For new blog posts, please visit this site:
https://shannahatfield.com/blog/
Hope to see you there!
Posted in Entertaining at Home | Leave a Comment »
Picture a box of delicious, tender, flavorful grass-fed beef delivered right to your door.
It’s not a dream. It’s a reality with ButcherBox!
And the best part… you can send boxes of awesome meat right to the door of family and friends as gifts!
Have a hard-to-shop for guy on your list? A foodie that would love flavorful cuts of meat? ButcherBox might just be the answer to your gift-giving challenges.
Founded by Mike Salguero, the company is striving to build a new kind of food community based on making grass-fed beef available on a wider scale, provide a convenient experience, and align Americans back with nature.
Salguero was first introduced to 100% grass-fed beef through a local farmer who sold ¼ and ½ shares of cattle. Hooked after his first taste, he preferred the more natural flavor and liked the health benefits that came from grass-fed versus grain-fed beef.
He soon discovered a very small percentage of the beef produced in the United States is one hundred percent grass-fed, and largely inaccessible to many parts ofhte country.
He set about to change that.
By partnering with a group of small farms, ButcherBox is able to purchase in large quantities and pass the savings along to its customers.
The products are less expensive than similar cuts at grocery stores and ButcherBox focuses on bringing top quality right to your door.
Admittedly, I was a little dubious about having meat delivered to my home, but I gave it whirl.
The box came packed in dry ice (which is really cool – pun intended), packed inside an insulated bag. The cuts of meat are flash frozen in individual packages.
When I opened the box, the bag actually had frost on it, so no worries about the meat thawing during delivery. It was frozen solid.
The box I received had a mix of pork and beef. It included bacon, sirloin tips, top sirloin, pork chops and ground beef bricks as well a recipe card and welcome letter.
Impressed with the packaging, I soon found myself equally impressed with the meat.
The first thing we cooked was the bacon. Crispy, flavorful and so good, it got a thumbs-up from the breakfast-eaters at my house.
The pork chops were quite possibly the very best, moistest, most flavorful pork chops I’ve ever had.
The beef was full of rich, strong flavor.
ButcherBox starts at $129/month and comes with 7-10 lbs of meat. According to the website, it works out about $6.50/meal and shipping is free to the contiguous 48 states!
Shoppers can “beef” up boxes by selecting additional products like ribeye.
Right now, four box options are available including all beef, mixed box, beef and chicken, or beef and pork.
If you are looking for a fabulous gift for someone hard to shop for (or yourself) think about ordering from ButcherBox. Your taste buds will thank you.
To find out more about ButcherBox or to order from the company, visit ButcherBox.com
Posted in Entertaining at Home | Tagged Butcher Box, Gift Ideas for Men, Grass-Fed Beef, Holiday Gift Ideas | Leave a Comment »
The folks at Big Chill have come up with some great tips for creating a scary kitchen this Halloween! Here are their hauntingly hip ideas!
Got a bug for all things ghoulish? Or maybe you just know that Halloween is not your typical holiday? Halloween is a time to show off your creepy side; the side of you normally reserved for haunting cemeteries, flying on broomsticks, or mixing mysterious potions. While most of us have already outgrown trick-or-treating, there is still plenty of ghoulish celebration to be found in Halloween parties, dinner parties, or simple ghostly gatherings. And what better place to come together than the kitchen?
Your kitchen is your cozy and beloved space year-round, responsible for cooking up all kinds of trouble on a daily basis. However, this is the time of year to really cook up some bewitching magic and illusion.
With a refrigerator full of surprises and a pantry full of delicious candy, there is no better time to invite loved ones into your kitchen for a bowl of zombie brains.
Let your creep side out! Here are 10 Decorations for a Frightening Halloween Kitchen.
1.) Halloween Hutch
Give kitchen hutches and dish cabinets a spooky makeover with the addition of Halloween decorations and accessories. Introduce jack-o-lantern themed plates, skull shaped sugar dishes, or simply add spider webs where there were none before. There is no way to incorrectly decorate your Halloween hutch, as long as you stick with the general theme – The creepier, the better.
2.) Spooky Kitchen Tables
Your Halloween kitchen or dining room table display is where it all comes together. When it comes to October 31st, there is no spooky theme off limits, and there really is no strict format when it comes to ghoulish and ghastly tabletop decorations. Stick with classic black and orange colors, or stay inspired with a Tim Burton or Bride of Frankenstein theme. And don’t forget to reserve a place for Mr. Plastic Skeleton, your most important guest at dinner and source of all after-hours gossip.
3.) Spider Magnets
Glue plastic spiders or bugs to magnets to decorate your refrigerator, stove, or dishwasher with some Halloween-themed creepy crawlers.
4.) Ceiling Hats
Hang witches hats from the ceiling to remind everyone that you brew magic in the kitchen daily. Simply use tacks and clear fishing line to create the illusion that the hats are floating in mid-air.
5.) Creepy Cauldrons
Handcraft a creepy, well-utilized witches cauldron with a little bit of creativity and magic. No witches kitchen is complete without a cauldron, and can be used to serve your guests by filling it with cold sodas or punch. Try these instructions for the perfect handmade cauldron.
6.) Skeletons at Work
Freak out guests, friends, and family by propping up a skeleton in your kitchen and positioning them to perform household duties. Skeletons can do dishes, cook on the stove, or even sweep up that spilled bucket of eye balls you’ve been meaning to clean up. Now put those bones to work!
7.) Monster Knives
This one is a simple and creative way to spook up your kitchen display of knives. Simply draw or use these simple printouts to create your favorite monster, then sending him to the grave by way of your home knife collection.
8.) Ghostly Decor
Paint wine bottles to look like monsters, or spray paint mason jars to look like delicious sugary candy corn. There are endless ways to get creative and turn your kitchen into a haunted cookery your ghoulish guests will never forget.
9.) Fancy Pumpkins
Paint pumpkins in matte or metallic colors to create an eye-catching effect on traditionally orange gourds. Or, cover and glue pumpkins in lace or rhinestones to bring out your fanciest, bling-iest Halloween ghosts. Place fancy pumpkins on top of your refrigerator, in kitchen hutches, or anywhere that needs a fall-themed accessory. Small pumpkins also make perfect autumn additions to kitchen table centerpieces.
10.) Eerie Dry Ice
Nothing sends a chill up the spine like the effect of mysterious fog flowing freely from your kitchen sink. For those who aren’t afraid of a little science experiment, dry ice can be a great way to create a fog-like effect for that extra spooky Halloween touch. Look for instructions and ideas here, but be sure to read up on dry ice safety if this is your first time working with the solid form of carbon dioxide.
***
Information provided by Big Chill.
Posted in Entertaining at Home | Tagged Big Chill, Halloween, Halloween decorations, Shanna Hatfield | Leave a Comment »
Sometimes I like to share about things I think are cool – and this is definitely one of them…
NewLight Portraits™ Infuse Lighting Technology Into Any Photograph
Patented LED prints are more vivid, lifelike and impactful
Photography has evolved over time from Victorian portraits only the wealthiest could afford to smartphones that inspire users to snap shots of everything. And, sepia print photos can now be turned out on surfaces from canvas to coffee mugs. As every good photographer knows though, an impressive photo is all about lighting. Even if a print is dark and details are lost, technology from NewLight Portraits can infuse life and brilliance into any photograph.
Patented cutting edge LED technology illuminates NewLight photographs from within transforming a great picture or logo into an extraordinarily vivid portrait. NewLight Portraits are self-contained units that are only 5/16 of an inch thick. They can be framed or hung on the wall as is. Inside of NewLight Portrait are special LED lights, which highlight the focal points of any image. When the unit is turned off, it looks like a regular photograph. When the unit is turned on it illuminates an image from within making it extremely crisp, vivid and lifelike. NewLight Portraits bring out the true colors, depth and detail of an image capturing family photos, baby pictures, landscape photos, pet photos, or just about any photograph in perfect replica.
“I always thought it would be cool if I could somehow use LED lighting to not only show off my family pictures hanging on the walls of my house, but to beautify the traditional sign,” said NewLight CEO Joe Brychell. “I never thought track lighting did family portraits any justice. So, years ago I started working on the concept of lighting photographs and signage from the edge instead of the front. After about 200 prototypes and what feels like a million hours of work, I came up with a patented technique to manipulate modern LED light to evenly distribute and also highlight the focal point of a photograph from the backside. It gives me such joy to know that our customers proudly hang our products in their homes, offices and place of business to show off what is really important to them.”
NewLight Portraits need to be plugged into an outlet. They are extremely efficient and consume less power than other light sources.
NewLight Portraits are available in print sizes ranging from 8×10 to 24×36 in portrait or landscape orientations. Each portrait includes an electric plug, switch and approximately 6 feet of cord. Additional extension cords are available if needed. Most people choose to run the cord behind the wall to the portrait (this is comparable and as simple as running a single speaker wire) to hide the cord from view. For more information and custom ordering, visit: www.newlightportrait.com.
About Newlight Portrait
Always fascinated with lighting and the dramatic affects it can have on different objects, Joe Brychell created NewLight Portraits in 2016. An engineer by trade, Brychell developed and patented a method of lighting photographs and signage from the edge instead of the front. All Newlight Portraits are built in America.
Posted in Entertaining at Home, Referrals | Tagged NewLight Portraits | Leave a Comment »
Find all my books here!
Search by Category
Archives
-
Join 231 other subscribers
©2009-2018 Shanna Hatfield
Savvy Entertaining 