Nothing says a party like cupcakes! For my 100 000 hits party, where I invited 10 readers to come for a night of food, drink and celebration, I knew that I wanted to have cupcakes on the menu. So, I went to one of my new favourite places, and today I would like to introduce you to my newest sponsor, Cupcakes Canada in Ajax, Ontario.

They have a beautiful store and as soon as you walk in your heart will skip a beat looking at the gorgeous display of cupcakes. The hardest part about going there is choosing which flavour to try!

How about their signature flavour Maple Walnut?

Or maybe Carrot Craving?

Or how about Cookies and Cream?

While you’re choosing your cupcakes up front, you’ll probably smell them being freshly baked in the kitchen. Each cupcake is freshly baked each day, and through out the day. When I stopped in one afternoon the girls were working on a batch of strawberry.

Behind the scenes, they make the swirl of icing on this Cookies and Cream look so easy!

And nothing says celebration like some sprinkles!

Rainbow Celebration sure looks sweet!

View the entire Cupcakes Canada menu here.

If you just can’t choose which to try, you can try them all in a variety pack. Cupcakes Canada will package them up for you in a beautiful take home box. Imagine bringing these to someone as a hostess gift? or teacher appreciation? or just about any occasion in the world, because who wouldn’t love to open up a big box of cupcakes?

Cupcakes Canada supplied us with an assortment of their beautiful cupcakes for the 100 000 hits party. We had an variety of their amazing flavours including Red Velvet, Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, Classic Coconut, and Lemon Zest, as well as others.

They were such a delicious addition to our menu. They looked beautiful on display, and tasted as good as they looked! Everyone loves a little sweet to look forward to, even at a cocktail party.

My favourite flavour is Very Vanilla.

Cupcakes Canada made these beautiful Vanilla cupcakes, to coordinate with our pink party colour, and packaged them in beautiful individual cupcake boxes for my guests to take home as a favour. What a sweet reminder the next day of our wonderful time together!

These would make amazing favours for any party.

Thank you so much Cupcakes Canada for the wonderful cupcakes, and you’ll be seeing me, and my friends very often, because life is a party if you make it one, and having one of these cupcakes, pretty much makes a party in itself!

Today is post No. 5 of ten, where I’m sharing all the recipes, decor, and drinks from our amazing 100 000 Hits party. Today I’m sharing one my go-to recipes for parties. It’s pretty simple to make, and really delicious. I got this recipe years ago from an afternoon talk show, and I’ve used it many, many times. It’s great with drinks at cocktail parties, or as an appetizer at a dinner party. Try it…I think you’ll like it.

Portabella Mushroom and Feta Mini Pizzas

• Pitas
• Portabella Mushrooms
• Red Onion
• Fresh Basil
• Garlic
• Pizza Sauce
• Mozarella Cheese
• Feta Cheese

1. Slice the portabella mushrooms, and chop the onion. Saute in olive oil, with a clove of minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste, until the onion is transparent.

2. Lay out pitas on a cookie sheet, as the base of the pizzas. Top with pizza sauce. Lay 5-6 fresh basil leaves on top of the sauce.

3. Top with the sautéed onion and mushroom mixture.

4. Sprinkle with small diced morarella cubes, and crumbed feta.

5. Broil, until the pizza is heated through, and the top is lightly browned. Cut into wedges and serve.

This picture is making me hungry Join us tomorrow for No.6 -Dips and Veggies, because when life is a party…you need some good recipes to serve at it!

This post is linked up at Blue Cricket Designs.

Welcome to No. 4 of my 100 000 Hits party, where I invited 10 readers, to join me for an evening of fun, food and drinks that included 10 menu items which are being featured here in 10 posts! Be sure to check out No.1-3 as well, and return everyday to see another highlight of the party!

The drinks were so much fun, I chose three feature drinks for the evening, and also offered wine, water -still and sparkling, and pop. The first drink was a classic Shirley Temple. How much fun to be reminded of being kids and ordering these at Swiss Chalet and…they’re pink, so they were perfect.

Shirley Temple

• Pour Sprite or 7 up over ice, and add 2 tsp. of Grenadine.
• Garnish with a cherry!

So simple, so yummy.

I made some fun straws to celebrate the occasion.

I wanted to offer a non-alcoholic drink for my guests, but for those who wanted, we added a shot of Vodka for a more grown-up Shirley Temple, or a Dirty Shirley!

I also offered my guests one of my favourite cocktails, a Chocolate Martini. I’ve had a few versions, but this one is by far my fav., and so easy to make. We usually make them doubles

Chocolate Martini

• one shot Vodka
• one shot Creme de Cacao

Pour into a shaker with ice, shake until well chilled and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a chocolate kiss, or a cherry.

The final special drink was a Kir Royal, which we used for a toast!

Kir Royal

• Pour 2 tbsp. Casis (black currant liqueur) into a champagne glass
• Top with sparkling wine, we used our fav. Martini Asti

They were so delicious!

Cheers to 100 000 Hits!

And to you, my readers, and all our creative endeavours together as we strive to make life a party!

This post is linked up at Sugar Bee Crafts, Blue Cricket Design, and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

It’s No. 3 of my 100 000 Hits Celebration. Today I want to share with you the recipe for my famous Stuffed Mushrooms. I have to tell you that people love these, and they are always the first thing to go at a party.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 24 button mushrooms
• 1/2 onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp. thyme

Wash the mushrooms, and remove the stems.

Set the caps aside. Cut the onion and mushroom stems very finely.

Melt the butter in a frying pan.

Sautee the onions, mushrooms, and garlic until the onion is transparent.

Add cheese, and breadcrumbs (I said 1/2 cup, but you may need a bit more, I do it by eye, but you can add until the melted butter is absorbed).

Add thyme, and salt and pepper to taste.

Then, stuff your mushroom caps using a small spoon.

Put stuffed mushrooms in a baking dish. At this stage you can cover with plastic wrap and refrigerated for a few hours until party time. A variation is to leave the parmesan cheese out of the stuffing, and instead top each mushroom with a small slice of Swiss cheese. Both versions are delicious.

Bake at 350, for about 20 minutes or until brown and tender. Serve warm.

Everyone loved these, and if you give them a try I’m sure you will too. Life is a party with stuffed mushrooms around!

Come back tomorrow for No. 4 of the 100 000 Hits Party posts, The Drinks!

This post is linked up at Just Something I Whipped Up, Skip to my Lou, Its So Very Cheri, Keeping it Simple, and Between Naps on the Porch.

No. 1 -The Mini Burgers

Life is a party, if we make it one, so when I rolled around to 100 000 hits recently, I thought why not celebrate. Since beginning this blog, about 10 months ago, it’s been a wonderful journey, and I’m very thankful to all my readers for showing up at the party, so to speak.

Friday night I got together with 10 readers for a night of fun and celebration. Over the next 10 days, I’ll be sharing all the recipes, decor ideas, and party inspiration from our girls get together. Here’s a picture of all 10 of us (well 9, one dear friend and follower came down with a sinus infection and had to cancel at the last min., we missed you Jen, feel better soon).

From the top: Kim (from Restoration House), Jennifer, Myself (Dannyelle), another Danielle, Stephanie, Heather my sister (from La Petite Fleur), Heather, another Heather, and Connie (from Telling His Stories, and who took lots of the pics for me )

I had a great time with these amazing ladies, including Kim of Restoration House. She has a great home decor blog, and if you haven’t read it yet, you should check it out. My sister Heather and her store La Petite Fleur supplied all the beautiful flowers as one of my new sponsors, and will be featured tomorrow.

Over the course of the evening we shared some great food, cocktails, and fun, which I’ll be sharing with you over the next several days. One of my new favourite party foods are these Mini Burgers.

To make the hamburger patties, use whatever your favourite burger recipe is. We started out with a couple of lbs. of lean ground beef, added dry onion soup mix, and formed into mini patties. It’s that simple. Top Tip: Make them nice and thin, or you’ll end up with mini meatballs, rather than burger shapes after you cook them.

I found mini-burger buns at the Metro, yeah! Last summer, I had to get a bakery to custom make them mini size, with a 3 doz. minimum order, now they’re regular in-stock at my local grocery store, awesome!

Earlier in the day I caramelized some onions, by cooking sliced onions over a low tempurature with a little oil, worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar until they were golden brown.

We toped the mini burgers with swiss cheese, some of the caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, and a little HP sauce. So yummy!

We served them with Kettle chips, for a cocktail size play on burgers and fries.

Life is a party, with these mini burgers.

Be sure to check back again tomorrow for a great flower arranging tutorial, and 9 more days of partying fun!

This post is linked up at Tatertots and Jello, Whipperberry, Under the Table and Dreaming, and Be Different Act Normal.