Category Archives: Pleasure

Easy Party Appetizers: Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Posted in Anatomy of a Party, Do It Yourself Diva, Food + Drink by

Photo credit: fakeginger.com

I love hosting a dinner party! Many people look at me with the side eye when I say it but I get a total kick out of setting up my home for an evening of good company, laughter and vino.  Dinner parties also afford me the opportunity to play around with food and drink recipes that I usually wouldn’t consider.  I recently hosted a girls night in and included on the menu were these tasty goat cheese bruschetta.  I found the recipe online (sorry, can’t recall the site) and after a trial and error batch I was well on my way to making what ended up as the most popular option on the menu.  Ahhh, success!!  Needless to say, it will now be a staple on the dinner party menu and if simple and easy recipes make you happy, I’m recommending this one for you!

Bruschetta with Goat Cheese, Figs and Honey

The Ingredients:

  • Half loaf (5 oz.) baguette, cut into ½ inch slices
  • 4 oz goat cheese
  • 2 ripe figs, diced
  • Clover honey to drizzle

The Raw Materials:

  • 1 Baking Sheet

The Instructions:

  • Preheat oven to 400°F
  • Place baguette slices in single layer on baking sheet.
  • Bake 8–10 minutes, turning each slice until both sides are crisp and golden around edges
  • Let cool
  • Spread cheese on toasted baguette slices.
  • Top with figs and lightly drizzle with honey.

You can substitute Crostini’s for the baguette.  Either way, this recipe is worry-free and easy enough to make for your next bridal or baby shower.  This recipe makes 13–15 slices.  Bon apetit!

Hostess Hints: Bunny Napkins and Linen Fold

Posted in Holiday Spirit by

Good Housekeeping recently posted step by step instructions on how to fold cute bunny napkins.  On a scale of 1 to 5, the level of difficulty for this fold is about 3.  I’m currently perfecting steps 12 and 13 (Fluffing my bunny’s ears) for our Easter Sunday family dinner but I’ll be sure to post the final outcome.  If you decide to try it, let us know below and post a pic of the final result.

Step 1

Take a solid-colored square napkin, and starch it for optimal workability. Thinner napkins work better, so choose a linen napkin over a thick cotton one.

Step 2

Fold the napkin in half.

Step 3

Fold the napkin in half again, to form a long rectangle.

Step 4

Fold the right and left sides up to meet in the center, forming a point at one end.

Step 5

Repeat with the opposite corners.

Step 6

Fold the side corners in so they meet in the center, but don’t fold exactly straight. Pull up above the center point, and you’ll start to see the ears shape up. The napkin will form a kite shape.

Step 7

Gently turn your napkin over.

Step 8

Fold the bottom point up, so that it is roughly 1” above the center of the napkin.

Step 9

Carefully, turn the napkin over again.

Step 10

Roll the left side over, slightly past the center of the napkin.

Step 11

Fold the right side over, tucking the end into the pocket you created on the left side, holding your napkin together.

Step 12

Turn the napkin upright, separating the bottom to form a base. Fluff your bunny’s ears.

Step 13

Cut three pieces of string; knot together in the middle. Slide a safety pin through the back of the folded napkin, through the center of the knot, through the button’s opening, then back into the napkin; clasp.

Do you need more Easter inspiration?  Check out these related SocialBFly posts:

9 Fun Cake Alternatives

Posted in Food + Drink by

Chocolate Chip Cookie and Marscapone

Included in my list of on-going projects is ‘cleaning up’ my Pinterest boards which is really just an exercise of removing duplicate pictures and appropriately categorizing “Likes”.  A word to the wise…do it from the outset because backtracking while constantly adding new pins can become daunting.

Anywho, in a related story – I recently signed up for Pinclout and it’s very useful in providing statistics based on your Pinterest activity.  One of those stats is a list of your top 10 popular boards based on likes and repins.

Included in my top 3 was one of my personal favorites – Elegant Cakes.  The board is really a collage of artistically tempting cakes for weddings and special events and if you have any sort of  sweet tooth you will not be able to view it without your mouth absolutely watering.

If you need inspiration for your wedding cake, the Elegant Cakes board is a good start.  And if you were looking for alternatives to traditional tiered yellow cake with elaborately decorated fondant icing, you may be in the market for one of the alternatives below.

Layered French Crepe Cake

Double Chocolate & Raspberry Pavlova

Lemon cookie and mascarpone cream cake

Popcorn cake

Wood Wedding Cake

Cocoa Candy Candy Marshmellows

SocialBFly About Town: Weddings for Heroes Bridal Showcase

Posted in Pleasure, Socialbfly About Town by

Photo courtesy of weddingsforheroes.org

You probably noticed that no blogs were posted last week but I promise there’s a good reason for that – last week became unexpectedly BUSY!  The outcome? We’ve successfully participated in our first bridal showcase!!

I found out about an opportunity to participate in the Weddings for Heroes Military Wedding Charity event one week before it was scheduled to take place – which is great, right?  But considering this had NEVER been done before, the opportunity quickly became a race against time in an effort to pull it off.

And with a little help, we did!!

The event was held on March 28th in Red Bank, NJ at the Oyster Point Hotel.  The organization, Weddings for Heroes Corp, is a NJ charitable organization, benefiting our Military by providing dream weddings to Combat wounded military personnel, Combat Veterans and active duty military facing hardships or otherwise underprivileged at no cost to them.

Weddings For Heroes also offers resources and programs to Military couples coping with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to military service/ deployments.

Servicemen from all branches of the military, and their brides, attended the event learning more about the vendors and in hopes of being the couple lucky enough to win the wedding of their dreams.

And several of NJ’s fabulous wedding businesses were also participating – including some of my favorites like SZDesigns, Calligraphy by Allison, Hallak Bridal, and Cardbox Diva.

Thank you again to Weddings For Heroes for the opportunity to participate in their first bridal showcase.  Having grown up as a military brat to a father in the Army, their cause is one that is close to my heart and I’m excited about the opportunity to showcase in future showcases and donate our services to helping make bridal dreams come true for our troops. Here are some pictures from the evening…

The SocialBfly Booth

Ms. New Jersey stopped by the booth

Allison of Calligraphy by Allison...she's a SocialBFly Preferred Vendor!

The Ladies of Hallak Bridal - another SocialBFly preferred vendor!

The Winning Couple...they were so cute!

Birthday Cake Martini

Posted in Food + Drink by

I wrote this recipe down a few months ago and recently featured it as the drink of the night for a girl’s night in.  The name was changed to ‘Tickled Pink’ but  it was still a huge hit and I highly recommend it for any event.  What’s better? You can easily swap out the vanilla vodka for an alcohol-free mocktail that is still delicious.  Cheers!

Ingredients

  • 1.5 ounces vanilla vodka
  • 1.5 ounces cranberry juice
  • 1/2 ounce champagne
  • Maraschino cherries (1 per glass)
  • Rim glass
  • Sprinkles

Directions:

Combine vodka and cranberry juice in an ice shaker, half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well. Strain into glass. Top with Champagne. Drop in cherry. Enjoy!

NY Fashion Week Recap: Carmelita Couture

Posted in Pleasure, Socialbfly About Town by

Carmelita Couture is a women’s wear line made up of innovative pieces with a bold yet sophisticated style.  It was born out of a deeper need to show personal self-expression.

The Fall 2012 Collection, called “Revelation”, was showcased during NY Fashion Week and is inspired by what she calls, the most symbolic, prophetic, and final Book of the Bible.

I had the pleasure of attending the showcase, which was held at the Designer’s Loft [New York, NY].  Truth be told, this was my first time attending NY Fashion Week and I was able to get some really good photos on my new Blackberry Bold 9900.  Take a look…

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About the Designer
For Carmelita, fashion is an outward display of our inner self.  Self taught, Carmelita’s collection draws from her deep spiritual need to create and show the delicate balance of the strong, femine persona.
Based out of Philadelphia, Martell, continuously works to make designs for the fearless feminine.  Her goal each season is to make women feel like what they are wearing is one of a king and helps them express their own unique style.

Music Monday: 8 Wedding Songs by Whitney Houston

Posted in Music Mondays by

Whitney Houston has several songs that are listed on the SocialBFly soundtrack of life.

Some of my fondest childhood memories include times when my father would grab me and all of my sisters and dance with us to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” – we’d be hanging from each leg and arm.  And then there was my 8th grade graduation when I joined my classes in unison to sing  “The Greatest Love of All”.

We’re terribly sad to hear of her passing but if ever there was a voice to be celebrated, it would be that of Whitney Houston.  In honor of her life and amazing talent, we’re  listing our top 8 songs that would be wedding appropriate Whitney Houston songs instead.

  1. Nobody Loves Me Like You Do
  2. One Moment in Time
  3. All the Man I Need
  4. I Look to You
  5. You Give Good Love
  6. My Love is Your Love
  7. I Get So Emotional

And in memory of her voice, number 8 is one of my mother’s favorite scenes and songs from The Preacher’s Wife  –  I Believe in You and Me.

Happy Planning!

The Story of Lover’s Rock

Posted in Pleasure, Socialbfly About Town by

If you’re in New York on the 23rd (of February), you may want to add this film screening to your social itinerary.  It’s a love story about reggae music but a love story nonetheless.

Film Screening: The Story of Lover’s Rock
Thursday, February 23, 7 p.m.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor

The Story of Lover’s Rock documents the rise of romantic reggae, and its influence on UK culture in the late 1970s and early 80s, through a combination of live performances, interviews, and comedy sketches.

The Story of Lovers Rock sees the welcome return after an absence of 15 years,
one of Britain’s most important storytellers, director Menelik Shabazz.

He is perhaps best known for his award winning feature BURNING AN ILLUSION (1982).

Space is limited, and advance ticket purchase for general admission and entrance to the screening is recommended via www.museumtix.com.

I’m interested in seeing this so check out the preview below and let me know if you plan on checking it out.