Saturday, June 25, 2011

TeamBuilding Cupcake Challenge

TeamBuilding Unlimited announces the addition of a new fun interactive and delicious activity that capitalizes on your team's creativity and sweet tooth. This is a great event to do before or after a meal and can be incorporated into your lunch, dinner or afternoon teambuilding treat. THE CUPCAKE CHALLENGE!

Each team will be given paper to start, so they can create a Team Chef’s Hat! Individuals decorate their chef's hat with their team name and anything else they feel is appropriate..or not.

Then the real fun begins. Teams are challenged to Decorate their Cupcakes so that they symbolize the team itself, the company, the theme of the meeting, their positions at the company, or another theme. 

In addition each team will be given materials to create a ‘DISPLAY’ in which they’ll be able to stack their treats into showpieces. Prizes will be given to best overall display!

Each team will be given Cupcakes that can be decorated or left as is. With a variety of cupcake design supplies, tools and assorted decorating materials, the group will turn their concept into reality.
After the cupcakes are designed, decorated and displayed, each team will create a ‘commercial’ to present their cupcakes to the entire group.

And last but not least, participants will enjoy their creations.

You can have your Cupcake and Eat it, too!

Contact TeamBuilding Unlimited for more information

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Wacky Wine Games Team Building


Because so many of our clients hold meetings and special events at wineries and wine country properties or they like a wine themed event, TeamBuilding Unlimited has created a special "menu" of wine specific team building events. Great in wine country, but these events can take place anywhere.
   
Contact us if you're planning an event in wine country or want wine-themed teambuilding or entertainment at your next meeting or special event!

Perfect for high-energy team building fun in the Vineyards (or anywhere)! This series of Wacky Wine Games capitalizes on the locale! Games are customized to include the team, goals and objectives (to have fun!). Games might include: Wine Trivia Contest, Cork Building Tower, Harvesting Grapes (hilarious 2-3 person team event with catcher's mitts, grapes & more), Marketing Wine T-Shirt (creation, modeling & explanation), Golf Among the Grapes (funny spin on a Hole in One!) and many more! Prizes for the winning team? Wine, of course!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Zoo Scavenger Hunt: It's all happening at the Zoo!

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo.    

I do believe it,
I do believe it's true.

The monkeys stand for honesty,
Giraffes are insincere,
And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb.
Orangutans are skeptical

Is your workplace a zoo?

TeamBuilding Unlimited will custom design a ZooQuest to navigate your team through the animal kingdom at your local Zoo.  TeamBuilding Unlimited will use creative anthropomorphism in our  ZooQuest to allow your people to see each other through animal eyes.

Creativity, efficient resource allocation, intensive problem-solving and effective time management will propel teams into the wild as they learn the secrets of the Animal Kingdom and their peers.

Any Legal Eagles out there? Perfect for your team. Contact us for more information. Groups of 5 to 300. Any Zoo in the U.S.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Pie in a Jar: Wedding Favors

June is Wedding month, and I mentioned in 2009 that Pies were fast taking over wedding cakes and cupcake towers. But what about pies as favors and treats?  Pie in a Jar!  I have another blog: DyingforChocolate.com where I post chocolate recipes, reviews and news! One of the posts was for Kentucky Chocolate Nut Pie in a Jar. This is really a version of Derby Pie, and it's perfect for a Southern Wedding. Easy to make, store and the perfect take home treat!

One thing I changed in the original recipe is substituting Bourbon for the vanilla in the directions. You can always write vanilla (or Bourbon optional) on your recipe gift card. The following recipe is for big jars, but you can always do the small mason jars for the wedding! Adjust the recipe!

KENTUCKY NUT PIE IN A JAR

Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar (or use half brown and half granulated)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup coursely chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

Preparation:
Pour sugar into a lightweight food storage bag. Tie bag and cut off some of the excess and fit bag into the bottom of a 1-quart wide-mouth canning jar. Pour in half of the nuts, the chocolate chips, and remaining nuts. Into food storage bag, add flour and pinch of salt. Tie with twine or ribbon and cut off excess plastic bag end, if necessary. Fit into the top of the jar then screw on top.

Directions for gift tag or label:
Kentucky Derby (Chocolate Chip Nut) Pie

Kentucky Derby (Chocolate Chip Nut) Pie Mix
1 9-inch pastry shell, unbaked
4 ounces (1 stick) melted sweet butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp Bourbon

Preheat oven to 325°
Remove the bag of flour from jar; set aside. Pour nuts and chocolate chips into pie shell, spreading evenly. In a small mixing bowl, whisk 2 eggs. Remove sugar bag and empty the sugar and flour bags into the bowl, stirring to blend well. Whisk in 1 teaspoon Bourbon or a splash more (or vanilla) and the 4 ounces melted butter. Blend well. Pour batter evenly over nuts and chocolate chips. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until nicely browned. Chill thoroughly before cutting. Serve with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

***

Want to try a different type of Pie in a Jar? Not just flavor but actual ready to bake mini-pies in a jar?  Green Wedding Shoes did a post last year on DIY Pie in a Jar Treats. How fun would this be to do at a Bridal Shower or Bacherlorette party? Or maybe the wedding party gets together and makes these fabulous Pie in a Jar treats. These pies can be baked right in the jar! Of course, if you plan to make this for everyone at the wedding, you'll need to increase your ingredients.  The following recipe calls for baking in advance, but you can always give the unbaked jars with directions attached! Just a thought.

DIY PIE IN A JAR!

Ingredients:
Pie Crust Dough (favorite recipe or pre-made)
2 12 oz. cans of cherry, apple or your favorite pie filling (I love all natural Chukar's Cherry Pie Filling)
2 Tbsp  sugar
1 large egg beaten

Supplies:
6- 4 oz. mason jars, cleaned with lids and labels removed
Heart shaped cookie cutter
1 Cookie sheet

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Press the unrolled dough bit by bit into the jars a bit at a time (not too thick!) until the jars are lined with the dough up to the rims. Reserve some dough for toppers. Next, fill jars nearly to the top with filling of choice.
2. Roll out reserved dough to roughly 1/8 inch thick and cut out 6-8 hearts. Place the filled jars on a sturdy cookie sheet and place into oven.
3. Bake at 325 degrees for roughly 30-35 minutes or until dough becomes a light golden color.
4. At that time, arrange the dough hearts on the pies, brush the hearts with the egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes until dough is golden brown all the way around the jars. If needed, place foil over the tops of the jars to keep the hearts from burning.
5. Remove and let jars cool on a rack. Decorate with ribbon, tags, or labels on lids as desired and give to your family, friends or wedding guests!