Hostess Jo

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Chili Recipe

With the weather getting colder I start digging out all my soups and casserole recipes.  In my digging, I found my friend Heather's chili recipe.  It is a bit different than traditional chili but now I can't eat it any other way!  Hope you enjoy!

Chili

1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage

1/2 pound hot Italian sausage (or one pound of one flavor)

1 green bell pepper sliced

1-2 red or yellow bell peppers sliced

1 large onion chopped

2 cans beans-any you like, I'm picky with my beans

4-5 cans diced tomatoes

2 packs of chili seasoning

1 tablespoon of sugar

I cook my sausage then combine everything in a big pot and cook at least an hour.  My friend puts everything in a crock pot and cooks it overnight (including the raw sausage).  I just dont have a big enough crock pot ;)

Serve with cheese and crackers, etc.

Another Easy Centerpiece

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the time of year and I love that there is no rushing around shopping for gifts like at Christmas.  To me it is like Christmas but with less stress!

I have been looking for another easy craft to do for our table centerpiece for Thanksgiving.  I found this one on allyou.com.  Its perfect!  Beautiful and easy!  Anything with candles wins me over.. This would look great with gold placemats and coordinating napkins..

Check it out:

You'll Need

• Dried leaves
• Cake stand
• 3 pillar candles in varying heights
• Small oranges or clementines (approximately half a dozen)

1. Arrange a layer of leaves on the cake stand.

2. Place the candles in the center and surround them with oranges. Using a small, sharp knife, carve a design into some of the oranges, if you'd like.

HALLOWEEN/FALL SALE!

Just wanted to let you know my store www.hostessjo.com has a few Halloween items left and they are 50% OFF!

 

Also on sale are all of our Fall/Pumpkin servingware!

As always all orders over $50 receive FREE GROUND SHIPPING!

New Party Site!

I am excited to tell you about a new party site called www.crashthisparty.com.  It is a great place to view real parties of all kinds with info and pics on invitations to decorations, etc.  They are also having a Halloween Costume Contest!  Contest ends Sunday November 2 so hurry and enter!

Here is more info about the site:

www.crashthisparty.com is a great new web site where people can share their fabulous parties with all the details. Along with a written description of your party you may also post photos. Here you can let your creativity shine as well as get new ideas for your next great party. Share ideas on invitations, decorations, tablescapes, activities, and entertainment. There is also scrapbook area for sharing pictures of family and friends. Not only can you post your parties, but rate and blog about them with others. It's fun, easy and free.

Hope you will all share your parties with us!

www.crashthisparty.com is also hosting a Halloween Costume Photo Contest. Submit your photos for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate from www.socialcouture.com . You have four chances to win in each category…Adult, Teen, Youth and Babies! You may vote and post comments on each photo. The photo with the most votes WINS! So tell all your friends and family to visit the web site and vote for you.

Unique Pumpkin Carving

Halloween is only a few days away!  Here are some last minute pumpkin carving ideas I found on countryliving.com.  These designs were carved with linoleum-cutting tools which carve the outside of the pumpkin instead of all the way through. 

Get inspiration from your china

Or your wallpaper..

Or your sweater...

The tools you'll need:

Sorry...

For the lack of posts the past couple of days!  My husband broke his pelvis and had to have surgery so I have been at the hospital.  We are home now and on the road to recovery...I will be back next week with something entertaining!

Hot Apple Ginger Toddy

This weekend in Alabama it FINALLY started getting cool outside and I LOVE it!!  Nothing beats sitting outside by a fire.  The cooler weather made me go on the hunt for a warm cocktail.  Check out this recipe from www.fineliving.com .  Hope you are enjoying cooler nights!

 

Ingredients:

6 oz. ginger-infused apple cider
Thin slice of fresh ginger or one piece of crystallized, candied ginger
1 tsp. honey
2 oz. bourbon (Maker's Mark or Jim Beam are preferred)
Slice of lemon

Preparation:

First: Ginger-infuse the cider.

1. Peel and chop the ginger.
2. Bring apple cider to a boil in a nonaluminum pot.
3. Add several slices of cut and peeled ginger when cider boils.
4. Turn heat off and steep for 30 minutes.
5. Purée this mixture in a blender and strain through cheesecloth.
6. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Second: Make your ginger toddy.

1. Heat your ginger-infused cider, but do not boil.
2. Add bourbon.
3. Stir in honey.
4. Pour into a coffee mug.
5. Garnish with lemon and ginger slice (or use crystallized ginger

A Dazzling Discovery

I just discovered the neatest website: www.thebar.com!  There is a ton of info on cocktails and recipes, etc. but the best part about it is their FREE personalized liquor labels!!  You must register on their site, then you can order up to 5 FREE personalized labels a month!  My husband's 30th bday is coming up so I ordered him one for a Crown Royal bottle.  You could use these for any occasion:  birthdays, Christmas, graduation, etc. etc...Delivery takes two weeks.  I'll let you know how mine turns out!

My 30th Birthday Fiesta!

I recently threw a fiesta for my 30th.  We had everything "fiesta"!  Decorations, food, music, etc.  It was complete with a pinata..For food I did Rotel cheese dip, fresh salsa, fresh guacamole (from a local restaurant, sshhhhh) and mini tacos and quesadillas.  Everyone loved it and it was all easy to prepare.  For the main beverage I prepared sangria from the recipe in a previous post.  It was great!

Here are some pics of the decorations-several of the decorations and paper goods I have on hostessjo.com.

For outside we used chili lights and lanterns.  The chili lights looked great at night!

   

For centerpieces, I filled pilsner glasses with colored sand and "30" candles.  It didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned but was still cute.

For the ladies, I provided brightly colored flower combs for their hair.  It got everyone even more in the mood for a FIESTA!

Everything was so bright and colorful.  I really enjoyed decorating, planning and PARTYING at this Fiesta!