My sis turned 40 at the end of September. Her best friend and I threw my sis a party last Saturday to celebrate the beginning of this new decade. My sis requested a special cocktail that she had tried on her last visit to NYC called Bee's Kiss. I had never heard of this drink, but was happy to comply to her wishes. I had found many recipes online and went with the version below.
Bee's Kiss:
- 1 shot light rum
- 1 shot dark rum
- 1 shot cream
- 1 shot honey syrup
- Shaken and served in a martini glass topped with nutmeg
Several recipes called for honey and some called for honey syrup. I decided to go with honey syrup to make mixing at the party easier. I strongly encourage you to take this extra simple step. I made my syrup with 3 parts honey and 1 part water that I heated on the stove until thoroughly mixed; this took about 5 minutes from start to finish. The cocktail was a huge hit and I spent much of the evening making them. When I ran out of the syrup, I moved to straight honey and had nothing, but problems. First, it didn't mix well, so the drinks didn't taste as good. I found that I kept adding more and more honey which just clumped together in the shaker. Then there was the sticky factor which became annoying fast. Trust me, make the syrup.
The fanciest appetizer I made was pear, goat cheese and caramelized onions wrapped in prosciutto and baked for about 8 minutes. You can find the recipe here. They were so delicious and not that hard to make. I would definitely make this again.
At the last I Heart Art: Mixer Match, I saw this simple, yet elegant appetizer of cherry tomatoes, marinated mozzarella balls and basil on a toothpick. I splurged and bought fancy toothpicks at Cost Plus. I cut a miniature watermelon in half and stuck all of the toothpicks into the watermelon. It looked super fancy and took all of 10 minutes to create.
Once I had one appetizer on a stick, I figured that I could create an easy theme and run with the whole stick idea. I used the other half of the watermelon and created fruit salad on skewers. Again, it doesn't get much easier than this. There were many kids at this party and they loved eating food on a stick.
This was my first attempt at artichoke spinach dip and it was gone by the end of the night. I used this recipe and followed the suggestions in the comments.
I made a huge vat of guacamole because my sis loves it so. My co-host provided homemade salsa and chips as well as many other goodies. It was a well rounded table and folks raved about the food. It was teamwork at it's finest.
A good friend of my sis insisted on making the birthday cake. She previously made my sis' wedding cake and several incredible cakes for various celebrations. I think she out did herself for this party creating this amazing 15" round 3 layered chocolate cake complete with fresh roses, iridescent frosting and chocolate butterflies that she made. It was stunning and so large that my sis will be eating cake for months.
It was a great night filled with family and friends. There were musical instruments and games on hand for kids and adults alike. I even won a game of bingo!
Two weeks earlier, my husband and I took my sis and her best friend to happy hour at ClarkLewis (great happy hour). Afterwards, we saw Duran Duran at the Rose Garden. I got to fulfill a childhood dream of mine. They were my very favorite band and they put on a great show. They played Rio as their encore and everyone sang along. It was a perfect night and I'm so glad I got to share it with my sis.
