Enjoying a visit with Housewife Bliss...

Had to share what a fantastic time we're having getting better acquainted with lovely and charming Housewife Bliss.  If you don't know her already, she's a definite GO-TO for the finer points of nesting & the delights of a modern traditionalist housewife.

We're spending time with dear Mrs. Bliss this month (and each month through the holiday season) to plan together our approach for Fall Entertaining.  She's dubbed this "The Savvy Host Series".  We're thrilled!  Our first feature is Stress Free Fall Entertaining & a Giveaway.

To help fellow hosts along in September, we've focused on Fall Entertaining: Checklist for a savvy host...over a dozen items we're suggesting you might want to "squirrel away" to be prepared for whatever this entertaining season may bring your way...

AND...this month only there is a special giveaway to get help you along with your entertaining creativity.  You'll just have to wander over there to get the full story ;-)

Happy (Fall) Entertaining!

Foodies' Night In Special Event 8/30 - Chicago's Macello

We are so excited to share the fun of Foodies' Night In (#fni) - our weekly Twitter party with Cooking With Caitlin all about FOOD - with fellow Chicago friends!

On Monday, 8/30 we will be co-hosting Foodies' Night In with our Cincinnati-based delicious dynamos, Cooking with Caitlin, from Macello Ristorante in Chicago!

This week's mouth-watering topic is The Dinner Party Menu - and we'll chat about everything from the inspiration that spills from the cocktail menu to the guidance that the main course lends the entire evening...

Snack Attack? Break with us at Foodies Night In (8/16)

It's been a long MONDAY already...just enough time to share our inclination to take a munchie break with you - our fellow foodies - this afternoon at Foodies' Night In.  We celebrating foodie fun with a Snack Attack for #fni today at 3pCT/4pET!

From treats to power bites to mid-morning munchies, we’re talking snacks, snacks, snacks.  Think you can handle it? Crunch away and join us ;-) 

Our special sponsor today is newcomer, Nuts About Granola.

Nuts About Granola is dedicated to providing fresh, wholesome, natural granola, from local ingredients to satisfy your hunger. We offer unique flavors, handmade in small batches and served fresh from the oven. This unique treat can be found in our beloved café or through our many outlets. Our simple recipes are full of flavor and made with love. We are truly nuts about granola.

Our emphasis is on building a local, sustainable economy. We support our local community by sourcing local ingredients, sponsoring local events and donating to local charities. We take pride in our affiliation Buy Fresh, Buy Local and the Susquehanna Sustainable Business Network. We only sell to independent retails with an emphasis on Farmer’s Market to encourage our customers to buy even more local products.

A Year of Celebrations (& a Giveaway)

September - Back to School

How lucky we are to have discovered the amazing celebration and party ideas available through PurpleTrail!

Talk about a key resource for a savvy host - PurpleTrail is a one-stop-shop for not only party details such as online invitations, printed cards, photo albums...but also a creative cornerstone for occasions to entertain with their holiday ideas, party basics, invitations wording ideas, and other celebration details!

We are thrilled to feature a FULL YEAR of celebration ideas that PurpleTrail shared with us as part of our series of Savvy Experts to rely on for your entertaining. Don't miss the very special PurpleTrail GIVEAWAY offering 3 prizes to our lucky readers.  So many reasons to celebrate!

August - Camping

We all know the major holidays to celebrate, but what about all those days in between?  Life is full of reasons to celebrate.  Even if there isn’t a holiday in sight, there is always a reason to gather with the ones you love.  In fact, at PurpleTrail, we think there are at least 12 reasons to celebrate every year outside of the holidays.  Starting now - this month - get inspired by these celebration ideas.

Behind the bar at Foodies' Night In (8/9)

At a local haunt, there's a tradition of ringing an old bell promptly each day at 5p.  The context for the tradition is that when the neighborhood was an old meat-packing district, the locals would listen for the bell to know it was time to join together to raise a glass with good friends and colleagues to toast and give thanks to the completion of another day's work. 

We like the tradition of a cocktail hour - and highlighted it in 10 Trends in Savvy Entertaining.  as a chance to transition from the hectic work day into a more personal mode and lifestyle.  Whether your libation is beer, wine, or mixed cocktail, we think that it's a valuable time of day to take a breath, and to enjoy exchanging a few ideas, swap a few stories and sharing some laughs.

Perfect topic for our friends - old & new - joining Foodies' Night In - It's 5 O'Clock Somewhere - on Monday, 9 August.

This week's Sponsor happens to fit well into our cocktail hour gameplan - Crispin Cider.  We're big fans of cider - and have had the pleasure of enjoying almost all of the Crispin products this summer!  A little about Crispin -

Classically refined, but not styled as a traditional "sweet beer" beer alternative, Crispin ciders are crisp and clean, not sweet and sticky and never sacrifice superior quality refreshment satisfaction for overbearing complexity.  Always true to the apple, Crispin Hard Ciders are naturally fermented using apple juice, never from apple juice concentrate, from a premium blend of US West Coast apples, with no added malt, grape wine or spirit alcohol. Crispin’s unique flavors are smoothed with pure apple juice or from natural sugar sources like oragnic honey or organic maple syrup, and contain no added colorants, sorbate or benzoate preservatives and are filtered cold for crisp refreshment. Crispin ciders are all Gluten Free for the wheat-intolerant person.

We're looking forward to learning more from them about how they enjoy happy hour - and what interesting signature cocktails can be made with cider.

Serving up Bread & Sandwiches at Foodies' Night In

It's SANDWICH NIGHT at Foodies Night In (#fni) today, and are we ready to share so many different things you can do with bread, cheese, meat, veggies and condiments...with our sponsor, Kitchen Monki, you KNOW it's gonna' get a little crazy in the kitchen!

Do you know Kitchen Monki?

We raved about them in Monki-ing around is good for entertaining.  Kitchen Monki is THE Storage Unit and Power Organizer for all your recipes.  Similar to how iTunes organizes music, Kitchen Monki can catalog, sort and search personal recipes. Members can also use Kitchen Monki’s seamless integration with Facebook and Twitter to share recipes—or its convenient mobile application to have their shopping list delivered to their phone. Follow them on Twitter - @KitchenMonki.

Guest experts this week adding some meat & cheese between slices fo #fni fun include:
@kendurbin - sharing his perspective from training at The Midwest Culinary Institute.

Safari Plates - Zebra

@daisymaesmarket - an entrepreneurial market with a fresh approach to fresh produce.
@alouttecheese - with the motto "Slow Down & Savour", a favorite spread to class up our sandwiches!

Don't miss Foodie's Night In - We're Fine Cooking at Home!!

Today is going to be such a DELICIOUS day...and could be a very LUCKY one for you!!

We've got a full roster of Fine Cooking editorial expertise lined up to join us for today's Foodies Night In (#fni)!  If you missed Editor Laurie Buckle on What's Hot Radio hosted by Cooking with Caitlin, here's a second chance to get to know a creative force behind Fine Cooking.  What a huge treat!

Here's the full line-up of experts ready to help all savvy hosts and fellow foodies with our fine cooking at home interests, issues and questions:

~ @finecooking and @FC_Laurie - the epicurean editorial team of Fine Cooking including @FC_Laurie @FC_Lisa @FC_Juli @evanbarbour and others!
~ @DorieGreenspan - author of Around My French Table
~ @AbbyDodge - author of Desserts 4 Today
~ @MaitreFromager - Max McCalman, author of Mastering Cheese: Lessons for Conoisseurship from a Maitre Fromager
~ @midwestculinary - The Midwest Culinary Institute
~ @foodandstyle - culinary creative Viviane Bauquet Farre of Food & Style

AND, if that's not enough to get your mouth watering, Kitchen Aid is joining the party with a fantastic PRIZE for the giveaway...keep reading!!

Dull conversations? NOT at MY parties!

Consider this your lucky day!  An all-time favorite weapon of The Savvy Host to prevent boring, dull discussion at any entertaining occasion is being made available to one very special reader.

A MUST-have for entertaining, TableTopics are packaged sets of specific questions to help elevate the status of your next party from ho-hum to happening.  We've been fans of these creative little cards for years!  They are perfect savvy host helpers to break the ice and encourage lively - and often VERY provocative - conversations.

As all savvy hosts know, the main course in entertaining isn't really about the food or the wine.  It's the sharing of ideas, laughter, and life between and among guests and host.  How you handle this critical part of your entertaining can make or break an otherwise perfect gathering!  We are thankful to TableTopics for coming to the rescue on more than one occasion!

Savvy Experts to inspire your next party

Part of savvy hosting is relying on the expertise of others - from recipes to decor to table settings to invitations - to create your personal entertaining style.

(respectfully) We suggest that it's really ONLY Martha that can be Martha Stewart... amazingly, all-around talented as she is, she continues to inspire us though it's perfectly clear that only a very few will ever have her range and depth of capabilities.  And we're not eligible for that club ;-)

A truly SAVVY host shouldn't get overwhelmed - or obsessed as we often become - by the need to do or create everything - from scratch - on your own - to that the degree of perfection suggested by the book, magazine, blog or Food Network celebrity that inspired us in the first place.

If the goal is to arrange a gathering of friends, family and/or colleagues, where ideas, laughter and life can be shared by guests AND the host, then it's only SAVVY to pick and choose what works best for you - be it borrowed or created, homemade or store-bought.

Bonus?  Bringing wonderful creativity of cookbooks, retailers, craftsmen, publications, bartenders, blogs, restaurants, art galleries, photos, design studios and more to your gathering is where your personal entertaining style takes shape.  For us, the availability of all this talent for us to pick and choose from is one of the great treasures and benefits of successful savvy hosting.

What better way to set a perfect stage for entertaining than to ask some of the best & brightest & most creative artisans and experts to offer their insights and perspectives about different entertaining essentials?

So we're practicing what we preach.  We've lined up some very extraordinary Guest Experts over the next weeks to inspire us all with their ideas about many of the entertaining essentials.  Take a look at what's in store...