It's raining babies!...Dessert table

by Karolina, 12th December 2012

Today's the time to show you the dessert table I made for my sister's baby shower.
The colour scheme was blue and yellow.
So check it out:

Above I featured some details of the table.
My favourite - lemon cake baked...in the lemon! (I'll post the recipe soon).
Then cute small bottles with mix of juices with pretty striped straws.
Because it was a baby shower, I couldn't skip these lovely milk bottle sweets.
And last but not least tea cupcakes with mascarpone and flower made of dried pineapple.

But that was not all :) I loooooooooove dessert tables...so, there's more :)

Here you can see a bit more overall look and feel of the table.
I added some yogurt covered dried fruits and nuts in the apothecary jars.
My mum prepared yummy chocolate filled yeast dough cake :) And after a few perturbations and a bit of search, I added two-tone blue jelly with cream. I really like the jeweled tones of it!
How do you like the backdrop?

Do you think it's all?
Of course not!
There's more :) Yes, I wish you were there as well ;)

Here are a few extras:
- chocolate dipped mandarins
- cotton candy in a biiiiiiiig vase :)
- creme brulee spoons

OK, even I have a bit of sugar rush now....
I think it's enough sweets for today. What do you think?

I'll try to post a few of the recipes here in coming weeks.
But if you're particularly interested in some of them, drop me a note or comment below and I'll share with you straight away!

It's raining babies party - savoury table

by Karolina, 9th December 2012

Today I wanted to show you savoury table I made for my sister's baby shower.

I kept it quite simple this time.

Snacks included:
- Pesto and dried tomato pinwheels
- Apricots stuffed with goat cheese and walnuts with rosemary
- Mango and salmon bites
- Cranberry and herbs buns
- Mango and dried ham bites
- Mushroom stuffed puff pastry in form of clouds (the main theme of this party :))
- Hot tomato, melon soup with cheese toasts (personally my favourite taking rather cold weather outside)

If you're interested in recipes, let me know and I'll share it :)

Take care and till soon!

Fig fling

by Karolina, 21st October 2012

What would be Autumn without its seasonal fruits and veggies?
Apples, plums, pears, pumpkins - they make grey clouds and chilly weather more bearable  and comfortable.

But my favourite of all is beautiful fig.

With amazing colours of purple and violet and lovely sweet taste, it's one of my most loved fruits.

And today, I'd like to show you classic, no fail combination of fig and goat cheese.

This quick and easy recipe makes a lovely starter.

All you need is:

- figs (as many as people at your table)
- goat cheese
- balsamic vinegar
- a few pistachios
- salt and pepper

How to?

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C
- Cut the figs across and open them slightly to make cavity for cheese
- Crush or cut goat cheese and insert into the fig's cavity
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and pistachios
- Pour a little bit of balsamic vinegar on top
- Put into the oven for about 10-15 minutes (when the cheese is nice and melting it's ready)
- Serve immediately

This dish is a yummy combination of sweet & salty, smooth and crunchy.
Give it a try! You won't regret it!

Apricot forks

by Karolina, 14th October 2012

Sorry for longer silence here on the blog...I'm guilty of catching some holidays :)
While I'll tell you more about it some other time...today a little, quick appetizer.

Taking advantage of last apricots this season, I made a quick and easy appetizer which is tasty and good looking at the same time.

Forks with apricot, goat cheese and bacon.
I really love the combination of fruits and meat - in this case smoky bacon. Goat cheese adds a bit of tangy, salty taste to it, which goes perfectly with smooth sweetness of apricots.
You can use as well peaches instead of apricots and Parma ham instead of bacon.

 It really is as easy as it sounds...

All you need to do is:

1. Prepare the goat cheese (preferably softer one) - add pepper (little bit of salt if needed) and form little balls
2. Roll the balls of cheese in bacon
3. Fork the rolled cheese
4. Grill quickly the apricot quarters
5. Fork the apricots
6. Serve - I served it with small salad, a few more apricots, walnuts
7. Gently sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and honey

This looks really lovely on the individual serving plates but I'm sure it will be stunning on one big serving dish as well.

All of it takes not more than 15 minutes to prepare.
So, go on - give it a try and let me know how you like it!

Speedy Hostess 3 or Cheese Platter Decalogue

by Karolina, 5th October 2012

Really speedy post today...It's been really crazy and busy week...Uffffff.........
And the best part- we decided for last minute holidays. Yay! We're leaving tomorrow. So actually I should be packing right now...but I'm an "almost" good blogger and I'll write a few words before leaving for a week.

So, I thought that Speedy Hostess post would be perfect for speedy post :)

Today, one of my "to go" entertaining tools. Good, old....Cheese platter!

Couldn't really be quicker, right?
But there are a few things you should remember when preparing a cheese plate.

So here's my...

Cheese Platter Decalogue:

1. Have at least 3-4  different cheeses to offer
2. Vary the cheese by type of milk (cow,sheep,goat)
3. Have a variety of tastes - from smooth and silky to pungent (OK, not too pungent because you have to live in your home afterwards)
4. Offer different cheese textures - hard cheese & softer ones
5. Remember that eyes are eating first - think about different shapes and colours of cheese
6. Try local or unusual cheeses (makes a nice twist and a good conversation starter, in case you've run out of subjects after mains ;))
7. Don't forget about additional items for your platter - fruits, nuts etc.
8. Good bread is a MUST.
9. Try something new - like honey or quince membrillo with your cheese
10. Let the wine flow!

How is your cheese platter? Did I forget about some important rule?

Let me know!

Summer entertaining

by Karolina, 19th August 2012

I love having friends over for dinner, I really enjoy preparing bigger parties and I especially adore summer entertaining. With long evenings, friendly weather and bountiful of produce summer entertaining is definitely the most enjoyable.
I try to keep menu simple - nobody feels like eating roast dinner when it's hot outside!
So I stick with salads, cold platters, cold soups (you'll see some later this week), fresh fruits.

Today, I wanted to show you a classic...

Watermelon + feta + basil

The best of summer really - fresh sweet fruit, salty cheese which reminds us holidays in Greece and beautiful green basil.

If I prepare a buffer I would just cube cheese and watermelon and hold them together with basil using a toothpick. This is the version you can see today.
Finish it off with fresh pepper and sprinkle of olive oil for the best taste.

Don't you just love the colours? Vibrant and fresh - definitely perfect for summer



You can as well cut out different shapes out of watermelon, or prepare bigger portions if serving as a starter for dinner party.

So, go on - prepare these tiny morsels of summer before it's gone!

Speedy Hostess (2)

by Karolina, 8th July 2012

Speedy Hostess is back :)
Today, I wanted to show you a perfect entertaining idea which will make your party preparation or last minute entertaining stress-free.

Pretty little pastries...Quick and cute.
This is really no-brainer.
A few simple ingredients combined together + pretty presentation.

OK, this involves cooking shortcut, kind of baking cheating...Store-bought pastry shells. I always keep pastry shells in the cupboard. They're life-savers for last-minute parties! Seriously, if you don't have them in your pantry yet, go and get them...now!
Don't get me wrong, I really like making things from scratch, but sometimes little shortcut means that you have a few more minutes to prepare something yummy or that you actually have time to do your hair before guests arrive, or just that you have 5 minutes before the party to chill out with glass of wine instead of frantically running around the kitchen.

So, how to create these tiny beauties?

It's just assembling job really...(and simpler than Ikea stuff, I promise :))

You need:
- pastry shells
- whipped cream or mascarpone
- fruits for topping

Fill the shells with cream or cream cheese (depending what you have on hand) and top with a few fruits. I used variety of fruits to have nice colour palette - blueberries, red currents, strawberries. But actually any berries will be great. In winter when it's much more difficult to get hold of nice fruits , I would use cut pieces of peaches in syrup or even dried fruits. Really, the choice is huge and sky is the limit when it comes to different variations. Arrange cups nicely , decorate with fruits or leaves (I used some red currants and mint leaves). And you're ready to go!
5 minutes and pretty little tea snack or dessert buffet option is ready.

Do you use any shortcuts in the kitchen?
I'd love to hear about it from you.

Miss Pea Party/ part 2

by Karolina, 14th May, 2012

Today I'd like to show you the savoury table from Miss Little Pea Part.
Yes, we had 2 tables - appetizer table and dessert table. I appreciate that not everyone has a sweet tooth (like me :)), or maybe is on a diet or just fancy something which doesn't include chocolate, cream & sugar.
So today, some chosen appetizers, made especially for Miss Pea baby shower, but actually they would be great for any kind of party:

This is the general look and feel - centerpiece was a bouquet of white flowers with loads of green leaves around. Above the table was big garland of white baloons, undortunately you can't really see it properly on any of the pictures :( For the rest I kept it simple not to disturb too much from food which on its own was table decoration.
So, a few things that made it to this table:

This is my favourite - cold pea soup with bacon crackers. A little sweet, a little spicy and salty. Yummy! Perfect for summer party. Recipe (slightly changed) from Taste of Beirut .

Next on my plate - super healthy crudites with dip. To make it a bit special the dip is in a cabbage - real one (very appropriate for baby shower, if you ask me ;))

To continue "good for you" feeling before "naughty desserts"...

 ...cucumber cups with ricotta with dried tomato. Yes it's as easy as it sounds but looks lovely.

One of my party favourites - puff pastry pinwheels. Here with pesto, to keep with green theme of the party. But you can experiment with any filling you can think of.

Something fishy for a change - little crostini with ricotta and salmon. And of course chives and rucola - they always make dishes look nicer :)
And for the end...not so healthy....

....herb&spices popcorn. Assortment of homemade popcorn with different herbs and spices - oregano and basil, curry powder and chili powder. Popcorn for any taste and always a crowd-pleaser.

There were some more dishes including couple of salads and baked pasta with cheese. But above ones were definitely my favourites.

And how do you like my appetizer table for Miss Pea party?
I hope I inspired you a little :)

Coming next...desserts!