Holiday Parties Made Simple

Cooking your family recipes during the holiday is such a treasure and a special part of a lot of our traditions and celebrations. However, sometimes that just does not happen. We don’t have time, we get busy with our kids, shopping for gifts, or even attending Christmas Parties.

Man! And this has been the year of the overlapping parties! With 6 fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas it feels like I had not even finished the turkey before prepping appetizers and desserts for Holiday parties!

But today – we are going to be celebrating the store bought and spicing them up!

The goal: to create show stopping treats in just minutes!!

So you know how I am always talking about a fun charcuterie board!? Well what would you say if I said instead of meat and cheese and nuts – we were going to fill it with fun add one for your Hot a Chocolate. (You can see more on this Hot Chocolate Bar here)

Now remember the three tips:

Odd Numbers are always right…

Start with three small bowls, I have filled Mine with caramel chips, chocolate chips, and marshmallows.

Heights and Shapes give the board personality.

Then I stacked some mini peppermint bark squares for some height and add some peppermint sticks for a fun shape!

Color is key

I’ve got some red and white and even chocolate so our colors are taken care of! You just don’t want the board to be all over color! Makes it more festive that way! I even like putting a pop of green on there with these truffles!! Not for the hot chocolate but for me to enjoy!

One last note before I show you these adorable cupcakes… if you make your hot chocolate in a pot instead of single serve – makes it feel homemade! Even though it’s not; just makes drinking it that much more fancy!

Next these Forest Cupcakes are so fun and a favorite at Christmas Parties – especially if you have kiddos attending!

Best part about these are cupcakes is that everything is store bought – you just have to put them together!

Take a vanilla cupcake
Place a spring of rosemary to the left side of the cupcake.
Stick a gingerbread man in it to the right side like he is peaking out behind the “tree” or Rosemary.
You’ll then place 3 cranberries in the front of him and sprinkle the entire cupcake with coconut flakes for snow!!

How cute are these!! I just love how you can take store bought items and basic items at that and really create a fun treat!!

That’s my goal – take the stress out of holiday parties and have fun in the kitchen!!

These were used on a segment on KATV today.. Check that out here. And the Cupcakes were featured in At Home in Arkansas! Check that article out here.