Custom Dessert and Candy Buffets

Parties are like food and water: a necessity to sustain life. So yes, we may be in a recession, but all the more reason to embrace people and relationships (which are free) rather than expensive cars and vacations. So with the holidays here, I suggest not forgoing your party because of the "economic climate" but simply pairing it down a little. Skip the standard four course gluttonous meal and just have a dessert and drinks shindig. A Custom Dessert and Candy Buffet looks expensive but is an affordable way to host a memorable party for any occasion, not just the holidays.

The hottest trend right now at parties and events are candy and dessert buffet tables. Jaw dropping presentation adds to your decor, provides guests with irresistible desserts, and take home bags provide as parting gifts!

Each table is designed with your theme, colors, logo, and occasion in mind. Copious, fun, and visually thrilling, candy and dessert buffets are a unique and affordable way to thrill your guests and brand your event.

Goodie Bag uses a blend of top quality commercial candy and homemade desserts for your table. We can also make your dessert table completely organic, sugar free, Kosher, or gluten free. Take home bags can be uniquely designed for your event.

Cookies and Celebrities

Goodie Bag confirms that the Los Angeles stereotype of size zero, fitness crazy, bony celebrities is a misleading perception. Duh. From Crumbs Cupcakes to Dan Tana's pasta Diavolo, the Los Angeles population knows when it is time to indulge. And when Goodie Bag hosts a holiday cookie exchange for the Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants, it is time to indulge.

On a cool evening at the Bel Air Bay Club on the scenic PCH, 70 celebrity personal assistants gathered for food, drinks, gifts, warm fire, and brought their favorite cookies. Goodie Bag set the scene with glittery Christmas trees, an oversized center piece filled with red and white candy and flowers, apothecary jars, cake stands, and candy cane adorned mugs of Amaretto spiked chocolate milk.

Guests received invitations which told them to bring a dozen cookies and a stack of recipes (invitations made by Goodie Bag) on either Gingerbread House ornaments made of actual gingerbread, giant candy cane colored lollipops, or red and white striped oven mitts with wooden spoons attached. As guests poured in, the table came to life with overflowing amounts of chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread men, sprinkle cookies, sugar cookies, chocolate chocolate chip cookies, molasses cookies, snickerdoodles, biscotti, tea cookies, Gluten free cookies, Peanut Butter cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies, shortbread cookies.....and the list grows but I am going to get on with it and stop making your mouth water. The cookie exchange was fun for the celeb assistants because they got to go home with 12 new cookies and a new recipe book that was assembled in a custom made album (see picture above). Maybe it was the Amaretto chocolate milk, or the insane abundance of cookies, but the exchange was a frenzy of "oooohs" and "ahhhs" and kid-like shoving to get to the biggest most delicious looking cookies. All in all, the cookie exchange was a huge success, interactive, indulgent, fun, different, and the display looked like a piece of irresistible, festive, edible artwork.

To host your own cookie exchange Goodie Bag recommends using consistency by picking a theme (colors, shapes, or ingredients) and getting creative with every aspect of your party by using your theme throughout from invitations, to drinks, to decor.

For party planning help, or other elaborate dessert and candy buffets visit www.goodiebagevents.com

The Association of Celebrity Personal Assistants is an international organization that holds monthly networking meetings. www.acpa-la.com

Take Me to the Gala!

Whoever said that you can't have fun after college was definitely not a Jew. Or definitely not a Jew that attends the FIDF Gala. That's right guys....it's that time of the year again--The Young Leadership group of the Friends of Israeli Defense are hosting their annual gala this Saturday, November 14th. Besides the typical food, booze, and general fun, this gala is a party planner's dream with a Roaring 20's theme. You can bet that there will be fringe dresses, top hats, and feathers galore! I can't think of a more glamorous theme. Now this is a Kosher party which means I probably won't be drinking my gimlet out of a bathtub (unless a Rabbi has blessed it), but there will be plenty of amazing ways to enjoy the night and raise money for the Israeli military; a cause that all Jews should be supporting. Israeli troops make headlines everyday trying to keep the small but controversial nation of Israel safe and on Saturday night we hope to make even a small difference. The Los Angeles theater is the quintessential place to hold a Roaring 20's party with the antique glass accents, floor to ceiling columns, rich velvet drapes, Tiffany sconces, and carved wooden walls. Poker tables will be buzzing and raffle tickets selling within the picturesque setting. To buy tickets visit www.fidfyl.org/gala2009/invite.html To host your own Roaring 20's or Speakeasy party visit www.goodiebagevents.com

Hello Dahling!

There is no lack of adorable, cute girls in this crazy beautiful town of Los Angeles, but the Dessert Darling is a step (or 10) above your typical gal. Cute, smart, funny, sweet, and passionate about desserts, the Dessert Darling artfully critiques desserts ALL DAY LONG on www.dessertdarling.com.

Goodie Bag was fortunate enough to find the Dessert Darling via the omnipotent powers of Facebook and ever since then it has been like peanut butter and chocolate, cinnamon and sugar, strawberries and cream, carmel and apples....ok, I think you get the point.....absolute delicious harmony!

In a time when critics aren't really critics and more like food Mafioso, the best part about about the Dessert Darling is that her blog is un-bias, straight to the point, and fun to read. This chica knows her desserts for the good and the bad. This darling's palate is sensitive to even the slightest imperfections and flavors that you can be sure that she isn't scarfing down the ubiquitous molten chocolate souffle and telling you its delicious. No way. This DD takes the time to decipher the various layers of flavor and then takes another bite to be sure. And then maybe a few bites after.

Goodie Bag (baker of custom ordered fine and convenient desserts for gifts and parties) was recently reviewed by the Dessert Darling. I'm happy to say that Goodie Bag's pumpkin desserts got the big approval, however in one dessert, the DD was able to pick up on the canned cream cheese frosting that had been turned into a pumpkin frosting with the addition of fresh pumpkin puree. Dang this girl is good.

For the no-joke-real-deal review of everything dessert visit www.dessertdarling.com. You can find the Dessert Darling's review of Goodie Bag's Pumpkin Streusel Cheese Tart with Gingersnap Crust in the Golden Cherry reviews!

Stay tuned for more DD and GB recipes for fun!

If Rodin Made Chocolate.....

Ok people, if you have nothing to be stunned about in this world, you now have something to make your jaw drop and then proceed to salivate. This something is Lee Gelfond Chocolate in Beverly Hills and its chocolate in a form you rarely encounter in this world.

This tucked away and hidden store front produces the most incredible chocolate sculptures and confections you have every seen. They can make you anything in the form chocolate. No joke. Want your favorite Prada shoes to be edible? No problem. Need a centerpiece that sparks conversation? How about a whole chocolate Disney motif with overflowing characters and candy?

I thought you'd be interested! As a party planner Jenn (owns the shop) is a dream come true. Her chocolate can turn any party into a masterpiece with her chocolates which can be used as anything from a gift to a place card to a decorative ensemble and she is an absolute doll!

For more information on Lee Gelfond visit www.gelfondchocolate.com

For help planning your next party visit www.goodiebagevents.com

Make it a PRYORIty Event

If you live in Los Angeles, or you've been to Los Angeles, or you've read about Los Angeles, then you know a party is not a hard thing to find. Every store, club, restaurant, and promoter is throwing a party for some reason or another; the ubiquitous birthday party, alcohol launch, charity, store opening, and the list goes on. Though these parties are cool, I am not here to tell you about the oh-so-common drunken, celeb studded parties you read about in Us Magazine every week. I am going to enlighten you and teach you about a Pryor Event.

Julie Pryor, a creative, warm, and incredible wedding planner has a heightened sense of elegance and brilliance which makes her weddings and (select) events rare, like a sparkling, opulent jewel. She takes a concept and turns it into an Event with a capital E.....no corners cut, every detail thoroughly planned out. I spent some time browsing Julie's site, www.pryorevents.com, and I have to say that my favorite image is from a wedding where the guests took home mini chocolate versions of the wedding cake. Simple, delicious, and just so clever!

There are just so many companies and names out there that can plan your wedding but for a truly special and over the top experience I know that Julie Pryor is your "go-to." Like her events, Julie is a rare find of genuine kindness, dedication, and warmth. I know that if I am relying on one person to put together a monumental occasion they better be awesome to work with otherwise why would I hire them? Julie is a true veteran (going on 15 years of wedding planning) and a true Event planner with a flare for detail, beauty, and taking care of her clients.

So if you, or your sister, or your best friend, or your dad's cousin's best friend's hairdresser has a need to throw a unique wedding or exceptional event, you now know who to call. Julie Pryor, duh.

And just as a footnote, if you if you, or your sister, or your best friend, or your dad's cousin's best friend's hairdresser has a need to throw a dinner party, Halloween party, holiday party, birthday party, kid's party, or any budget friendly event, you know who to call. Goodie Bag Events, duh.

Pryor Events can be found at www.pryorevents.com

The Charitable Crumb's Cupckae Cure

Yes, breast cancer sucks, but in the midst of tragedy, good and yummy things are born. And so with October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, life is full of pink bits of deliciousness, courtesy of Crumbs Bakeshop. Tuesday night marked a fabulous evening of mini spa treatments (thank you Kevin Josephson Salon), pink cocktails (thank you Jett Vodka), organic finger foods (thank you Le Pain Quotidien), a silent auction (too many people to thank for that one), and the hit of the night, a decadent assortment of mini Crumbs cupcakes.
For anyone wondering, yes, the night was a big success, but it was these special pink cupcakes that I can't stop thinking about. First of all, the generosity of people and businesses is always astounding to me, but Crumbs seems to take it to a new level by donating a portion of the sales to the Breast Cancer Coalition as well as providing our fundraiser (benefiting My Vision) with these rich cream cheese frosting filled mini vanilla cupcakes with adorable with pink ribbons. I think I ate 9, but it was in the name of charity, so I have to forgive myself, right? (Now I am going to have to host a Diabetes fundraiser! Kidding.) I talked to one of the Crumbs partners and learned that the socially aware company is active in the fight against Breast Cancer and loves to support functions with these perfect cupcakes. A cupcake alone may not cure cancer, but they certainly add to the success of a party and the sweet memories of a charitable event.

Suneless Studio and Goodie Bag hosted a Breast Cancer Awareness party to benefit My Vision on October 13th at the Kevin Josephson Salon. Thank you to so many people who made the fundraiser a sucess: our friends for attending, Jett Vodka, Le Pain, Quotidien, Lux Lashes, Lisa Kline, Dr. Kevin Sands, Crumbs, Lori Caden at Caden Concepts, J Brand Jeans, Dr. Frank Ryan, Ashford Summerville, Neuro, Shell Vacations, Mary Kay.....