'Oh Christmas Tree' Fruit and Cheese Tray

So I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus...in case you haven't noticed :). I was suffering from a mild case of blog burnout. But I hope to be back blogging more regularly - maybe.

I wanted to share this super easy Christmas fruit and cheese tray I put together for my son's preschool Christmas party. I signed up to bring a healthy food item for 12 kids. So that ruled out sugar cookies or cupcakes piled with frosting...I needed something festive looking and fun for the kids. So the fruit and cheese tray in the shape of a Christmas tree was created:

Isn't it cute? And it was so easy to put together! Grapes, sliced apples, pear slices, and cheese cubes with a little fruit dip "tree trunk" and some cheese star "ornaments." The kids went crazy for it - particularly the cheese. Kids love cheese. You can never go wrong with cheese cubes at a kids party. And cheese slices cut into shapes with a cookie cutter? Even better!

Just about any fruit/veggie tray can be jazzed up by creating a shape using the items on a big platter. A heart for Valentine's Day, a flag shape for the 4th of July, a snowman or tree shape for winter/Christmas... the possibilities are endless!

It's the small and simple touches that make things special...

Happy Halloween....uhh...2 weeks late. I know. Lame.

So I officially stink at blogging lately. Here are my ridiculously late pictures from our Halloween party this year. It was definitely not the large affair it was last year. In fact, it was rather lame. My motivation to dazzle my party guests plummeted as couples continued to bail out on us up until the afternoon of the party. Of the 10 couples I invited only 3 came (and they were all family members). I didn't even dress in costume. I hope that those who did come weren't affected by my lack of enthusiasm and bad attitude. So enough with the complaining - here's the food spread:

What was on the menu?
Creamy Chicken Taquitos with guacamole and salsa for dipping - love these things!
7 layer dip - courtesy of my sister-in-law, Erica
Bacon wrapped lit'l smokies
Brownies - courtesy of my sister-in-law, Shanna
Mini Oreo cheesecakes - courtesy of my sister, Roxanne
Lime Slush
Apples with cream cheese caramel toffee dip (I can't find the link for this recipe)


I promise to do a better job of blogging! With the holidays approaching, I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities.

Are you ready for some football? Food that is...

Here is the spread from our Texas Tech vs. A&M football game party.
Tech lost, but the food was definitely a winner!

Table centerpiece:
The Football Subway Art can be found HERE and is available in other colors too.
Dollar Tree hurricanes adding some red candy color to the table

I was so excited to find Texas Tech plates and napkins in the clearance bin at the grocery store for 50 cents a package!

I picked up these cute red and black pom pom toothpicks in the dollar spot at Target.
They make my sausage balls look really festive!

Here's a rundown of the menu:
A big crockpot of chili
chips and queso/salsa
sausage balls
apples picked from the apple orchard with caramel dip
"Elizabeth's 1st prize at the fair" cookie bars (recipe coming soon!)
spinach artichoke dip - courtesy of Joanna
red velvet brownies - courtesy of Roxanne
bread bowl dip - courtesy of my mom
(I will share the recipe for this soon! It is always a winner!)
chocolate chip cookies - courtesy of Shanna
Puppy chow - courtesy of Roxanne
veggie tray - courtesy of the Cluff family
tamales - courtesy of my mother-in-law

As you can tell, we had a TON of food! But it was oh so delicious!
What food do you like to eat for football watchin' / tailgating?

PREHISTORIC but not EXTINCT: A 50th Birthday Party

My dad celebrated his 50th birthday last Friday. Here are some of the party details:

Theme: Prehistoric but not extinct was the slogan we used, black and white color scheme for decorating, animal print decorations but with a masculine twist.

The centerpiece for the dining room table: The white candles in the middle are surrounded with black river rocks and tied with zebra print ribbon and jute. On the left is a glass jar of white mints and one of black licorice in keeping with the black and white theme. A black tablecloth was used with 1-1/2 yards of animal print fabric bunched in the middle.

The small candy/snack buffet on the entry way table. We used black and white food: Oreos, white marshmallows drizzled with chocolate to look like zebra print, more white mints, and white chocolate dipped pretzels. And of course to pay homage to my love for ribbon, each glass jar is tied with coordinating ribbon. Some zebra print candle holders were used for mood lighting.

The only semi-decent picture of my dad with his birthday cake... And me looking nervous that he was going to drop the cake by the way he was holding it!

You can see the gift we gave my dad on the floor next to him: A big frame with pictures of all the houses he has lived in here in Lubbock. My dad has a hobby of building new houses and moving every couple of years. In the 19 years we have lived in Lubbock my parents' have owned 6 different houses. It was nice to see him get a little nostalgic about each house and reminice about the memories made at each house.

It was a great party with lots of yummy food! We had a chicken fajita buffet with all the fixin's, shaved ice from Bahama Bucks (courtesy of my sister who works there), and a delicious chocolate cake with rasberry filling. I would say my dad's 50th was a good one!

Dr. Seuss 1st Birthday

This past weekend, my sister had a Dr. Seuss birthday party in honor of her son's 1st birthday. It was adorably cute and I couldn't resist snapping a few pics to share with you. You can read more about the details of the party at her blog HERE. I think she even shares a quote from yours truly... but I'm not sure ;).

(Dollar Tree frames spray painted to match the red and turquoise theme.

Genius! You know I love me some Dollar Tree and spray paint.)

A Peter Pan/Pirate Birthday Party

For my son's 3rd birthday he requested a Peter Pan party. Well if you have tried throwing a Peter Pan party lately you know it is nearly impossible to find Peter Pan party stuff anywhere! Tinker Bell, yes. Peter Pan, no. I guess Peter Pan is not the "in" thing right now. So we combined Peter Pan with a Pirate party in honor of Captain Hook and his gang of pirates. Here's a look at some of the party details:


Spencer requested strawberry cake for his birthday cake. Strawberry cake is pink and in an effort to make it more boyish/pirateish I tinted it with red food coloring, baked it in pirate cupcake papers and garnished them with these cute toothpick signs that say "Pirate's Life For Me."

The candy buffet table. For those of you who know me really well you know I love me a good candy buffet! (To see some of my past candy buffets: http://thetxdavisthree.blogspot.com/2010/02/natalies-baby-shower.html and http://thetxdavisthree.blogspot.com/2010/06/mocktails-good-food-roxannes-graduation.html)

You can click on the picture above to see things in better detail. I gave each candy a name based on pirate life or Peter Pan. I borrowed a decorative trunk from my parents' to serve as a treasure chest for the pirate loot and nestled in several glass jars and vases along with some Dollar Tree hurricanes to hold the candy.

Buried Treasure: Rolos

Pirate Loot: Fruit Cream Candies in pirate wrappers

"Second Star to the Right" Bursts: Starbursts (Remember? Neverland was the second star to the right.)

Cod Fish: Swedish Fish (Peter Pan calls Captain Hook a Cod Fish alot in the movie)

Cannonballs: Whoppers

Pixie Dust: Pixie Sticks

Don't be afraid to think outside the box (or inside the box as the case may be!) for different candy buffet ideas.

* Most of the pirate party goods I found at Dollar Tree or Hobby Lobby, two of my favorite stores!

"Tis now the very witching time of night"...the makings of a Halloween Dinner Party

Last night we had our annual Davis Halloween party - and I must say it was my favorite one yet! Here's a look at the details and decorations:

The theme for the decorations: Black and White
The costume theme: Classic Horror Films (to see pictures of the costumes, check out my family blog at thetxdavisthree.blogspot.com)
Dinner theme: Italian, multi-course, sit down dinner for 16 people. The food was all SO delicous!
Course 1: Appetizers and drinks = bruschetta and 3 mocktail choices
Course 2: Salad = Fabulous salad with strawberris, feta, and candied pecans
Course 3: Soup = "Kidney Soup" (Minestrone)
Course 4: Main Dish = Manicotti with garlic bread
Course 5: Dessert = pumpkin cheesecake or triple chocolate cheesecake

Enjoy some pictures of the decorations! I had so much fun putting it all together! I couldn't have done it without my fellow Halloween lover, Elizabeth, who provided a good portion of the serving pieces. If you would like more specific details, please leave me a comment and I would be happy to give you more specifics. I will say that "Dollar Tree" was definitely my go-to source for this party... (click on each photo to enlarge for more detail)

Dinner Table 1

The place settings - courtesy of Elizabeth

Dinner Table 2

The appetizer buffet with mocktail menu

The front porch

I love mason jars with votives to create some magic on the front porch...

It was certainly a night to remember!

Thanks to everyone who came and helped make the night special!

My Pampered Chef Tablescape

I hosted my own Pampered Chef party this weekend and I thought I would show you some pictures of my tablescape. Nothing fancy... but you know I love me some pictures of food tables. Maybe you can get some inspiration from it. Maybe? Enjoy!

P.S. - Over the next few days I will be sharing some of the recipes for the delicious food I served... so stay tuned!

I'm big on themes, but didn't really have one for this table.

Until I realized that there is a subtle hint of a color theme throughout -

from the tablecloth, to the veggies, to the flowers and the punch.

Do you notice it?

Mmmm....Pumpkin Bars!

They just scream out "Fall is almost here!"
I could eat a whole pan of them by myself.

The centerpiece. Green apples surrounded by red gerber daisies.
I sure have gotten some use out of that dollar store hurricane vase I made using inspiration from my favorite blog, 320 Sycamore. You can see the inspiration post on 320 Sycamore HERE.
See what other events I have used these vases for HERE and HERE .

Asian Spinach Chicken Salad

New punch recipe - Lucious Slush Punch I think is the name... courtesy of Allrecipes.com.

My new favorite dip, Warm Italiano Spread, with Triscuits.

It has pesto in it - one of my current favs.

Taffy Apple Pizza - The Pampered Chef recipe I demoed for my group of party-goers. It was a great fallish/back to schoolish recipe.