A Cup of Glee - Weekly Newsletter - Bubbly

Welcome to the Blog for Fancy That!

We proudly call our blog “A Cup of Glee.” This week’s post is about the cork, popping, and sabering!

Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy!


Table Talk

(Manners and TableTop Tips)

To pop or not to pop.

Quick quiz – True or False. Ready? When opening champagne, the cork should loudly pop from the bottle, and effervescence should spill wonderfully to your flute and table top. True or False?

Not surprisingly (if any of you have ever been hit with a flying champagne cork, or salvaged an errant cork which flew across the room into the depths of your French Onion Soup, then you will understand) the more silent the opening, the more polite!

The most adept and skillful server will ease the cork out gently, setting it on the right side of the gentleman or lady, and then pour the bubbly into the flute.

It is considered inept and gauche to have a loud pop and crack of the cork (not to mention a liability, should it fly across the room at lightening speeds, only to whack an unsuspecting diner!) Check out this Washington Post story if you would like to hear it from another source.

The Butler

(Host and Hostess tips and Helpful Hints for planning your event)

When thinking about champagne for an event, or just a brunch with your closest friends (one of my faves is white peach champagne, freshly made crepes with fresh peach garnish and a savory scone!) think "light", like you would an aperitif. (See our earlier post on aperitifs!)

Here is a great guide for you when selecting a champagne, or how to dress it properly on the table. And remember, keep the cork quiet when opening the bubbly. Show your skills and your expertise! Shhhhhhh! Well, except for one great occasion – SABERING! (See Wedding Bells below!)

Want to serve a glass of bubbly like no other? Why not add an edible bloom? (available from Norm Thompson) Drop an exotic Australian hibiscus into champagne or any sparkling drink for a gorgeous presentation.
Wedding Bells

(Tips for planning your Wedding)

Click here and enjoy the read, history of sabering, and all the fun thoughts that come to mind! And this site, will fill you with a NEED to have have your champagne bottle opened using sabering, to be sure!

Enjoy!

Until my next post, please remember:
Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
acupofglee.blogspot.com

Baked Ideas

I, for one, can't believe the holidays are right around the corner! When it comes to gift giving, isn't it better to give something you know won't end up for sale on eBay anytime soon?
I've chosen to give gifts of gourmet food or wine almost exclusively, for many years, and I'm always on the look-out for a clever and yummy gift (but one that doesn't look mass-produced) which is why I LOVE these yoga people from baked ideas so much! Ok, I know that was a run-on sentence, but that just shows you my enthusiasm for these gingerbreads :) I'm not the only one who's enthused with these cookies; They were featured in this month's O Magazine! They're baked fresh daily, and you can place an order on their site or call 212-925-9097 between 10am and 6pm EST.

Until my next post, please remember:
Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

Teapot Cake

Love this teapot Cake! Too Cute!

(from tanyacakes.com)

Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

A Cup Of Glee - Weekly Newsletter - Pink grapefruit Intermezzo

Pink grapefruit and champagne sorbet Originally uploaded by MissK1

Welcome to the Blog for Fancy That!
We proudly call our blog “A Cup of Glee.”
Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy!

Table Talk
(Manners and TableTop Tips)

Anytime I hear the word “intermezzo” (a palate cleanser, such as sorbet, served between courses; pronounced: inter-met- sō and/or inter-met-zō) all kinds of serving ideas and recipes pop into my head. In fact, it was my affection for the intermezzo that inspired me to search for the perfect vintage sherbert glass to add to Fancy That’s rental line. That search eventually led me to “boopie” glass (manufactured by anchor hocking from the 1950s to the 1970s, known for its distinctive ring of glass “beads” around the base), but, I digress!

Ok, back on topic: Manners for the Intermezzo? After the salad? Before the soup? What if a five course meal? Who knew it could be so complicated? Check this out handy book by Sue Fox: Etiquette for Dummies, for quick answers!

The Butler

(Host and Hostess tips and Helpful Hints for planning your event)

Don’t be afraid of making sorbet. You hear all the horror stories of the sorbet not being frozen well enough, or instead, too frozen, rendering it difficult for the guests to eat. Well, there are easy recipes out there that make for a wonderful sorbet, and no, you don’t need an ice cream maker to pull it off. This pink grapefruit sorbet recipe from FineDinings.com is one of the simplest and most tasty. Here's another good one from the Food Network which includes vodka.

I’ve found that using a melon ball scoop to drop a few balls of sorbet into a champagne flute creates an appealing display, and is a pleasantly unexpected use for a flute. After all, as they say, “the eye eats first.”

I recently noticed that my local grocery store has lemon sorbet in real lemon shells for sale in the freezer section, so if all else fails, run out and BUY it already cleverly prepared :)

Enjoy!

Until my next post, please remember:
Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

Twinkle Toes

How fantastic are these announcements/invitations from Stacy Claire Boyd?!! I want to throw a baby shower just so I can use these! Check em out at Jen Klair Kids.

Until my next post, please remember:

Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.

Sarah E for acupofglee.blogspot.com

A Cup of Glee - Weekly Newsletter - Place Card Holders and Toasts!

Welcome to the Blog for Fancy That!
We proudly call our blog “A Cup of Glee.”
Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy!


Table Talk
(Manners and TableTop Tips)
Let’s talk about Place Card Holders. You have gone out and bought 150 holders for your wedding, or rented 20 for your garden party. Now you are scratching your head, wondering where on an elegantly set table you should put them.

Simply?

You can put them anywhere you care to, but the accepted location is at the head of each place setting on the table.

But don’t fret! Let’s say you are having a wine tasting dinner and have a wonderful cluster of grapes for each setting as your place card holder. Placing the card in the cluster and center the grapes on the top plate. Each guest will stir around the table searching for their name, and get the hint of what is to come. Use the place card holders as the introduction to the theme of the wedding or event.


The Butler

(Host and Hostess tips and Helpful Hints for planning your event)

Dinner parties can be frustrating or awkward for the host and hostess, and for the guest. But they don’t have to be. When you are planning your event, consider how you will announce dinner. Help your guests. When they arrive, politely tell them that you will announce dinner and until that time, they should mingle in the other room, or near the cheese tray, or, well, you get the idea. Then when the time is right, you, the host will say, 'Please join me at the table.' The important thing to do is not to sit right away and then your guests won’t feel compelled to instantly take a seat. Take a moment and say where your guests should be seated, or point out the cute (or amazing) place card holders. Point out the names and allow the guests to leisurely find their place around the table.

You would normally have the seating assigned to sit male, female, male, female all around the table. If your dinner is very formal and traditional, the women will be to the right of the men.

The woman that the man is responsible for seating is going to be to his right. So, the man will pull out the chair to the woman on his right. A nice way to make it easier for everyone is to have the ladies chair slightly farther away from the table just in case the lady has to seat herself.

Everyone is going to enter the chair from the right side of the chair. That is done so that you don't bump hips. Once seated, you the hostess signal to your guests by taking your napkin. If you say grace, take the napkin first as the signal. Place your napkin in your lap.

If you are giving a toast to the guests, or a guest of honor, your guests should wait until the toast is complete. As the host or hostess, raise your glass and ask everyone to drink to the honored guest. (The honored guests should not drink…they do not drink a toast to themselves.) If the honored guests cares to make a toast to you, the host to hostess, graciously accept the toast and drink to the honored guests’ toast.

From here, you control the event by controlling the appearance of the food. Enjoy!


Wedding Bells

(Tips for planning your Wedding)

You’re stuck. You picked the date, and have a theme, and your wedding planning has ground to a halt. You want to do something special for naming tables and assigning seating, but just don’t know what to do.

The best rule is to have no rules. Really! Think about your theme. I had a High Tea Reception. The natural choice was to name the tables after tea. Since Darjeeling is my favorite, that was the name of the Bride and Groom’s table.

Like Movies? Why not pick your favorite wedding themed movies and name your tables after them. (“Four Weddings and a Funeral” may not be as tasteful as you think!)

Having an Irish Wedding? Why not name the tables after towns in Ireland.

Having your wedding on the Beach? Your table names can be famous beaches, or beach equipment.

Maybe you are having a Garden Wedding. Perfect! You can use flower names, gardening themes or the like for your table names.

By all means, carry the theme through to the place setting cards as well. A friend just had her wedding with an Autumn theme. She used multi colored silk leaves as the place cards and wrote the names on the leaves with a gold-foil pen. The tables were named “Spiced Pumpkin”, “Mulled Cider”, “Maple Sugar”, “Chrysanthemum”, and “Fall Foliage.”

Now you have some ideas. Get planning, and remember to enjoy the process of planning! It is half of the fun!

Until my next post, please remember:
Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
acupofglee.blogspot.com

Ok, is anyone else enjoying "My Fair Wedding" with David Tutera, as much as I am?! I am addicted to this show!! (on We TV)

10% Savings on Your Next Rental Order from Fancy That

Fancy That! is pleased to help in these rough economic times. Until December 31, 2008, we are offering a 10% discount on your next order. Email us or call voice mail toll free 1-866-760-2286 to place your rental order and mention promotion code ACOG2008 to claim YOUR 10% discount. But hurry! This great offer expires December 31, 2008.

A Cup Of Glee - Weekly Newsletter - SCOOP

Welcome to the Blog for Fancy That!
We proudly call our blog “A Cup of Glee.”
Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy!

Table Talk
(Manners and TableTop Tips)

Etiquette says that spoons can be used as scoops, but not scoops used as spoons! (who knew:)) There are many types of scoops and each has a proper use. Here's a few that come to mind:

Diner Scoop
Cheese Scoop (check this out for a wonderful cheese scoop! Don’t get lost on replacements’s web site, and come back and finish this week’s newsletter!
Ice Scoop
Gravy Scoop or Ladle (click here for a little etiquette on to pour or to ladle!)
Marrow Scoop (eeeeeewwwww!)
Nut Scoop
Bon Bon Scoop (yes, there really IS such a thing!)
Tea Scoop
Pelican Scoop (oops, sorry, that’s a small boat!)

It all comes down to the manners for the specific scoop and there are many different scoops out there! Check out this book for a fun, winter weekend read! You’ll want to own the book, and give it as a hostess gift (oops! Bad manners to give a book on manners as a hostess gift!) or holiday gift!

And enjoy!

The Butler

(Host and Hostess tips and Helpful Hints for planning your event)

Beige. Blah…..Pink? Pretty! So many colors come to mind as do the words to match those colors. This post is all about scoops. The “scoop” these days is a candy buffet. They are not reserved for weddings. (And the scoops you can use could be clear, wooden, plastic, unique….let your mind wander.)

Your guests will love a cocktail glass filled with colorful candy. Image for a moment: you are hosting a “pink” party. Your guests are frantically buying up all the pink clothing in town. The gentlemen will be wearing pink ties, and your lady guests will be decked in boa’s to put the roaring 20’s to shame. Add pink (or any color for that matter) to your table with candy. You can click here to get to The Candy Warehouse for all the selections you could possibly dream of….well…even MORE than you can dream of!

If you are having a candy buffet, in addition to filling a few cocktail glasses, be sure to pick the right “scoop” for the candy. A small plastic shovel for beach theme, a measuring ladle for a culinary night, and on and on. Check out the Wedding Bells section below for the link to the Scoops Source, including bags and other fun things your guests will need to take the extra candy home!


Wedding Bells

(Tips for planning your Wedding)

Adding fun and color to your wedding is as easy as, say, CANDY! Candy buffets are fast becoming the staple item in weddings. You can click here for information on the scoops that you can get for that tower of candy, or that colorful bowl of confectionaries. No doubt, the most popular table will be the Candy Buffet. ‘Might just as well make the scoops fun too!


Until our next post, please remember:
Suggestions tolerated, compliments always welcomed. Tell your friends, and visit often.
acupofglee.blogspot.com