Five Tips To Make Holiday Entertaining Go Smoothly

Thank you BabbleBoxx for sponsoring this post.  All thoughts and opinions are my own!

Do you do any entertaining for the holidays? Maybe you host family for Thanksgiving or have friends over for a Christmas party?  No matter what the occasion, holiday entertaining for family or friends can be overwhelming if you aren't prepared.  

We recently received a BabbleBoxx that was full of all sorts of entertaining goodies to help us prepare for holiday entertaining. Today we're sharing a round up of five ways to make holiday entertaining go smoothly. 

1. You know nothing gets the party started like some holiday cheer! Having a variety of wines already opened and out for guests to enjoy and pass around will allow your guests to feel more at home and you to be able to enjoy their company without feeling the need to cater to their every need. Our favorite lately has been Rodney Strong Wines from Sonoma County. Having both a red and a white options available for guests is always a good idea. We went with the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Chardonnay as crowd pleasers! 

2. Easy appetizers and snacks on hand prior to a meal is key!  Everyone wants to have something to munch on and we love yummy nuts as an easy no-prep option. You might just need a game day snack or you might want to make an appetizer board before a meal.  These Frank's Red Hot Almonds are a must! They are made with Frank's Original Hot Sauce and California Almonds so there are no artificial colors or flavors. They take boring almonds and turn them up a notch with the perfect blend of flavor and heat!

3. Whether you are cooking an entire meal or just prepping a few side dishes, when it comes to having guests we like things to be as streamlined as possible. I don't know about y'all, but if a recipe calls for too many ingredients I tend to shy away from it.  The easier the better and we've found the ultimate cooking hack! Dorot Gardens are pre-portioned herbs, garlic, and onions ready to be added to any dish with no peeling or chopping.  Their products are harvested fresh and flash frozen within 90 minutes to ensure freshness. Crushed Garlic, Crushed Ginger, Chopped Basil, and Chopped Parsley are just a few of the pre-portioned options they offer. 

4. Everyone loves the favorite sitcom Friends, and this new book combines a cookbook with entertaining tips for Thanksgiving and the holidays. Friendsgiving: The Official Guide to Hosting, Roasting and Celebrating with Friends by Shoshana Stopek not only shares recipes, but also entertaining tips and activities.  This would make a fun gift for any of your friends who love to entertain or for yourself to help with preparations for hosting! 

5. Ending the night with something sweet is a must! These Dewey's Cookie Thins are baked in a southern hometown bakery in Winston-Salem, NC. They are made with real ingredients, no artificial flavors and no preservatives.  The Sugar and Ginger Spice cookie thins are perfect for serving, but the adorable tubes are perfect for adding a bow to and sending home with your guests as a little gift. You can shop HERE and use code: DEWEYS10 to get 10% off site-wide November 10-December 10. 

What are some of your holiday entertaining tips and tricks?  Share them with us in the comments! 

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S'mores Board Birthday Party Idea

Planning a birthday party over the past year has proven to be a difficult feat. With pandemics and quarantines and social distancing and everyone on different levels of comfortability - birthday party planning requires a certain finesse. Mostly because while kids understand that this year is "different", they still want to do a celebration of some sort for their big day. And we can't blame them. 2020 needed all the happy it could get. 

I love that drive by parties were super popular in the beginning of the year and over the course of the Summer. The Summer also lent for small pool gatherings and outside parties to occur. But now that temps are cooler - Winter birthdays prove a little tricker to plan. 

I thought I would quickly share this idea that L.C. came up with for her birthday. She turned 7 at the end of October and girl wanted to celebrate. All on her own she came up with the idea of having a s'mores party. 

No cake. No candles. A way to stay warm, but still be outside. A way to physically distance but still be social. For photos I took a few things out of the packages, but for the most part food could stay individually packaged as well. 

| Bites on A Board Charcuterie Board | S'mores Sticks |

 I remembered a few years ago Carrie Beth and I created a s'mores bar, and how easy it was. 

(Side note: If you haven't tried a s'mores made with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup you haven't really lived!) 

| Happy Everything Black Dot Cube | Happy Everything Party Hat Attachment | Gold Foil Napkins |

It was the easiest little party to create and everyone had a great time putting together their own s'mores concoctions. 

I ordered these super long bamboo s'mores sticks so that even our tiniest of guests that stopped by would be safe. They worked so well that I ordered another pack to have on hand for whenever we get the fire pit going and the kids want a s'mores on the fly. 

It was such an easy and fun birthday party idea, that I think even when we get beyond all these Covid days I'll use it again. 

Have you had to plan a pandemic birthday? What have been some of your favorite ideas that you have seen to still be able to celebrate safely? 

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Fall Bruschetta Recipe

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and this year we are thankful we aren't hosting! Hosting is fun, but a lot of work. This year we both get to enjoy being guests and just soaking up time with our families. 

We still contribute though. Because Thanksgiving is a lot of work. Leaving it to any one person to do all the cleaning, cooking, and cleaning again will be a sure fire way to make any host sign up to be on a cruise the following Thanksgiving. 

We have a few easy recipes that we like to bring along as appetizers and sides. One that tops our list is worth sharing. Every time we make this Fall Bruschetta people love it. It looks festive, is a crowd pleaser, and (like all of our recipes) is super easy to make.  We also love that it is a little something different to bring to the table from traditional Thanksgiving food. 

FALL BRUSCHETTA RECIPE

Serves 4-8

Prep Time: 5 Mins

Total Time: 25-30 Mins

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups of diced butternut squash
• 1 cup of diced apples
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp of all spice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 8 slices of french bread
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp of balsamic glaze

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
• Toss the butternut squash and apples with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, salt and black pepper. 
• Place evenly on a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins. 
• While the squash mixture is roasting, brush the slices of bread with the remaining olive oil. Set aside. 
• Place the slices of bread in the oven for 4-5 mins, or until fully toasted.
• Remove the bread from the oven and top with ricotta cheese and the squash mixture. 
• Drizzle with balsamic glaze. 
• Serve and enjoy! 

(Best served when warm.)

What is your favorite Thanksgiving appetizer or side?  

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