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Archive for the ‘Entertaining at Home’ Category

Harvest Party Theme Ideas

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Party Theme, tagged , , , on October 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »

If you aren’t into spooks and ghouls or bats and vampires, you can still host a fun, seasonal Harvest Themed Party. 

Incorporate the elements of the season, think outside the box and be prepared to have a really great celebration.

Start with your invitations. You could do something fun like a making a simple scarecrow face. Cut a heavy piece of tan or yellow construction paper into a square. Turn the square so a corner is pointing toward you and one away from you.  Glue two wooden buttons or two pieces of candy corn near the middle for eyes and a gumdrop for a nose. Glue a piece of orange string in a smile for a mouth and then “stitch” over it with a black marker. Stitch around the edges of the square with the marker and add a little raffia bow at the top. On the back, glue your invitation. If you are creative with clip art, you could also create invitations that featured corn stalks, pumpkins, baskets of apples, or a harvest moon.
Decorations could include piles of pumpkins. Think about what you have on hand you could dress up. Right now I’ve got miniature pumpkins surrounding the little cement bunny that stands guard at my front door. An old wheelbarrow, a child’s wagon, even an empty birdbath can be fun containers for pumpkins. If you are going to put candles in pumpkins, I highly recommend the battery-operated variety. You don’t have to worry about fire issues that way. For something a bit off the beaten bath, take leaf shaped cookie cutters, pound them into the pumpkin with a rubber mallet, pull out with needle nose pliers and get ready for the compliments to roll in once you drop in a candle and illuminate your handiwork. 

If you are doing a more formal plated dinner, you have to try this great idea for placecards. Write names of guests on mini pumpkins then using a small knife, follow the outline of the name and peel away the rind without cutting all the way through the pumpkin. Place a votive inside each one. What a fun way to let guests know the seating arrangement. You could also do this with words like “Welcome,” “Harvest,” “Bountiful,” and “Autumn” and place throughout your buffet.

You could also use baskets of apples. There is absolutely nothing on the planet that says fall to me like a wooden basket filled with shiny red apples. Use little baskets to display apples throughout your entertaining area. 

Gather stalks of corn and have them stand sentinel by your front door. If you are going to be entertaining outdoors with a bonfire or some other fun activity, be sure to include decorations outside. Straw bales, especially when draped with a thick blanket, make perfect seating for outdoor events. Stack them up and cover with a colorful cloth if you need extra serving space.

Sprinkle fall leaves along your buffet table. You can even tuck a pretty leaf or two into the frame of a mirror or picture.


Bonus decorating tip – nuts and pinecones are your friends! Remember nuts and pinecones can be trailed along tables, nestled in bowls, poured into jars and stacked in boxes or baskets to create great fall accents. If you’ve got nothing else, at least have a basket of nuts and pinecones! 

Let the kids make a scarecrow and set him by the front door or somewhere sure to be noticed.

Do include a few candles in safe and strategic places throughout your home that carry through the scent of fall like pumpkin, apple, maple or spice.

For a simple menu, think about making a big casserole. They are warm, filling, easy to serve and easy to eat. It doesn’t have to be fancy, anything hearty and warm will do like a Cheeseburger Pie, Rigatoni Bake, or even Enchiladas. Serve with warm cornbread, a green salad with chopped apples and toasted nuts, warm apple cider and  bar cookies for dessert. You can also prepare take- with-you treats like caramel apples or this super-simple snack.

Fabulous Fall Munch
1 pound spiced gum drops
1 pound candy corn
1 pound pretzel sticks
3 cups goldfish crackers
1 16-ounce can salted peanuts
Mix together and serve in waffle cones. Kids will love being able to play and munch at the same time!

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The Gallivanting Goddesses

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Family, tagged on October 21, 2010| 4 Comments »

Almost five years ago, my cousin Brad called and discussed doing something special and fun for his Mom. I was all ears.

Brad is one of those super nice, incredibly sweet all-around great guys that you are thrilled just to know. Add in the fact that his Mom, my wonderful Aunt Robbie, has been like a second Mom to me for my entire life, and I couldn’t refuse whatever it was he was going to ask.

My most wonderful auntie has always been extra special to me. I was born the day after Aunt Robbie’s birthday, we share the same middle name, we both love the color pink and have yet to find a mall we didn’t like.

Aunt Robbie was blessed with two boys, but no girls. So Brad proposed a few of us girl cousins do something fun with Aunt Robbie. We plotted and planned and ended up with four of us girls taking Aunt Robbie for an overnight stay in a cute little town with fun shops, great food and a nice hotel. It was bliss!

My three cousins are daughters of my Dad’s two other sisters, both of whom have passed away. Aunt Robbie became Mom to us all on that trip. With each of us she loves, laughs, cries, teases and counsels – and that just makes us love her all the more.

We had such a great time on that first trip, we decided to make it an annual event. We all look forward to the time we can spend with each other, reconnecting, sharing memories, shopping, eating and enjoying the company. Our little group includes my cousins Julie, Nancy and Twylia – all fun, fantastic women in their own unique way.

So this year when we started planning our “shopping conference” we decided we needed to have a name for our group. Considering that we drive all over the countryside to meet and considering our love to shop, talk, eat and repeat the process until we are all exhausted, we came up with the name of the “Gallivanting Goddesses.”

We met just last week and it was fantastic as always. Aunt Robbie is still running circles around us, still able to hand-out great advice and fashion tips and still the sweet Aunt that we adore.

And these girls just know how to have a great time.

I encourage all you girls to have a group that you go gallivanting with at least once a year. Maybe it is family, maybe it is friends, maybe a combination of both – but you need that girl time.  It does your heart and spirit so much good!

So here’s to future gallivanting!

Just One of the Goddesses,

Shanna

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Gallivant

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Family, Musings, tagged on October 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Word of the Week: Gallivant

gallivant

(ˈɡælɪˌvænt)

to go about in search of pleasure; gad about

She spent the weekend gallivanting around the countryside.

I spent time during the past weekend with a fantastic group of women that I love to pieces – my aunt and cousins. We shopped, ate, laughed, shared and had a most wonderful time. I’ll post more about it later this week, but they have helped give gallivant a whole new meaning for me.

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John Day Fossil Beds

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Travels, tagged , , , on October 14, 2010| 1 Comment »

 

 

John Day Fossil Beds - Sheep Rock Unit

 

On the way back from our laid-back trip a few weeks ago, Hubby and I decided to venture through part of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in Oregon. Maintained by the National Park Service, there are three units that make up the John Day Fossil B eds: Clarno, Painted Hills and Sheep Rock.

In the Sheep Rock Unit you’ll not only find great places to hike on trails and take in unbelievable views, you’ll also discover the Thomas condon Paleontology Center and The James Cant Ranch.

Many people don’t know that most of Oregon was once like a tropical rain forest. The Paleontology Center takes visitors through 40 million years of history through a collection of fossil specimens and large murals.

 

 

Oregon's Rain Forest days.

 

 

 

What a rhino may have looked like millions of years ago.

 

 

 

Informative displays throughout the center provide insight into the history and evolution of Oregon.

 

 

 

Some displays were multi-dimensional.

 

 

Some displays had frightening looking prehistoric animals. Like this tiger and the sweet little deer. I thought the deer would have made a great pet. Maybe even a great replacement for our Heinous Cat.

 

 

 

Some displays showed a bit of humor.

 

 

A prehistoric gopher - would not want to have him digging in my backyard.

 

When  we finished up at the Paleontology Center we drove about a quarter-mile up the road to The James Cant Ranch.  Scottish immigrants James and Elizabeth Cant bought the land in the early 1900s and operated the ranch in the dry hills of Oregon until the National Park Service purchased it in the 1970s.

The 1917 Ranch House has been renovated to house the park headquarters and a museum telling the story of the people who inhabited the area, starting with the American Indians up through the sheep and cattle ranchers. Visitors are allowed to tour the house and the grounds. Signs cautioning visitors to leave the rattlesnakes alone kept us from getting to adventurous in our exploring, but the ranch was fun to see.

 

 

The Cant Ranch House

 

 

 

The grounds at The Cant Ranch are very well maintained.

 

 

 

The Cant Ranch Corrals with painted hills in the background.

 

 

The Cant Ranch barn

 

Elizabeth Cant spent a large portion of her life in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning. It appeared that she was well-known for her good cooking. The museum even had a recipe of hers to share, so here it is. I haven’t made it yet, but it sound really yummy.

Mother Cant’s Macaroon Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup Crisco

4 egg yolks, beaten

4 tbsp cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Vanilla

Dissolve cocoa powder in 5-6 tablespoons of hot water. Mix together sugar, Crisco and beaten egg yolks. Add cocoa mixture. Stir in milk then beat in flour.  In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with baking powder and a dash of vanilla. Add to batter and mix well.

Here is where the directions end. So I’m guessing you would pour this into a prepared cake pan and bake at 350 degrees until done.

If anyone gets ambitious and makes this cake, please let me know how it turns out!

 

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