How To Be a "Heavenly Hostess"

I think I am one of those people who was a "natural born hostess" from day one, I mean I really love meeting new people, introducing them to others and of course cooking for people...I can credit some of this to being half Italian and following in the footsteps of my amazing Grandmother, but the rest I guess just sprung up in me :) Needless to day I am ELATED right now that I finally have a dinning room table to host dinner parties, (its like Christmas and my birthday all wrapped in one), and to boot I put the table and chairs together myself, granted it was just tightening screws here and then but I did it all by my non-mechanical self, HOORAY! The days of dating men to ask them to put something together for you are SOO long gone not gonna lie.

So you ask what does one need to be heavenly hostess? Well this question has been swimming in my head since I moved into my new apartment so here is what I think the main ingredients are...

1. Stylish Apron-I know some of you might think this is should be last on the list but if you don't dress the part you won't wow your guests and nothing says amazing hostess like a fabulous apron...case in point this website I found called Heavenly Hostess (which I subsequently stole the name from for this post). I mean these aprons are so fancy smancy I thought they were dresses at first, I want to prance around town with one of this girls on--it just gives new meaning to sexxy housewife...I have picked out two aprons are I am currently drooling over....

Ok for obvious reasons of me loving animal print this apron works for me, I also like the sheer fabric and copper colored fabric underneath it just has whimsical yet flirty feel to it..and did you check out the awesomely HUGE bow in the back, its stunning! I would feel like a present every time I put it and I honestly think this would make my cooking better, LOL!

2. Signature Cocktail-When guests come in you want to first greet them and then hand them a drink in my opinion, so why not make it your own? I mean you are the one hosting the party so your personality should be inter weaved with the look and feel of the party to make it a smash hit...bringing me to the signature cocktail. Now at my last apartment I created a signature drink called "The Delano" named after the apartment that was martini with equal parts stoli vanilla and white cranberry juice, a splash of Chambord, shaken up and topped with some champagne..and I would occasionally throw in a cherry for a fun garnish too. It was a smash hit by all patrons who were lucky enough t to try it, which is why I am bringing back another fabulous drink..."Popicilous Punch"...this will be a fusion of X-Rated Liquor, white and red cranberry juice, Passion fruit rum, pineapple juice and splash of OJ and soda water to make it POP! I might even throw in champagne as the night goes on...its going to have its debut on Saturday April 10th at my housewarming party so I will post up comments later.

X-Rate Liquor is "distilled seven times in small batches from delicate French wheat and roseberry grain, which is grown on Reunion Island off the coast of Madagascar. The 100-percent organic vodka is then micro-oxygenated and charcoal filtered. The final 80-proof product has an alcoholic aroma, but no alcoholic bite. The spirit has a silky smooth texture, which causes a band of warmth to trend down from mouth to stomach. There is a slight hint of vanilla to the flavor, and no harsh finish. "

3. Anti pasta Bar-for those they aren't good cooks or just those that want just an all around "crowd pleaser" when it doubt go with an anti pasta bar. I talking about putting out bowls of all sorts of marinated olives, a plate of roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes and some pickled Italian veggies (one of my favs), crusty bread, and of course heapings of rolled up meat and cheese (fresh mozz and smoked)--you CANNOT go wrong with this spread trust me. And please remember you cannot never have too much prosciutto, its the nocturne of the Gods people.

This picture says it ALL, Deliciouso!! Just look at all of the colors and textures on the plate, its a piece of edible artwork...

4. Place cards-Now I know what you are thinking using place cards sounds a bit on the cheesy side but the way I am using them is not to assign people seats but instead to announce the food or drink that they will be tasting and also to add my personality into the mix. I have already named the punch in the bar as the "Popolicious Punch" and will also be serving the following:

1. "Italian Stallone Spread" (this is my anti pasta platter)


2. "Panache Purses" (phyllo dough stuffed with a nutella and mascarpone cheese with roasted hazelnuts and bananas, taken from femme fatale Giada


3. "Unleash the Meat" (sausages wrapped in puff pastry)


4. "Sinful Spinach Dip"-classic Knorr's recipe spinach dip that gets inhaled whenever I make it, it must be the water chestnut secret ingredient :)

I was racking my brain thinking where in the world am I going to find place cards, but then my friend, the fabulous Miss Bare, came to the rescue and told me she had a slew leftover from hosting company events--Yeah! I am going to display in front of the food and beverages using wine corks, how funky and fun right?

5. Contest/Theme-lastly a party simply isn't a party without some kind of fun theme or contest to partake in..this serves two purses 1) Gets people in an automatic party mindset when they have to dress up for something specific and 2) narrows down the wardrobe choices or in my case gives you "an excuse" to buy something totally outrageous and frivolous, like some wild and fun PUMPS....since this is my house party I went with this "fabulous shoes" theme and yes it was only for the ladies so next time I must include the men in the contest unless I want to get labeled a feminist (yikers), but I figured the men would totally profit from seeing hot women prance around in sexxy high heels, and I will choose one lucky guy to "be the judge" so everyone wins!

These fushcia PUMPS are dreamy!

Glossy and saucy!

Smooches,

Madame K!