Brie + Fig + Walnut Cups

October 27, 2014

If there is anything in the world that I absolutely love, it’s great food and wine. Some of my fondest memories are with friends and family sharing a great bottle of wine and a simple cheese platter or dishes to pass. The art of food and wine pairings is one that I’m slowly trying to master since so much of my life revolves around wine. It can be really intimidating, but a quick google search and reading the tasting notes on the bottle get you halfway there already. The rest is acquired over time with drinking more wine and experimenting – not a bad deal 😉

For our Pink Party, I was on the hunt for some great simple recipes that would pair well with Chardonnay and this was was such a winner. The combination of brie, candied walnuts and figs all wrapped up in buttery, flaky phyllo dough was so delicious with a well balanced Chardonnay (lightly oaked with a slightly sweet/caramel finish). I’m dying for an excuse to make these again. Enjoy!

Prep: 20 minutes
Serves: 12

Ingredients

1 package phyllo dough sheets (available in the dessert freezer aisle)
4 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 – 10-14 oz. wheel of brie cheese (cut into 12 wedges)
Fig spread (available in this set)
Walnuts (I use Fresh Gourmet Glazed Walnuts)

Instructions

1. Allow phyllo dough to thaw for time designated on the package and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on wax paper and brush with melted butter. Layer another piece of phyllo dough on top and repeat until you have 6 layers.

3. Cut the phyllo dough into 12 sections.

4. Butter the bottoms and sides of each well of a cupcake pan and place each section of 6 layers of phyllo dough into individual wells. You need to have enough phyllo to wrap around the contents and close on the top so it’s sometimes easier to save one of the 6 layers for covering the top.

5. Place one wedge of brie into the bottom of each cup and layer 3 tablespoons of fig spread and 1 tablespoon of walnuts into each cup. You should use all of your fig spread so if you have extra, add it to your pastries. If you prefer to remove the rind from the brie, do that at this time.

6. Close each cup and brush the tops with melted butter.

7. Place on bottom rack of oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until phyllo is slightly browned and crispy.

8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Gently scoop each cup out being careful not to tear the layers and place on serving dish. Serve while warm with ONEHOPE Chardonnay – DELICIOUS!

Recipe inspired by this.

Pink Party for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October 23, 2014

Call me #basic, but by the time September rolls around, I’m ready to embrace all things fall. From autumn inspired recipes, to warm mulled wines, to pumpkins and candles that remind me of fall scents back home in Michigan – I just can’t get enough of my favorite season. October, however, is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it marks the beginning of the most important time of the year for us at work. Since half the profits from our Chardonnay give back to Gateway for Cancer Research (providing clinical trials to women with breast cancer), just when we’re ready to dive head first into fall, everything turns PINK.

We have a division of our company called Hope at Home which offers at-home wine parties that benefit the cause of your choice with 15% going back to the non-profit of your choice. As our Art Director, I’m always on the hunt for creative and fun ways for our team to stay inspired and get motivated to throw their own parties – especially during our cause months. A big challenge for me this year at work was figuring out how to throw a pink party, when everyone wants to curl up with a blanket, drink warm mulled wine and pull out their orange pumpkins and decor. I poked around the internet for some inspiration and ultimately ended up coming back again and again to a flower arrangement that embraced pink and orange equally. It was inherently pink but also perfectly fall so I decided to run with it.

Since everything we put together had to be easily replicated by our team members who might not be full fledged floral designers or regular party hosts, I broke it down into three simple DIYS and four food/appetizer ideas that both embrace the fall season and pair wonderfully with our Chardonnay. The best part of this project (beside seeing it all come together) was definitely trying the recipes. They were SO good and everyone in the office chowed down while we popped open a few bottles of Chardonnay. Check out everything below from the DIY and recipes to shots from our own little Pink Party 😉

PS: If you’re interested in hosting your own PINK party for Breast Cancer Awareness Month or if you’d like to raise money for another cause that you’re passionate about OR if you’d like to make an income while giving back to various causes, please consider Hope at Home 🙂

DIY YARN FRINGE BACKDROP

DIY PINK FALL FLORALS

DIY FLORAL ICE CUBES

PINK MARSHMALLOW DIP

PEAR + GOAT CHEESE CROSTINI

BRIE + FIG PASTRY BITES

CHARDONNAY CHEESE PLATE

CHEERS!

Salad Wars – Quinoa Salad

October 21, 2014

Happy Tuesday! I meant to post the second salad of Salad Wars last week, but things got crazy at work and there was just no darn time for blogging. You know how that goes!

Now back to salads…

This salad probably takes the cake as one of the best everyday salad I’ve ever had. Jake and I visited some friends last summer when they got engaged and moved into their first place together. Lauren whipped this up for everyone and I was sold. I had to have the recipe! Thankfully she sent it over a few days later and I’ve been making it ever since and it’s such a hit every time. What’s really great is that it’s so simple to make ahead of time too and these days I’m all about easy lunches. Usually on Sunday or Monday night I’ll make a great big batch of quinoa (2 cups of quinoa in 4 cups of chicken stock) and then I have a ton of it for the week to throw into anything that needs a little extra something. Pre-chop the veggies (peppers, onion and cucumber) and you’re good to go. Simple lunches FOR. THE. WIN. Huge thanks to Lauren for changing my salad life and turning me on to quinoa!

Prep: 30 minutes
Serves: 2 people (entree sized portion)

Ingredients

4 cups of fresh spinach
1 cucumber (peeled and chopped)
1 red bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
1/4 red onion (chopped)
1 avocado
1/2 cup feta
1 lemon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic (minced)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a small pot, combine chicken stock with quinoa, garlic, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

2. While cooking the quinoa, chop all of your veggies.

3. Once quinoa has absorbed all of the chicken stock (about 20 minutes) remove from heat for 5 minutes and fluff with a fork.

4. Combine spinach, veggies and feta and pour quinoa over top. Juice lemon and add olive oil and balsamic. Toss and serve.

5. Two great wines to pair… this one and this one 🙂

Wine Wednesday | Radiant Orchid Granita

July 16, 2014

Happy #WineWednesday! You know those projects that come across your desk and you just cringe at the thought of having to tackle them? This one was it for me. I honestly can not remember being so stuck creatively – ever. When Pantone announced its color of the year for 2014, a part of me died inside. To go from Emerald Green (hello, best color EVER), to a bright purple hue inspired by my least favorite flower on the planet, seriously bummed me out. Fast forward a few weeks into 2014 and our PR firm was asking for us to whip up some sort of Radiant Orchid concoction. WHY.

I spent forever trying to figure out a way to make this happen. I knew whatever wine we used needed to be virtually colorless (Sparkling) and that there needed to be some sort of mixer that was a borderline unnatural shade of purple to make the entire look come together. I can’t say I’ve ever tested, tried and mixed so many ingredients in my life to make it happen, but it finally worked and I was floored with the results. Of course the primary ingredient ended up being one simple, pretty natural thing – Blueberry Lemonade. Seriously? After all of that?!

You know how they say your greatest challenges often wind up being your biggest rewards? This one was it. I could not be happier with how it turned out. Thank you, amazing PR firm for challenging me to think outside of the box… you girls absolutely rock 🙂

Check out a few of my favorite outtakes from the shoot and the full recipe below. Cheers!!!

Prep: 5 minutes
Total time: 3-6 hours

Serves: 8-10 (depending on glass size)

Ingredients
1 (750ml) bottle of ONEHOPE Sparkling Wine
1 liter blueberry lemonade

Directions
1) Pour blueberry lemonade into an 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish and freeze for 1-2 hours.
2) Carefully remove freezing lemonade from freezer. Using a fork, scrape the mixture until the consistency is slushy throughout (lemonade will be more frozen toward the outside edges of the dish when you start).
3) Put the mixture back in the freezer for 1-2 hours and repeat two more times. Scraping the mixture prevents it from freezing into a solid brick of ice and maintains the slushy, icy consistency that is so delicious about a granita 🙂
4) Scoop granita mixture into glasses (we used champagne coups) and top with ONEHOPE Sparkling wine. Cheers!

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