Hostess Jo

Shimmering Dessert

There will be a lot of champagne flowing over the next few days!  Whether you are toasting on New Year's Eve or sipping Mimosas at your New Year's Day brunch, it's always fun to serve and drink.  

Here is a tasty twist on the traditional Mimosa. 

Mimosa Granita

Yield: 8 cups (serving size: 1/2 cup)

Ingredients

• 1  cup  sugar
• 1  cup  water
• 3  cups  fresh orange juice (about 10 oranges)
• 2  cups  Champagne or sparkling wine
• 2  tablespoons  fresh lime juice
• Lime wedges (optional)

Preparation

Combine sugar and water in a large saucepan, and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, and cool completely. Add orange juice, Champagne, and lime juice; pour into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish. Cover and freeze for 8 hours or until firm. Remove mixture from freezer; let stand 10 minutes. Scrape the entire mixture with a fork until fluffy, and garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year's!  Welcome 2010!  

I am taking a short break for vacation but will be back very soon!  See ya next year!

(photo and recipe from myrecipes.com)
 

Double Duty

I love decorating with items that have other uses than just decoration.  For my friends baby shower we incorporated her gift into part of the decor.  You can do this with glassware, gifts, games, etc.  The possibilities are endless. 

Here is a great example of this for your New Year's celebrations. 

For a fun and functional centerpiece, gather your noisemakers and display them on a cake plate.  Fill the gaps with shiny tinsel and you have a double duty centerpiece.  Your guests won't have to look far for a noisemaker when the countdown begins!

(photo from marthastewart.com) 

New Year's Table

I love the look of mirrors when it comes to decorating for New Year's.  They add sparkle and shine and are easy to find.  Here is an example of an easy New Year's table scape using mirrors.

To recreate this look purchase small mirrors or mirrored coasters.  Reuse your cylinder candle vases.  Fill with disco ball ornaments or any other sparkly ornaments you have.   Decorate the outside of the vases with more mirrored ornaments.  Scatter colored ornaments on the table on a pretty colored table cloth.  Voila!

(photo from bhg.com)

Simple Centerpiece

I am still looking for centerpiece ideas for my Christmas Party.  I want something simple but eye catching.  I've definitely decided it will be something with ornaments.  They add a lot of glitz for not a lot of money.  You can find them in any shade of the rainbow and reuse them next year. 

I love the look of this tiered tray.  They used three different sized silver trays with glasses as pedestals held together with floral clay.  The metallic trays really reflect the shine and colors of the ornaments.

I also love this idea.  The beads add a little extra to the arrangement. 

Both of these would also work great for a New Year's Party!

(photos from bhg.com)
  

Hostess Jo Giveaway

 

Head on over to oh, how posh! and enter our Hostess Jo Giveaway!  We are giving away our Winter Cardinal set which includes the cheese server, glass stickems and cocktail napkins!  Its not too early to stock up on hostess gifts for all your holiday parties and this set is perfect!  Or of course you can keep it for yourself and entertain in style this season!

Also, if you haven't visited Danielle over at oh, how posh! -now is the time!  She has fun ideas, great recipes, and unique inspiration for all of your entertaining. 

Champagne Cocktails

Here are a few very visually appealing cocktails to serve at your New Year's festivities..

Lavender Champagne

 

Red Currant Champagne Cocktail

 

Mandarin Cocktail

Cheers!  I'm off to the mountains, I hope you all have a fabulous time ringing in 2009! (I made a little rhyme ;))  See you next year!

New Year's Day Brunch

I love serving brunch.  I love the time of day and the food for a brunch is always good and easy.  Oh and of course the mimosas!  Here are a couple of ideas for a New Year's Day Brunch...

A Sparkling Centerpiece

 

These sugared lemons were created by taking artificial lemons and spraying them with adhesive then rolling them in clear glitter.  Use a few leftover silver Christmas ornaments for even more shine.  Omit the silver balls and you've got a great centerpiece for Easter also!  I'm thinking of creating this centerpiece for my table for everyday use.    Martha also tells you how to create the leaves here.

For the main dish I would serve this fabulous breakfast casserole:

You will need:

2 lbs sausage

1 can golden mushroom soup

1 cup of shredded cheddar

1/2 to 1 cup of milk

8 eggs

2 cans of crescent rolls

Cook your sausage, drain and set aside.  Set crescent rolls out for 20 minutes to be at room temp.  Spray 9 x 13 baking dish with Pam.  Combine eggs, soup, milk and salt and pepper to taste in a separate bowl.  Line baking dish with one can of crescent rolls (unroll into a sheet, not triangles).  Top with 1/2 of your sausage and 1/2 cheese, then 1/2 of your egg mixture.  Layer the other can of crescent rolls and repeat as before.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

This was served at my bridal brunch and I also served it at a baby shower brunch I threw.  It is always a big hit!

For your drink, here is a spin on the traditional mimosa:

Grapefruit Mimosa

 

Use equal parts champagne and pink grapefruit juice instead of orange juice for this beautifully colored cocktail.

Cheers to the new year!

(photos from marthastewart.com)

New Year's Eve Party Inspiration

I will be at a cabin in the mountains for New Year's Eve so I stole some ideas to share with you from marthastewart.com for your New Year's Eve celebrations. 

What's old is new again...

 

Why not pass out your champagne with numbered glasses to get your guests even more excited about the last ten seconds of 2008!  Here they used adhesive numbers from a craft store.

 

I love using items that you already have to decorate with, like these clocks to keep up with the time for the countdown.  Or these gold and clear ornaments from Christmas (below).

 

Use a cake stand and group different shaped champagne flutes filled with sparkly Christmas ornaments left over from your decorations this year for an easy and "bubbly" centerpiece.  Use any colors you like, silver, gold, white and clear, etc.  You could even use pink to resemble pink champagne or a champagne cocktail.

And to toast...

Pomegranate Champagne Cocktail

 

Ingredients

• 4 ounces Champagne
• 1/2 teaspoon store bought pomegranate juice
• 1 teaspoon cassis

Directions

 Pour Champagne into flute, add pomegranate juice and cassis.

Come back tomorrow for my ideas on a New Year's Day Brunch!  I have a breakfast casserole recipe you will go back to time and time again.

(photos from marthastewart.com and foodnetwork.com)

On to New Years...

HostessJo.com has New Years cups and napkins ON SALE!  Check them out!