Posted in Entertaining at Home, Family, Musings, tagged gallivanting goddesses 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.
Posted in Entertaining at Home, Travels, tagged Cant Ranch, John Day Fossil Beds, John Day Paleontology Center, The Cant Ranch 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!
Posted in Fashion, Party Theme, tagged Costume Party, Costume Party Ideas on October 12, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Well, it is that time of year when invitations to costume parties pop up. Or maybe you’ll be dressing up for Trick-or-Treaters or participating in a costume contest at work.
I don’t know about you, but as soon as I realize I need to find a costume, I hit the panic button.
It was all great fun as a kid plotting out what costume to wear for Halloween. My Mom used to make a lot of them for me. I remember one year going as a black cat. She took the fur collar off an old coat and made it look like a tail and created this black jumpsuit like thing complete with fur around the neck and black gloves.
It was pretty cool. Except for the plastic face mask. I hated those things. How were you supposed to see out of the little eye slits? Especially when it was cold outside and your mother insisted on tying your hood tightly around your head so the mask sat all gee-gawed? Everyone knew you were only going to wear the mask for the first 10 minutes anyway because by then you would have tripped up three sets of steps, over two dogs and stepped on four cats. All done with the mask.
As an adult, I’ve had some interesting costumes. Sure, it is fast and easy to buy a ready-made costume but I like mine to have a bit of character.
One year I bought a pair of red and white striped knee socks and went as Mrs. Claus. I think passing out the peppermint candy put it over the top because I won first prize at the contest that year. Another year I took the same obnoxious socks and made a Raggedy Ann Costume. No need for a coat with that one because after you get all the layers on, you are plenty warm. Believe me. And for the record… a grown up looks pretty dorky in a pinafore.
If you like fairy tales, Alice from Wonderland seems to be popular in the costume arena this year. I once made a blue gingham dress and went as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. The mistake I made was wearing the dress after Halloween and one of the guys I worked with called me Dorothy for days afterward.
Some other interesting costumes I’ve seen are leaning toward the insect category. Can’t you picture yourself as a bumble bee, or a spider, or maybe a lady bug?
Yeah… me neither.
But you could go as a fairy. There are oodles of fairy costumes and props available.
I actually thought this one was pretty cute.
You could fall back on old standards like a witch, a ghost or a bag lady.
Flappers are an easy costume to put together. I went as one to a party last summer. Then again, that may not have been the best costume since I was asked by more than one person if I was supposed to be a hoo… oh, never mind.
If you are hosting a party around Halloween and want to include a costume contest, it can add a new level of excitement and fun to your party. Choose three prizes and have the attendees vote on the best, the most creative, weirdest or funniest. Take 5 to 10 minutes during your party and have everyone take a turn being the center of attention then pass out slips of paper for voting. Or you could go on crowd reaction or just choose three to five people to serve as judges.
However you decide to dress up this year, keep it in good taste and have fun with it!
Happy Entertaining!
Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Recipes, tagged Raspberry Bars, Raspberry Cookie, Raspberry Dessert 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
Savvy Entertaining 