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Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category

Banana Cheesecake

Posted in Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays, tagged , , , on May 6, 2011| 3 Comments »


My most wonderful mother-in-law will be arriving later today for the weekend. We are pretty excited about her coming for Mother’s Day!

I wanted to make something extra special for her so I contacted my sister-in-law to find out her favorite desserts. One of them just happens to be The Cheesecake Factory’s Banana Cheesecake.

After a little bit of searching online I found the recipe and dived right in to create this treat for her.

I will warn you that it takes a bit of patience to make, but the result is most definitely worth it!

Ingredients for Banana Cheesecake.

Smash cookies until finely crushed (or pulse in food processor). At least this way, I could put Captain Cavedweller to work!

Press obliterated cookies into the bottom of a springform pan.

Mash up enough bananas to make 1 cup. I used three, and then made Captain Cavedweller mash them for me.

Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy.

Add your eggs one at a time.

Pour batter into crust.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes then reduce temp to 200 for 75-90 minutes. Mine was closer to 90 when I took it out of the oven and could probably have gone another 5-10 minutes to be done the way I would have really liked. I recommend not deciding to make this at say 7 p.m. at night because you'll be standing in your PJs staring at the stove waiting for this to be done!

You can garnish the cheesecake with slices of fresh banana, a dollop of whipped cream, whatever floats your boat. My boat was floating on caramel sauce, Heath bits and chocolate swirlies.

Enjoy!

Banana Cheesecake

1 package vanilla sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

24 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

3 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. banana flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookies in a resealable bag and smash the dickens out of them with a cast iron skillet or a meat tenderizer. If you have a food processor, just pulse until they are finely crushed. Mine were finely crushed by Captain Cavedweller.  Crushed by the fine Captain Cavedweller. Finally crushed finely. Oh, you know what I mean.

Add melted butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of a 10″ springform pan and refrigerate.

Beat cream cheese on medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch, beating until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, cream and vanilla and banana flavoring. If you don’t have banana flavoring, just add another spoon of vanilla. Place springform pan on cookie sheet. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking 75-90 minutes until center is just set. Loosen edge of springform pan but do not remove. Let cool completely then take off pan rim. Refrigerate cheesecake for at least six hours before serving.

Happy Entertaining and Happy Mother’s Day!

She Who Can’t Wait for my MIL to Arrive!

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Mother’s Day Gifts

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , on May 4, 2011| Leave a Comment »

If you are still searching for a great gift for Mom, here are some ideas I shared last year that are, amazingly enough, still appropriate this year!

Happy Shopping!

Perfect Mother’s Day Gifts

Here we are just a few days away from Mother’s Day and as a favor to all you guys out there who have not yet purchased a gift for your wife or mother, I thought I’d offer a few tips.

Let’s start off with the don’t list. This could get to be really long, so I’ll do my best to just highlight some of the worst offenders.

Most women will not be thrilled with a gift that will require work on their part. Lawnmowers require work on their part, as do any other type of outdoor yard tool. Avoid any gift that will make her think of work.

Unless your wife is a real outdoorsy kind of girl and has specifically requested an item (and that is a true request, not a sarcastic one) steer away from things like fishing poles, tools, guns,  and sleeping bags. If it is something you’ve been wanting, odds are high it is not on her short or long list of things she’d really like to have. She really won’t appreciate it. Honest, she won’t.


Women also do not appreciate opening a box of their favorite chocolate candy and finding either pieces missing or, horror of all horrors, mutilated bit-ridden pieces. If you are going to get her candy, leave the box sealed and let her decide if she wants to share (and don’t expect her to, especially if it is really good chocolate).

While we all enjoy having new appliances, don’t give them as gifts for Mother’s Day. This is a woman who carried you for nine months and agonized through your labor or the woman who married you and continues to provide you with tender loving care not to mention all she went through to give you children. Show her some appreciation. Show her how much you cherish her. You really can’t do that with a blender. Or a toaster. Or a rice cooker. Or an iron. Goodness sakes, man, don’t do it with an iron.

I think you are getting the general idea of what not to give. So what can you give the most important women in your life that will make them smile, fill them with gratitude for you? Beyond the obvious choice of flowers, here are a few ideas.

Bath and body products are always welcome as are scented candles. But make sure you have some idea of what scent she likes. This is important to know! One of my favorite lotions in the world is from Camille Beckman. Most women will love just about anything you could pick out from stores like Bath & Body Works. She will also appreciate a gift card. Then she can get whatever she wants.  Despite rumors, the majority of the female population really does appreciate gift cards to their favorite stores. Don’t know what store that might be? Get her a Visa gift card or one that she can use anywhere. You can even get gift cards to online stores like Amazon that offer a little bit of everything.

Give her the gift of time to herself. Take the kids out to do something fun and leave her in peace for the afternoon so she can take a bubble bath, read a book, take a nap. I guarantee she’ll thank you for it.

Make her breakfast in bed. It isn’t that hard or complicated and she will love it – and you!

If you want to make her heart flutter and melt into a puddle at your feet, help the kids make her something. Even a card made by their little hands is probably among the most precious gifts you can give and she’ll keep it forever.

Put on your thinking cap, get creative and let your mom and wife know just how much they mean to you. And stay far away from the appliance aisle, even if they dangle the carrot of free gift-wrapping.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Shanna

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Treat Mom Like a Queen this Mother’s Day

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , , on May 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This post is for all those guys out there who haven’t yet got their game plan together for how to make Mother’s Day special for the mother of their children. Here are some easy and savvy ideas to make you look like a hero.

Good Morning, Mom!

Start her day off right by taking care of breakfast. There are many simple recipes you can use to put together a fun meal.

Try this recipe for chocolate stuffed french toast. It isn’t hard to make and any mom who loves chocolate will thank you repeatedly.

Serve up a glass of this easy pomegranate drink. It looks like you slaved away creating it but if you can open a carton of juice and a bottle of syrup, you can do this!

If the mom in your life loves coffee, load the kids in the car so mom can sleep and run to your nearest Starbucks or favorite coffee joint and bring her back something deliciously decadent.

Mom Time

Once you’ve got breakfast out of the way, give Mom some me time. Run a bath for her and make sure there is plenty of bubble bath, candles and a good book for her to read. Then make sure she  can enjoy the bath without being disturbed. Or maybe she wants to get a facial or a pedicure. She might prefer to hang out on a lawn chair soaking up some sun. Just give her a little time to enjoy herself and she will undoubtedly thank you for it.

Picnic Pleasures

picnic

Weather permitting, a fun way to spend an afternoon is on a picnic. If you like to cook, whip up something delicious to take along. If cooking isn’t your forte, keep it simple. You could pack a loaf of bread, some assorted cheeses, fruits and chocolate for a nice yet easy meal. You can also whip together some great picnic sandwiches with meat and cheese from the deli and butter croissants. Add in some fruit and some gourmet chips and you are set to go. Take along some games or activities you can do as a family like a frisbee, kites or softball and bat. Make it fun and keep it lighthearted.

Divine Dinner

As long as Mom doesn’t have to cook it, she will probably think any dinner you and the kids come up with is awesome. Barbecue, make your specialty, take her out to eat.  Just give her the night off from cooking or doing dishes.

Grand Finale

You’ve dazzled Mom with a great breakfast, time for herself, a fun afternoon and a great dinner. What more can you do? Give her a neck massage, rub her feet, let her control the remote for the evening, actually listen to the conversation she is trying to have with you. I guarantee your efforts will not go unnoticed and you will quite likely be the hero of the day.

Whatever you do for Mother’s Day, just do it from your heart and make sure Mom knows how much you love and appreciate her.

Good luck!

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Mother’s Day Entertaining

Posted in entertain, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , on May 2, 2011| 1 Comment »

Well, I’m not quite sure how it happened but apparently I have lost track of time and now find myself scrambling for ideas as Mother’s Day approaches.

I’m hoping no one else is like me and running behind, but if you are, today I’m going to share a past post about Mother’s Day Entertaining.

If you volunteered to host the celebration a while back and are just now remembering that it is this coming Sunday, good luck! Hopefully you’ll find some useful tips here.

Mother’s Day Entertaining

Mom

If you are hosting a Mother’s Day get together, think about what you can do to make all the mothers feel extra special in your home.  By implementing a few simple ideas, you will ensure they know how much they are loved and appreciated.

Have a door greeter (one of your children would be great at the job) who hands every Mom a single stem flower as they walk in the door. These can be flowers from the florist or fresh cut from your garden. Have the flowers in a basket with individual water tubes on each stem to keep them fresh. Water tubes are available in craft stores or from a florist.

If you are serving a sit-down meal, have something special for each Mom at her place setting. It can be something as simple as a tiny box with one decadent truffle or a piece of her favorite candy. You could have an individual flower or votive floating in a small bowl. Even a poem hand-written or photocopied on nice card stock would be appreciated.

To truly touch her heart, spend a few minutes writing down the reasons you appreciate her. Put it on nice cardstock or in an inexpensive frame. This will definitely be a keepsake and probably much more appreciated than other gifts you could buy.

And don’t forget those who may not be mothers, but have a mother’s-heart. If you have a special aunt, sister, cousin or friend who goes out of her way to make you or your little ones feel special, make sure you show your appreciation to them as well.

Think with your heart and I know you’ll be able to give your Mom a special memory she’ll always treasure.

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