Sarah Fern

This season I am crazy in love with the red and black buffalo plaid. I always start with a real tree, we get ours from Home Depot and their trees have been fantastic year after year plus the price point is great, our tree was $30. I mix in a neutral color like ivory with the boldness of the red, black and gold to give the decor a warm and inviting feeling. Other fantastic and simple way to add some depth to your theme are stockings, a table runner, napkins and of course throw pillows.

We followed the recipe to a "T" except for the espresso powder, we could not find it at our local store, so we used instant coffee instead. My favorite to use is Medaglia D'Oro Instant Coffee (it's an Italian instant espresso) that you can find a most local grocery store chains. For instance, in the buttercream do not add both the instant coffee mix (because you have to make it with water) and the additional water that is called for in the recipe. Long the way we had a very good taste tester, our son, to make sure the cake was good enough for his grandma, needless to say, he did an amazing job.