Trends: What to wear for your Christmas Parties

When dressing yourself this holiday season or dressing your table there are fabulous finds in your own neighborhoods and in the stores to help you accomplish your style needs!

When dressing yourself this holiday season refer to gold, bronze and classic evergreens for your accessories their seasonal yet still spot on! You can also always opt for Dark Blue's and Purples with silver accessories.

Complete your look with a statement neckless...I've included a link and below!

When dressing your table, have some fun with it!
Source fabric from your local fabric store look for Red and Green Plaids, Polka dots, or light green paisleys...make sure you get it big enough for your table and roll under and sew the raw edges to finish it off...if you don't have a sewing machine your local dry cleaner could probably do this for you while you wait for about $10.

The best part of these do it yourself tablecloths is that you can reuse them come spring!

For you Glassware mix in the glasses you already have with Champagne and wine glasses from your local antique store. You can pick up a set of Antique Crystal glasses for about $2.00 which is more than half the cost of brand new set...and you get to own a piece of history.

When it comes to your holiday florals, mix in white delicate flowers with, Stargazer lilies, Red Barry's, and Roses for a fragrant, beautiful, and long last arrangement...you can do a large arrangement yourself for about $20 instead of the $80+ that your florist would charge!

Holday Necklace from Etsy

Watch Your Drink,

The Stepford Husband

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

My mother a couple of weeks ago asked if I had a recipe for Pumpkin Soup, I unfortunately didn't but I hit Google and soon found some...I have yet to make it but I thought I would share my find with you and let you be my guinea pigs!  That and I doubt The Husband would like it...

With Thanks Giving a mere four days away I thought that this would be an excellent recipe it is low cost and I am sure very creamy and delicious.

Makes 9 Servings

Ingredients:
6 Cups Chicken Stock
1 1/2 Tsp Salt
4 Cups Pumpkin Puree, or 2 15 oz Cans Pure Pumpkin
1 Tsp Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 Cup Chopped Onion
1/2 Tsp Chopped Fresh Thyme
1 Clove Garlic, Minced
1/2 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
5 Whole Black Peppercorns

Directions


1. Heat Stock, Salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
2. Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.
    PLEASE NOTE:  I believe you could skip this step if you are using canned pumpkin.
3. Return to pan, bring to boil again.  Reduce Heat to low, simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir in heavy Cream. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.

NOTE: If you are watching your waistline you can substitute the 1/2 cup heavy cream with 1/2 cup Fat Free Milk and add about 1 Tbsp Flour or cornstarch...by doing this you can achieve the same creamy and thickened texture that you would with the heavy cream.  You might also be able to make this into a more hearty meal by adding two cubed chicken breasts.

This recipe can be found on Allrecipes.com my tips and tricks cannot but the original can be found by clicking here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-soup/

Watch Your Drink,

The Stepford Husband

Ding Dong the Iron is back!

A while back I reported the untimely death of our Iron...it was a sad day, and unfortunate loss and very ill timed as The Husband and I had to travel to DC the following day and we had a ton of clothes that needed ironed before we left...quality hotel irons are so hard to find!

I bought one that I wasn't happy with...to say that I wasn't happy with it is an understatement...it was a piece of shit!

Never ever buy a Rowenta Pro Master Iron DW-8080...it says that it is especially made for tap water...this is Bullshit, every time I hit the steam button it practically snowed on my clothes this is not acceptable...if it says it can use tap water, it should use tap water, not half tap, half distilled, or inexpensive bottled water, but tap water...so I took it back.

Instead I picked up the Rowenta Pressure Iron and Steamer.  Now I was a little hesitant because of the price and the reviews that I read but actually I am very happy with it.  It is probably the closest in comparability to a professional iron.  It irons dinner napkins perfectly and in about 2 minutes, pillowcases are perfectly flat as are the bed sheets...this think is fricken amazeballs!

My next purchase was a garment steamer as our old one was on it's last legs.  I purchased the Rowenta Commercial Garment Steamer.

This fine pieces of machinery has 1550 Watts of power and heats the steam up to a toasty 120 deg. F.  Now why is this information important...The Husband and I can literally rack up over $100 a month in dry cleaning this steamer is a cool $149.99 but add in a $5 off coupon and a 20% off coupon from Bed Bath and Beyond it is actually the same as the shitty Iron I bought above I have already paid for this, second the high steam temperature dissolves wrinkles almost instantly but the high temperature also kills the bacteria that causes odors which works almost just like drycleaning.  You can clean drapes with it, as well as steam your couch or even mattress...I myself, steamed the couch cushions for a good hour and 30 minutes it looks brand new!  and trust me in order to get the cushion covers dry cleaned it would have take two days of no cushions and over $100.

Now, looking at this massive couch, the fact that was able to clean it in an hour and thirty minutes and barely make a dent into the water tank I think speaks for itself!

These two items are fabulous and if you are in the market for such items I give them 5 stars!

Watch your drink,

The Stepford Husband

Dinner Parties, dishes and Thanks Giving Fashion!

We are inviting a friend of ours over for dinner tomorrow.  Now normally this isn't an issue but for those of you that remember we just got back from five days in Washington D.C. and the house was a mess before we left and the magic cleaning elves must have forgot to clean the house before we got back so it is still a mess...I took on two clients at work and so work has been quite hectic.

Luckily, I devised the fabulous menu last week!   We have plenty of wine, and vodka...I'll be serving:
-Pastichio
-Greek Pasta Salad
-Desert

I am still on the fence for the desert...should I make my famous cheese cake or should I make Lemon Cake with Meringue Frosting...or both...I need your help on this people.

While in DC I came across this fabulous boutique called Coco Blanca and I picked up these amazeballs Chain-link Napkin Rings now for $20 for a set of two they were a bit much...but I believe you would agree with me that they are totally worth it!!!!  I got the last six they had in the store...but they should be getting a new shipment in soon and they are available on their website www.cocoblanco.com or click here: Stainless Steel Mesh Napkin Rings.  Their delicate yet have a masculine edge perfect for The Husband and my table!

If you are looking for way's to dress your table for Thanks Giving I suggest you check out Cocoblanco, but if you are thinking of ways to dress yourself follow these simple trends:
Coppers, Bronze, Antique Golds.....................CHECK!
Sky High Stilettos.....................................CHECK!
50's Inspired Cocktail dress..........................CHECK!
Fashionable Trench...................................CHECK!

Refer to this trend board if you need a visual aid:

Watch your Drink,

The Stepford Husband