
1 Bag Butterscotch Chips
¾ Cup Chocolate Chips
Cookie Sheet
Wax Paper
Quart-Sized Plastic Bag
Directions (makes approximately 55-60 acorns)
Set up a workstation with a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Unwrap the Hershey Kisses, and line them up on the sheet.
Melt the chocolate chips in a microwavable safe bowl on 30 second intervals. After the chocolate is melted, put it in a quart-sized plastic bag. Cut off one corner for piping.
Next, pipe a dime-sized dollop of chocolate onto the bottom of each Hershey Kiss, pushing a Nilla wafer onto it afterwards.
After adding wafers to all the kisses, place the tray in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to harden the chocolate.
After removing the tray from the fridge, pipe a small amount of chocolate onto the bottom of a butterscotch chip and place in the middle of each wafer. When finished, allow the chocolate to harden in the fridge again for another 15 minutes.
If not serving the acorns immediately, store in an airtight container for up to a week. Enjoy!
When the Halloween candy first starts making its appearance in stores, the first thing I do is go out and buy a bag of my favorite – candy corn. Candy corn is not just delicious, but also mysterious (what the heck is it made of?) and unspoilable (pretty sure it could survive any number of disasters, including being left out in a candy bowl for weeks at a time). With so many admirable qualities, I’ve been looking for ways to incorporate this traditional candy into any upcoming Halloween parties (including my sister’s Halloween open house for which I am making these awesome Candy Corn Jello Desserts).
Last weekend, I put together these easy-to-make candy corn bark gifts as a thank you to family and friends for recently helping us move, and I thought they’d be wonderful favors to give to guests after a night of spooky fun. After giving these favors a shot, make sure to check out our other great Halloween Party Favors and Halloween Party Ideas as well! Enjoy!
Materials
2 ½ - 3 cups white chocolate chips/wafers
1 cup candy corn
1 cup broken pretzel sticks
Wax paper
Cookie/brownie pan
Small cellophane bags
White paint marker
Black, orange, green, and brown craft paper
Directions
Melt the chocolate 1/2 cup at a time in a microwavable safe bowl on 30 second intervals.
While the chocolate is melting, break pretzel sticks into fourths, and when the chocolate is ready, mix in the majority of both the candy corn and pretzel sticks. (Put some off to the side.)
Set up a cookie sheet covered with wax paper, and then pour the chocolate mixture into the wax paper, spreading it evenly. Sprinkle the remaining candy corn and pretzels onto the top of the chocolate.
Place the tray in the refrigerator for an hour before breaking the bark and dividing equally into cellophane bags.
Measure the top of the bag and cut black craft paper to fit, stapling to secure the paper to the bag. Use white paint marker to write a brief thank you.
Now you have a cute favor to pass out to family and friends as they head home after your next Halloween bash! Happy Halloween from every at Party411.com!
These worm Jello cups were a blast at my family’s annual leaf hike, which happens the week before Halloween! When I put them out on the dessert table, family members gathered around and commented on how real the worms looked. They even had ridges, thanks to the straws I made them with! Plus, I had the kids believing the worms were real for a while, and I even got a few “ewwws” when I picked one up and popped it in my mouth!
If you want a Halloween dessert with some shock value, make sure to try out this realistic recipe. The worms will keep everyone entertained, especially if you bring a few extra on a sheet of wax paper for people to gross each other out with! Make sure to check out some of our other Halloween Party Ideas that would go great with this unique recipe (which is easier than it looks).
Materials
Jello Worms
2 packages raspberry Jello (3 ounces)
1 packet unflavored gelatin
Green food coloring
1 package of 100-120 straws
3 cups boiling water
¾ heavy whipping cream
1 large ball jar
Wax paper
Pudding Cups
10-12 single serving cups
Cool Whip
2 packages chocolate pudding
4 cups milk
Nilla Wafers (or other cookies)
Directions (makes 100-120 worms and 10-12 pudding cups)
In a bowl, mix boiling water, raspberry Jello mix, and unflavored gelatin. Allow the mixture to cool in the fridge until it is room temperature (about 20-25 minutes).
Remove the mixture from the fridge, and add 15-18 drops of green food coloring and heavy whipping cream. Set mixture off to the side.
Fill a large ball jar with straws until it is tightly packed. Make sure to stretch out the bendy part of the straw, so this feature shows up in your worms. (Note: I ended up using a taller ball jar than the one pictured below.)
Pour the Jello mixture into the straws until the ball jar is filled to the top. Refrigerate for four hours.
Next, set up a workstation on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Remove the ball jar from the fridge, and pull the straws out of the jar, setting them aside. (Don’t worry, the worms will stay in the straws).
Hold a few straws at a time under warm water for about 3-4 seconds to loosen the Jello. Then, holding one end of a straw firmly on the cookie sheet, slide your finger along the straw, pushing the Jello out onto the wax paper.
Do this until the cookie sheet is full, and refrigerate the worms for another hour until firm. Make sure the worms are separated on the cookie sheet when they are cooled, so they do not stick together.
While they are cooling, make the chocolate pudding (uses 4 cups milk), and layer the pudding and Cool Whip in the cups.
Crush Nilla Wafers (or other cookies) in a bowl, and sprinkle the crumbs on top of each cup. Add 6-7 worms, and you have a realistic (and delicious) Halloween dessert for the kiddos!
