Best Dad in the West - Father's Day Gift

Happy Father's Day to all of the Dads and Father Figures out there.  This year I had a hard time thinking of something for Mr. Devilish Dish.  The last thing he needs are more golf balls or fishing lures.  Both my Christmas and Valentine gifts for him were cooking related: cookbooks and kitchen gadgets so I didn't want to go that route again.  Our Oklahoma Sooners Baseball Team made it to the College World Series.  We got his dad a shirt.  He's a huge baseball fan.  Mr. Devilish Dish got his own shirt.  That idea for him was down the drain.  A while back I saw the cutest cowboy hat planter at Walmart.  That's not really his thing, but I wanted it for myself.  I kept thinking it would make a cute cowboy-themed gift basket.  It was in the back of my mind while I was searching "Father's Day Gift Ideas" online.  Nothing jumped out and said, "Mr. Devilish Dish needs this," but the one thing he's been doing a lot of lately is barbecuing.  You name it, and he has put it in the smoker.  So I was leaning toward some kind of gift with a grilling theme.  But again, he has just about everything gadget for barbecue kings. so I was at a loss.  I was scrolling through my million emails when Texas Food caught my eye.  Apparently sometime in the past I have ordered some Made in Texas products from them.  Of course I took note of all of the barbecue rubs and sauces.  Goldee's Barbecue in Fort Worth, Texas is a highly rated BBQ joint that is often cited as some of the best barbecue in the whole state.  When I saw the gift pack of rubs and BBQ sauce, an idea was born.  AND, instead of a box, gift bag or basket - well I had my excuse to get that cowboy hat planter. I added a little shredded gift basket stuffing and whipped out a cute tag.  Of course I had to get the cowboy boots plant stake too.  Now he can create his delicious Goldee's style barbecue at home and I can plant something pretty in that cowboy hat planter.  Win-Win.  Happy Father's Day.

I just love how this
all came together.

Here's the planter and the little
plant stake.  I'm thinking
of planting either cactus or
succulents in there.  So cute!

All it needed was a little gift 
tag to complete the theme.

Here is the gift tag I created.
Feel free to copy and save it to 
print one for yourself.

I think the planter, plant stake and gift
tag would be a super cute gift with just
a plant inside.  But Mr. Devilish Dish
is a barbecue guy, not a plant guy.
I can tell you he LOVED the rubs
and sauce. 

I hope this little gift idea inspires you.  It would work for any holiday. Without the BBQ stuff I think it would make a super cute baby shower gift.  Add a plant, add some candy, add some bandanas and turquoise jewelry for the ultimate western-themed gift. 

EGGS-Presso Martini Easter Gift

I have four "big kids" now.  Little Devil has her very serious boyfriend, who is part of the family.  He has his name on a Christmas stocking so he is stuck with us now.  The Devilish Nephew has the most awesome wife.  It's kind of fun being empty nesters with adult kids.  Now we can hang out and enjoy a cocktail with the same folks we were once yelling at over late homework and dirty laundry.  OF COURSE I have little Easter Baskets made for the tiniest devils.  They are 3 and 5.  I hope I live long enough to have an espresso martini with them someday, but for now I am obsessed with the little guys, so they can stay tiny and hunt Easter eggs for many more years.  Sometimes I do grown up baskets or gifts for the big kids, and this time I saw these super cute glasses with Easter eggs on them, and I thought that would be a cute container for a grown up "basket." Then I saw a reel someone made putting together the canned espresso drink with a bottle of vodka wrapped up like a carrot.  The only thing missing was the opportunity for having a bad pun and calling it EGGS-Presso instead of espresso.  So I got inspired to make my own version for my big kids.  This is a great co-worker treat or hostess gift too, and I've included the little tag you can print to make your own.  Happy Easter!

Easter "baskets" for my "big kids"

Here's everything you need.
It's listed below.

Put the green shred in the bottom of
each glass to look like grass.
Add a can of espresso drink.

Place the individual vodka bottle
upside down and gather the orange
tissue around it.

Tie it off at the larger end so it 
looks like a carrot.

I trimmed my tissue paper at the
top because it was pretty big and I was 
too lazy to cut my tissue squares into
smaller sizes.

Grab some Easter-themed candy
to throw in.  I went with eggs since my
glasses had eggs on them.
AND it's an EGGS-presso Martini.

Add the vodka carrot and your candy 
to the glass. I'm not gonna lie,
my stuff BARELY fit in here.  I'm glad
I chose the Ketel vodka because it 
was a longer, skinny bottle.

Here's my tag.  You can right click 
on this and save it to your computer.
Size it to your liking and print it onto
cardstock.  Cut it out and punch a tiny
hole and tie it onto your carrot.

Aren't these just the cutest?
Blue eggs for the boys and pink
eggs for the girls.

Cheers! Happy Easter.

EGGS-PRESSO MARTINI GIFTS

You'll Need:

Easter-themed glasses or other container (I found these at Hobby Lobby - I literally googled "easter glasses near me)

Starbucks Mini Espresso in a can (I found these at the grocery store)

Mini bottles of vodka ( I found these at Total Wine - I went with Ketel because I think it's better tasting vodka, and I liked the shape of the bottle)

Easter candy (small eggs or chocolate rabbits) (Found at the grocery store)

green shred or easter grass (Hobby Lobby)

orange tissue paper (Hobby Lobby)

green ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

cardstock to print the tag
hole punch
twine or thin string to tie the tag on

Let me know if you make these.  Send me a pic, I want to see it, or TAG ME if you post to your social media <3

80's Alternative Music Themed Anniversary Gift

Mr. Devilish Dish and I have been together for a long time. We met in junior high, and really only started dating around our senior year of high school.  Without giving away my age, you could say 80's music was popular back then.  For our first few wedding anniversaries we tried to follow the traditional gift protocol like First Year: Paper (He gave me a Martha Stewart Cookbook and I gave him an Oklahoma Football book.) Seven Years was wool and I gave him seven pairs of wool socks.  Once you hit ten years, the suggested gifts seem to skip to 15 years, and then every five years after that.  Plus they get more expensive as the years go on.  Sterling silver, pearl, coral, ruby etc...That's not really our style.  On our 25th anniversary I got the bright idea to gift him a big silver bucket with the song theme "Tennessee Whiskey" which included Tennessee whiskey, strawberry wine, and brandy.  I've done some sillier song themes with gifts like, "Beer Bait & Ammo" and last year my theme was "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band.  I used some post Halloween sale items for a witchy/magic theme and gifted him tickets to see Steve Miller Band.  This year I was stumped for a fun song and stumped for a theme.  His favorite music genre is 80's Alternative.  He mentioned a while back he needed a new pair of Converse Chuck Taylor Sneakers and an idea was born!  I could not settle on an 80's alternative love song to theme my gift around so I just picked the entire genre.  I ordered a pair of new sneakers for him and once I searched "80's alternative music gifts" the rest of his gift came together really easily.  The book, "Mad World" kept popping up in my searches, and as it turns out, the author Lori Majewski is on Sirius Channel 33 First Wave which is his favorite music station.  Plus Duran Duran is on the cover which makes me happy too.  A trip to Etsy led me to a pint beer glass that looks like it's covered with cassette tapes.  I found one with a lot of his favorites.  The holiday calendar kiosk at our local mall had a Gen X calendar to round out the gift.  All I needed was some sort of basket or bag to gift it in.  I had a vision for a gift box that would look like a vintage boom box, but in my searches the only things I could find were homemade Valentine boxes.  And then I thought why not make a homemade box.  Who cares if it is silly and made with construction paper?  That's exactly the type of stuff I used to make him in the 80's.  Before Amazon and custom printing we used Elmer's glue and construction paper for our love notes and gifts.  I went full 1980's fan girl on my box.  I spray painted a liquor store box silver and cut out all the shapes and glued them on for a vintage boom box look.  It turned out so cheesy and corny and perfect.  The homemade box was actually my favorite part of the gift.  When we got ready to exchange gifts, he was listening to Yacht Rock music and I said, "Alexa play Sirius XM Channel 33 First Wave" which completely shocked him.  Then I whipped out his gift and said, "The music needed to match my theme."  He was really pleased with the gift and totally amused with the gift box.  I think the best part has been the beer glass.  He even made a new playlist called "The Pint Glass Play List" based on the artists on the glass.  Who needs coral and rubies when you can have Duran Duran and Depeche Mode!

Here's my 80's Alternative Music Themed
Anniversary Gift.  I'm so happy with
how fun it turned out.

Converse Chuck Taylor Sneakers,
a book for any music lover,
a new trivia calendar and best of all
the cassette-themed beer glass. 

My corny, homemade gift box.
We might be a long way from the 80's
but I'm still a silly high school girl at heart.

This turned out to be so much fun.
This would make a great gift theme for 
any music lover, and a great retro 
birthday gift idea too!

I hope this inspires you to get crafty and creative with your gift ideas.  They don't have to be expensive to be thoughtful.  A free box from the liquor store and some paint and paper I had around the house turned into a super fun gift idea.

Happy Crafting,

"VALENTINE: Every Hour is Happy With You" Cocktail Gift

Last Valentine's Day was pretty lame because I was on week 6 of a 16 week recovery of hand surgery.  I've mentioned in posts past that Mr. Devilish Dish and I passed the recuperation time by watching reruns of "Bar Rescue" and creating cocktails.  Aside from the excruciating pain, and frustration of only having one hand to blow dry my hair, I have to say those few weeks were time well spent with my husband.  He took great care of me and went to great effort to keep me comfortable, sane and entertained.  In addition, we learned a lot about the art of cocktail making and when Valentine's Day rolled around I knew I wanted to get him the handful of tools I realized we were missing in our bar set-up.  We needed a cocktail mixing glass, a cocktail strainer and he asked for sugar cubes.  I also found a company that sells the most unique cocktail mixers, bitters and more.  El Guapo is located in New Orleans, which is dear to our hearts because my brother-in-law is a chef there.  I had already ordered gifts for him from this company in years past, and I knew their LOVE POTION BITTERS would be the perfect addition to a cocktail themed Valentine basket.  I also added a bottle of their Cajun Grenadine which features the famous Ponchatoula strawberries.  And of course no Valentine is complete without some chocolates so I added some of his favorites in there too.  Considering I put the entire thing together with one hand, I was pretty impressed with this little gift.  Even if I wasn't able to tie a bow on it.  And the best part, is I do love a Valentine Pun, so I was able to add a little homemade card that said, "Valentine: Every Hour is Happy With You." Which turned out to be very true, because My Valentine is the one that helped me get through that mess of a surgery recovery. 

Valentine: Every Hour is Happy with You!

These bitters are so unique,
and fit with my theme perfectly.

I filled the cocktail mixing glass
with a variety of his favorite candy.
(And mine too.  I ate that Reese's.)

Did you know that traditional grenadine
is made from pomegranate? THIS certified
Cajun version features Louisiana strawberries. 

Here's the whole basket.  Good thing
it didn't need a bow, because I couldn't 
tie one with one hand.

Hope this gives you some Valentine inspo!

BBQ Gift for Boys

Is it just me or are boys hard to shop for?  And by boys I mean my grown up husband.  It doesn't help that he's very particular about his things and he's also been known to treat himself.  I wouldn't dream of buying him clothes or golf stuff.  And he owns every possibly fishing lure known to man.  He does love grilling and smoking and barbecuing, although again he owns every grilling gadget and seasoning known to man.  A while back he asked if I would pick him up some towels for the patio.  I asked, "What kind of towels?" and his reply was, "You know, some towels that match our stuff, but you don't mind me using and getting dirty when I'm out here grilling."  Obviously after 30+ years I have trained him well.  He knows not to take the good towels outside.  Or mop up spaghetti sauce with them.  He has one hilarious towel I got him that hangs on his BBQ Cart and he said, "I don't want to use that one, it's too funny."  So when his birthday rolled around I could not think of anything to get him and then I remembered the towel request.  I decided surely I could build a gift around a few towels for the patio.  Perusing Bass Pro, I found this cool cast-iron casserole dish.  He loves to put things in the smoker.  Crab legs, Queso, Rice Krispie Treats, Pizza Rolls.  You name it, he's put it in the smoker.  I don't mind, except I DO MIND when he puts my beautiful bright red Le Creuset Dutch Oven in there.  That prized trophy needs to stay in the kitchen.  Once I stumbled upon the cast-iron dish and towels I just grabbed a few things to fill it up.  Sticking with the theme I added the silicone handles for said cast-iron pan, a brush to clean it and a very cool silicone pad to rest his tongs and spatulas on when he is cooking outdoors.  And I grabbed a container of the ONLY seasoning he does not own.  One created especially for game meats.  Little Devil's BF keeps us supplied with venison so that will be of great use.  Finally I added a magnet to add to our collection on our BBQ Storage cabinet.  I used a ponytail holder to form the towels into a big bow.  Because his gift might be boring barbecue and grilling stuff, but by gosh I will "Cute anything up!"

Proof I can "cute up" any ol gift, even
a boring BBQ boy gift.

Here it is before the "bow"
I scooted everything toward the
top because I knew the towels
would take up most of the space.

I used a new pony-tail holder to fold
the towels and create a bow shape.
I was too lazy to find a clear one or
one that matched the red color-scheme.
But he's a boy and did not care or 
notice.

This turned out pretty cute.  He was not aware
there was a cast-iron casserole dish available.
Thanks Lodge!  Now my fancy Le Creuset
gets to stay in the kitchen where it belongs.

Here's his "funny" towel he doesn't want to use
and get dirty.  Have fun having these lyrics
stuck in your head all day lol.

Harvest Chex Mix

So I have two things I need to admit.  First, when I made holiday themed things for the blog, I typically do it in advance.  So when you think we might be eating Eerie Eyeball Pasta Salad the week of Halloween, we are really eating it in August or September.  So during the month of October, I was busy planning Fall and Thanksgiving themed things to make.  When I came up with this Harvest Chex Mix as an idea for Thanksgiving snacking, or little hostess gifts for Thanksgiving Day, I really made it in October.  The second thing I will admit it although the intention is for the Bugles chips to look like little cornucopias for Thanksgiving, I bagged this Chex Mix up and gave it away for Halloween.  All of my family and friends got a cute little Halloween sack full of this and I flat out admitted, "This is really a Thanksgiving-themed snack mix but it's for the blog so pretend this is a Halloween gift."  No one complained, because it's pretty tasty and so cute.  I think a big bowl of this for guests to munch on while the Thanksgiving meal is being prepared would be ideal.  Or to enjoy while watching those holiday football games.  OR bagged up into Thanksgiving-themed treat bags as a cute little hostess gift if you happen to be visiting someone else's home for the holiday meal.  The colors are perfect for the holiday and the addition of the candy pumpkins and candy corn look just like Thanksgiving.

Perfect for Thanksgiving season - with the 
cute little Bugle "Cornucopias"

The Ingredients

In a large bowl, combine the 
Chex cereal, the Bugles and the 
pretzel sticks.

Melt the butter and brown sugar
together over low heat.  You could add
pumpkin spice or apple pie spice at
this point, but I like keeping the mixture
fairly plain so you can taste all of the 
other ingredients.

Divide the mixture between two
baking sheets and bake.

Once the mixture has cooled,
add in the candy ingredients.

Serve and enjoy or bag up to give
as little gifts.

Perfect for holiday snacking,

Makes a cute little hostess gift too.

HARVEST CHEX MIX

1 (12 ounce) box Rice Chex Cereal
1 small bag (7 ounces) Bugles corn snacks
4 cups pretzel sticks
2 (movie sized) boxes Reese's Pieces
1 bag candy corn
1 bag harvest mix (the candy corn mix with the pumpkins)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  In a large bowl combine the Rice Chex, Bugles and pretzels.  In a small pan, melt together the butter and brown sugar until well combined.  Pour the butter mixture of the chex mixture and toss to coat.  Divide mixture evenly between the two baking sheets and place in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes, stir and then bake for an additional 15 minutes.  (If you can't fit both baking sheets on the same rack in the oven, when you remove them at the 15 minutes point to stir, switch the pans between the racks.) Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  Stir in the remaining candy ingredients before serving.

 

Halloween Fruit Char-BOO-terie Board

I was working on blog stuff the other day and it dawned on me that September was nearly over and that I had very little "Halloween-y" stuff to post about for the month of October.  Fortunately my Oklahoma Sooners football team had a bye week.  If you know me, then you know our entire Fall revolves around tailgating and football.  So a bye week is a true gift, where I get a break from tailgating prep and actually have some time to get other things done.  Now don't get me wrong, there was no rest for the weary around here this past weekend.  We went to a concert on Friday night AND Sunday night.  You know how much Mr. Devilish Dish and I enjoy live music.  But don't think just because the Oklahoma Sooners weren't playing that he didn't watch football all day long on Saturday.  When I asked what he had planned for Saturday he replied, "I'm watching the Ryder Cup Golf Tournament and about 400 football games on the patio." To which I said, "Great!  I'll make you some snacks but it won't be buffalo wings and queso.  It's gonna be Halloween-themed treats for my blog for the month of October."  So I spent my day in and out of the kitchen creating, taking pictures and snacking with him on the patio.  It was actually kind of funny to see his face when I brought these things out.  You'll see in upcoming posts all of the silly things I came up with.  All of them are super cute, and while they're all fun and appropriate for any kind of Halloween meal or party, a lot of them would be ideal for kids.  And my Littlest Tiny Devils are all the way in Colorado, so I served all of these juvenile snacks to my beer drinking, football watching husband.  He just laughed and was a great sport about the entire thing, as he is a huge part of the Devilish Dish, and always supportive.  Which just proves that ANY of these spooky snack ideas are perfect for kids and adults alike!

This little fruit Char-BOO-terie Board
so was fun to create. 
 I actually took this to a breakfast tailgate
that happened to fall on October 31st a
couple of years ago.  
We have a lot of kids at our tailgate
and I knew this would be a huge hit.  

HALLOWEEN FRUIT CHAR-BOO-TERIE BOARD

For this board you will need:

Mini Oranges -peeled (like Cuties or Mandarin Oranges)
Celery sticks - cut into small pieces to create the "pumpkin stems"
Bananas - peeled and cut into halves to create the "ghosts"
Purple icing for ghost faces
Green apples - cut into wedges
Creamy Peanut Butter
Mini Marshmallows
More celery sticks
Candy Eyes and Halloween Sprinkles
Mini Skewers
Cantaloupe cubes
Blackberries

Peel the oranges and use small pieces of celery to create the pumpkins.

Cut the bananas in half and make ghost faces with purple icing.

Spread creamy peanut butter onto an apple wedge and prop another apple wedge over it - slightly offset to create a "mouth."  Stick the mini marshmallows to the peanut butter to look like teeth.  Apply candy eyes with a drop of peanut butter or purple icing.

Spread peanut butter onto celery sticks and decorate with Halloween Sprinkles and Candy Eyes.

Alternate the Orange Cantaloupe cubes and Blackberries onto mini skewers for a pop of Halloween color.

A Totally Awesome 1980s Party

 I am a true 80's kid.  You know...Generation X: Raised on hose water and neglect.  Literally.  Commercials came on right before the evening news and said, "It's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are?" Television had to REMIND our parents to summon us home for bedtime.  It was truly a different time, and if you know you know.  We loved it.  Now I have my great nephews, the Littlest Devils making me kind of a pseudo grandmother.  A really cool Gen X grandmother.  You know Mr. Devilish Dish and I love live music.  In the last year we've seen Adam Ant, Psychedelic Furs, The Church, Duran Duran, Rick Springfield, The English Beat, Wang Chung, Paul Young, John Waite, Toto, Christopher Cross and Men at Work.  (Not including countless Red Dirt and other genres, but this is an 80's post!) Take me back!  Anyway, now that I am a cool Gen X G-ma, I saw these adorable personalized beaded bracelets.  I wanted them with the Littlest Devils names on them but they were kind of pricy.  You know I'm a crafty girl, so I landed upon the idea to make some custom bracelets (think those Swiftie style bangles) and it reminded me of the good 'ol days when we made friendship bracelets.  I remember in 10th Grade, I had a class with Mr. DD and he asked me to make a friendship bracelet for him.  Mind you he was NOT my boyfriend at the time.  He was just one of the cutest boys in the whole school and a very preppie golfer-type.  I remember spending hours at the craft store putting together the exact combination of embroidery threads to make him the ultimate preppie boy friendship bracelet.  Apparently it worked because we've been together over 30 years now.  Since I am still an 80s girl at heart, the night I decided to try my hand at creating the beaded bracelets, I invited over some crafty friends and decided to make a true 80's themed feast.  Not only did we create some totally awesome bracelets and have some good food and good laughs, we turned on YouTube and found some videos with assemblages of old 1980's commercials.  It was hilarious hearing, "Where's the Beef?" and "Mikey Likes It."  I hope this inspires your next get-together for some 80's themed fun!

Here's the full spread.  This was so much fun 
planning and putting together.

No 80s party is complete without some glow
necklaces and bracelets.

Remember the Sea Monkeys? My mom would NEVER
let me have those.  We enjoyed Shrimp Cocktail with
Mr. Devilish Dish's SPICY COCKTAIL SAUCE.

I made a small "charcuterie board" and cut a brie
cheese to look like Pac-Man.  I just added some salami,
crackers and fresh grapes.

The hardest part of the whole night was hollowing
out a cabbage for the "Cabbage Patch" relish tray.
Just ranch dip served in a cabbage with some
fresh veggies.

Remember hitting the mall for an Orange Julius?
Not only do I have a recipe for the DRINK HERE,
but I have a FRUIT DIP that tastes exactly like the
original drink.  We enjoyed that with fresh berries.

I added a bowl of candy and glow sticks.
Most of the candy I found at Dollar Tree.
Pop Rocks and Ring Pops were the thing
back then!

I hope you get some inspiration for your own 80s party.  This was kind of a spur of the moment event, but I know I will use these ideas in the future.  This could be the beginnings of a great costume or birthday party.