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Archive for the ‘Entertaining Ideas’ Category

Strawberry Shortcake

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Fast Recipes, Recipes, tagged , , , on July 20, 2011| 1 Comment »

I love strawberries. Almost as much as raspberries.

One summer-time treat I can’t pass up is strawberry shortcake – in most any variation. Have you noticed some people use biscuits for the cake. Others use actual cake. My Mom always made shortcake from scratch. It was dense and sweet and often made me think she had baked a pan of cornbread from the look of it, but the taste was all shortcake.

On occasion, if Grandma had been baking pies and there was leftover crust, she would roll the crust into a thin layer on a baking sheet and bake until a light golden brown. Then she would break the crust into bite-sized pieces and layer it with fresh sliced strawberries that she had smooshed a bit release their juice and ice cream. I kid you not, it is delicious. Especially if you pour a little of the juice over the top of the whole thing. You could also use whipping cream. It also tastes divine but my favorite is vanilla ice cream.

So you need pre-baked pie crust. Whip up a batch with my Vodka Pie Crust  recipe. It is easy and so flaky. Then just layer it in a bowl with berries. You can put them in whole but I think they taste best when you slice them, sprinkle on just a bit of sugar and smoosh them just a bit. Then top with vanilla ice cream. Continue layers and pour a bit of strawberry juice over the top. Give the berries just a minute to soak into the crust and the ice cream to soften and then attempt to stay upright as your knees turn into a jello-like substance as bliss overwhelms you and your taste-buds start applauding.

She Who Needs to Make Some Shortcake

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One of Those Days

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Entertaining at Home, Family, Musings, tagged , , , on July 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday was one of those days. You know the type… when you wonder why you ever bothered to drag your sorry self out of bed because that was the beginning of the descent into non-stop not-fun drama.

Ever have one of those days?

Phew… I’m glad there are a few hands raised out there.

My day started with me trying to gather up all the trappings I feel necessary to drag out the door with me on my way to work. In juggling the plunder, I inadvertently hit the panic button on my key chain which set my car alarm blaring at the early morning hour of barely after 7. I’m sure my neighbors and their out-of-town guests were thrilled for that rude awakening. Especially when it went on for goodness only knows how long because I couldn’t hear it until I actually opened the door and stepped outside. Sorry, Jennifer!

Arriving at work, I found my computer had been attacked by evil trolls and refused to boot up. I think it is the same set of ruthless, wicked minions who have invaded the phone line at work. So there I sat with no computer or phone which is pretty much like tying my hands and putting a blindfold on me for the day. Which was a great way to train a new assistant. The village idiot has got nothing on me considering my discombobulated state yesterday. The poor girl will probably turn tail and run while the running is good.

After blundering through the day by playing musical computers, and not getting half as much done as I had on my to-do list, I arrived home only to find Captain Cavedweller had his own disastrous day.  To top it off, he pulled in the driveway to find our garage door wide open (evil trolls are on the move, I tell you!) and an army of the tiniest ants I’ve ever seen swarming over our kitchen counter. Thankfully, they had not yet found my stash of peanut M&Ms.

Ah, so there was the bright spot in the day. My M&MS made it through unscathed.

She Who is Glad Yesterday is Finished and Done!

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Summer Party Ideas for Keeping Cool

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Party Theme, tagged , , , , on July 12, 2011| 2 Comments »

If you are like me and sitting in the bliss of ocean breezes is not on your near or distant horizon, you can at least keep your cool as temperatures rise.

Did you know certain foods can help you beat the heat?

Why not host a summer party with a theme of “Keep Your Cool?”

Go Green

As in salad greens. This is an obvious and easy choice for summer meals. Lettuce contains a lot of water as do cucumbers, celery and carrots. The added liquid helps cool you down and keep you hydrated. Set up a salad bar with some basic toppings and make entertaining this way a breeze.

Think Spicy

Food in the tropics are often spicy. The reason for this is because “hot” food such as chili peppers lower your body temp because of capsaicin, a chemical that causes skin to prespire (or glow, as I prefer to call it). That glow cools you as it evaporates. Add a few spicy additions to your salad bar and see how popular they will be. (Except to those of us you have an aversion to spicy foods. I’ll just eat some chocolate to make up for it.)

Hint of Mint

Both peppermint and wintergreen contain menthol which has a cooling effect. Add mint to salads, side dishes, desserts and drinks. My BFF thinks I make peppermint iced tea just for her but I really enjoy it, too.

However you decide to entertain this summer, remember to relax, enjoy your guests and have fun.

She Who Now Craves Peppermint Tea

 

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Monster S’mores

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining Ideas, Quick and Easy, tagged , , , on July 8, 2011| 1 Comment »

Captain Cavedweller is once again my hero.

I came home last night to find he had been to the store and found these.

The monster of all marshmallows.

I kid you not, these things are huge!

So after seeing the size of these babies, my mind immediately jumped to S’mores. They are marvelous with regular size marshmallows. How much better would they be with gigantic puffs of fluffy sweetness?

The answer…

So good I nearly melted in a puddle. Oh. My. Goodness.

S’mores are made by sandwiching a toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate in between two graham crackers. The name of the treat comes from the two words “some more,” clearly combined because people often wanted to have at least a second serving after having one s’more. The treat was developed by campers in the early part of the 20th century, although the exact date or place is unknown. The first recipe was published in 1927 in the Girl Scout Handbook.

If you’ve never made S’mores, give it a whirl. Especially if you can snag a bag of these over-sized marshmallows! Captain Cavedweller found these at Wal-Mart.

Start with your basic three ingredients for S'mores - marshmallows, a chocolate bar and graham crackers.

Toast your marshmallow until the inside is oozy and the outside is toasty brown. You don't even need a campfire. Captain Cavedweller toasted these on the barbecue.

Line up your chocolate on a graham cracker.

Top with your toasted puff of liquid sweet bliss, aka marshmallow. Place another graham cracker on top.

Enjoy!

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