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Luncheon Invitation and Chickpea Pasta Recipe

Thursday, August 5th, 2010
Luncheon Invitation - Lady in a Large Hat

Luncheon Invitation - Lady in a Large Hat

You’ve decided on a luncheon invitation for your party…what are you going to serve?  We like this recipe for a crowd or just for a non-meat dinner alternative.

Chickpea Pasta With Almonds and Parmesan Recipe:

You won’t miss the meat in this elegant dish, which stars protein-packed chickpeas and almonds for a bit of crunch. A hit of red pepper flakes adds a touch of heat.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 7 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • kosher salt
  • 1 pound angel hair pasta
  • 1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup unsalted roasted almonds, chopped
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Chickpea Pasta With Almonds and Parmesan

Chickpea Pasta With Almonds and Parmesan

Directions:

  1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth, red pepper, and 3/4 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
  3. Add the pasta and cook, stirring, until the broth is nearly absorbed and the pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and parsley.
  4. Divide among individual bowls and top with the almonds and Parmesan.

Serves 4 –  Hands-On Time: 20 min – Total Time: 20 min

From Real Simple by Sara Quessenberry,  January 2008

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Baby Shower Invitations and Games

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Are you hosting a baby shower for a mommy-to-be? We’ve got some fabulous baby shower invitations for girls, boys or unisex. If you are looking for some ideas on how to keep your guests entertained, try a few of these baby shower games!

The Tray Memory Game:

  • Before the game starts you put 15 to 20 small items associated with babies, on a tray. These can be a bottle, pacifier, baby sock, safety pin, etc.
  • Give each of your guests a piece of paper and a pencil to write down their answers.
  • To start the game bring the tray into the room and place it where all the guests can see it but tell them not to touch, leave the tray in that position for one minute and tell the guests to memorize the items that are on the tray, then remove the tray from the room and give the guests five minutes to write down on pieces of paper what all the items were.
  • The guest who gets the most items correct is the winner.
Green and Brown Baby Laundry Baby Shower Invitation

Green and Brown Baby Laundry Baby Shower Invitation

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Rock Star Invitations for Teenage Birthday Party

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Teenagers dream of being rock stars or love to follow their favorite stars. The Rockstar Teen Birthday Invitation features a cool orange and yellow background with stars highlights a silhouette of a rock star singing and playing his guitar.

Rockstar Invitation for Teen Birthday Party

Rockstar Invitation for Teen Birthday Party

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Haunted House decorating tips for your Halloween Party

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

11 Haunted House Decorating TipsHalloween is a great holiday to put your family’s imagination to work, starting with a Spooktacular haunted house!  If you’re having a Halloween party, here are a few decorating tips to make sure your guests have a ghoulishly good time.

  1. Choose a theme.  The first thing you need to do is decide how scary you want to make your house
  2. Plan an entrance and an exit
  3. Add eerie lighting. With some black and red light bulbs, you can change the overall atmosphere of your house. Strobe lights are very effective for disorientating your guests and revealing shocking scenes in little bursts
  4. Black lights add a creepy touch when they’re paired with flourescent paint or glow-in-the-dark cut-outs
  5. Include lots of unexpected scary sounds and music. You can download them from the internet (including the Haunted House sounds)
  6. Make it dark using black trash bags or blankets to cover the windows
  7. Fog is easy to create by mixing dry ice and hot water. Find a local retailer here, just enter your zipcode.
  8. Any house can look abandoned if you cover most furniture with white sheets and then place fake cobwebs in the corners
  9. Use peeled grapes as eyeballs, placing them where people will touch them in the dark.
  10. Use Styrofoam heads from a beauty supply house and turn them into monsters
  11. Spritz visitors’ faces with cold water in the dark or have visitors walk through spider webs made of stretched cotton or silly strings

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The Night is Young Spooky Halloween Invitation

Summer Invitations and Watermelon Art

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

I would love to have this carved watermelon as a centerpiece at a summer party.  It’s too pretty to eat!

Summer Party Watermelon Art

Summer Party Watermelon Art

Having an “End of Summer Party” or a Labor Day barbeque, we just love this invitation. Beautiful golden summer sunset over water with palm trees – the Tropical Sunset on Water Party Invitation is perfect for any summer invitation.

Tropical Sunset on Water Summer Invitation

Tropical Sunset on Water Summer Invitation

Etiquette Challenge #1: Talking on cell phones when…

Sunday, August 1st, 2010
Etiquette Challenge #1: Cell Phone Talker

Etiquette Challenge #1: Cell Phone Talker

Is it ok to talk on your cell phone while you’re getting your hair done, ordering food, standing in line at the bank, casually strolling the racks at a trendy boutique?

We’ve all been there.  You’re in a public place and your attention is snagged by a  person’s personal cell phone conversation and you:

  • Try to ignore it
  • Silently fume while sending them dirty looks
  • Move closer to eavesdrop
  • They guy on phone is cute, so it’s ok
  • The girl on the phone is so snotty you wish you could disconnect her call
  • They are talking way too loudly for the surroundings
  • You leave
  • You complain to your friend
  • You complain to a manger

What would you do? What do you think? What have you done in the past? When is it never ok to talk on a cell phone? Chime in, tell us how you feel, email us other etiquette challenges.

The Etiquette Challenge is a regular blog feature we’ve brought over from our Facebook page.

Halloween Invitations and Brains on a Cracker Appetizer

Sunday, August 1st, 2010
Frankenstein Lives Halloween Invitation

Frankenstein Lives Halloween Invitation

How about adding your own scary food concoction to the party?  Fill a plastic brain mold with a pretty pink shrimp dip for the ultimate gross-out grub on Halloween. This “smart food” will serve 100 guests (if you can get anyone to eat it!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup(s) mayo plus 1 tablespoon
  • 1 can (10 ¾-oz.) cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 package (8 oz.) of cream cheese, softened
  • 1 envelope of Knox unflavored gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 cup minced scallions
  • 1-1/2 lbs cooked bay shrimp
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 pinch salt
  • Cocktail sauce

Directions:

  • Use 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise to grease a 6-cup brain mold or a bunch of mini brain molds; set aside.
  • Pour contents of soup can in a medium saucepan and heat over medium until warm.
  • Stir in cream cheese until melted.
  • Stir in dissolved gelatin with water until blended.
  • Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
  • Remove from heat and pour into brain mold.
  • Chill until firm.
  • Unmold on to a platter, top with cocktail sauce and serve with crackers.

Enjoy!

Halloween Invitations and Gross Brain Appetizers

Halloween Invitations and Gross Brain Appetizers

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Announcingit Invitation of the Day: Pink Hibiscus Tropical Invitation

Friday, July 30th, 2010

The Pink Hibiscus Swirl Tropical Invitation features three beautiful pink hibiscus flowers sitting on a swirl and splash pattern.  A perfect touch for a summer invitation, an anniversary invitation, a rehearsal dinner invitation and more.

Pink Hibiscus Swirl Tropical Invitation

Pink Hibiscus Swirl Tropical Invitation

Click Here to Shop Tropical Invitations

Click Here to Shop Tropical Invitations

Lemonade Invitation and Hard Lemonade Recipe

Friday, July 30th, 2010
Lemonade Birthday Invitation

Lemonade Birthday Invitation

Last weekend my sister and I were trying to come up with an afternoon cocktail recipe that felt like summer.  I love mai tais and anything with rum, but rarely have the fruit juices on hand to make them. After looking through what I did have in the house, I remembered a recipe I hadn’t made in a long time – “Hard Lemonade” and thankfully, the only thing hard about it is the name.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can frozen lemonade made with 3 cans of water – not the 4 1/3 cans called for
  • 1 bottle of beer makes 2 drinks
  • Vodka or lemon flavored vodka

To make individual drinks:

  • Fill glass half full of ice
  • Fill half full with lemonade
  • Add one shot of vodka (more to your tastes)
  • Fill full with beer
  • Stir and enjoy!

For a low calorie/low sugar version substitute:

  • Crystal light lemonade – use about a third less water to retain a lemonade flavor when the beer is added
  • One of the new 55-64 calorie beers

And yes, the beer is great in the lemonade, it makes it really smooth!

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Announcingit Invitation of the Day: Swaying Beach Palm Invitation

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

A swaying palm tree on a beautiful stretch of a sandy ocean beach, the Swaying Palm on the Beach Invitation is perfect for a beach party invitation, a retirement party invitation and more.

Invitation of the Day - Swaying Palm on the Beach Invitation

Invitation of the Day - Swaying Palm on the Beach Invitation

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Shop all Summer Invitations

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