Baking Bliss

I have to introduce you to my new favorite blog; Four by Six Bakery. The author of this blog is the beautiful Sarah who happens to be a very good friend of mine and is the same baking temptress who was kind enough to share her Luring Lemon Bars with me a couple of weeks ago. And although I may be a teensy bit biased, once you try her recipes, you will certainly forgive me. Sarah has just started her beautiful blog, but I can assure you that she will have many delicious postings and tasty-looking pictures coming soon. Be sure to bookmark this blog and dazzle your friends with her sweet recipes at your next dinner party. 

Beer, There and Everywhere

1) The South Wind   2) Raspberry Beer Cocktail

3) Lime Beer  4) Lemon Shandy  

Beer cocktails?! Yep, apparently even beer is not exempt from a little fancy mixing at the bar. Here are some concoctions that may broaden your horizon when it comes to the old standby. Click on the names of the cocktails above for recipes. 

Sustainable Disposables

Bambu is a not a misspelling, it is a fantastic solution to replacing the traditional disposable paper or plastic dinnerware at summertime beach and backyard gatherings. Bambu Veneerware is a single-use collection of plates, utensils and serveware that is made of 100% bamboo and is Certified Organic. These products not only look great, but they will biodegrade in 4 to 6 months. Although, Hawaii does not yet have a retail location available where you can purchase these items, you will soon be able to get them at our new Whole Foods market (I can't wait!) and until then you can purchase them online HERE at Plum Party.

Beachfront Beauty Part 2

Click HERE to see a video of our Friday wedding ceremony by IMF Visions. 

Balinese Birthday

We had a great weekend and today I wanted to show you some photos of the birthday party we did on Saturday for 40 guests in Lani Kai.

We rented a gorgeous beachfront estate and had a wonderful private party for 40 on Saturday night to celebrate a surprise 40th birthday party in style. When guests entered they were greeted with a waterfall along one of the walls at the property and two beautiful fountains where we floated plumeria blossoms. We served arriving guests passed appetizers and wine while they waited for the guest of honor to arrive. They waited beside a pool that was surrounded by multi-colored Balinese lanterns and filled with vibrant fuchsia and purple bougainvillea flowers.

When the guest of honor arrived guests were escorted to the back porch to watch the sunset and be entertained by mixologist Christian Self mixing exotic customized drinks for the occasion.The dinner table was set in a "U" formation on the lawn facing the ocean, so everyone would be a part of an intimate setting instead of being spread out in a room. The dinner entertainment was a beautiful set by a Honolulu Symphony solo cellist. Orange Mokara orchids decorated the tables along with multiple candles and each place setting had a tea tin as a favor (the guest of honor's favorite) and a glass charger that the menu was placed under. Guests sat down to a lavish four course dinner by Ginniberries with wine pairings that was nothing short of flawless. 

All in all, we had a wonderful time at all of our events this weekend and thank both of our couples for letting us be a part of your special events!

Beachfront Beauty

This weekend was very busy with two beautiful events and today I wanted to share some photos with you of the wedding we did on Friday. It was an elegant white beachfront wedding on Oahu. The private ceremony was a magical affair on the beach where our barefoot bride and groom said their vows under a bamboo arch with dolphins swimming in the background! After the ceremony, guests arrived to the property to find a gorgeous tent decorated with white orchid and crystal chandeliers hanging over each table and the tables set with white linens and white flower centerpieces surrounded with floating candles. Thank you to Yvonne Floral Design for all of the lovely flowers.

Red was our accent color and we wanted to incorporate lace elements into the wedding to reflect the bride's stunning lace dress. So we introduced them with the invitation by designing a custom red lace pattern and printing it on the invitation, we fronted the invite with a piece of real lace instead of the usual vellum and enclosed the invite in a red envelope. We continued the red and lace motif at the wedding on the red velvet cupcakes with Southern buttercream frosting, escort cards mounted on red paper and Hawaiian soap favors wrapped in our custom lace print with a red ribbon. Thank you to Paisley Peony for all of our printed materials and favors and Sweet Stop for our delicious cupcakes. We are so grateful we got to be a part of such a lovely day and wish our couple much happiness!

Happy Weekend!

This is a photo of the sunset from the office - beautiful!  

We are off to do two events this weekend, an elegant beach wedding on Oahu and a surprise birthday party at a private estate in Lani Kai. Hope to have some sneak peak photos for you next week. 

Beautiful Backyard BBQ

Last weekend my brother and I threw a surprise 30th anniversary party for our parents. 30 years together seems like a pretty amazing milestone to us and we decided it was time we did something to show how much we appreciate them. So, we put together a low-key backyard affair with our closest friends and family at our beach house on Kauai. And boy were they surprised! We had a lot of love and thought to put into this party, but not much time. So, my brother and I utilized things that we already had around the house and were available to us in the yard. 

We decorated the tables with their wedding photos which I had enlarged and placed in simple frames. For flowers we used the bougainvillea we have growing in abundance all around the yard in found vessels like tea tins and small bud vases. Plain white table cloths, citronella candles (to keep away the bugs) and casual white plastic chairs finished them off. For the bar I used bougainvillea flowers in varied colors and placed them in old glass bottles we normally have displayed behind the bar. Instead of having people bring gifts we had a guest book for them to re-count their funniest, favorite or fondest memory of our parents as a couple. One of our friends strung them both leis from the plumeria blossoms we have in the yard and we used the rest of the blossoms to float in glass bowls full of water around the party.

Our menu was a deceptively high-end version of the standard backyard bbq with prime rib thinly sliced and cooked on the grill, field green salad with vinaigrette, corn-on-the-cob and white rice (it is Hawaii after all). We served everything on white china and used real flatware, but our glasses were clear disposables and the napkins were high-quality paper. Don't be afraid to mix the fancy with the casual, sometimes the most fun is when you have to get a little creative and nothing ends up looking too precious.

All in all everyone had a wonderful time at the party and it was a truly memorable night for our family.   

Tropical Colors

Tropical Colors: The Art of Living With Tropical Flowers is one of the most beautiful books I have ever picked up, it is a stunning array of tropical flowers arranged in a unique and striking way by some amazing designers. Although most of the photos are from Thailand, the flowers are the same as those grown in Hawaii and they are exceptional displays of heleconia, ginger, plumeria, hibiscus and shower tree blossoms. The whole book is a lesson in taking the familiar out of context and creating tableaus and structures of the things that can be found in your yard and displaying them as art. 

Hot, Hot, Hot!

The hottest trend in cocktails this summer is a little spicy. Using jalapenos, chili, cayenne and hot sauce as ingredients, these libations may not exactly cool you down, but they will certainly liven things up.

1. Spicy Sangria; white wine, tequila, sugar, jalapenos, plums, apples, peaches and cilantro. Canard Inc.
   
   
2. Chili-n-Lime Vodkarita; frozen chili-infused vodka in a cayenne and salt rimmed glass with lime wedges. Main Event Caterers.
   
   
3. Man-Eating Mango; mango, guava and passion fruit puree, jalapeno and a drop of scotch bonnet sauce. Main Event Caterers.

 Thank you to BizBash for rounding these up. 

Luring Lemon

Shh....I am going to tell you a secret....and you have to keep this to yourself because it is a powerful one. My friend Sarah is somewhat of a baking temptress and her lemon bars are by far her most successful bargaining tool. She claims that they can bribe anyone to do anything, salvage friendships, save money and bring men to their knees. I have tried them myself and I have to say that they are nothing short of AMAZING. Make these for your next dinner party or just show up at your crushes house with a tray and make them yours ;). 

Thanks to alpineberry's flickr account for this great photo.

Sarah’s Luring Lemon Bars

Crust
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
Filling
2 cups granulated sugar
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
6 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon of pure lemon oil (NOT extract) OR 2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

To prepare the crust:
In a large bowl, sift together the 2 cups of flour with the confectioners sugar. Pour in melted butter and mix completely. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of a 13 X 9 inch glass baking dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until extremely light golden brown.

To prepare the filling:
In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar, remaining flour and baking powder and whisk to distribute evenly. Add eggs, lemon juice and lemon oil, or zest and whisk until mixture is well blended.
Pour over baked crust and return to the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Once completely cooled, dust with more confectioners sugar and cut into squares.

Adorable Decals

Opulent Wall Graphic, Chandelier Decal

Baroque Flowers Decal, Wall Quote

Wall decals are the new hip thing to hit home decor. They serve as a playful, smaller and less permanent option to the traditional wallpaper. I happen to have just gotten some for myself and I can't decide on which one to put up first! They are a great way to make a statement on a wall without taking up the whole thing or making a big commitment.

Here are my favorite designs from around the 'net. 

Glassware Decals

They also have these darling little ones that can be used to decorate glasses at parties and will prevent guests from mixing them up. 

I Love British Comedy

Son of Rambow is the best movie I have seen in a long time and as highly skeptical as all my friends are about the title...it has little to do with what you may think. I enjoyed this movie so much that I am taking a break from the design and party planning stuff to tell you about it. It is a British film that has garnered praise from Sundance AND the Toronto Film Festival. It is a highly intelligent movie set in the 1980's about a couple of boys from very different backgrounds who decide to film their own version of a Rambo movie after seeing Rambo's First Blood. It is charming, hysterical, uplifting and has a killer 80's soundtrack.  You can see the trailer HERE and catch it while you can at Kahala Mall. 

International Design

I get some of my best design ideas from other countries and because I don't have the unlimited budget to travel to exotic locations all the time, I do the next best thing, I read magazines about them. Well, let me clarify that a little - I don't actually read most of them because I can't, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying and appreciating the gorgeous photos. Just because they are from another country doesn't mean that they have to be intimidating or off-limits. I think it is so inspiring to see what types of decor, materials, colors and shapes are hot in other countries. It is a great way to broaden your ideas of what beauty can look like in your home or give you a fresh perspective on how to decorate your next party with new color combinations. 

My favorite international design magazines right now are;

  Elle Decoration Germany, Vogue Living Australia, Living Etc. UK and 

Marie Claire Maison French. 

Passion for Chocolate

I adore Woodhouse chocolate, they are far and away the best chocolates that I have ever tried. I was first introduced to them a few years ago when my friend Sarah could not stop raving about this little chocolate shop in Napa Valley. She was so emphatic about the life-changing taste of the white chocolate with passion fruit that she sent me an entire box of them all the way across the country. 

Well, one bite and I was changed too, coming from Hawaii we know what lilikoi is supposed to taste like and this chocolate was just like biting into the actual fruit. What I appreciated just as much as the taste of the chocolate was the impeccable packaging. Woodhouse is a family-run shop that takes pride in every detail from the chocolate wrapper imprinted with their darling elephant logo to the care they take in perfecting each flavor. These chocolates make great gifts and because the packaging is so pretty they are wonderful wedding and party favors.  

Nautical Summer

This summer is about all things nautical, so I thought I would make a table inspired by the classic summer theme. The glasses came first, I found them in a Waikiki store and couldn't resist them; they are Tetra Fish Glassware from Roost. The Maldive candle holders are fantastic and I love using them as a centerpiece along with some gorgeous gathered peonies and a toy sailboat. The invitation is a blue and white map print and a simple white box tied with a classic anchor print ribbon can be used to package a favor. I used a simple navy and white color palette and would keep things easy by using white china and plain silver flatware, you can even forego the tablecloth for this one (although I might suggest a white runner). Use blue or white linen napkins and dress them up with these great starfish napkin rings. And don't forget about yourself! This preppy chic dress is from JCrew and would be perfect for this summer event. 

Who Needs Cake?

I have to admit, I have a thing for great cocktails and I happen to like them even more if they are great-looking. My friend Jennifer (who is going to be guest blogging here once in awhile with her culinary tricks and cocktail magic) made a fantastic drink for me for my birthday 

and I wanted to share it with everyone. 

It is very tasty and much better than cake... consider yourself warned ;). 

Kekaha Sparkler

2 oz. of vodka

1 oz. of simple syrup

1 oz. of fresh, unsweetened lilikoi juice

Champagne

Shake vodka, simple syrup and lilikoi juice together with ice
and pour into glass. 

Top with champagne. 

Garnish with an orange peel.

Enjoy!

Disposable Style

If you are going to use plastic silverware for your next event, why not use one that looks like the real thing? This amazing black plastic flatware is disposable and comes in a variety of colors. And there is certainly nothing lacking in the style department which, best of all, means the end of those bland backyard picnics.

Kauai Wedding from Above

Aren't these stunning?! These are aerial shots of beautiful Hanalei Bay on Kauai and the tent set-up by Kauai Tent for a wedding we did at the Kauikeolani Estate on May 9th. The amazing photos were taken by Ted Lauder.