Last night was my annual Ladies Night Out for the women on our street. I have been doing it since we moved here...I have the ladies over to make Valentine's Day cards. It started as my effort to get our monthly gatherings to be more than just a gossip fest with wine...and it has stuck.
The majority of the ladies are 'craft challenged' so I try to keep the cards nice, but simple. I prep almost everything for them...cutting out all shapes, stamping or printing sentiments, etc. All they have to do is ink, glue, layer & tie bows. These are the three I came up with this year..
Of course you have to have something yummy after all that crafting! Since it was all about Valentine's I went with sweets...dessert & drinks. YUM! The favorites for the evening were the English Trifle and the French Martinis...both new things for me.English Trifle
1 large pound cake (homemade or store bought)
2 pints fresh strawberries
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pint fresh blueberries
2 bananas
1/4 cup orange juice
1 (3.5 ounce) package instant white chocolate pudding mix
2 cups milk
1 small container of Cool whip
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Slice strawberries and sprinkle them with sugar. Cut the bananas into slices and toss with orange juice. Combine pudding mix with milk and mix until smooth. Cut the cake into 1 inch cubes.
Use half of the cake cubes to line the bottom of a large glass bowl. Layer half of the strawberries followed by half of the blueberries, and then half of the bananas. Spread half of the pudding over the fruit. Repeat layers in the same order.
Spread Cool Whip over the top. Garnish with chopped nuts and a berry.
This recipe is from All Recipes: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/english-trifle/detail.aspx
I did make some changes to use things I had on hand...walnuts instead of almonds, Cool Whip instead of whipping cream, pound cake instead of white cake, and white chocolate pudding instead of vanilla...but it was still very yummy!
French Martini
2 ounces of vodka1 ounce of pineapple juice
1 ounce Chambord
Champagne
Combine first three ingredients in drink shaker with ice; shake...DO NOT add champagne to shaker. Strain and pour into a chilled glass. Top with champagne. Cheers!
Because I did not want to have to mix each person's drink one at a time, I did the math and made a pitcher of the first three ingredients. I then used a 4 ounce jigger to measure each serving. I kept the pitcher in the fridge and chilled the glasses, so we did not have to use a shaker.
Because I did not want to have to mix each person's drink one at a time, I did the math and made a pitcher of the first three ingredients. I then used a 4 ounce jigger to measure each serving. I kept the pitcher in the fridge and chilled the glasses, so we did not have to use a shaker.
Another successful Ladies Night....I have a year before I host again.
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