A Note from Teri

I love hosting a fabulous party and entertaining friends! I know it can be a bit daunting to entertain, but I’m here to offer my tricks and tips and ultimately share how to create magic and build a special spring menu. I’ll help you find a way to make entertaining both special and easy.

TIP

First of all, if you want to host a fun party, invite some fun people! Filling the space with love and fabulous people is the magical combination that will make your event memorable.

TIP

If you know me, you know I love a good list! For a Friday night gathering, I make a list of what can be done Thursday night, Friday during the day, and then Friday evening. I’ll share that list with you below and you can customize it for your own gathering.

TIP

Here’s a fabulous tip: one thing that makes an event special is a signature cocktail. For our event, we pre-batched 15 drinks before guests arrived. Your friends will feel welcome when they’re handed a wonderful homemade cocktail upon arrival.

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Make the event very personal. For ours, Mo made special personalized patches with each guest’s name on them and I used them as place cards. We also considered the seating arrangements by making sure to seat people next to someone they’d vibe with. I don’t leave this to chance, because where guests sit will impact the party experience. I love creating a nice energy flow among my guests.

TIP

Mix and match. I didn't have 11 matching chairs, and that's okay. Most people don’t! I put the matching chairs next to each other. My mom’s classic Easter bunny plates always remind me of her, and every Easter my tradition is to take them out and use them. It’s fun to mix tradition with new friends and experiences. Speaking of mix and match, I did one side of the table with one kind of silverware and the other side with another, because I didn’t have enough matching sets. Pro tip: Wear your cooking clothes, and change into something fun at the very last minute.

TIP

Let your guests help you! When my neighbor asked what she could do, I requested that she bring tulips from the grocery store. She brought them over the day before, and we arranged them in glass vases. Another friend mentioned they wanted to bring chocolates for our table, so I knew not to get any. We had a dessert buffet, so I made bonappeteach Lemon Possets, and we purchased some other desserts from Sweet Mandy B’s, a fun Chicago bakery. I also asked a guest to bring strawberries to put in my antique strawberry basket.

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Do a load or two of dishes between dinner and dessert to keep things moving along (20 minutes max), while someone else makes the coffee. I believe in letting people help, if they want to. By the way, I know a woman whose friend told her, “It’s embarrassing me that you're in here doing the dishes.” One person’s embarrassment is another person’s delight. I’ll happily let you do my dishes if you’d like!

TIP

Consider doing an activity. We enjoyed an adult Easter egg hunt set up by our friend Brian, who came over at 5am to hide the eggs!

One of the stars of the menu was a Spicy Apricot Sauce. We made our sauces the night before. I wanted to offer people a variety, because with dozens of Magic Elixirs on the blog, I do kind of consider myself the queen of sauces. If you have really great supplies in your pantry, you can make a wonderful sauce whenever you want. For the Spicy Apricot Sauce, I wanted to echo the apricot flavor from the ham, spice it up a bit, and give it a mayo/mustard sauce feel. I whipped it up in no time, and it was so easy and delicious.

Use your favorite mayo (I used Duke’s), any hot sauce, a spicy jam, and I added chili crisp because I love it. The balsamic added a nice acidic note. My sauces are always great, but why not teach yourself to make your own sauces with your own favorite ingredients?

Recipe:

2/3 cup Duke’s mayo

1/4 cup apricot jam

2 tablespoons pepper jam

1 teaspoon mustard

1 teaspoon chili crunch

1/2 tablespoon balsamic

Mix together in a mini cuisinart and enjoy.

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The Last Crumb

One special way to add a fun touch to a party is with these adorable patches that September’s partner Mo makes. It’s fun to give your guests something memorable to take home. Seeing their names makes guests feel special. Our guests squealed with delight when they saw their names. Whether they sew their patch on a blouse or a bag, it will be such a nice touch. The patches would also be amazing for a wedding, a goody bag, or even a corporate event. She will even make you one with your dog’s face! (See the above photo of Brian’s dog, Sigi.) Mo is an artist and this is her new business, so head HERE to find out more. I love supporting small businesses, and I’ve decided to order a big handful for the cabin with the names of all of our regular guests, so when they come over, I will always have them to use as personalized place holders. They add a bit of magic to any event.

xoxo,