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Archive for the ‘Entertaining at Home’ Category

10 Rules of Condiments

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged , , , on May 17, 2011| Leave a Comment »

With Memorial Day coming up and the fact that spring is maybe perhaps finally on it way, it seems like a great time to remind everyone about the 10 rules of condiments.

So here they are:

1. Do not fear the family-sized bottle of ketchup. Unless you are serving dignitaries, your guests will be happy with the big bottle.

2. You can please most of the people all the time if you have a good assortment of mustards.

3.  Plan to have mayonnaise handy at all times. Yes, it’s salty, and yes, it is bad for you, but everyone likes a dab now and then.  And don’t substitute salad dressing! I’ll hunt you down and slap your hand!

4. Find your own special sauce and serve it proudly. This could be something you make from scratch or a blend of pre-made favorites. Create a great sauce with plain yogurt, finely chopped cucumber, garlic and lemon juice.

5. Nothing tops a hot dog better than relish.  Have an assortment of  sweet relish, yellow relish and onion relish on hand.

6. Pickles are important and not everyone likes the same kind. Have an assortment of dill and sweet and make sure you identify them!

7. Have plenty of salsa – it goes fast!

8. Grill the onions for your guests’ burgers. The grill is already hot and it just takes a minute.

9. Explore several barbecue sauce recipes, find your favorite, and make it your signature.

10. Don’t be afraid to serve coleslaw. It’s not just a side dish. Try it on your hot dog.

Here is a handy-dandy download: 10 rules of condiments

Enjoy!

She Who is Ready for Some Chillin’ & Grillin’

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Pork Roast

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Main Dish, Recipes, tagged , , on May 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The other day I didn’t feel like cooking dinner (not an unusual state of circumstances at our house), so I popped a pork roast with potoates in the oven and a little more than an hour later, a delicious dinner was ready that took nearly no effort on my part. Exactly my kind of meal!

Ingredients for Pork Roast. I would normally include carrots, but I was out that day and didn't want to run to the store.

Pork and potatoes in my clay baker, ready to cook.

Hot, juicy, tender and ready to eat.

Pork Roast

2-3 pound Pork Roast

6 Potatoes

All-Purpose Seasoning

Salt

Depending on how many you are feeding, you may want a bigger or smaller roast. This recipe would serve 4.

As for the type of Pork Roast you purchase, you can use a variety of different cuts. I had a boneless rib-eye roast for this recipe.

I used my wonderful clay baker to make my roast because it steams the meat and makes it so juicy and tender. I posted a while back about clay bakers.  If you don’t have one, you can also cook a roast in a regular roasting pan or even in a baking pan loosely tented with foil.

I would normally add carrots to the potatoes (use reds and leave on the skin if you so desire. I desired.). You can also throw in celery, onions, garlic, whatever tickles your fancy.

Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees or until a meat thermometer reaches the appropriate temp.

Remove from oven, let rest with the lid on for 5-10 minutes then slice and enjoy!

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Spring Swap Party

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Party Theme, tagged , , on May 10, 2011| Leave a Comment »

If you’ve been a busy beaver and have your spring cleaning all finished, good for you.

You probably have piles of things you no longer want or need languishing in your garage or storage shed now. Before you toss those treasures or donate them, think about hosting a Spring Swap Party. Invite a few of your friends to bring a dozen pieces (be it clothing, home decor, whatever) to swap at your party.

Everyone attending brings items that are in good shape and still usable. You put all the items out and then everyone gets to choose the same number of pieces to take home that they brought. Whatever is left over can then be donated to a charity or put into a yard sale.

Not only does this help your good junk find a home, but it also gives you the opportunity to get some “new to you” items without spending a dime (other than a few basic refreshments).

So pick a sunny day, put out a few tables and snacks and jump into the fun!

She Who Needs to Get Busy Spring Cleaning

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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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