I've been hosting a TONY's party for the past 8 years. Started with Sally Atkinson and Hilary Johnson Ayer, its been a special party for the three of us who started our NYC adventures together in 2003 and had a common love for Broadway.

When I learned that my best friend Sally Atkinson was pregnant, I started the planning for the baby shower. They decided not to find out the gender and at 1st I wasn't excited about coming up with ideas for the shower, but then I got inspired by the popular spring colors (red, yellow, green) and lots of ideas started coming together. I had a lot of fun shopping for the decorations for the shower.

I had the pleasure of spending a couple weeks in Michigan babysitting my niece and nephews. Last time I babysat we did a special party for the kids so I wanted to throw them a St. Patty's Day Party. We had a blast eating and playing capture the shamrock, hide the pot of gold, and duck duck leprechaun.

With the success of my Valentines menu last year, I decided that I would do one again this year…lots of red (raspberry and strawberry), hearts (heart shaped ravioli & heart pillow).

Suzi Yebio hosted. Keeping with the tradition we started last year, Morgan found some bingo sheets online, we had 4 versions this year. We had brisket, pizza, hot dogs with JDawg sauce, white bean dip, Suzi’s amazing trifle, lots of brownies and more.

My 1st time roasting a duck was a great experience. I’d definitely do it again…in fact, this Test Nest duck was better than any duck I’ve had at a restaurant.

My roommate Amber Robinson and I both love fall and holidays and wanted to do a Halloween themed party…but we didn’t have time to do all of the work Test Nest style. I was looking through a booklet of Panini recipes and it hit me…lets do a Panini buffet…so the 1st Annual Panini BOOffet was born.

Months back I had the most amazing appetizer ever at Amada Tapas Restaurant in Philadelphia. I had to recreate it - it was AMAZING. Dates, stuffed with Marcona Almonds, wrapped in bacon and then a blue cheese truffle sauce over the warm dates right out of the oven.

With all of my canning projects and a really busy work schedule in September, I needed to take a break from Test Nest. October started back with a FALLabulous menu. My favorite time of the year, I was excited to test recipes influenced by fall’s best offerings.

The Frozen Chocolate Caramel Parfaits were AMAZING. The caramel could be stronger. The hot fudge sauce was great. Because the mousselike parfaits are so rich the portions could even be smaller. This is not a quick dessert to make, it does take some time, but definitely worth it.