bridal shower: cake & decorations

A quick glimpse of the party... and soon I'll share the recipes for the biscotti that filled those little gift bags.

Oh, and by the way, that beautiful cake was also very delicious.  Made by Vermont Cake Studio in Waterbury, it was a light and fluffy vanilla cake with amazing raspberry mousse layers and a silky vanilla buttercream frosting.

bridal shower: venue

I'm just gonna come right out and say it: Shelburne Vineyard is a fantastic place to throw a party. And not just because there's wine involved. Although ... I do really dig their Côte de Champlain. It's so fruity and soft, with just enough tang.  And if you're the one in charge of throwing the party, chances are you're going to need a glass of wine.  Or two.

But back to the venue. We had the whole mezzanine to ourselves, which was all angled ceilings, wood beams, chandeliers and a cherry wood floor. And yes, I was so frantically setting up that I didn't take a picture of the room. Not one. But it overlooks the tasting room below, as well as huge windows out to the vineyard itself. Want to take a peek around? I thought so.


All photos are from Shelburne Vineyard, taken by Dave Schmidt.

bridal shower: invitations

I love a good invitation, don't you? But I can't even remember the last time I actually received one in the mail. A high school graduation party, maybe? So I wanted to have sweet, sunny bridal shower invitations that would make all the guests smile when they opened their mail.

Enter Kayla from Simple Design. I had a class with Kayla back in college, but had no idea she did freelance design until I saw her adorable invites featured on LoveVermont. I had originally tried to put my own graphic design skills to use, but I was being such a darn perfectionist that it wasn't going well! I love these sunflower invites Kayla designed in no time — and so did all of the guests. Check out Kayla's other work here... or get in touch yourself! You won't find a sweeter person to work with.

bridal shower: inspirations

Hello! Can you guess what I've been busy with for the last month (or, um, five)? My wonderful friend Danielle's surprise vineyard bridal shower, which I was in charge of planning. It was Sunday, and I think it went really well! ...Even if I do say so myself. This was the first bridal shower I've even attended, so really, I have no point of comparison. But we had fun :)

Anyway. I want to show you some of the little details over the next few posts (and, of course, share some of the recipes that went into the food!). I thought I'd start with these inspiration boards I made a while ago.

1. missing the credit :( 2. prairie party 3. prairie party 4. summer citrus table 5. blueberry cheesecake squares 6. prairie party 7. wedding cake 8. summer party

1. summer citrus table 2. melted bottle 3. rosemary crackers 4. whitney party 5. summer party 6. summer party 7. wine and cheese 8. lemonade sign 9. lemonade jars

26

Birthday season has arrived! By which I mean ... happy birthday, Dave! He's 26 today, and my birthday follows in a couple of weeks. To celebrate his day, he's taking advantage of the sunshine and skateboarding with a friend. And then it's off to the Farmhouse Tap & Grill tonight for yummy food and an awesome menu of brews.

giant vanilla sugar cookies

Hello, friends! I've been so busy I hardly remember when I made these cookies. I'm in full-planning mode for my friend's upcoming bridal shower, distracted by pretty flowers and mason jars and party favors and wine! Thank goodness there will be wine at this thing :) I'm getting so excited about it. However, it's definitely taken its toll on my baking time. I've been drooling over different recipes for sea-salt and caramel brownies for two weeks now, to no avail.

So I'll leave you with these vanilla sugar cookies, which are quite good. They have just a little bit of crunch on the outside, and are great right out of the oven when the inside is warm and soft. I love the sparkle of sugar on top.

Still... confession time... these are definitely not my favorite cookies. I think I'm just a chocolate chunk cookie type of person. You?

Giant Vanilla Sugar Cookies

Adapted from Joy the Baker

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup sugar, plus additional for sprinkling

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a cookie sheet.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer for 1 minute. Add in the oil and mix. Add the sugar, powdered sugar, egg and vanilla until fully mixed. Stir in the flour, baking soda and salt.

The mixture will be very soft, so refrigerate it for at least an hour, or put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes so it's easier to work with.

Dollop about 2 tablespoons of cookie dough onto the sheet, leaving about 2 inches of space in between each. (This makes wonderfully large cookies; feel free to decrease the size.) With the palm of your hand, press the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Sprinkle with extra sugar.

Bake 12-14 minutes for large cookies, or 8-10 minutes for smaller ones. They should be lightly golden around the edges.