Did you watch the World Cup opening match yesterday? Nail biting, right? Well, with a few days of match-watching, celebrating and cheering for our favorite soccer / football teams; there's nothing better to get in the tropical spirit of things than with a refreshing Brazilian drink! We all know and love the Caipirinhas ( try this cool twist ) , but have you heard about another popular cocktail called ' Batida '? The name literally means 'beaten' and derives from the fact that all the ingredients are well; beaten or blitzed in a blender. Now, you can't get easier than that for a cocktail, right?! :)
Gluten-Free Brazilian Appetizer Pão de Queijo Recipe
The football or soccer World Cup kicks off tomorrow, and what better way to celebrate, party and watch the games then with some traditional Brazilian recipes, snacks and appetizers ?! They'd be cool for February's Mardi Gras or Carnaval also. These little pão de queijo (little cheese breads rolls) are typically served at breakfast or at afternoon snack, but these bite-sized morsels are also perfect appetizer to accompany a nice cold beer!! Tried and tested ;)
Watermelon Frozen Granita Cocktail Recipe
This recipe is perfect for using up end of season fruit that you may have in abundance. It works great with any kind of melon, and you can spike it up with your favorite tipple, or sparkling lemonade. It's as delicious as it is easy to make, and perfect for those lazy summer soirees! ;)
Party Appetizer | Tuna and Scallion Pâté Recipe
Yes, because although some schools have started, and we're already thinking "Halloween"; we still have a few days of sunshine goodness to savor, and some glorious end of season produce. And this summery recipe is very easy and quick to make, so perfect if you have last minute entertaining on the cards. But is also a tasty and healthy after school snack! ;)
Who said a frozen lolly is only for kids?! If you follow me on Instagram , you'd have seen my sneak peek of today's post, where I played with some of my fave cocktails and summer beverages last weekend, to create THREE thirst-quenching frozen delights !
Easy Strawberry Birthday Cake Recipe
I made this cake for the Strawberry themed mini desserts table, which I'll be sharing tomorrow. The cake really is so simple to decorate and I've already showed how I made the fondant strawberries here . So all that's left to do is the fondant pearl border and the ribbon bunting.
How To Make a DIY Watercolor Cake
Nearly a decade ago, I (Tess) enrolled in a watercolor class during summer school at my university. I've always considered myself to be a fairly crafty and artistic person, but let me tell you - watercolor painting is HARD! Making simple designs and blending colors was fun and sort of relaxing, but the detail and artistry that my instructor and some of my fellow classmates used was phenomenal. Needless to say, I knew I was not going to improve all that much in just a short amount of time. However, I definitely left inspired and with a tremendous amount of respect for those that could create beautiful imagery with only a few tools.
DIY Marshmallow Strawberry Shaped Pops
Okay, so "strawberry shaped" is not quite the correct description. They are marshmallow-y shaped. But that wouldn't say much as a post title, right?! Plus, they do look like strawberries, so we're all good. I often say that laziness necessity is the mother of all invention. And these marshmallows pops are a prime example: Take one party-mad 'bird' who absolutely has to have strawberry cake pops on her deserts table, but who also cannot be asked to bake nor make them from scratch. Then enters the humble strawberry-flavored marshmallow and a light-bulb "I wonder if that works" moment, and there you have it! Strawberry Pops but without the fuss.
Trio of DIY Nautical Cakes Using Sugar Paste Fondant
We 're starting the week on a super sweet note, and giving you not one, but THREE nautical cake decorating ideas using sugar paste fondant - courtesy of our resident cake designer extraordinaire, Tessa Lindow Huff . Tessa created a trio of cakes for issue 8 of Birds' Party Magazine , based on our Nautical Party Printables, and any (or all three) would be a perfect focal point to your nautical desserts table - Plus they are so easy to decorate too, which is always a bonus in my book! Check out Tessa's step-by-step below:
DIY Strawberry Shaped Decorated Cookies
Before we get with the tutorial, let me come clean with you. Cookie decorating is not my forte. In fact, I'm slightly scared of them. There, I've said it! Yes, sugar cookies decorated with royal icing scare the heck out of me! No, and I don't have some weird phobia about cookies...it's just that I am not patient at all, and think there are sooooo many steps to decorating cookies that I get bored and don't even bother. I prefer to oooh and aaaah other people's creations, and so for my parties I often seek the help of the amazing professionals out there.
Today I'm joining Kim from The Celebration Shoppe to feature one of our fave parties/party ideas from last month's joint linky - So when you're done here, hope over to Kim's blog to check out her featured fave! ;) There were so many gorgeous party ideas linked up, and picking just one was reeeeeally hard!! But since we're all about strawberries this week here on the blog, I decided to feature a strawberry-flavored party idea by Mariah from Giggles Galore - Strawberry Shortcake in a Jar!
Strawberry Cupcakes & DIY Fondant Strawberry Toppers
I made these cuties for a mini strawberry themed desserts table I styled recently. And since it's strawberry season (even if the sun refuses to come out...), I'll be sharing my strawberry themed party recipes with you all this week in the hope to kick start the summer good and proper!! Anyways, it all turned out pretty yummy and cute too, don't you think? So it's good to know that if I can, you most certainly can too! ;)