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Super Bowl Party

January 28, 2014 by Shanna Hatfield

If any of you are hosting a gathering this weekend for the Super Bowl, here are some fun food and entertaining ideas.

Keeping in the football theme, here area few ideas for a Super-Duper Super Bowl Party!

Fun Football Burger from Hungry Happenings. If you don't want to freeze your buns off cooking burgers now, I found some great sliders in the freezer section at the grocery store.

Fun Football Burger from Hungry Happenings. If you don’t want to freeze your buns off cooking burgers now, I found some great sliders in the freezer section at the grocery store.

Try some spicy deviled eggs from Southern Living. They're sure to be a hit with your football fans!

Try some spicy deviled eggs from Southern Living. They’re sure to be a hit with your football fans!

Yummy Bacon Double Cheeseburger Dip from Too Stinkin' Cute.

Yummy Bacon Double Cheeseburger Dip from Too Stinkin’ Cute.

Taco Bites are always a crowd pleaser.

Taco Bites are always a crowd pleaser.

Porky Pie Pockets are super easy and good to make and can be eaten with one hand while the other is madly waving to cheer on the winning team.

Porky Pie Pockets are super easy and good to make and can be eaten with one hand while the other is madly waving to cheer on the winning team.

Tortilla Wrap Appetizers are also quite tasty and easy to make.

Tortilla Wrap Appetizers are also quite tasty and easy to make.

I love this idea for serving popcorn from Divine Party Concepts. You can also use canning jars for serving drinks, snack mix or candy.

I love this idea for serving popcorn from Divine Party Concepts. You can also use canning jars for serving drinks, snack mix or candy.

Football Whoopie Pies from The Finer ThingsFootball Whoopie Pies from The Finer Things

Rice Krispie Football from Life, Love, Beauty

Rice Krispie Football from Life, Love, Beauty

Truffle Cupcakes from Taste of Home

Truffle Cupcakes from Taste of Home

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries by Calligraphy by Jennifer

Chocolate Covered Strawberries by Calligraphy by Jennifer

Football Brownies from Betty Crocker

Keep the decorations simple and to a minimum. Most likely the people coming to your house could care less about centerpieces and much more about the snacks and how well they can see the game. Use team colors for some streamers or balloons. If you want to do something fun, put prize slips inside balloons and let guests pop them at half-time. Prizes could be things from the dollar store or even a coupon for a free coffee. Nothing elaborate or that will break the bank.

You’ll have enough mess to clean up without spending hours taking down a bunch of decorations. Fill jars with candy in the favored teams colors and set them around.

Do light a few candles so your home smells inviting. Make sure your bathroom is spotless and be sure you are stocked up on the basics.

Plan to have plenty of seating, loads of extra napkins and put out a few garbage cans where people can see them. They are much more likely to pick up after themselves if you make it easy for them.

For the non-game watchers who get dragged along, set up a TV in another room with some fun movies. If kids will be attending, make sure they have a play area with plenty of activities. If the gathering is large, you may even want to hire a babysitter to keep an eye on the kiddos.

Most of all, remember to have fun and please, if any one drinks – make sure they don’t drive.

She Who Needs to Get Crackin’ on a Menu

Posted in Entertaining at Home, Party Theme | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

January 27, 2014 by Shanna Hatfield

bubble wrapI’m pretty sure you can find a “National Day” for just about anything.

Seriously.

I say that because today is National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.

So in honor of this auspicious occasion, go pop some bubble wrap. At the very least, it will make you smile.

She Who Needs to Go Find Some Bubble Wrap

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Banana Cream Pie

January 24, 2014 by Shanna Hatfield

banana pie plated

Yesterday was National Pie Day.

On Facebook, I asked the question “What’s your favorite pie?” and got so many yummy responses, I had to make a pie.

Captain Cavedweller loves banana cream pie, so I decided to make one for him (and I may have eaten a piece, too).

This recipe has a few steps to it, but it is easy to make.

 

Ingredients

Ingredients

Melt butter and stir in graham cracker crumbs.

Melt butter and stir in graham cracker crumbs.

Press into a pie pan and bake at 375 for about eight minutes.

Press into a pie pan and bake at 375 for about eight minutes. (Be prepared for your family to wander into the kitchen looking for cookies because the crust does create a warm cookie-like aroma as it bakes.)

Whip two cups of heavy cream with a little vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Set aside.

Whip two cups of heavy cream with a little vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Set aside.

Blend pudding mix with one cup of milk and set aside.

Blend pudding mix with one cup of milk and set aside.

Whip cream cheese until fluffy.

Whip cream cheese until fluffy.

Then mix in sweetened condensed milk and pudding.

Then mix in sweetened condensed milk and pudding.

Gently fold in half of the whipped cream.

Gently fold in half of the whipped cream.

 

Spread a thin layer of filling in the cooled pie crust.

Spread a thin layer of filling in the cooled pie crust.

Top with sliced bananas. (If you want more bananas, cut them into chunks and double the amount.)

Top with sliced bananas. (If you want more bananas, cut them into chunks and double the amount.)

Add remaining filling.

Add remaining filling.

Then top with the remaining whipped cream. Chill for at least an hour. Overnight would be even better.

Then top with the remaining whipped cream. Chill for at least an hour. Overnight would be even better.

And enjoy! We may have cut into this one before it was quite ready, but it was really tasty!

And enjoy! We may have cut into this one before it was quite ready, but it was really tasty!

Banana Cream Pie

For the Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

4 Tbsp. melted butter

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

For the Filling:

2 cups heavy cream, whipped

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3.4oz box instant banana cream pudding

1 cup cold milk

8 oz. cream cheese

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 ripe bananas, sliced

toasted coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix the graham crackers with sugar and cinnamon then blend with the melted butter. When the crumbs are moist and you can pinch them together, they are well blended. If they still seem a little dry, add a dash of water. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan. (I cheated and melted the butter in the pie pan then mixed the crumbs with the butter directly in the pan. One less dish to wash and the pan doesn’t lose any of the butter in transfer.) Bake the crust for approximately 8 minutes then cool completely.

Using a mixer, whip the cream with sugar and vanilla until peaks form. Set aside.

Mix the pudding mix with one cup of milk and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy then add the pudding and sweetened condensed milk, scraping the bowl and beating until smooth. Using a spatula or spoon, gently fold in half of the whipped cream.

In the cooled crust, spread a thin layer of the filling. Top with banana slices. If you like more banana, cut into chunks rather than slices and use three or four, instead of two. Spoon in the rest of the filling then top with the remaining whipped cream.

Carefully cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour (overnight is even better).

To serve, decorate the top with toasted coconut and banana chunks (or a drizzle of caramel or chocolate).

She Who Had a Very Happy Husband When He Tasted This Pie

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Pie, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

National Pie Day

January 23, 2014 by Shanna Hatfield

Drizzle on some caramel sauce and enjoy!

It’s National Pie Day!

A yummy hooray to that!

My dad always says he only likes two kinds of pie – hot and cold. So for all you pie lovers out there, here are a few of my favorite pie recipes.

I was nearly giddy at this point in the game because the crust was so easy to handle. Mine would have been in about 10 pieces or flaky messiness at this point with my old stand-by pie crust recipe.

Let’s start with a recipe for the flakiest, best pie crust.

Apple Pie Bite platedApple Pie Bites

 

slice-of-pieOld Fashioned Apple Pie

RF pie platedCream Pie

choc-rasp pie with berries up closeChocolate Raspberry Ritzy Pie

 

raspberry pie bakedRaspberry Cream Pie

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Zest a fresh lemon. As the scent fills your kitchen with a divine fragrance that makes your knees week, try not to pass out on the floor. Spouses, children and pets may find that disturbing.

Lemon Meringue Pie

orange pie finishedOrange Dream Pie (great in the summer!)

She Who Will Be Making a Pie Today

Posted in Pie, Recipes | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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