Sip 'N See: Cookies & Milk

Being in Texas, it felt only right to take part in the southern tradition of hosting a Sip 'N See for a dear friend honoring her new baby boy! Basically, this is a post-baby shower where people can come by to "sip" some drinks and "see" the new baby. With her newborn in mind, we thought it would be fun to theme her Sip 'N See as a Cookies & Milk party!

We framed the invitation and put it in the entry way to welcome guests in. We had it as an open house where people could come and go as they please.

The banner to welcome Baby Ames!

*I used the "got milk?" font (aka cgPhenixAmerican) for all the labels and banners. 

The transfer stickers spelling out his name applied to each bottle filled with Cookie Crisp cereal made for a cute touch on the cookies & milk table.

I found some vintage milk bottles for the guests to pour their milk in.

A little monogram initial by the recliner where the momma and new baby were sitting.

The cookies and milk table! I found these cute FREE printable milk cartons from papercrave.com. You can print the template to make them yourself here!

And my husband and I had a blast thinking up fun little boy labels for the food on the delicious menu our friend Kim created!
For cookies, we served "mud pie" chocolate brownies, "tough guy" toffee almond, "super hero" sugar, "shhh...don't" snickerdoodle, and my favorite, oatmeal & "raisin hell"!
Also on the menu were "little boy blue" cupcakes, mini "strawberry" scones, "boys only" club veggie & hummus sandwiches, "playing chicken" salad in phyllo cups along with veggie chips and cheese straws and some almonds and pastel blue M&M's.

For drinks we had of course our "got milk?", but we also served some "lemonade stand" sparkling lemonade and iced "t-ball" with mint.

Two different kinds of cookies were set in a basket by the door for guests to take with them as they left. The cookies were placed in CD covers closed with a label that said "SWEET BABY AMES" or "So SWEET of you to come".

Everyone had a great time sipping and seeing! Here is the mama enjoying her cookies and milk!

Out of all the cookies & desserts there, the guest of honor was the still the sweetest thing in the room!

Cinnamon Honey Butter

Cinnamon Honey Butter

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp ground cinnamon

I did all this in my Kitchen-Aid and it was super easy. This is from the same site that I got the copycat recipe from for the Texas Roadhouse Sweet Rolls.

Just whisk the butter for 30 seconds. 

Then add the powdered sugar, honey and cinnamon. Beat until mixed well and smooth. Scrape around the bowl and whisk again on high until light and fluffy (about another minute or two).

Texas Roadhouse Sweet Rolls (Copycat recipe)

Okay, so if you're on Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen this pin floating around. I am a bread lover... I'm sure if I gave bread up, I'd lose 30 lbs in a week. But I just can't do it! There is nothing that can make me drool like fresh, home-made bread. Even the aroma is bliss. So I pinned this and decided to give it a go and copy a copycat recipe! After these were done, I had to have my husband hide them from me call on my strong will power to not eat the whole batch....(20 rolls and a loaf!)

Texas Roadhouse Sweet Rolls

4 tsp active dry yeast (about 2 1/2 packets)
1/2 cup warm water
2 cups milk (*scalded and cooled to lukewarm)
3 Tablespoons of melted butter, slightly cooled
1/2 cup sugar
6-7 cups all purpose flour
2 whole eggs
2 teaspoons salt

*to scald milk, place in a sauce pan on heat until it FIRST starts to bubble and then remove.

1) Dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup of warm water with a teaspoon of sugar. Then add yeast, milk, & sugar. The recipe also says to add in enough flour to make a medium batter. So I added in about 2 cups of flour. Then whisk together and let stand until light and foamy (I let mine stand for 5 minutes).

2) Add eggs, melted butter, & salt. Beat well.

3) Here the recipe said to "add enough flour to form a soft dough". So I guessed and added in 3-4 cups. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the counter to set the dough on and let rest.

4) While resting, grease a large bowl (I used Crisco). Then knead the dough until smooth. I put mine in the Kitchen-Aid and used the dough hook to knead the bread for 4-5 minutes.

5) Put in the greased bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place. (I set mine on the window sill.) Let sit until it has doubled in size.

3 HOURS LATER....

6) Punch down. Put on a floured mat/board. I divided mine into 3 sections and then let rest for 10 minutes.

7) I took one portion at a time and rolled out to about an inch thick.

8) Then I cut several vertical strips and then made one horizontal cut down the center.

9) I then folded each rectangle in half and then pressed the sides together to "seal".

10) Put on greased cookie sheet and let rise for several minutes.

I did the above with two of the sections. The last section I just put in a greased loaf pan. (No rolling or forming required for the loaf pan!)

11) Bake at 350° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown for the rolls on the cookie sheets and 20 minutes or golden brown for the bread loaf. Baste immediately with butter.

These turned out GREAT! So yummy and I got the approval from both my boys!

And OMG - they are to die for accompanied with the cinnamon honey butter!

Ships Ahoy! It's a Boy!

Over the weekend, we threw a baby shower for a dear friend! We had a great time visiting, playing silly games, and honoring her and her soon-to-come baby boy! The theme was nautical/water as her husband is a ship captain! We had a blast planning and bringing it all together.

The super cute cake

Here is the nautical themed diaper cake I made for a centerpiece. Her nursery colors are navy and lime green, so I tried to match accordingly in case she wanted to display it in the baby's room before the diapers were needed...which won't be too much longer! ;)

Some fishing net for the backdrop for opening gifts

The food set up

"Sand"wiches along with goldfish pretzels.

Had to have some "LifeSavers" to go with our theme!

Here is the yogurt bar. We had individual cups already set up with yogurt and the guests chose their own toppings. We had blueberry, strawberry, kiwi, mango, and granola. The colors looked beautiful!

The Ducky Shower punch which we just called "Bath Time" punch 

One of the games we played was a nursery rhyme quiz

Another was the Chocolate Diaper game which guests had to identify the type of melted candy in each diaper by looking and smelling (tasting optional!!!)

- WARNING! "Poopy" diapers :)

The other game we played was the classic "Toilet Paper Belly" where guests tear off the amount of toilet paper they thought would wrap around her belly. Closest that fit her belly won!

Here are the hostesses with the Mommy-to-be!

Congratulations again! We all send the best of luck and well wishes!