House Of J got PEGGED!

My little munchkins double birthday is around the corner. I AM SO EXCITED!

To commemorate Earth Day, being green, sustainable and all around carbon foot print reduction, we've been doing our best to accumulate party supplies that are better for Mother Earth.

We'll be doing wooden utensils and paper straws and the adorable toppers for our cake will not be made of plastic.

They will be these amazing little wooden dolls that my little ones will get to play with for many years to come.

My new friend Marie over at Pegged By Grace created this sweet little trio for our cake! Woody, Jesse and Buzz.. My Daughter has NO IDEA!

I've been keeping them hidden for awhile now and luckily it's been easier because I was also sent a little Batman peg(yes my daughter loves batman) to keep her little paws off the ones for her cake!

She's been walking around with her little Batman for a few weeks and just loves to hold him and make him talk to her little brother. The detail is just amazing. I cannot rave enough about how special the hand painting is on every doll. Her little Batman has been bitten on,dropped, stepped on, and just all around beat up... She is going to be 3 after all. and Toddlers are hard on their toys. There is not a chip on a scratch on him! Super hero of SUPER high quality.

Wooden toys are so popular right now. From instruments to pull along toys. They are everywhere. What I love so much about these little peg dolls is that they will be on their birthday cake to honor their first ever combination party and then be reused over and over again as play things.

They are hand painted so detailed that even Jesse's braid is spot on!

PEGGED by Grace also does completely custom orders. When I asked what she loved most about her work she said that she loves when a family orders a custom peg family to look like your favorite family photo! How special would that be, a peg doll collection of your loved ones.

Please show another fellow momma owned and operated small business some love and support by liking her face book page, checking out her shop and spreading the word!

Check her out here :)
Peggedbygrace.blogspot.com

Etsy.com/shop/peggedbygrace

Facebook.com/peggedbygrace

And the secret word for the  Birthday surprise giveaway is PEG!

Keep checking the blog and our facebook page to see when the giveaway begins.

xoxo-J

Planning for Birthday Bash 2013

What started out as a little recipe blog became an everything under the sun kind of blog.

I promise to update our recipe index soon, but there is SO MUCH going on over here at the House Of J that time is just whizzing by.

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by. My little girl is going to be 3 and my baby boy is approaching his 1st birthday. We've moved across country, started a business and have watched our little ones grow and change every day...

In only 2 short months House Of J will have a HUGE Double Party Feature~!!!

Can you guess the theme?

TOY STORY!

So far we've got a bunch of great vendors signed up and I will be featuring them this week! AND of course in celebration of this amazing extravaganza, Your's truly will be giving away 1 dozen Toy Story themed treats--- But you have to check out all our featured vendors this week to collect the "secret word"

This past week the fun filled boxes of joy started coming in! And Julia couldn't been more excited!

I met a wonderful lady named Christine, Her Etsy store CSCUTECRAFTS(secret word) is packed with fun party decor in lots of themes. Can you picture the excitement when these showed up in the mail?

They are made so well, well enough to withstand an almost 3 year old and a 10 month old playing with them until nap time (so I could hide them haha). The features are on point and I couldn't be more excited to display them at the kids upcoming event. Wait until you see what neat ideas I have in store for these little guys!

Our Big Birthday Bash Feature will be in Early June, but until then, Check out Christine's shop & tell her House of J sent you!

xo

House of J Feature & Giveaway!

I'm not Irish...

But I love a good brew and a fun parade (who doesn't) So how about a St Patty's day giveaway!

One Of my new besties is also a blogging momma! Her site is chock full of giveaways on a weekly basis and has graciously featured the  House of J Etsy store and local chapter!

In celebration of her adorable little munchkins 1st Birthday, House of  J is supplying cute little cupcake toppers to go along with their "Luck of the Irish" themed Birthday Bash!!!

Check Out Dani Sue's Review of my local "Lactation Cookie tasting party" from last week HERE.

And Don't forget to enter the giveaway extravaganza going on at her page this week for a chance to win a basket full of goodies from yours truly! (Details below!)

Artisan Pizza Dough

I've posted a pizza recipe before but since then I've updated my recipe and thought I'd share it with you all.

I've ventured into the cheese making world and have had to find a lot of uses for the left over whey. Pizza dough is one of the best.

If you don't make cheese, you can actually buy whey. Water can also be substituted, but as a person who makes pizza dough on occasion I definitely noticed the difference. This dough recipe is very versatile. You can divide the dough and make two thin crust pizzas or follow my directions for a deep dish style crust.

Although neither the Giants or Broncos will be playing this year, the big game is next weekend and pizza is always a crowd pleaser.

You Need:
1 package instant dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2.5 cups all purpose flour plus extra for kneading
1 cup whey (or water)
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
sauce
cheese
Optional: Assorted spices and corn meal

I feel like all of my recipes start with "in a bowl" or "in a pot". Here is my go at being creative...

In your glass vessel, combine whey(or water) and yeast. Stir in honey.
While it activates start mixing the dry ingredients into another bowl of choice...

The yeast mixture should look cloudy and have little bubbles forming on top, pour this into your bowl of flour/salt.

Mix with a spatula until it all comes together into pasty clump

Then add in your olive oil, like so...

and knead with your hands...yes its sticky and messy...until it looks something like this.

Oil up a dish and set your dough to rest for about an hour, on top of your oven while it preheats to 450 degrees. Cover with moist cheese cloth or paper towel.

While your dough rises, you can get your other ingredients together, such as your sauce, cheeses and spices...

I always use a combination of mozzarella and parmesan but feel free to get creative here.

I did indeed make the sauce pictured from scratch, no I don't can my own sauces regularly. But when I have left overs I do store and freeze them for pizzas or quick dinners when I'm not in the mood to cook.

When your dough has doubled in size, flour your hands and knead your dough just until the stickiness goes away and the dough is easy to manipulate. At this point you can also take a pizza pan, or a stone and sprinkle with cornmeal. This gives the crust a really great texture.

I use a rolling pin...

Yes I am half Italian. But my name is not Luigi, I don't own a pizzeria so NO I do not know how to twirl dough...If you do...great. If not, here is how I got a pretty well shaped deep dish pie.

(at this point you could also separate the dough into two smaller pizza's for thin crust)

Put the dough right in the center of your pizza pan and start rolling toward the edges.

At this point you can use your thumbs and push the rest of the dough up and to the sides, thinning out that big middle and making a deep crust. Once the crust is formed, drizzle a bit of olive oil.

Use a pastry brush and spread the oil all around the dough and up the sides of the crust.

Here, I sprinkle some extra seasoning. I used parsley, oregano, rosemary and red pepper flakes.

One more shot of that, so gorgeous.

Pop the pizza dough in the 450 degree oven for 5 minutes to par- bake the crust. 7 minutes if you enjoy a well done slice.

Spread on your favorite sauce, we like A. Lot. Of. Sauce. Can you tell?

Then sprinkle on your cheese...Yep I made this cheese :)

I also sprinkled some parmesan and some more herbs.

Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes depending on how you enjoy your pie. We like it well done.

Let it cool down for just a minute or so and slice and enjoy. Happy Sunday everyone!

Dark Hot Chocolate

January is well under way and once the sun goes down its pretty darn cold around here.  Hot chocolate is always assumed to be a kids drink. You know the old story of the children playing in the snow and momma has a cup of cocoa waiting for when they come inside to get toasty. It's even been a cool trend for parties recently. Well, I love chocolate and I think it's time for a hot chocolate update. A more gourmet, grown up style cocoa that, with just a little effort could be a really delicious dessert drink on a cold wintery night.

There are a ton of cocoa mix recipes all over the web right now, and if you love Pinterest as much as I do, you've seen them.  Mine is just a little bit different, with ingredients you may not have thought to put in a cup of hot chocolate.

This recipe serves 1 but it is easily doubled or even quadrupled for great party dessert beverage. 

You need to start off with a quality unsweetened cocoa powder. I am all for buying budget friendly ingredients but when it comes to an ingredient being the main focus of whatever you are making, it needs to be quality stuff...save the grocery store cocoa for that batch of brownies you are planning for your next PTA meeting.

Just a quick side note:
I recently replaced all of my run of the mill spices for a full refresher from The Spice House . I've been very satisfied with the quality of every spice I've used from them so far, and if you have your own spice jars, their bulk options are more than reasonable. 

You need

1 tablespoon+1 tsp dutch processed cocoa powder

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp orzata (almond syrup)

1 heaping teaspoon sweetened condensed milk.

House of J homemade vanilla bean marshmallows-optional 

Start with milk in a small sauce pan on low heat and gently whisk in cocoa,espresso and sugar until the mixture starts to simmer and bubbles form around the edges.

Add in your almond and sweetened condensed milk and let it come to a very slow rolling boil. 

Pour into  your favorite mug, get cozy and enjoy.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Sweet Cream Caramel Glaze

Picture this:

Julia in the shopping cart @ Fairway Market, fresh out of ballet class with a leotard, shoes and a PIRATE HAT.  Mommy & Grandma picking out some veggies.

Nice Old Lady: "How cute she's playing dress up!"
Grandma S: "No! Didn't you know...It's Talk like a Pirate Day!"

Isn't it funny how having little ones can make you totally comfortable with being a complete and utter goofball?

Of course, this also means fun play group activities and baked goodies! I decided to make a pumpkin something, because pumpkin is pretty healthy and sweet without requiring a ton of sugar. Which is great for toddler snackin'.

The caramel as a topping was an after thought as I felt that these little muffins just needed a littttle something sweet.

3 dozen cupcakes, iced, decorated and adorned with pirate garb. THEY ALL CRASH TO THE FLOOR. Of course I didn't get a picture before the accident. Just invision pirate flags and crossbones.

Yep, you read that correctly. 3 dozen mini muffins on floor + big mess + no muffins = one irritated momma.

Damn Ye Pirates!!

Well, crafty momma's do prevail. I made them all over again in the morning. Yes we were a little late, but they were enjoyed by all, especially Julia. Which is what really matters anyway.

So without further adieu:
Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Sweet Cream Caramel Glaze

First off.. These are made with whole wheat flour but can be subbed with white flour 1:1

3 cups whole wheat unbleached flour.
2.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

combine all ingredients and set off to the side.

In the mixer goes:
12 tablespoons cold butter cut into 1 tablespoon pieces
3/4 cup dark brown cane sugar

blend until the butter and sugar is blended nicely, the butter should not be smooshy, having a slightly hard butter will make for a richer tasting muffin.

add in:
1.5 cups pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling, please use actual canned pumpkin)
and 2 large eggs.

once blended, add in your dry ingredients very slowly while continuing to churn the batter with your mixer on its lowest setting.

Once incorporated, add in 1/3 cup buttermilk

If you are using miniature muffin cups, this makes about 5 dozen if you are using regular size it should make 16 muffins depending on how much you fill your liners. I fill about 2/3 up.

bake at 350 for 15 minutes for small and 30 minutes for large.

While your muffins are baking you can start on the glaze. 

1/2 cup pure cane sugar, melted completely
1/4 cup whole cream
vanilla to taste
Pumpkin Pie spice

combine all ingredients in a sauce pan and continuously stir until all melted and incorporated. If you have a candy thermometer great, the correct temperature is about 212* But it takes about 15 minutes on the lowest setting of your burner. You will know when its perfect, its amber in color and very smooth.

Just before you turn off the heat, throw in a pinch of your pumpkin pie spice to blend in all the flavors.

When the muffins are cooled, but while the glaze is still warm, lightly dip the top into the glaze and let rest.  It will not completely "harden" but it will be hard enough to transport or to set up on a cake stand, etc. As long as you don't drop them of course.

ARGGGH!

PS: I'm fully aware pirates didn't wear jean jackets, but it was pretty windy. HA!

House of J now on Etsy!!

House of J is now on Etsy.com!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/HouseOfJParties?ref=si_shop

I am so excited. I have the most supportive and amazing hubby in the world. I love creating and I love to cook and bake.

This blog is about helping you do things yourself with easy laid back instructions but I get that sometimes you don't have the time,patience or energy so I'll do it!


I am just starting out professionally but it has been a passion of mine for a long long time. I love planning kids parties and I just cannot wait an entire year for Jacob and Julia to have a birthday, so please let me help with yours!

I only have a few things listed at the moment, but the possibilities are endless. Email me @ cutiepieevents@gmail.com and we can dream something up together. I can make you a private listing with a prototype of whatever it is you are looking for. 

Help support mom-owned and mom run businesses.

PS. if you are local and have a party related talent lets team up and do an event of some kind- I.E photography or face painting, makeup, whatever.

Drink gourmet this summer without the $$$

I love coffee.

The #1 money sucker of the summer has got to be iced coffee. It's delicious and refreshing and costs between $2-$8 a cup depending on what you get and where you get it. You can have a cup brewed from home just as great, if not better than what you can buy.

If you want to go all out, cold brewed coffee is especially great because it loses its bitterness, but if you can't wait 12-15 hours for a cup of coffee I totally understand. You can even go as far out as making your own flavored syrups. It can be as easy or as time consuming as you like. I'll give you the choice.

Easy:
Brew your coffee and pour over 1 half cup of ice.
1 Tsp sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup of milk

Stir and Drink up!
*note*
I'm a lightly sweetened strongly brewed coffee gal, if you need it sweeter, adjust the sweetened condensed vs the regular. Such as 1 Tblspoon condensed and 1/8 cup milk.

Cold brewed coffee requires water,coffee filters,coffee grounds, a strainer and patience. If you dont have these, see recipe above.

1 lb ground coffee.
8 quarts of water
mix together in a big canister or bowl and leave on the counter overnight. In the morning, take a fine mesh strainer and line it with coffee filters and pour coffee through the strainer into a pitcher, replacing the filters when the coffee starts to pour more slowly. This is considered "coffee concentrate" and a little goes a long way.

My Perfect Glass:
Hand full of ice in a tall glass
fill with coffee half way
1 heaping teaspoon sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup milk.

Syrups are easy. I will give you two that can be done in no time at all.
1 cup water and 1 cup sugar boiled until sugar is dissolved
turn down heat to medium and simmer 4 minutes.


This is a basic simple syrup, too it you can add vanilla or almond extract or both! 1 tablespoon added in once at a boil and left to simmer along with water/sugar combo.


I have about a gazillion coffee recipes, so look out for more in an upcoming post because now we are moving on to a great-

Raspberry iced tea recipe:


4 quarts boiling water
1 cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon 
1 tsp Raspberry Agave syrup
1pt raspberries
5 lemon tea bags
5 lipton tea bags


After the water is boiled, add in ingredients and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Once cooled, add in ice and refrigerate. I keep the raspberries in the water. It looks pretty in the glass and the longer the raspberries sit the better the tea tastes.. Don't be shocked when they turn white!

I served this for Julia's 2nd birthday and it was so delish we made it about 4 more times just for ourselves that same week. I'd like to say I only serve fresh brewed but I can't. I do buy the powdered mixes out of busy mom necessity but once Julia no longer says MMMM to a 90% watered down apple juice, If I'm too busy to make fresh teas and lemonades for my family we will all be drinking WATER!

Julia's Olivia style 2nd birthday

Our precious girl is 2. Life is going by wayyyyy too fast,one day she is obsessed with Elmo the next it's Curious George. Now it is Fancy Nancy but a week ago it was Olivia the pig. I capitalized on her fly by night obsession and made an Olivia style dessert party. This was my first "themed" party attempt and all was home baked and created. I think it was a pretty decent job considering the fact I have a nursing 4 week old baby and have never had any training in pastry arts aside from a 4 week Wilton cake decorating class I took almost a year ago. Not too shabby

 First up was red velvet cupcakes with something called "cake batter icing" it's rich and unlike anything you've tasted but goes perfectly with the muted sweetness of red velvet. For the Olivia face cupcake toppers I free handed the faces with melted colored chocolates and then drew on noses and detailed the ears after it had hardened a little. I hand drew the red bows also and let them refrigerate. The day of the party I used prepared black icing and the smallest pastry tip I could find to make the little eye slots,mouth and nostrils. This picture makes them appear larger but in reality these little heads were roughly an inch and a half.

           On the table were also colored chocolate covered marshmallows, fruit kabobs, yogurt parfait, candied apples and French style macarons. The macarons came out dark pink no matter how hard I tried for red, if I added any more food coloring the taste would have been compromised, and the whole point of dessert is the taste right? So I gave up on my dream of jungle red macaroons and called it a day. I must admit macarons are temperamental little buggers but with the chocolate ganache filling they were outrageously delicious. I put them in a tinted red vase because, well, I was obsessed with the red factor. The letter banner on the table cloth was a last ditch effort at decorations and was really easy. I bought red polka dot craft paper and cut out some bubble letters And glued it on the table cloth with a non toxic glue stick.

           Next time I have a few changes I'd incorporate for the candied apples and parfait if I decide on those particular desserts again but all in all everything came along really well. Especially my Olivia cake for Julia. 

             It was a Tres Leches cake with whipped cream frosting. The borders were a prepared icing with the flowering pastry tip and the Olivia was a simple buttercream icing in white pink red and black. I freehanded the Olivia off of a picture I had found and then traced my own drawing onto parchment paper and filled in the lines with icing- this was a y make ahead piece of the cake because the buttercream has to freeze for 16 hours and then be carefully placed attop the cake. The bordering and lettering I did the day of the party. I'm getting better at writing in icing but it is for sure the hardest part. I also freehanded a little bow with icing and red glitter just for an extra little pizazz! 

        

 Julia really appreciated her party and even said "thank you for piggy cake momma"...That little sentence made it all worth it and makes me want to do an even better job next year.




















*tres leches & red velvet cupcakes adapted from "thepioneerwoman.com"