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Go Pink!

September 22, 2010 by Shanna Hatfield

As I sit here writing this today I’m wearing pink for the third day in a row. Not that it would be completely unheard of for me to do that because I do like pink, but we have been asked to wear pink at work this week to go along with a promotion we are holding to support a local organization that provides support to breast cancer patients.

Most of us can easily think of one or two people we know who have battled breast cancer or been affected by it.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. I encourage you to coordinate or participate an event that helps bring awareness to others and raises funds for patients or research. Every little bit helps.

Here are links to a few great website resources:

National Breast Cancer Organization

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

American Cancer Society

Wear Pink, get involved, help save lives. You’ll be glad you did.

Posted in Musings, Referrals | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments »

Fall Decorating Ideas

September 21, 2010 by Shanna Hatfield

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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Heirloom Carrots

September 20, 2010 by Shanna Hatfield

Word of the Week: Heirloom

heir·loom

{air-loom}

adjective

being an old variety that is being cultivated again

Heirloom Carrots

Way back in the spring when the gardening bug was nipping away at me, I decided to plant carrots. The only problem was that I couldn’t find any carrot seed. Crazy, I know, but true.

So Hubby came home one day with a packet of heirloom carrot seed. I didn’t think anything about the seed being “heirloom” and quickly planted them. It wasn’t until I pulled up a purple carrot and stood looking at it a bit confused that I finally remembered we’d planted heirloom carrot seed.

It has turned into somewhat of an adventure. When you pull up a carrot, you never know what color you are going to get. It could be traditional orange, glowing white, brilliant yellow or purple.

A plate of shredded funky-colored heirloom carrots.

The other day when I decided to make Hubby his favorite carrot cake, I had a plate full of  oddly colored carrot shreds and wondered what they’d look like in the cake batter. Turns out, you can’t even tell. But I will tell you, it was an excellent cake. The carrots were so fresh and soft and rich it made a huge difference in the texture of the cake.

I would encourage you to try planting a few heirloom seeds next spring and see how much fun (and how tasty) it can be!

Posted in Garden, Home and Garden, Musings | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Eggs and Sausage Breakfast Skillet

September 17, 2010 by Shanna Hatfield

The other day Hubby and I actually had a small window of time to have breakfast together. Wanting something filling and fast, I decided to whip up a skillet of eggs and sausages. We happened to have several leftover brats from a barbecue the evening before, which worked perfectly.

Ingredients for Eggs and Sausages. Please ignore the fact this package of brats is frozen.

You will want to use pre-cooked sausages. You can use whatever kind of sausage you like, we just happened to have brats on hand. I use a two egg and one sausage per person ratio. Except with Hubby, then it is more like two sausages and one egg. Oh, my.

Thinly slice the sausages and toss in a skillet over medium heat with a heaping spoon of butter. Let them get hot and then add your eggs. Stir around until eggs are set and serve.

Enjoy!

Happy Entertaining!

Shanna

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