Guest Post by Ann Martin
There’s a chill in the air, and Halloween is just around the corner. This fall holiday has increasingly become one of the most popular American celebrations. It’s come a long way from just trick-or-treating. Adults love the spooky atmosphere, as well as the chance to dress up and pretend to be someone else for an evening. Throwing a creepy party for your friends takes some effort, but you might just find yourself hosting it annually after the first one.
Setting the scene is one of the most important things to do for your Halloween party. Decide if …read more

Tomorrow is the first day of August. It’s the perfect time to take advantage of late Summer sales, especially on Summer-themed items and with a good two months of warm temperatures ahead of us, there’s still plenty of time to enjoy these great buys.
I live in an apartment, but I have a patio area and when I’m entertaining, we always end up out front. I have set it up to be as garden-y as possible with lots of plants and two small seating areas. When the weather allows, I pull out a portable fire pit and we sit around the …read more

Just in time for your next backyard barbecue party, Williams-Sonoma is offering sale prices on 3 different cocktail mixes. Each of these sale items is more than 50% off the suggested retail price, so stocking up is a good idea. These items are all exclusive to Williams-Sonoma.

Gramercy Tavern Cocktail Mixes
Suggested retail $15.95, on sale for $5.99
The Cranberry Daiquiri mix and the Gramercy Parksider mix are both included in this sale. The Cranberry mix is a combination of cranberry and orange juice that match well with dark rum. The Parksider is meant to mix with either vodka or gin. It contains …read more

I am no Martha Stewart, but I like to entertain. I also am not much of a cook, but I love to spend hours in the kitchen working on a meal. For the most part, none of our dinner parties have been disasters. This weekend may have been our first exception.
To be honest, it wasn’t a total disaster. I just violated some common sense rules of hosting. Like, stay within your comfort zone. We hosted a couple we only barely knew. They had invited us to dinner at their house in December and it took us three months to return …read more

We decided to throw a Super Bowl party this year and invite over a bunch of friends and co-workers. I don’t think we’ve ever had such a large amount of people coming over in the past, so we’ve been working on our game plan for the last week, trying to make sure we’ll have enough food for everyone!
We decided to go with a large amount of snacks so that we’re not working away in the kitchen all afternoon and people can pick and choose what they want.
In the line-up are pinwheels (flour tortillas with cream cheese, green onions, turkey and …read more

It’s time for the Super Bowl again, and three lucky readers will get to spice up their party with a Santa Barbara Bay Super Bowl giveaway!
Three Foodie Obsessed readers will get the opportunity to stock their fridges with Santa Barbara Bay refrigerated dips and spreads. They’ll get five of the yummiest best-selling dips (including Artichoke Dip, Caramelized Onion & Roasted Garlic Dip, Garden Dill Dip, Spinach Dip and Chili Con Queso Dip), as well as several recipes for fun, inventive party appetizers, such as the easy, elegant five-layer dip pictured above.
With a playbook of winning recipes –- not to mention …read more

This thick dip, while not technically hummus, tastes just as good and is extremely easy to whip up. It goes great with pretty much anything — pita chips, vegetables, even potato chips!
Edamame “Hummus”
2 cups shelled frozen edamame, cooked per package directions
1 cup silken tofu, drained of excess liquid
1 avocado
1/2 – 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
3-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 – 1/2 cup lemon juice
2 – 3 tsp cumin
dash cayenne
Place edamame, tofu, avocado, salt, garlic, oil, lemon juice, cumin and cayenne in a food processor and process until very smooth, approximately two minutes. Season with …read more

After writing about cooking with champagne the other day I did a little searching for some fun drink recipes.
The above video by Marie Guaragna-Beirne illustrates a simple idea for a holiday champagne punch, perfect for a New Year’s Eve get-together!
Check out other videos for artichoke dip, quick and easy appetizers, and warm raspberry brie.

I love eggnog but have yet to make it from scratch, and truth be told I don’t think I’ve ever had it with alcohol in it either!
The video above, made by Lauren Braun Costello of Gotham Caterers, makes it from scratch with a recipe used by George Washington. It uses two cups of brandy, one cup of dark rum, one cup of rye whiskey, and one cup of cream sherry!
A happy holiday indeed!

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Ted Allen, host of Food Detectives and a frequent judge on Iron Chef America, has teamed up with Bank of America to provide a few tips for holiday cooking and entertaining:
Use food and other natural items for your centerpiece. Rather than buying flowers, there’s nothing prettier than a big bowl of lemons, apples, or other fruits and veggies. Other great ideas for table decoration are branches and autumn leaves, right from your own yard.
Save on soda and bottled water. Save attractive glass bottles from wine and gourmet juices in the weeks before the holidays. Fill them …read more