Ladies Night at Island Books
We enjoyed the most lovely inaugural Ladies Night at Island Books in late November. Laurie opened up her shop for an evening of sips, snacks, shopping, and pop-up surprise vendors.
We felt so honored to partner with Laurie Raisys at Island Books for a fun night in the shop. We began the evening with some quick introductions, along with the kick-off announcement of our first Book Club selection. We’ll be reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. The first meeting of our quarterly club will be taking place on January 16, 2024. Check out our events page to register for this free event!
Our ladies night attendees were treated to Hot Toddy’s (courtesy of Cindy at Island Books), Cranberry Spritzes, harvest popcorn, and a gorgeous book-themed cookie crafted by local bakery Aunt Tiffy’s Baking Co.
We also brought in two surprise vendors for the evening. Miranda Harris Hamlin of And Arlen set up a table with her custom jewelry, along with supplies for permanent jewelry (don’t worry it’s not painful). Angi Pfleiderer,
owner and founder of ChocolateSpiel was also in attendance to sell her gorgeous, locally handcrafted chocolates.
Have you heard that we’ve just launched a quarterly Book Club? We’ll be following recommendations from Reese’s Book Club. We love that all of her selections include a woman at the center of the story. Up first we’ll be reading Tom Lake by Ann Patchett.
We’ve got this seasonal popcorn recipe on repeat this holiday season. Switch out the M&M colors and you’re set for any holiday or celebration that comes your way. This popcorn is addictive for kids and adults alike! It’s also easy to swap in vegan chocolate chips, or gluten free pretzels to meet the dietary needs of any of your guests. Enjoy!
Harvest Popcorn Recipe:
INGREDIENTS: 3 cups plain popcorn or kettle corn, 2 cups pretzels, 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (melted), 1 cup white chocolate chips (melted), 1/2 cup yellow, orange, and chocolate M&M's (or sub out for other seasonal colors).
INSTRUCTIONS: On a parchment-lined baking sheet, place a single layer of popcorn or kettle corn and pretzels.
Transfer melted chocolates to separate piping or Ziploc bags, with a corner snipped, and drizzle popcorn and pretzels with melted semisweet chocolate, making sure to drizzle lines very close together (you want the majority of the mix to be covered in chocolate).
Top with M&M's and then drizzle with melted white chocolate. Freeze or refrigerate until chocolate is firm, 20 minutes. Break into pieces and devour.
Did you miss ladies night? Fear not! You can visit the And Arlen shop in West Seattle to pick up your own permanent bracelet or anklet! Some of our guests opted to get birthstone charms to represent loved ones and children. Beautiful! Miranda also sells all types of jewelry (rings, earrings and more) and takes custom jewelry orders.
Our guests had the whole evening to mingle with friends old and new while shopping the store for holiday gifts (or new reads and goodies for themselves). We even got to have a table devoted to our top book picks. Some of our favorites include: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune, City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer, Golden Girl by Elin Hildebrand, and All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. These books along with the entire store were offered at a 10% discount for our guests for the evening.
Cindy’s Hot Toddy
INGREDIENTS:
2 quarts Trader Joe's spiced apple cider, ½ cup unsweetened cranberry juice, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 orange rings (she loves a blood orange for this), 1 tsp unsweetened dried cranberries
INSTRUCTIONS:
Set the crockpot on warm for 3 hours then on high for about 40 minutes putting the cinnamon stick, the orange rounds and cranberries in when you turn it to high.
Cindy likes to add a finger or two of bourbon (depending on the day she’s had and the night she wants).
It can happen much faster on a stove, which is how you can cheat even further to make this easy and delicious hot toddy!
We love to add a little color to our Prosecco by turning it into a Cranberry Spritz. Pro Tip: add some frozen cranberries to keep your drink cold without watering it down!
INGREDIENTS: Prosecco, dash of cranberry syrup (we used 1883 Maison Routin), splash of club soda, frozen cranberries for garnish. Adjust measurements of soda and syrup to suit your personal preference.
Island Books: Every year we shop the children’s section at Island Books for the very best stocking stuffers. Could this fluffy little penguin be any cuter?! It’ll be popping out of our kiddos stocking come Christmas morning (along with Mad Libs, festive pens and more).
The entire store is filled with so many fabulous books, cookbooks and gifts you could wrap up all of your holiday shopping in one stop! Island Books
And Arlen: We are obsessed with our delicate gold permanent bracelet from And Arlen. This West Seattle shop is filled with beautiful jewelry that is sure to please even the pickiest on your shopping list. And Arlen
ChocolateSpiel: Angi Pfleiderer of ChocolateSpiel makes the most gorgeous and delicious chocolates. Visit her website to purchase her chocolates, or to see which local market you can find her selling at! ChocolateSpiel
Aunt Tiffy’s Baking Co.: Need any beautiful (and tasty) custom cookies for an upcoming event? We ordered ours for Ladies Night from Tiffany Thompson, founder of Aunt Tiffy’s Baking Co. (she is also a fabulous instructor and taught our Winter Cookie Decorating workshops). Aunt Tiffy's Baking Co.
Until we gather again!
