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Fourth of July Party Ideas

June 28, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

The rest of this week, I’ll be posting Fourth of July party tips and ideas. You may even get a recipe or two if you stick around.

Today, I wanted to post a few cute and fun ideas I came across last week in my travels. Please keep in mind Hubby and I were on vacation and I got to go to at least 75 stores which is about 74 more than I usually do a month let alone a week so I don’t remember exactly where I found what.

This was one of the first things I found and had to have. I think I grabbed it at one of those outlet mall kitchen stores. I think. It is silicone and works really slick. I strongly advise against putting it in the dishwasher. Even the top rack warped it. Still makes the mold just fine, but it doesn’t sit flat or straight.

I used juice to make the cubes. That way when added to punch or pop on a hot day, you aren’t diluting the liquid. Freeze fun colors like red juice or blue Kool-Aid for an unexpected patriot pop of color.

You can also use this mold for jello, mints, chocolate  – all sorts of fun and entertaining items. I was most entertained by the frozen juice stars. They were pretty yummy.

This one is easy – you can get patriotic cupcake papers just about everywhere right now. They are in grocery stores, departments stores, kitchen stores. I think I got these at Wal-mart last year.

The point of all this rambling is do something fun with these besides cupcakes. Arrange them on a serving tray and fill with a patriotic snack mix like Chex Mix with red, white and blue M&Ms. Use them to hold solid berries like blueberries or strawberries. Raspberries can get a little smooshy on you in the heat. Fill them with grapes, nuts, bits of fresh veggies. Put battery-operated tea lights in them and place them around for decorations on your buffet table. Place a Tostito’s scoops chip in each one and fill with cheese, taco-seasoned meat and olives. Put a brownie bite inside and finish with a dollop of whipped cream (use Reddi-Whip in the heat to keep a swirled shape the longest.)

I loved this mini patriotic pinwheels. What I’m going to do with them exactly I don’t know, but the possibilities are so exciting! You could tuck them in a salad or dessert for a fun accent. Put a piece of rectangular florist foam in a long container, cover the top with moss, then poke in stems of red,white and blue flowers and use these little gems for a final accent for your centerpiece. Use them to mark dishes that are extra hot or spicy.

Think outside the box and have fun with your Fourth of July entertaining. You’ll be a savvy entertaining!

She Who Needs to Get Crackin’ on Her Own Fourth of July Buffet Plans

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Holidays, Party Theme, Quick and Easy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Miss Molly

June 27, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

Today is my oldest brother’s youngest daughter’s birthday.

Huh?

My niece Amanda, the one in the photo with her buddy Tuff, is celebrating her birthday today. I will refrain from saying how old she is because she was born 10 years after I was and it is difficult for me to think in terms of numbers that high. Really it is.

I remember the first time I saw her – she was just a few days old and so tiny and beautiful. She quickly became my baby. I spent a lot of time babysitting her in her first few years and was nearly devastated when my brother packed up his family and moved them to the ends of the earth.

Amanda was a live wire from the get go. She was bubbly and vivacious, full of sass and fun. Not much has changed over the years.

I’m not exactly sure when or why I started calling her Miss Molly, but the nickname has stuck all these years. My dad, who also has the unique habit of giving people nicknames dubbed her Samantha Jane and called her that for years and years. I’m not sure that he doesn’t still call her that. How the child grew up to know her name is a wonder.

So as she celebrates her birthday today, I hope she knows her auntie is thinking of her and wishing her every happiness today and always. And remembering the little girl who used to sing “My boyfriend’s back,” who asked for “ointmilk” for breakfast and spent an adventuresome day with me learning the true meaning of “shop til you drop.”

Happy, Happy Birthday, Miss Molly! Hope it is fantastic!

Love you!

Your auntie

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Cream Puffs with Vanilla Pudding

June 24, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

It had been half of forever since I  made cream puffs so when the mood struck the other day, I jumped right into preparations.

They aren’t hard to make and are so tasty when stuffed with a delicious, creamy filling and dusted with sugar.

Make a batch this weekend and see if your family doesn’t act a little bit appreciative of your efforts.

Ingredients for Cream Puffs

 

Boil the butter and water

 

Add flour all at once.

 

Stir until it forms a ball then cool for 10 minutes.

 

Add eggs one at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon.

 

Drop onto a greased baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment) about three inches apart.

 

Bake until golden brown and lovely. Set aside and let cool completely.

 

Ingredients for pudding.

 

 

Stir together dry ingredients, mix in milk then cook until thick and bubbly.

 

Add milk mixture, gradually, to beaten eggs. Mix completely.

 

Pour egg mixture back into pudding.

 

 

Cook until bubbly, but not boiling, remove from heat then add butter and vanilla.

 

Pour pudding into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve.

 

Split cream puffs open and remove any soft dough in the middle.

 

Fill with pudding.

 

If you are a chocolate freak like me, drizzle with chocolate before dusting with powdered sugar and devouring.

Cream Puffs

1/2 cup butter

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter and water and salt. Bring to a boil. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that doesn’t separate. Remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating with a wooden spoon after each addition until smooth.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, three inches apart, on a greased baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment). Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Split puffs and remove any soft dough from inside . Fill with pudding, dust with sugar, serve and enjoy. You could also fill with whipped cream, ice cream, sherbet or fruit.

Vanilla Pudding

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 cups milk

2 beaten eggs

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and flour. Stir in milk then cook over medium hit until mixture is thickened and bubbly. Stir constantly.  When it starts to bubble, cook for two minutes more. Remove from heat and gradually stir about one cup of the mixture into the beaten eggs. Return the egg mixture to the pan and cook until nearly bubbly but do not boil. Reduce heat and cook for two additional minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, pressing it down to the surface of the pudding and chill until ready to serve cream puffs.

If you are a chocolate addict like me, you can drizzle chocolate sauce over the top before you dust it with sugar.

Enjoy!

She Who Loves Cream Puffs Entirely Too Much

Posted in Desserts, Easy Recipes, Entertaining at Home, Recipes | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

Wordsmithing

June 21, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

Some of you may know that I have been endeavoring to write a novel. Which morphed into a series of three novels. Which then turned into a series of three novels with an introductory short story.

They are finally, finally published digitally!

You can find them at Smashwords and on Amazon in the Kindle store.

The books are retailing for $2.99 and the prelude is 99 cents on Kindle or free on Smashwords. In about a week and a half, the books will be available on other e-reader formats so stay tuned.

You can also find a free pdf download of the prelude on my website at:  ShannaHatfield.com

Go there to check out what the books are all about! And I’d love to hear what you think of them!

If you don’t have an e-reader, no worries. Kindle has a free application you can download and read books right on your computer. How cool is that?

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement, kind words and support as I jumped into this fascinating journey. It is going to be an exciting ride.

Posted in Musings | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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