Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving and a Great Giveaway


We had our turkey dinner Sunday
night so that most of us could gather
together.  


I had fun setting the table and the bar so that
we could all congregate in the same room.
When I have set the dining room table, 
nobody wants to go in there so I
put us all in the kitchen.


The little ones love having a fun table
set for them even though they never
eat much at family dinners.  They 
are having too much fun with each other.


I found these fun turkey plates
over two years at Tuesday Morning.
I now have 18 of them.


I have two kinds of salad plates
that go with the dinner plates.


It is always nice to mix and match 
when you are serving a crowd.


These cute crackle finish turkey
napkin holders sit on the plates.


Pewter goblets are great for the
little ones.  They feel so special 
drinking from a goblet and there
are no worries about breakage.


We brought out the good 
silverplated flatware to go
with all of the silver and pewter.
They have to be hand washed
but it is worth the effort.


Mercury glass pumpkins that were 
part of the home decor create the
centerpiece with a couple of
turkey soup bowls.

We have a large number of
the turkey bowls and often
serve soup or salad from them
but we were having a very
traditional meal this year so
they take center place on the table.




Menu
BBQ Roasted Turkey
Chicken and Pecan Dressing
Buttery Mashed Potatoes
Corn Casserole
Fairy Rolls
Pumpkin Cheesecake 
with 
Sugared Pecan Caramel Sauce





Now for the 
Giveaway
my sweet and very talented 
Daughter-In-Law
has started a new 
blog and on-line store
and I am featuring a giveaway.

Choose any one item from her store
as your prize.
She has skirts, shirts, dresses, accessories
and baby blankets for little ones.

To win you must leave a
comment on my blog and follow
her on her blog
or on Instagram
at
meohmycouture.

Let me know what you would
like to win.  These items are
perfect for Christmas presents!

The giveaway will close at
midnight Thursday, December 5, 2013.
The winner will be chosen at random.

I will need your email in order to
get your address if you are the lucky
winner so if you don't have a blog,
leave your email so I can contact you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
from all of us 
at 
Purple Chocolat Home.

I will be posting with




Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Adult Table for Gatehouse No1's Christmas Open House


When I was asked to do a 
tablescaping demonstration 
for Evan's Gatehouse No1
I was told to go throughout
the store and pick anything I 
wanted to use for the tablescaping.


This lush mantel was my inspiration.
(It definitely makes my mantel decor look wimpy
and in need of a redo!)
All of their mantels throughout the store
are fabulously decorated.  I attended the
classes held throughout the week and learned
from Joey, who helps decorate the
Governor's mansion
that they use nails to secure their mantels but
she taught us we could use 3m hooks on the
mantel and wire the heavy decor to the hook.

Thought you might like to know that tip.
I am definitely beefing up my mantel and
using the 3m hooks as mine is stone.


Oh, to have a whole store to freely choose from
to create a mantel like this!!!

I loved the icy blues and silvers and decided 
I had to make an adult table in these colors
along with the children's table


that I set in the traditional reds and greens.


This fabulous floral was the first thing
I chose to start my tablescape. 
 I love, love, love
the icy aqua vase it was set in.


Of course I chose this huge 
Mark Roberts
Father Christmas to go alongside
the vase.  As I was moving it a woman
was worried that it was sold as she had
her eye on it.


I also had to pull this fabulous
sleigh and fill it with a darker shade
of aqua ornaments.
(This was one of my favorite pieces.)

I anchored everything on the 
table with a sheer organza 
table overlay (linentablecloth.com).

You are going to love this website!
These overlays are under $5 
for a 72 inch square!!
AND there is no minimum
number to order.  Warning - this
site can be very addictive!


The opposite side of the table
featured this cluster of bottle brush
trees in sparkling white and this
simpler Father Christmas.


As Gatehouse No1 doesn't sell plates, goblets and
flatware I brought my own over to create the
tablescape.  Hubby did all the hauling.
(I do have to tell on him - at the 
end of the presentation, when I
was answering questions, 
he raised his hand and asked,
"How much do you budget for 
this every month?"  Oh, that
one got the laughs!!


The perfect place setting for this table
was a stack of aqua and white and topped
it with this encrusted stag ornament.


We began with talking about linens and 
placemats and how I always try to use a
charger to begin the stack of dishes.

I also taught them about layering the dishes
and how I remove layers to serve a meal.



I demonstrated layering napkins 
and told them that both of these 
napkins were made simply by
cutting 17 1/2 inch squares of
coordinating fabrics and serging
the edges.  I love the effect of
an organza napkin layered over another
napkin.  

I mentioned that I had searched for
aqua napkins and had found none so
I had decided to make my own.

Imagine how many fun holiday napkins
you could make this year with all of
the great Christmas fabrics!!


The white bubble goblet is my $1 bargain 
from Tai Pan a few years ago and the 
gorgeous aqua goblet with the twisted
stem (the one they all wanted) was
hand carried home from Mexico.



People were also crazy for these beautiful 
square beaded placemats which I found at
Home Goods.  I told them I had purchased
a few one year and searched the next year
and found more.  I told them my favorite
stores for bargain dishes and my
favorite web sites.


Here's a perfect example that I showed them
of mixing and matching as I didn't have
enough snowflake napkin rings to finish
the table so I used these reindeer napkin
rings for every other place setting.

The reindeer were originally red and I
told them how I had spray painted them
and finished them with a glitter spray paint.


This table topping was so popular
that I personally know a woman that 
purchased the floral arrangement and
the sleigh and I heard rumors that someone
else purchased the entire table top.
(They had multiples of the floral arrangement.)


As I told you in the first tablescape from 
the Christmas Open House
Miss Utah County was there and 
her Little Miss Utah County
(my granddaughter)
didn't get there until after the event
started as she had a music class so
I didn't have a picture of her by the
children's table.
Chef's Table was there catering
the event as was Sweet Tooth Fairy
with their goodies.  It was a
fabulous event and was followed
by a fun week of demonstrations.

A big thank you to Rachel who helped me
change from one table to the next and was
the best assistant ever!  Rachel works as
a designer and salesperson at
Gatehouse No1 and was the
one who invited me to participate in 
this fabulous open house.  I became
so addicted that I attended other classes
all week!

My oldest daughter (mother of
Little Miss Utah County)
texted me later that night and
said that I had made tablescaping
look easy and that she now felt
she could do it.  I thought that
was the perfect feedback!

I will be posting this with



Tuesday, November 19, 2013

A Nail Polish Cake



A little granddaughter was having a Spa Party
and Grandma was asked to create a 
Nail Polish Cake.


My daughter found pictures on the internet
but no step by step directions 
so we just set about creating
our own.


We started with a three layer cake and covered it
with a crumb coating, then put it in the fridge
to set the crumb coat.
Frosting Recipe
1 1/2 C. softened butter (not margarine)
12 C. powdered sugar
2 T. white vanilla
7-10 T. water (add the smaller
amount and increase 1 T. at
a time until fluffy)
Food coloring

Place all in a large mixing bowl
and beat together with the wire whip.
Let mix about 5 minutes.  Give it
a final stir to stir out some of the
air bubbles.  It should be soft and
fluffy.


After the crumb coating has set,
remove from fridge
and using a straight sided glass that you will use
as the base for the nail polish lid, press the
glass down into the cake about 1 inch.  Remove
and remove the cake in the hole.
Replace cake in fridge.


Meanwhile make black chocolate clay.

Black Chocolate Clay
10 oz. coating discs
1 T. light corn syrup
Black food coloring (I like Americolor gels)

Melt the coating discs in microwave save bowl
stirring every 30 seconds whether it looks like it
needs to be stirred or not.  When it is completely 
melted, stir in the corn syrup and food coloring.
It will set up as you stir and become like
a thick frosting.  Spread out on a piece
of plastic wrap and place in fridge about
15 minutes or until cool.

Remove from fridge and knead until
soft and pliable.


This is where it got tricky.  I tried rolling the clay
but it started to break apart.  Finally I decided to just 
mold it around the glass and smooth it with my palms.
Your hands will get black, but the warmth of your
hands will help keep the clay pliable.  Make as
smooth as possible.  I smoothed it more with the
flat side of a table knife and then finished it
with my hands.


Place the "lid" of the polish jar into the
hole in the cake and trim any extra away so
that the clay will just hit the top of the cake.


Frost the cake as smooth as possible
using an offset spatula
and fit the lid on again, cleaning any frosting
away from the hole as necessary.
Pipe some frosting into the bottom of the
hole so that the glass will hold in place
once placed on top of the cake.


While the frosting was still soft I placed large
candy pearls around the edge to give it a 
finished edge.


I printed the "label" on sticker paper so that 
the frosting would not leak through the paper
and attached it to the cake with a little frosting.
The bottom of the cake was finished with 
additional large candy pearls.



Little Miss screamed when she 
saw the finished cake.
(I stored it in the fridge to 
keep the frosting firm.)




At the Spa Party fifteen little girls 
had their nails, hair and make up 
done with two aunts 
assisting Mommy.  The
girls all loved the fun party 
and one little
girl said it was the prettiest cake 
she had ever seen!

Happy Birthday Kylie!
I will be posting with



Monday, November 18, 2013

Bloomin' Bacon Cheddar Ranch Bread


Unlike me, you have probably already
been making these bloomin' loaves
in all flavors and varieties!

I have been pinning them, but until my
friend Rachel made a couple, I hadn't
done anything but drool over the pictures.


She had seen the recipe on 
a local TV show 
(the one I got to appear on, Studio Five)
and had saved the recipe.
When we decided to have a dinner party
 she wanted to know
what I wanted her to make, 
I suggested this
from
Christy Denney
at
(Don't you love that blog name?)



I am just wondering if her
blog name reflects the nature of this
bread, because we sure ate up 
every bit of two loaves and were
scraping for crumbs!!!
EVERYTHING!

It is that good!  And it is so easy too.

Bloomin' Bacon Cheddar Ranch Bread

1 round unsliced loaf of sourdough bread
(Can I just say. if you are like us you 
had better start right now and double
this recipe?!!)
8-12 slices cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
 8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
6 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 rounded Tablespoon dry Ranch Dressing Mix
2 Tablespoons chopped green onions
Prepared Ranch Dressing for dipping if desired

Preheat the oven to 350.
Using a serrated knife slice the bread lengthwise
and widthwise being careful not to cut through
the bottom crust.  Place the bread on a foil-lined
baking sheet.  Insert the cheese slices between cuts
and sprinkle the bacon between cuts and on top
of the bread.  

Mix the melted butter and the dry Ranch Dressing
mix and drizzle between cuts and on top of
the bread.  Wrap the bread up completely
in another piece of foil.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes
Unwrap the bread and bake another 5-10 minutes
or until the cheese is melted.
Eat while hot and melty!!  
Super Yum.
Serve with prepared Ranch Dressing if desired.
This makes one loaf,
but I am warning you, you
might want two!



So if you have been like me and have
just been drooling over pictures
of the various Bloomin' Breads
get to the store and make one this week!

This will be a family favorite.
Thanks Rachel!


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