Today we're partying with our friends over at  Better Homes and Gardens , in celebration of the release of their NEW party-style magazine ' Get Together '!  I'm so excited to be joining this party, and can tell you first hand how AWESOME the publication is!!

I used to get sooo stressed out about last-minute dinner parties. You know, the ones where your sister calls like a hour before, and all of a sudden you have a group of people coming over (midweek) for dinner?! Well, over the years I've learned that life happens and these impromptu dinner parties are bound to crop up now and again. And planning for these eventualities is something I've actually come to embrace!

Something about a bar that make me all excited for a party! Be it a confetti bar , a waffles bar , or a cocktail bar . I think it's because 'bars' by definition are a fun place to hang out!  And also because they're SO easy to set up! Guests serve themselves and all you do as the hostess is watch everyone interacting and join in the fun! And that, my friends; is the great start for any party! ;)

I think that's the tastiest post title we have EVER had here on the blog, am I right?! Churros take me right back to my childhood in Rio (no, not Mexico..) where we could buy them from street vendors filled with dulce de leche... (insert Homer Simpson-style drool noise) :p

I could eat Mexican food every day, and with Cinco de Mayo approaching gives me the perfect excuse to gorge myself on my fave fiesta recipes ;) You may remember the kiddies Pinata Party we styled a few years back? Well, this year I really wanted a more grown up vibe for our fiesta, complete with a Mojito Bar, which I'll share later in the week!

Mildly entertaining true story: I planned to shoot this Cherry Blossom Cocktail recipe with the beautiful cherry flowers we have in our cherry trees. But when it came to the shoot day, the blossom were all washed out by the rain! Shock horror!  But I soon spotted that our peach trees were in fact blossoming (and looked pretty similar to the cherry ones..) and so decided to Google it, and lo and behold; it turns out they are just as edible as cherry blossom. Phew!

My kids can't get enough of French crepes. They love it so much, that we make it together nearly every Sunday! Crepes are a type of thin pancake, super easy to make and you can add any filling to make them into a delicious dessert. The most famous perhaps, being the   French crepe suzette recipe, flambéed with with Grand Marnier and orange.

I first made these sugar lollipops for my kids garden party some years ago (read it here ) . Back then, I didn't have a lollipop mold or a candy thermometer, but they turned out great nonetheless! Fast forward six years, and  now that I own a proper mold, the possibilities are endless, my friends!  Like adding edible flowers and Spring bloom to make it into a more grown-up version ;)

I'm not a great lover of seafood, but add it to pasta, and I'm front of the queue! For Easter this year, I decided to turn up the volume on my usual seafood linguine recipe with a Bloody Mary inspired sauce , which is great for entertaining and dinner parties over this weekend!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of  Santa Margherita USA  . All opinions are 100% mine. The best dinner parties I've ever hosted, or at least the ones I remember most fondly; are the "relaxed" ones where I, the host, get to enjoy every minute of it as much as my guests! So throughout the years, I've tried to hone in on what works and perfect the art of dinner parties by  keeping it all as simple as possible. Whether I have days to plan ahead, or for a last-minute get-together. For me, simplicity is the name of the party game when dinner parties are concerned!  

Valentines Day's over and we're wasting not time in prepping for St Patrick's Day 'round here! And I'm feeling super lucky, 'cause I get to create AND taste test, yummy recipes like these Stout Chocolate Cupcake with Irish Cream Frosting! This is a super easy and delicious recipe, and I'm sharing my cheat frosting technique too.  Lucky YOU! ;)

As part of my Valentine's Dinner party menu that I shared in my previous post ( here ) ; I'm serving pink champagne jello with red berries and cream . Something about jello that evokes 'fun', don't you think? Maybe it's because it's a dessert we associate with kids, and therefore takes us back to our childhood days.  But for a grown-up update on this favorite classic, I added pink champagne and red berries. Which makes a super tasty, not to mention pretty in pink dessert for Valentine's Day ! :)