S'mores Bars

OK, YUM!!!!

We spent the weekend at our farm this weekend and even though we travel there often, I like to pretend it's vacation and splurge. I tried a few dessert recipes I have been wanting to make. Oh my goodness...these s'mores bars were divine!! Thank you Paula Deen!

S'mores Bars

makes about 2 dozen

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flower

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 6 sheets)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 (1.5 ounce) Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars

1 cup marshmallow creme (I used 1 1/2 cups)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease an 8-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined.

In a small bowl, combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, and beat until combined. Press half of dough in the pan, spreading evenly. Lay chocolate bars on top of dough, breaking apart as needed to create an even layer of chocolate. Spread marshmallow creme over chocolate bars.

Spread remaining dough over marshmallow creme and chocolate bars. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, depending on your oven temperature (I took mine out after 25 minutes).

Recognize This?

Does this picture look familiar to anyone??!

I have seen it floating around the blogosphere in many-an-inspiration board and I just realized where the picture is from! It's from my friend, Paige's, wedding! And not only that, the wedding was planned by the firm I used to work for! I can see why people like the picture...the pink ice cream really pops. The Knot did a feature on her wedding and her event pictures are still on their website. Here are a few other pictures from Paige's wedding that I thought I would share. Be sure to click HERE for more!

Real Parties: Stella & Dot Trunk Show

My close friend, Courtney Hodge, is a rep for the fabulous and very affordable jewelry line, Stella and Dot. When she asked if I would host a trunk show for her, I said "of course!" Any excuse for a party right?! Nothing elaborate was needed, just a few nibbles and drinks.

To make the food presentation a little more special, I ordered cupcake toppers from Bug&Boo...who was wonderful to work with by the way! Shelley graciously accommodated my last minute order.
The theme of the evening was "Cupcakes and Stellatinis". The Stellanis I made were actually white wine spritzers, but they were so good and refreshing. I found the drink recipe in Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade magazine. Here are the drink ingredients (which I doubled).

Stellatini's

serves 6

* 3 cups chilled Chardonnay

* 2 1/4 cups chilled club soda

* 3/4 cup blue curacao liqueur

Garnish with lime slices

Everyone had a great time looking and shopping for jewelry. A girls night out is always a fun evening!

Could This Be THE Cake?!

Tomorrow is my sweet hubby's birthday! I LOVE to bake, but my two crumb gobblers don't always "let" me hang out in the kitchen that long. J.P. told me that all he wanted was yellow cake from the box with chocolate icing from the can. Easy enough! But then I stumbled across this recipe from Smitten Kitchen via Birthday Girl...

image via Smitten Kitchen

images via Smitten Kitchen

For years I have tried to find THE yellow cake recipe, but ultimately, in my opinion, the box mix is so much better. But I gave it yet another shot tonight! It's cooling on the rack right now, so I will let you know how it turns out tomorrow. =) Until then!

Click HERE for the recipe.

Real Parties: A is for Austin

My good friend Angela, who I used to work with at Belle of the Ball, just celebrated the first birthday of her second son, Austin. You may remember the fabulous football party she planned for her first little man, Parker. She's back with another amazing party! This time, the theme revolved around the letter "A" and the alphabet. There are so many great pictures and ideas to share!

The cute and simple kids table. Perfect for the little ones!

Angela cut out different shaped "A's" from poster board and painted them in coordinating colors.

Lanterns and painted "A's" hung from different lengths above the food table in the kitchen.

Angela was tempted to order a mantel and highchair banner from Etsy, but in the end, decided to give it a try herself. She did a GREAT job! The mantel pictures came from Walmart, which she had printed in a sepia tone with an artsy border. She then attached the pictures to scrap book paper using double sided tape. The last step was to hole punch holes and weave ribbon through.

Angela used Microsoft Publisher to design the highchair garland. She cut out the pieces with scissors and did not even use a cricut!

The precious bib came from Etsy seller, Blooming Babies.

The yummy cakes came from Celebrations & Sweet Creations.

A simple rubber stamp added to white paper plates shows how Angela loves to pay attention to even the tiniest detail.

I LOVED the sign-in book! It was a photo book (from Walmart Photo). Each page had a picture of Austin and represented a letter from the alphabet which correlated to something in Austin's life...like "V is for Vero Beach" where Angela was born and where they travel to often.

Each child received a personalized favor bag.

The proud parents with the birthday boy!

** To make the A that greeted guests at the front door, Angela cut out the letter from poster board and then glued on crinkled up tissue paper. Very easy and inexpensive!