entertain | curated living

Category: entertain

eat: chocolate-dipped frozen banana bites

Posted at 10:07 am by curatedliving, on March 26, 2014

Posted in chocolate, dessert, entertain, food, recipe, sweet | 1 Comment | Tagged banana, chocolate, dessert, frozen, recipe, the kitchn

bake: raspberry buttermilk cake

Posted at 10:03 am by curatedliving, on March 13, 2014

I have a problem. I’ve made this cake 5 times in the past week. I’ll admit that a few made it to friend’s houses but I may have eaten more than my fair share. This is one of my go-to recipes because it’s amazingly simple yet so delicious, you’re friends will be asking for the recipe after their first bite. You can sub any berries you want but there’s something about raspberries that I think makes this cake perfect.

recipe : smitten kitchen

| photos : smitten kitchen |

Posted in baking, birthday, cook, cookbook, dessert, entertain, food, home, recipe, serve | 0 Comments | Tagged bake, cake, dessert, easy, party, raspberry, recipe, serve, smitten kitchen

decorate: oh joy! + target

Posted at 10:27 am by curatedliving, on March 4, 2014

So excited for the Oh Joy! + Target party collaboration. Here’s a sneak peek of the party decorations hitting Target shelves March 16th.

oh joy! + target

oh joy!

oh joy! + target

Posted in accessories, birthday, color, decor, decorate, entertain, gift, kids, party, serve | 0 Comments | Tagged birthday, celebrate, color, decorations, fun, oh joy!, party, target

bake: perfect chocolate chip cookies

Posted at 10:59 am by curatedliving, on February 5, 2014

this recipe is from america’s test kitchen and is called perfect chocolate chip cookies …. they’re not lying

yields 16 large cookies

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli recommended)
* i sprinkle the cookies with a bit of jacobsen salt right when they come out of the oven (optional)

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12- inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.