Jingle Mingle Memories

I had a lot of fun the other night as I hosted my second monthly Design Happy Hour at the studio — Jingle Mingle. I came up with the idea of these mixers to bring people together and have a good time. Each mixer will showcase different recipes I’ve posted here on the website and, of course, we’ll feature a signature cocktail. 

This month I had the Roasted Cauliflower Soup hot and ready to try; I served it in my Christmas teacups and it was a huge hit.   Because the soup is vegetarian, everyone could sample it. I also provided samples of my Green Tomato Salsa, which is always a winner. I also make a warm cheesy dip using the salsa (you’ll find the recipe here soon).

I had a variety of Christmas cookies ready, as well. It is the Holidays, after all! Guests got to try my Divinity Snowballs, Double Chocolate Toffee, Coconut Melts and White Chocolate Cranberry Delights along with a few others that I will share with you next Christmas.

Space is at a premium when the studio is filled with people, like it was that night, and so I turned my furniture storage room into a bar. It was fully self-serve and to make mixology easy, I typed out the cocktail recipes, put them in plastic sleeves and had my guests do the rest.

Each person could make a Peppermint Twist Cocktail or my new Espresso Amaretto Martini. Both were received with rave reviews and they definitely contributed to the holiday spirit at the party. For those non-drinkers, I had a crockpot filled with my salted caramel hot cocoa, including a variety of toppings like coconut marshmallows and fresh vanilla whipped cream.

I handed out a green jingle bell ornament to each guest as they left — they can keep the memory of the evening on their Christmas tree for years to come.

It was an amazing evening and I so look forward to our next Design Happy Hour in 2015!