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Archive for the ‘Entertaining at Home’ Category

Raspberry Bars

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged , , on October 8, 2010| 2 Comments »

Delicious Raspberry Bars

Way back during my junior year of college, I somehow worked it out to have Fridays free from classes.  It was awesome. Then I realized I really, really needed a job, so I found one babysitting.

Fridays were great days for me. I got to go hang out at a nice house with the sweetest little baby, and the fun lady I babysat  for always gave me open range in the kitchen. She kept a secret stash of  delicious raspberry cookies, only sharing their hiding place with me because her husband and older son would devour them all in seconds. So I managed to not eat them all when I babysat. But even one of them was plenty. They were rich and delicious and divine.

Even though that baby is now a college student, I still remember how good those cookies tasted (and how much I loved babysitting Jake).

This recipe is close to what those cookies tasted like, especially if you dust them with powdered sugar before serving.

Try them out and enjoy!

Ingredients for Raspberry Bars

Combine the crust ingredients until crumbly.

Press the crust mixture into the bottom of the baking pan.

Much to everyone's surprise, I made raspberry jam this year and boy is it tasty!

Spread the jam over the crust.

Sprinkle jam with remaining crust.

Once bars are cooked, remove from oven, cool and then dust with powdered sugar.

 

Raspberry Bars

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup raspberry jam

Powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in oats and sugar. Cut in butter with a fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Press two-thirds of the mixture into an 11 x 7 inch pan. I gave mine a light spray of PAM. Once you have the crust pressed into the pan, top evenly with jam. Sprinkle remaining oat mixture on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool, cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

Ta-Da! Don't you just want to eat one now!

 

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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Find Your Inner Warrior Princess

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Musings, tagged , , on October 7, 2010| Leave a Comment »

 

Courage Thorgood

 

Once upon a time, in my la-la-land of ignorant bliss where I most generally ignore the outside world, I received an email that was degrading, insulting, hurt my feelings and just made me plain old mad.

Ever receive one of those?

As I sat alternately pouting, fuming and sulking, pulling in the edges of my hole like a comforting cloak, I decided enough was enough. I needed to get up, get tough and get over it. But that is so much easier said than done.

I needed a little help.

So I envisioned a little kick-hiney, take-no-prisoners, warrior princess who resides deep inside me. And when I need a little help, I can call on her to get tough and help  me plow through my battles.

Hokey? Yes.

Cheesy? Quite possibly.

But it is fun to envision Courage Thorgood and all that she can help me do.

So the next time you are feeling a little battle-weary, find your inner warrior princess – or prince. And if someone will let you have a sword, even better!

Bravely treading forward,

Shanna

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Stick to a Timeline

Posted in entertain, Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, tagged on September 23, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Today is just one of those days when time is getting away from me. I have a houseful of company coming tonight and must stick to my timeline to get everything pulled together in time.

Here is a link to a post about Timelines I did a while back about how entertaining following a timeline makes everything go so much smoother and easier.

Happy Entertaining!

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Fall Decorating Ideas

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, tagged , , , on September 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

With the official first day of fall just days away, think about things you can do to bring fall into your home.

A great place to start is by going outdoors. What fall leaves, branches or natural items – like grasses, pinecones or nuts – can you bring indoors for an inexpensive accent to your decor?

Use neutral tones highlighted with fall colors focusing on the vivid jewel tones of autumn like rich reds, warm golds, brilliant oranges, deep greens and pops of purple. The buzz for fall is all about gray being the new beige. Think about ways to incorporate it into your decor.

Create a fall welcome at your front door by placing pumpkins on steps, a twiggy wreath around an exterior light or baskets of bright fall flowers like mums.

Use fall scents like pumpkin, cinnamon and apple throughout your home. Whatever scent you choose, make sure you stick with it consistently so you don’t have scents overpowering each other. No one wants to walk into a scent war-zone!

Fill bowls with nuts or pinecones for a fast fall accent. Place large leaves between a serving tray and a piece of glass. You can use this as a centerpiece, serve warm mugs of cider on it and leave it on the coffee table as a conversation piece.

Keep your focus on warmth. Warm colors and cozy fabrics create a fantastic sense of welcome.

When entertaining guests, serve food choices that bring fall to mind like pumpkin, apple, cinnamon.

And, as always, remember to sit down and enjoy your guests. That’s what it is all about!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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