Category Archives: Food

Festive Ideas for a Memorial Day Gatherings

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Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start to summer, is just a few weeks away!

We imagine that most people spend the long weekend with family and friends, enjoying food, fun and one another’s company. Below are a few of our favorite ideas for a fabulous and memorable event:

Start by setting the mood with music that lends itself to a patriotic spirit. SheKnows suggests including traditional patriotic favorites, like The Star-Spangled Banner and John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever, as well as popular tunes like Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA.

Continue the patriotic mood with decorations in red, white, and blue and stars and stripes. Below are a few ideas we rounded up on Pinterest:

having a Memorial day gathering at your apartment

Photo from Party Frosting Blog via Pinterest

memorial day party ideas

Photo via Pinterest

memorial day decorations

Photo from Today’s Creative Blog via Pinterest

memorial day decor

Photo via Pinterest

There’s no set-in-stone recipe for a perfect Memorial Day meal. Many people choose to cookout and grill hamburgers and hot dogs. If that’s your plan, you can always jazz things up  a bit by marinating your meat in a tasty salad dressing, grilling them with barbecue sauce, or adding onion soup to the mix for extra flavor.

memorial day cookout

Photo via piyato / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In addition to potato chips and pasta salad, you can also add a grilled vegetable side dish to go along with your meal. We found a recipe on the Food Network website that is filled with several tasty veggies.

recipes for memorial day gatherings

Photo via Food Network

Of course, your party won’t be complete without delicious drinks and desserts. PunchBowl has several festive cocktail recipes on hand that follow the patriotic theme like a Red, White, and Blue Martini or a Patriotic Shirley Temple.

memorial day recipes

Photo via Sura Nualpradid / Freedigitalphotos.net

And below are a few spirited desserts that are sure to please your guests.

patriotic recipes

Photo via Bhg.com

patriotic desserts

Photo via Pinterest

memorial day desserts

Photo via Buzzfeed.com

How will you be celebrating Memorial Day this year? Will you be spending time cooking out and hanging out at your property’s swimming pool, or are you planning to travel during the long weekend? Leave a comment to share with us!

Make Your Own Chocolate for Valentines

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chocolateFebruary is all about love. Whether the object of your affection is a romantic partner, your children, your parents, your best friend, or even yourself, you deserve to celebrate that relationship in a special way on Valentine’s Day. This year, why not go above and beyond by transforming the classic (some might even say cliché) gift of candy into a meaningful gesture by making your very own chocolate. Sound too hard? It doesn’t have to be!

Better Homes and Gardens offers this detailed recipe and step-by-step instruction guide on how to make the perfect homemade chocolate. We especially love the helpful tips they’ve sprinkled throughout the guide to make the process as smooth as possible. For example, did you know that you should constantly stir chocolate while it’s melting to prevent it from scorching?

While the BHG recipe is easy to follow, you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time to start baking, especially if this is your first foray into homemade chocolate. Make a few batches in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Find cute wrapping paper and you could hand these out as gifts at work or even bring a few to your neighbor. The unexpected gesture is often the most memorable.

If you’re celebrating with your significant other or even hosting a Singles Awareness Day soiree in the evening, this recipe could make for a great activity for you and your sweetheart or guests. Several of our TriBridge apartments, like Jackson Square at the Hermitage, feature gourmet kitchens that make for the perfect setting. Add some candle light and music, and you’re sure to have a fun and romantic evening.

You can make the event as elegant or as low key as you’d like by choosing different kinds of toppings and bases to drizzle the chocolate on. Go with fresh fruit like strawberries, pineapples, oranges, or cranberries. Or, put out bowls of pretzels, marshmallows, cookies, dried nuts, and brownies and allow your guests to create their own customized chocolates.

Whether you’re spending Valentine’s Day with someone special, a great group of friends, or if you just want to spread the love to some unexpected recipients, make sure you find a way to spread the love. If you have a unique Valentine’s Day gift or date idea, share it with us on our facebook page.

photo via flickr

Throw a Festive Fête for Mardi Gras

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mardi gras party

Mardi Gras is almost here, and just because you may not live in the Big Easy doesn’t mean you shouldn’t celebrate in style. “Mardi Gras” is French for “Fat Tuesday” and will fall on February 12th, this year. While the day was originally a faith-based holiday, it has now evolved into a celebration of cultural uniqueness and different cultures “uniting under the common theme of being people who like to have fun and enjoy each other and have a great time.”

Brazil, Venice, and New Orleans are known for throwing the most famous Mardi Gras celebrations around the world. While we can’t give you a plane ticket to one of those cities to enjoy the festivities, we can share ideas on how to bring the party atmosphere straight to your TriBridge apartment.

Invitations

First impressions are the most important, and the first impression of a party is the invitation. Make sure your invitations signal the right mood. If you are planning a small get-together of just your closest friends and family, a phone call or email will suffice. If you’re setting your sights a little higher and planning to host a larger gathering or a more formal affair, festive invitations are a great way to set the tone. Pinterest is a great place to go for a little invitation inspiration.

Neighbor relations are very important in an apartment. If you know and enjoy your neighbors, send them an invitation as well. That way they can enjoy the festivities instead of just hearing them. If you don’t want to invite neighbors, consider letting them know you’ll be having guests over and when you plan to end the party. A little consideration can go a long way!

Food

The invitations will bring guests to your Mardi Gras party, but the food will make them stay. The most quintessential Mardi Gras cuisine is the King Cake. If you’re feeling ambitious and want to bake your own cake, you might find this video tutorial from All Recipes helpful. You can also order king cakes online if you prefer to stay out of the kitchen.

Décor

Now that you have festive invitations and a proper king cake, it’s time to bring the atmosphere to life. There are two routes you can take here; the traditional route or the eclectic route. The first option focuses on Mardi Gras traditions: lots of gold and purple and green, beaded necklaces, and feathered masks. This Mardi Gras wreath from Etsy makes a fun and beautiful welcome. For a whimsical twist, try these sparkly gold mustache cupcake toppers

The eclectic route lets you think a little outside the box. While you should still incorporate the traditional elements of Mardi Gras, your party can also strive to celebrate New Orleans’ style. Use the iconic New Orleans jazz music as your backdrop for the evening. We love these jazz instrument cut outs as décor options as well. The fleur de lis is an official symbol of Louisiana and is particularly associated with New Orleans, so it also makes a great decorative flourish. You can even wear them in this festive headband!

We hope these tips help you plan the party of the year. If you have other ideas for throwing the perfect Mardi Gras party, share them with our other residents on our Facebook page.

Image via Morguefile

Bring Your Pup to Dinner near Your TriBridge Apartment!

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Yorkie at the table

Bring your dog along to dinner!

If you live in one of our beautiful pet-friendly TriBridge apartment communities, then you’ll be glad to know that there’s no reason to leave your pooch behind when going out to dinner. There are probably plenty of great nearby restaurants that will welcome your dog to join you for a bite to eat and you can find them all with a little help from Bring Fido!

Bring Fido is a great website that will help you find the all the bistros and bars that will let your dog join you. So next time you’re getting out of your TriBridge apartment home to take in some local culture and get a bite to eat, look up the great nearby places you can take your dog on Bring Fido.

Do you have a favorite pet-friendly restaurant or bar near your TriBridge apartment? If so, share it with us in the comments!

Photo via morgueFile

Balcony Gardening: What to Plant for Fall

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The balcony of your TriBridge apartment home can become your own garden spot will very little effort on your part. Fall is the perfect time for starting a container garden out on your balcony.

Since the fall is cooler and has a shorter growing time than spring, you want foods that will grow fast and mature quickly. Leafy greens are just the thing for fall growing. They are fast growing and don’t require as much sunlight to absorb nutrients and water. Plus, the upcoming holidays are a great time to use all the fresh herbs you can grow.

cilantro

Now's the perfect time to grow some herbs on your balcony!

Spring is easy, but what are the best things to start growing in the fall? Start by giving a few of these plants a try:

  • lettuce
  • spinach
  • kale
  • Swiss chard
  • herbs (cilantro, chives, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme do well at this time of year)

You can even give tomatoes a try in many areas of the Southeast so long as your balcony remains frost free. Just make sure to look for plants that are larger and already have buds.

Check with a local nursery or Growing in Fall to get more information.

Do you have a container garden? Comment and tell us what you’re growing right now!

Photo via morgueFile