Strawberry, Lemon & Mint Infused Water

In keeping with our strawberry theme this week, I thought I would share with you a yummy alternative to soda for your summer parties.  It's very easy to make and looks pretty too!  It's great to serve at a get-together with your friends or to keep in the fridge to sip on throughout the day.

Ingredients:

The following worked well for me.  Feel free to adjust amounts depending on your pitcher size and personal preferences.

• 6 Medium Sized Strawberries, Sliced
• 1/2 of a Lemon, Sliced
• 4 Mint Leaves, Torn
• Water (you can also use sparkling water if you prefer)
• Ice (optional)

Instructions:

1. Place strawberries, lemon and mint in a pitcher.

2. Add water (and ice if you are using it) to fill up your pitcher.

3. Serve and enjoy!

That's the end of our strawberry-themed week. I hope you enjoyed it! In case you missed them, take a look at our Hello Summer Strawberry Cake and our refreshing Strawberry Popsicle and Prosecco Drink. Enjoy the weekend!

Strawberry Popsicles + Prosecco = A Refreshing Summer Drink!

Next up in my week of strawberry themed posts is a refreshing adult drink perfect for your summer parties (change the straw color to blue, and you've got a great drink for a Fourth of July celebration). It's a bit unexpected as you don't normally put popsicles in your prosecco, but it is really refreshing and gives your prosecco a yummy strawberry flavor. It also has the added benefit of keeping your drink cool longer.

There are a couple of ways to enjoy this drink. You can wait to drink this until the popsicle has melted all the way. Or, like I did it, drink some, then eat some of the popsicle, then drink some more, and so on. The bubbles mixed with the fresh strawberry taste makes a great combination. This works well with any sparkling wine or even sparkling water (for those who don't want to drink alcohol or for the kids).

The best thing is they are so easy to make:

1. Puree strawberries and freeze them in a popsicle mold for a minimum of 6 hours. I replaced the popsicle sticks with straws before freezing. 

2. Place the frozen popsicles in a glass and pour prosecco over them.

3. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

I promise your guests will enjoy this, especially on a hot summer day. Or just make it as a treat for yourself!

Sweet Mondays: A Hello Summer Strawberry Cake

Summer is officially here! My family and I picked our own strawberries at a farm this weekend. We enjoyed talking to the other pickers and sharing recipes. We had so much fun that by the time we knew it, we had a big boxful!

Since we had so many strawberries, I made a few things with them that I'll be sharing with you this week. First up is this cake that I made to bring to a summer BBQ. It is a strawberry cake, from scratch, that uses strawberry puree in the batter.  The frosting is a strawberry buttercream, also made with fresh strawberry puree, and as my friend said, it tasted "amazing".

I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but I can't.  I used this recipe and followed it pretty closely. The only changes I made were to add a layer of strawberries in between the cake layers, and to add a strawberry "flower" on top of the cake. I also made a "Hello Summer" cake topper to tie it to the summer theme and to make my cake a little less ordinary.

I highly recommend trying the recipe. It really does taste as good as it looks. 

Coming soon: Strawberry Popsicles with Prosecco!

Circus Party Pictures

I love it when my customers send me pictures of their parties. This one is from a lovely customer here in Switzerland who had a circus themed party for her daughter's 8th birthday.

Above, she made a photo booth using red and white polka dot fabric as a backdrop and used party hats from our store as part of the props.  She even personalized them. So cute!

The thank you cards matched the invitation and they looked great on the giveaway bags.

I love how she set up the table with the hats and the popcorn boxes. It looks so festive and ready for the kids to get their food and eat! 

Thanks to Julie for sending her pictures and letting me share! It looks like it was a fun party.

Mini Ice Cream Party-In-A-Box

I have some friends who are having birthdays this week and, since they are far away and I can't be there to celebrate with them, I thought it would be fun to send them a mini ice cream party-in-a-box. I included everything they would need for a mini ice cream party at home -- cute ice cream cups, colorful spoons, candles to blow out and balloons to decorate. I even included some paper ice cream toppers to decorate the ice cream.  On the inside of the box cover there is a mini ice cream banner so that when the recipient opens it, it's immediately a party!

How fun would it be to receive this? To make it easy for you to send one of these boxes, we are making them available in our shop.  We can ship it directly to the person of your choice and we'll include a hand-written note with a message from you.

If you don't have any birthdays coming up, this is also a great item to take to a summer play date or to a girlfriend's house for a night of ice cream!

View it in our shop!

Party Hat Ice Cream Topper

It's getting hot outside and that usually means that we'll be having lots of ice cream.  Instead of having your ice cream plain, why not make a party out of it? Top your scoops off with these fun party hats made out of ice cream cones, sprinkles and gumballs! 

Ingredients needed:

Ice cream cones

Sprinkles

Chocolate

Mini gumballs

Instructions:

1. Cut off the tops of your cones to create mini cones.  Then cut off the pointy end of the cone to make it flat so that the gumball can sit on top of it.

2. Pour your sprinkles into a bowl.

3. Melt the chocolate either in the microwave or using a double boiler. I used white chocolate in the picture above, but you can use whatever chocolate you prefer. Once it is melted, scoop it into a small bowl.

3.  Take one of the cones and dip the wider end first in the chocolate and then into your bowl of sprinkles.

4. Dip the other side of the cone into the chocolate and then into the sprinkles.  Place your gumball on top and you are finished!

5.Scoop your ice cream into a cup or a cone. Top with your party hats and enjoy!

These are so much fun for an ice cream party, on top of cupcakes for a circus-themed party, or just for a special treat with ice cream at home.

Sweet Mondays: Flamingo Cupcake Toppers

There's not really too much to say about these except, aren't they cute?  I am participating in a summer market this Friday and was thinking about selling these toppers as a set with the cupcake liners. Naturally I had to try them out and see how they look. Hope you enjoyed seeing this sweet inspiration for your Monday.  Have a great week everyone!