Archive for the ‘Entertaining at Home’ Category
Whistle – It’s Spring!
Posted in Entertaining at Home, tagged Shanna Hatfield, Spring on April 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Easter Cookie Cups
Posted in Easter, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, tagged Cookie Cups, Easter, Easter Desserts, Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield on April 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »
If you’re looking for a fun and simple dessert for Easter, think about serving Cookie Cups. The kids (and young at heart) will love them!
Start with sugar cookie dough (either homemade our from the store). Roll it out and cut into circles, then form the circles over an oven-proof container like custard cups to bake.
I used silicone cupcake pans to form my cups. Just press them around the outside and bake with the cups upside down.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until lightly browned then cool. You can form a handle out of dough. Just roll a rope of dough and bend it in a handle shape and bake along with the cups.
You can fill the cups with whatever your heart desires. I made ours like fruit pizza with a sweet cream cheese filling and fruit.
Put a thick ring of whipped cream around the top if you want to add a handle and stick it into the whipped cream to hold it upright.
Ta-Da!
You can also make mini cookie cups. Just form them on the back of a mini cupcake or muffin tin.
Cook until lightly browned then cool.
I colored coconut green to look like grass.
And filled the mini cookie cups.
Then topped with jelly beans. This would be fun to mark each place setting or as a little take-away treat if you are the host for Easter dinner.
She Who Wishes You All a Very Happy Easter!
Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Posted in Easter, Entertaining at Home, tagged Pysanky, Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield, Ukrainian Easter Eggs on April 17, 2014| 2 Comments »
Years ago, back in my newspaper reporter days, I interviewed a very talented woman who made Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Eggs). They were so cool!
Pysanka are blown-out eggs decorated with traditional Ukrainian folk designs using a wax-resist (batik) method. The word pysanka comes from the verb pysaty, “to write”, as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax. The art of the decorated pysanka is said to date back to ancient times. The colors used as well as the symbols selected for each egg have meaning.
I watched this woman teach a group of middle school students how to do the process. It involves adding layers of wax and dye as the design of the egg progress. When finished, the wax is removed with heat (like from a candle) and what is left is a brilliantly colored, intricately designed egg.
As a thank you for doing the article, she gifted me with three eggs that I have carefully kept.
They are, eggshells, after all.
I found a website that was step by step instructions, if anyone is interested in trying this at home.
She Who is Still Utterly Fascinated by the Process
Easter Grass Centerpiece
Posted in Centerpieces, Easter, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays, tagged Easter, Easter Centerpieces, Easter ideas, Grass Centerpiece, Savvy Entertaining, Shanna Hatfield on April 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »
On a cold, blustery day back in February, I decided to force grass to grow in a container for an upcoming gathering I planned to host.
Unfortunately, the gathering was two weeks away and my grass was nowhere near ready by the time the party rolled around.
But it did provide a bright spot through the remainder of the dreary winter days and gave me the perfect centerpiece for some Easter ideas!
You could easily use wheat grass (available at most grocery stores) to recreate the same thing without spending weeks tending faithfully to growing grass!
Line a tray or container with garbage bags or plastic.
Fill the tray almost to the top with potting soil.
I used a bag of grass seed we had left over from last summer and threw in a few flower seeds.
Liberally sprinkled over the potting soil. Cover with a thin layer of soil then water thoroughly.
It took almost two weeks for little shoots of green to begin appearing. The keys to making the grass grow are water, warmth and light. Keep the soil moist , and if you don’t have a warm place to set the grass in natural light, you can use an electric light or heat lamp.
Once it started to grow, it really took off.
And became the perfect place to tuck a few eggs.
I love the contrast of the grass, the metal tray, and the soft colors of the eggs.
I think even the Easter Bunny would approve.
She Who Enjoyed Watching the Grass Grow
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