Minecraft Party, part 1

Posted on February 27, 2013 by casadeberry

Minecraft is everywhere. Just about every kid I know plays it, and just about every parent I know knows about it. It’s like Legos, but online, and each block has different properties. So of course, my oldest, a fervent fan of the game, decided he wanted a Minecraft party for his 8th birthday. Being the craft-crazy parents that we are, we happily obliged.

Can you tell I went overboard with the square/block theme?

I totally stole the popcorn baggy idea and creeper background idea from Puerta Bella. The popcorn baggies were a hit, every kid (and some adults) grabbed a baggy each and went on their merry way, eating popcorn. I loved that there were no hands grabbing popcorn from a big bowl, that each person could get their own popcorn. The Red Vines TNT idea was shamelessly stolen from Seaside Interiors, and I used some square candle holders I already had, the kids loved it!

I decided to make mini sandwiches, cut to look like blocks, of course. We had Chicken Pesto, made very easily by mixing cooked chicken and mixing it with some of the pesto I made last week; Peanut Butter and Jelly; and Tuna Salad.

My mother in law baked the yummy cakes and my husband decorated them. We had one creeper and two “dirt blocks”:

Aren’t those candles fun? My husband saw them at the store and grabbed them, I’d never seen them before. The sides of the dirt blocks are a mix of oreos and graham crackers. We also had block candies and starburst to complete the “block food” theme.

On Friday, I’ll tell you all about the awesome piñata my husband made!

Let’s get it started

Posted on January 2, 2013 by casadeberry

Yesterday we held our second Annual New Year’s Day Brunch — what started as a small gathering with a couple of friends wanting to start the new year right (good friends, good food, good conversation) has now evolved into a gathering of roughly 15 people. We provide all the waffles people can eat, and coffee, and then people bring whatever else they want to have. Believe me, it is a feast of talents, each friend or relative bringing something wonderful for everyone to enjoy.

Even the little ones get into the action, my boys nommed on waffles and the homemade banana muffins brought by our fearless friend K. I am, as I type this, enjoying some of the leftover potato hash our dear friends J & M brought.

Auntie L brought her famous gorilla bread, so good! And our friend J made more of the only breakfast sausage Steve and I like. J makes it himself, blending spices and all sorts of goodness, and it vanishes pretty quickly. Steve’s parents contributed eggs and bacon, and my sweet friend J brought a ton of OJ because you know how it is, when you have OJ in your fridge it goes bad, but when someone brings it you can’t wait for it and then down it like liquid gold.

We had a grand time, which is the point of the gathering, to start the new year with laughter and good food, and surrounded by great people. Here’s to more New Year’s Day brunches!!

Food coma

Posted on November 23, 2012 by casadeberry

Holy crap, that was a lot of food. And I didn’t even have turkey! Steve made an awesome bacon-wrapped pork loin so I went for that. And my mama’s world famous sweet potatoes with marshmallows. And Steve’s fabulous apple crisp.

My mom’s neighbor makes these adorable turkeys — mom bought a bunch and sent them to me for my table settings:

Don’t they look sweet?

I had set the table like this:

And then I remembered we were also having butternut squash bisque, so I had to re-do my settings to add the bowl – oops!

The little guys had to move to the chargers:

Here is the aforementioned pork loin; it was so moist and yummy!

And the bisque, which I will be enjoying later:

We have a silicone mold that we used for the cornbread:

They turned out so cute, little leaves and pumpkins.

Huge biscuits, gingery honey carrots, and the sweet potato/marshmallow casserole in the back:

We also had delicious turkey breast made by my in-laws, stuffing and gravy, green bean casserole, spicy lentils (kind of random, but I made them last year and people liked them), garlic mash, sweet potato medallions with caramelized walnuts, and I am sure I am forgetting more stuff, but it was all yummy and most of it was made by my awesome husband. Our cousin J brought a fabulous veggie basket with all sorts of goodies, including my favorite olives from Trader Joe’s.

We had a great time, and the boys had a blast playing with their cousins. We have big bellies and happy hearts. I hope your thanksgiving was a great one!

Lego Birthday Party

Posted on July 31, 2012 by casadeberry

My youngest turns six today. We celebrated on Sunday with a small birthday party in the theme of his choosing — Lego Dinosaurs. I did a simple invite based off the Dino Lego website, using the Legothick font I downloaded for free:

The day was beautiful, a little warm for my (arctic) taste, but my in-laws lent us their canopies and we had a great time chatting in the backyard and watching the kids play.

For the cake, we chose to do a Lego brick cake — actually two, since I made one chocolate and one vanilla cake. My son’s choice was blue frosting on his vanilla cake, so I made the buttercream, too. First time, and I think it tasted pretty good. The chocolate cake was covered in green buttercream. We had liquid food coloring at home so I used that, but it took so much coloring to get the shade I wanted that I think next time I will use gel food coloring. My son saw the blue buttercream and gave it a thumbs up. Then he tasted some and wanted to eat the whole container so I had to refrigerate it for a while ;D

A couple of friends suggested Ding Dongs for the Lego studs on the cake:

Here’s my sweet Alex blowing out the candles:

It worked out perfectly that I made a six-stud brick and he was turning six, I just stuck a candle into each, uh, Ding Dong stud. Man, that sounds bad, huh? lol

For the piñata, my husband made a fabulous, Alex-sized version of one of the Lego Dino wranglers:

Here you can see the “model” on the shoulder:

Clothing details:

It’s alive!

My husband gazes at his creation one last time before the kids go at it!

Alex with his piñata:

After the carnage, my oldest made sure to save the head for our future “trophy room” — seriously, we have saved the heads off a few piñatas and costumes, and I told my husband we should mount them on the wall the way others mount moose and tiger heads

Hope you’ve enjoyed looking through our Lego party – have a great Tuesday!

Superhero Birthday Party – Masks & Capes

Posted on February 28, 2012 by casadeberry

Our original plan had been to make fabric masks and capes for the kids so they could be “superheroes” all afternoon — but then my husband decided to shape foam sheets into masks and off he went, making a ton of them in a variety of colors and shapes.

This one was my favorite:

I loved the sparkly rose gold color and the heart shapes!

My son chose this one:

Here he tries on another mask for size:

The kids loved choosing a mask and cape and wore them throughout the party – here are some of them during the piñata gorefest (not really). I made a few capes in different colors, and my son requested his be longer, and I added his initial on the back.

It was fun to see the kids trying to decide which color mask or cape to wear, it was a very important choice ;D

Our New Year’s Day Brunch

Posted on January 4, 2012 by casadeberry

The sixth (out of six) event we hosted this holiday season was a brunch to celebrate the first day of the new year.

We made it a potluck, with us providing pancakes and waffles, coffee and tea, and people bringing whatever else they felt like enjoying. We had a great turnout and many delicious goodies.

The living room mantel had been de-holiday-ed and has a pared down appearance:

Our brunch set up included this fun printable from eighteen25:

Hutches ready with drinks and platters for yummy goodies:

Glitter is always appropriate:

The food people brought was amazing:

The sausage on the top left plate was delicious. Oh, there’s none left. Yeah, it was epic, and it was gone the moment I would bring more out. Our friend J made it himself and I tell you, I usually HATE breakfast sausage, but this was fabulous.

My mother-in-law brought fresh fruit, which was the healthiest thing we had all day:

Auntie L brought this amazing gorilla bread:

Picture us diving in like raging beasts and pulling back with our pieces, leaving only a few nuts and crumbs on the plate.
She also brought yummy muffins and pumpkin bread. Oh man, inviting Auntie L is a dangerous thing, she is a fantastic baker.

We provided pancakes and waffles, and our friends S&C lent us their Mickey Mouse waffle maker:

Our friend K and her family brought bacon and ingredients for a yummy hash. Then she told me to leave my kitchen:

See that huge knife she has?

Yeah, I left.

But then she brought this out so I figured I’d been made to leave my kitchen for a good reason:

Our friends J&M brought eggs, freshly made whipped cream, and a yummy berry compote. Our other friend S was seen scooping up a huge spoonful of whipped cream and dumping it in her coffee. We all just smiled and nodded. S brought us homemade mulled wine, which we can’t wait to try, and many people brought sparkly wine and OJ for mimosas.

There’s no further pics because I was eating like a pig for the rest of the brunch. That, and making sure K didn’t have a knife in her hand anymore.

My dear friend M and her kids (her son is friends with my oldest) came over, which made for a nice end to our brunch. Then my husband started playing Lonely Island videos on the TV while the kids were playing outside. One little girl made it back inside and her dad promptly took her back outside so her tender ears would not be corrupted by our choice of entertainment.

My boys were still getting Christmas gifts, I swear, we are all severely spoiled. The final brooch on the perfect day we had was my friend M coming back to drop off some homemade posole for my dinner. I tell ya, we have awesome friends.

Swedish baby shower

Posted on November 28, 2011 by casadeberry

Over the weekend, I had the honor of hosting a baby shower for my sister-in-law, K. Her husband is from Sweden, where they live, and she’s visiting for a couple of weeks, so it was out only chance to get together and celebrate. I keep referring to her baby as baby Thor or baby Freya, but no, those are NOT the names they’re considering In fact, some of the names K likes for a girl (they don’t know the gender yet) are the ones I would have given to my child if I’d had a girl. I would LOVE it, if K’s baby is a girl, for my new niece to have those names I love, so yes, I am a little biased in what I hope she has.

Since we don’t know the baby’s gender yet, I decided to do the shower in the colors of the Swedish flag – blue and yellow:

I even learned to make pompoms!

Some of the wine was renamed with the names of Swedish places and the mommy- and daddy-to-be’s last name.

My husband did an amazing job decorating the house for Christmas, it looked beautiful!

I came up with a few games, including a crossword puzzle:

I had a blast planning and hosting the shower and even got gifts from my mother-in-law and sister-in-law for hosting! My husband was a fabulous assistant, he took many photos, helped set up, kept people fed and with drinks, he made my job so easy. K said she had a good time and was very thankful, which means the world to me. I am so excited for baby Thor or baby Freya to arrive next spring!!!

Our 2011 Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2011 by casadeberry

Our thanksgiving lunch went beautifully; Steve and I planned, made lists, set up a schedule, and with some help from our family, we had a great time. I printed the menu and set it up in the dining room:

My father-in-law showed up early — he was in charge of the turkey — and also helped out with the rest of the cooking. He and my oldest had a blast peeling potatoes:

Soon my boy was a potato peeling expert!

I had told my husband that I’d seen (can’t remember where!) an idea to use a wreath as a centerpiece and he came up with this:

Isn’t that cool?

Soon the rest of the family showed up and we started doing the oven-revolving-door dance. Dishes would go in, in twos and threes, and something yummy would come out. Soon our dining room table looked like this:

This was about half of the food we made. The wine took up one of the hutches ;D and the desserts people brought took up another.

Here is some of my wonderful family.

The little cups hold the butternut squash bisque, which was DELICIOUS – Steve made it from scratch and I am so happy there is some left over, because I’m having some of it for lunch!

One of my favorite moments was when we all shared what we were grateful for and my oldest said he was grateful for “the colors of autumn”, I thought that was so unusual and sweet.

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful, and if you don’t celebrate it, then I hope today is a great Friday and I wish a wonderful weekend for everyone! I’m going to leave you with the menu we had for our Thanksgiving Lunch.

Thankful for feasts and festivities

Posted on November 23, 2011 by casadeberry

This holiday season we are hosting SIX events at our home. I know, we’re crazy. But I love it. I love going to other people’s houses, too, but then I’m always thinking about the boys. If they’re home I think about what they’re doing or if they’re driving Gran nuts or if they’re eating or or or. If they’re with us, I think about them knocking things over and playing nice with others, etc. At home, they’re in their turf and I can relax more.

The first event was the get-together we had for my 40th. My husband and his parents did 99% of the work so I just enjoyed everyone’s company and the great food. My mom made two flans, those things are so rich and delicious, and were definitely enjoyed. Here’s a funny bit about flan.

The second event will be Thanksgiving. We sort of stole it from my mother-in-law since she got her new dogs. I would walk in her house and within 15 minutes I’d be sucking on my inhaler. I’m not allergic to all dogs but the longer-haired ones do give me trouble.

The third event will be a baby shower. I am so psyched. I am planning lots of sweet things, or rather, “Swede” things, since it will be a Swedish baby (flag pic from Facebook).

The fourth will be a family dinner. We might have some guests from out-of-state and we had such fun last time they were here that we would love to host something for them. It’s still a maybe so we’ll see. (pic from The Martha)

The fifth will be Christmas breakfast and lunch. Again, stolen from my mother-in-law. The boys open the avalanche of gifts – we really do have generous families and friends – and then they go play with the boxes (ha!) while we eat breakfast with my in-laws. We do a quick dishwasher load and get things ready for lunch, which is when most people show up.(pic from The Martha)

The sixth will be a New Year’s Day brunch. We are not planning on going out this year so we invite friends and family to get over their hangover or to start the New Year with us.(yep, again – pic from The Martha)

So this is our plan so far, lots of friends, lots of family, lots of good food and wine, lots of wonderful memories being made — that’s what holidays are all about for me. Hope your Thanksgiving is wonderful, and if you do not celebrate, I hope you have a great rest-of-the-week!

Birthday weekend, part 4

Posted on November 18, 2011 by casadeberry

After lunch and a nap, we got ready for dinner at Allegria.

Last year, our friends C&D had come to Napa with us and they’d gifted me a bottle of Caymus zinfandel. I decided to bring the Caymus to my birthday dinner at Allegria and share it with my hubby and our friends J&M.

The wine went perfectly with our entrees and it was a delightful dinner.

Little did I know that our friends C&D would gift me another bottle of Caymus for this birthday – score! Now I have wine for next year’s birthday dinner ;D

On Sunday, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed home because we had invited people to celebrate with me – the party started at noon and we got home about 90 minutes before that. My mother-in-law had watched the boys for us, my father-in-law got the house ready for guests, and both of them along with my husband did all the food. I am so grateful to them!

I saw something this board on Pinterest and decided to make my own:

The afternoon was wonderful, it was so nice to see so many people from so many facets of my life. When thinking about what to say if people asked what I wanted for my birthday, I took my inspiration from the book that started my veggie garden adventure – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. For her 50th birthday, Barbara asks everyone to bring her a plant. I couldn’t do the same since her birthday was in May, perfect for planting, but mine is in November, and I was guessing many plants would not survive the winter. So instead, to those who asked, I simply asked for seeds. Any type of veggie or flower would do. And oh my goodness, I now have a serious stack of seeds for my 2012 garden! Plus other, very generous gifts that will all come in handy.

I didn’t want to blow out FORTY candles so my husband, helpfully, decided to get four “decade” candles.

My boys had tons of fun as well since they had lots of friends to play with.

It was such a wonderful end to my birthday weekend, so many wonderful friends and relatives. Despite all the whining and moaning I’ve done about turning forty, I know am a very lucky girl.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Casa de Berry

Category Archives: entertaining