Last night, Steve and I continued our tradition of grocery shopping the Friday before Thanksgiving. Not only is this outing fun for us since we incorporate dinner before shopping, we also beat the giant crowds that will be flocking to the grocery stores for the next week.

This year’s trip didn’t disappoint. Our first stop was Total Wine in New Jersey, where we picked up alcoholic beverages for the week. Our strategy at Total Wine was simple: buy decent wine and beer without going overboard. Considering this year’s festivities are for all over 21 (well, there’s one minor), we also needed to have some filler beer that guests could drink after consuming one or two nice microbrews.

Here’s what we came away with at the end of the shopping trip:

Holiday Drinking, Beer and Wine Style

We bought a variety of local and cheap beers, bottled and boxed wines, and a case of Natural Light (my dad’s favorite) that, to me, goes in the undrinkable category. While it would be wonderful to treat our guests with only local or notable microbrews and mid-shelf wines, our alcohol choices came down to staying within our budget. Plus, we have a stocked liquor cabinet at home and can break into several hard liquor choices at any time.

I wasn’t able to use Martha’s “Party Calculator” that I enjoyed reading in the November issue of Living since I have guests for an entire week, but I thought her rule-of-thumb alcohol guidelines for parties was fantastic:

Wine: One bottle per two people per hour

Beer: Two beers per person per hour

Spirits: One bottle per five people per hour

Mixers: Three bottles for each bottle of alcohol

Ice: At least one pound per person per hour

I can’t wait to get the libations flowing at this house. I won’t have to wait long since my first guests arrive tonight!

While it’s fun to host overnight guests, it can be an expensive endeavor. If you are like me, you want to roll out the red carpet for your guests without breaking the bank.

Recently, I have come up with some budget-friendly recipes that are standouts when entertaining:

• The first is a good dinner entrée. It’s Dave Liberman’s Pink Vodka Sauce and Penne. This is an easy dish to prepare with company sitting in the kitchen, since it requires minimal ingredients and is only a few steps. In my opinion, vodka sauce is a huge treat (with the heavy cream it’s not an everyday meal) and a memorable dish (the vodka adds a zing to the ubiquitous tomato sauce). As a bonus, pasta is a cheap food and satisfying to the masses. I usually pair this dish with a nice green salad and wine. I recommend making enough for eight servings so you can enjoy it again as leftovers. I have eaten this well into the week after a weekend of entertaining.
• My other “go-to” meal is challah french toast for breakfast. Again, this is not low in calories, but it is an indulgence worthy of good company. I buy challah at our local bakery and prepare it as I would regular french toast. Then I set out fun condiments like Nutella and cinnamon sugar to dress it up. It’s rich and satisfying, yet easy and affordable. Serve with a side of fruit and no one will be complaining!

No matter who you are entertaining, these easy and affordable recipes are a must-try. They will satisfy your guests and you will still have money in your pocket at the end of the visit. Plus, they are easy enough to execute, which will leave you with more time to socialize with your visitors!

I’ll be spending Halloween with my husband and best friend from college. We’re going to a Flyers game this afternoon and then will watch the World Series and hand out candy this evening. What a day!

We kicked up our Halloween celebration yesterday with several activities, including a kids’ costume parade in a neighboring town. One of our at-home activities involved making yummy decorated caramel apples. Seriously, this is an easy project if you buy the caramel apple wraps. We rolled the caramel-wrapped-apples when they were warm in toppings like chocolate chips, sprinkles, and nuts. They are so yummy! I recommend cutting them up to eat so you can share!

Black-eyed Pea Salad and the Cheese Flautas

Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am to be married to my husband? Despite his hectic work schedule, last night he found the time to make the four recipes featured in the “What’s for Dinner?” section of the October Martha Stewart Living. A few weeks ago I commented with glee that the four-recipe cardstock pull out was all vegetarian. And fall themed. Steve took note of my excitement and made the entire meal. It was a very memorable meal, especially for a Friday night.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Last night we ate roasted pumpkin soup (from a pumpkin!!!), cheese flautas with cilantro pesto, black-eyed pea salad with baby greens, and apple-cranberry crumble. It was so fall-y and tasty. The cilantro pesto was made with pumpkin seeds instead of pine nuts, and had such a distinct and lovely flavor that I hope to find other recipes to use it. And, of course, the crumble was fantastic, a perfect compliment to my viewing of this week’s Project Runway.

Thanks sweetie!

My guests left this morning after a fabulous Girls Weekend. Although we had big intentions of driving to the beach, Hurricane Bill got in the way of those plans, so we spent the weekend shopping, eating, and drinking. It was so fun to be surrounded by the strong independent women who were integral parts of my college years.

I had a successful run as host of the weekend. I made a homemade vodka sauce for the first time, served my icebox dessert, and allowed Steve to cook challah french toast. While he was out of the house most of the weekend, I didn’t mind him stepping in for breakfast preparation.

Now that I am left to an empty house, I realize that my amazingly full and fun summer is winding down. For the next few weekends, Steve and I will be home, and I feel like there are so many little things we need to do. For one, every closet in my house needs to be organized. When I was cleaning this weekend and throwing tons of miscellaneous items into close-by closets, I realized we really need to pare down our stuff.

In addition to some summer cleaning, I hope to really start working away at some projects. So far, I have the following on my mind:

• an Amy Butler kimono for my mom;
• quilted pillows for a friend and my house;
• birthday presents galore;
• a window vallance;
• finishing my fall bag.

I am excited to have the rest of today to begin these projects and hope to post some completed ones soon.

Chocolate-Ricotta Icebox Cake

Girls Weekend is upon me! I already have a guest and my other friends are not far behind. I have spruced up the house and started prepping my meals. Last night, I made this Chocolate-Ricotta Icebox Cake, a great looking no-bake dessert. I try to not turn the oven on in the summer, so I have been enjoying several no-bake desserts this summer, including these No-Bake Chocolate and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars.

The Colors of the Season

August is a great month for produce. Steve and I are in heaven chomping down sweet, ripe peaches, plums, raspberries, and blueberries. We’re so excited about them that we overloaded our fridge with produce this week (not that I am complaining).

Steve isn’t much of a fruit smoothie person and I did not want to turn the oven on for long (we are finally inundated with humidity) but I wanted to do something fun with all of our bounty. So I made this fruit pizza. Although I had to bake the sugar cookie crust, the oven was only on for about twenty minutes. The pizza was absolutely delicious! Sugar cookie crust, cream cheese/sugar/vanilla sauce, and fruit as the topping. Plus I am in love with how pretty it looks!

My Beautiful Fruit Pizza!

Expect lots of posts this week. I am close to wrapping up the color wheel quilt at any moment, I have finished my crocheted fall bag (sewing the lining in right now), and will have quilted the Amy table runner I discussed. Now that grad school is over, I’ve got to keep busy!

One final note . . . congrats to my bro-in-law at Can I Get a Sample. He was mentioned on this Time blog today.

Iced Tea from a Jar

I am very excited because, thanks to this Angry Chicken blog post, I am  drinking great homemade iced tea! I’ve been buying my iced tea at Trader Joe’s lately because I am not very good at remembering to make sun tea or plan ahead, but this jar idea is so easy that I had to try it. Now I am hooked! All you have to do is brew a strong tea in a  mason jar, chill it, and pour a small amount into a glass and fill the rest with water and ice. I’ve brewed Red Zinger and a black peppermint tea as the pilot products. So good.

When we were in Minneapolis last month, we encountered a great new breakfast food: the Danish Æbleskiver. These little round fruit-filled (or, in Steve’s case, chocolate-filled) pancakes are delicious! My mom found a pan to make the pancakes and sent it to us this week. To commemorate our kitchen project being finished, we decided to make these for a Friday morning breakfast. We filled them with chocolate chips and blueberry catsup. Yum yum!

After nearly six months of not really watching what I eat, I’ve decided that making a better effort to eat healthy is at the top of my priority list. By the end of last weekend, I had made up my mind that vegetables must become a part of my diet everyday and that I can no longer buy containers of candy.

Therefore, I hope to start making more of an effort in the kitchen. I tried a really good Israeli couscous/zucchini/tomato dish yesterday and I enjoyed a large helping of asparagus today. Hopefully in two weeks I won’t have to think twice to convince myself to chow down!

I am a little sad right now because Steve and I will not be doing a CSA for our veggies this summer, but we are traveling too much to really make the share worth it. Those who are doing it, I hope you enjoy!