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A Thousand Spiders

May 9, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

Yesterday I was minding my own business, trying my best to perfect my lazy slugness, when Captain Cavedweller came bursting into the house and hauled me outside.

“You’ve got to see this,” he said.

“See what,” I asked, slightly miffed at having my blissful do-nothingness interrupted.

“This,” he said, pointing to some tulip stems in the front flower bed.

There, firmly entwined around the tulip stem, was a nest of freshly hatched spiders.

Ewwwww!

So being the nut-job that I am, I had to get down on all fours so I could investigate them closer. Then I decided I needed to take photos of them.

They started out in a tight little cluster that quickly expanded. They kept coming and coming. I’m pretty sure there must have been a gazillion of them, but for simplicity I decided to call it an even thousand.

Of course, we couldn’t let this fascinating find go unnoticed by others so I hotfooted it over to the neighbor’s and invited their kids over to see the spiders. They quickly stuck both hands into the mess and drug spiders home with them (Sorry, Jennifer!). And yet, the spiders kept coming. Soon the adults were batting them out of our hair and off  our clothes as the spiders went airborne.

Ewwwww!

And still more spiders crawled up the stem of the tulip and ran amuck in my flower bed. I think there is a never ending supply of them. The neighbor finally called an end to the kids spider diving and took them home. I’m sure I’m on her favorite neighbor list now. I’m all about sharing those fun experiences with anyone I can.

She Who Does Not Love Spiders

Posted in Garden, Home and Garden, Musings | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

Banana Cheesecake

May 6, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield


My most wonderful mother-in-law will be arriving later today for the weekend. We are pretty excited about her coming for Mother’s Day!

I wanted to make something extra special for her so I contacted my sister-in-law to find out her favorite desserts. One of them just happens to be The Cheesecake Factory’s Banana Cheesecake.

After a little bit of searching online I found the recipe and dived right in to create this treat for her.

I will warn you that it takes a bit of patience to make, but the result is most definitely worth it!

Ingredients for Banana Cheesecake.

Smash cookies until finely crushed (or pulse in food processor). At least this way, I could put Captain Cavedweller to work!

Press obliterated cookies into the bottom of a springform pan.

Mash up enough bananas to make 1 cup. I used three, and then made Captain Cavedweller mash them for me.

Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth and creamy.

Add your eggs one at a time.

Pour batter into crust.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes then reduce temp to 200 for 75-90 minutes. Mine was closer to 90 when I took it out of the oven and could probably have gone another 5-10 minutes to be done the way I would have really liked. I recommend not deciding to make this at say 7 p.m. at night because you'll be standing in your PJs staring at the stove waiting for this to be done!

You can garnish the cheesecake with slices of fresh banana, a dollop of whipped cream, whatever floats your boat. My boat was floating on caramel sauce, Heath bits and chocolate swirlies.

Enjoy!

Banana Cheesecake

1 package vanilla sandwich cookies

1/4 cup butter, melted

24 ounces cream cheese, softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp. cornstarch

3 eggs

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. banana flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookies in a resealable bag and smash the dickens out of them with a cast iron skillet or a meat tenderizer. If you have a food processor, just pulse until they are finely crushed. Mine were finely crushed by Captain Cavedweller.  Crushed by the fine Captain Cavedweller. Finally crushed finely. Oh, you know what I mean.

Add melted butter and mix well. Press into the bottom of a 10″ springform pan and refrigerate.

Beat cream cheese on medium speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and cornstarch, beating until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, cream and vanilla and banana flavoring. If you don’t have banana flavoring, just add another spoon of vanilla. Place springform pan on cookie sheet. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking 75-90 minutes until center is just set. Loosen edge of springform pan but do not remove. Let cool completely then take off pan rim. Refrigerate cheesecake for at least six hours before serving.

Happy Entertaining and Happy Mother’s Day!

She Who Can’t Wait for my MIL to Arrive!

Posted in Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Holiday Recipes, Holidays | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments »

Fabulous E-card Resource

May 5, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

A few years ago a good friend sent me the most wonderful e-card. It was animated with music and was just over the top. I loved it!

After doing a little investigating I found out she sent it through Jacquie Lawson’s website.

Normally I wouldn’t recommend a website that requires a fee for the services, but this site is awesome.

For $12 a year, you can send as many cards as you want and they are absolutely amazing. You can personalize the cards and also send them in groups.

I’ve been using the service for almost two years and I love it! The people I send the cards to always comment about how fun or sweet or different they are.

Check it out at jacquielawson.com

Hint: Guys, if you have done nothing else to prepare for Mother’s Day, you can send a fabulous card to your wife, Mom, grandmothers and aunts with the quick click of your mouse!

Posted in Entertaining Ideas, Referrals | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Mother’s Day Gifts

May 4, 2011 by Shanna Hatfield

If you are still searching for a great gift for Mom, here are some ideas I shared last year that are, amazingly enough, still appropriate this year!

Happy Shopping!

Perfect Mother’s Day Gifts

Here we are just a few days away from Mother’s Day and as a favor to all you guys out there who have not yet purchased a gift for your wife or mother, I thought I’d offer a few tips.

Let’s start off with the don’t list. This could get to be really long, so I’ll do my best to just highlight some of the worst offenders.

Most women will not be thrilled with a gift that will require work on their part. Lawnmowers require work on their part, as do any other type of outdoor yard tool. Avoid any gift that will make her think of work.

Unless your wife is a real outdoorsy kind of girl and has specifically requested an item (and that is a true request, not a sarcastic one) steer away from things like fishing poles, tools, guns,  and sleeping bags. If it is something you’ve been wanting, odds are high it is not on her short or long list of things she’d really like to have. She really won’t appreciate it. Honest, she won’t.


Women also do not appreciate opening a box of their favorite chocolate candy and finding either pieces missing or, horror of all horrors, mutilated bit-ridden pieces. If you are going to get her candy, leave the box sealed and let her decide if she wants to share (and don’t expect her to, especially if it is really good chocolate).

While we all enjoy having new appliances, don’t give them as gifts for Mother’s Day. This is a woman who carried you for nine months and agonized through your labor or the woman who married you and continues to provide you with tender loving care not to mention all she went through to give you children. Show her some appreciation. Show her how much you cherish her. You really can’t do that with a blender. Or a toaster. Or a rice cooker. Or an iron. Goodness sakes, man, don’t do it with an iron.

I think you are getting the general idea of what not to give. So what can you give the most important women in your life that will make them smile, fill them with gratitude for you? Beyond the obvious choice of flowers, here are a few ideas.

Bath and body products are always welcome as are scented candles. But make sure you have some idea of what scent she likes. This is important to know! One of my favorite lotions in the world is from Camille Beckman. Most women will love just about anything you could pick out from stores like Bath & Body Works. She will also appreciate a gift card. Then she can get whatever she wants.  Despite rumors, the majority of the female population really does appreciate gift cards to their favorite stores. Don’t know what store that might be? Get her a Visa gift card or one that she can use anywhere. You can even get gift cards to online stores like Amazon that offer a little bit of everything.

Give her the gift of time to herself. Take the kids out to do something fun and leave her in peace for the afternoon so she can take a bubble bath, read a book, take a nap. I guarantee she’ll thank you for it.

Make her breakfast in bed. It isn’t that hard or complicated and she will love it – and you!

If you want to make her heart flutter and melt into a puddle at your feet, help the kids make her something. Even a card made by their little hands is probably among the most precious gifts you can give and she’ll keep it forever.

Put on your thinking cap, get creative and let your mom and wife know just how much they mean to you. And stay far away from the appliance aisle, even if they dangle the carrot of free gift-wrapping.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Shanna

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Entertaining Ideas, Holidays | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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