Dessert Party

Thank you for your well wishes for Daisy. She is feeling much better! This past Friday, we hosted a Thanksgiving dessert party at our house.


We visited, sang songs and of course, ate lots of sweet treats!


Gingerbread with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting. I used my Gingerbread Cupcake recipe.


M&M cookies.


Chocolate Caramel Candy that my sister, Amy introduced me to. These squares taste just like snicker bars, only better. I have an extra pan in the freezer for Christmas presents. If they last that long. ;0)


I also picked up brownie bites and a cheesecake at Costco.




My mother-in-law has been staying with us for a few weeks and helped me set everything up. We also served coffee, apple cider and hot chocolate with marshmallows.


Thank you for stopping by for a visit. I'm sure many of us are busy with Thanksgiving plans this week. I need to finalize my menu and brave the grocery store!

Easy Entertaining

Good morning! Thank you so much your comments on my new Etsy shop and my treasures from the fair. I always enjoy seeing your show and tells each week, too.

We usually have a few friends over for a casual dinner Saturday evenings, but this week we had a bigger group: friends who recently got married, the groom's parents, our pastor, and another friend from church. Last week was busy with school, music lessons (we got a flat tire on the way there!) and getting our carpets cleaned, so I spaced my to-do list out over several days.

Wednesday
-Plan Menu:

Appetizer:
Bagel crisps and spinach dip (from Costco)

Dinner:
Baked ziti
Garden salad
Rosemary bread (from Costco)

Dessert:
Apple crisp

Beverages:
Iced tea
Lemonade


Thursday
-Clean House:
Dust
Vacuum
Bathrooms


Friday
-Grocery shop

Saturday morning
-Quick tidy
-Make baked ziti and apple crisp (you could also make these Friday evening.)



~Apple Crisp~

4 medium gala apples
4 medium Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

1. Peel, core and slice apples. Toss with cinnamon sugar and pour into 9 x 13 pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar. Cut butter into mixture until crumbly.

3. Sprinkle mixture with over apple slices and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 to 50 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!



Baked Ziti

Ingredients:
1 (16 oz.) package penne pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg, beaten
4 cups marinara sauce (purchased or homemade)
15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
8 ounces sliced mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. As the meat cooks, add garlic powder and Italian seasoning, as well as salt and pepper. Cook until evenly brown, and drain off any fat.

3. Add marinara sauce to meat and simmer (low heat) for 15 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, mix ricotta, shredded mozzarella, and egg, adding more black pepper if desired. Add cooked pasta to mixture and stir gently.

5. Preheat oven to 375°F. Begin layering your ingredients in a lightly-greased 9x13” baking dish as follows: a thin layer of meat-sauce mixture in the bottom of pan, then a layer of cheese and noodle mixture, then another thin layer of meat sauce and another layer of cheese and noodle. Repeat as necessary, ending with meat sauce on top.

6. Top with mozzarella cheese slices and parmesan cheese.

7. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the ziti is heated through and the cheeses are melted.

-Wash, dry and put away all pots and pans.
-Unload dishwasher before guests arrive.

-Set table














-Enjoy your dinner and company!


Do you have any easy entertaining tips to share, too? I hope you all have a wonderful start to your week!

Weekend Chit-Chat

Thank you to all who joined in for Show and Tell and also for your comments on my entryway picture and decorations.


We had friends over for dinner last night and had a fun time together. I made oven baked ribs, baked potatoes, Caesar salad, pita chips with spinach dip and pico de gallo.


We also had one of my favorite fall dishes: acorn squash with butter and maple syrup.


I made choco hoto pots for dessert, but forgot to add the eggs, so it was more like chocolate concrete!


I had to pour boiling water in the bowls and scrap them out with a spoon, which gave me a blister. So, if you try the recipe, be sure not to forget the eggs!


I am happy to see some of you have joined in the weekly paper crafting meme. I put together an example of the weekly prize: A blank notecard, envelope, scrapbook paper, stickers and ribbon. You have all week to participate, so be sure to take a look!

And finally, I'm adding labels to old posts, so if you see them popping up in your bloglines, that's why. I hope you are having a great weekend!

A Birthday Cookout

Hello! I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a fun cookout for Phillip's birthday yesterday. We were so busy visiting with everyone that we didn't take pictures once company arrived, but here are some pictures of getting things ready.


Making chocolate cookies. We had homemade ice cream sandwiches instead of cake.


I set out most of the serving dishes ahead of time.


I also got out our corn on the cob holders.


And the swizzle sticks for stirring iced tea.


We had soda, cranberry/raspberry tea, iced tea and lemonade.


Phillip grilled chicken and sausages and we also had potato salad, tomato and mozzarella salad, corn on the cob, stuffed mushrooms and devilled eggs.

Thank you for taking a look and have a great start to your week!

Easy Entertaining

Hello! I hope you all had a great weekend! We had lots of time to relax, which is always nice. Emily and I finished planting all of our sunflower house seeds and we are hoping to see tiny seedlings soon.

This past Friday, I had a friend and her daughter over for lunch. I thought I would share some pictures and a few easy entertaining tips with you.


It was a warm sunny day, so I rearranged my patio furniture, so we could sit across from each other and visit. I'd like to keep the large chair there all the time, but it would get rained on.


My friend arrived around 10:30am and we had some hot tea. The lace cloth on my tea tray is actually a table runner folded in half.


I usually serve the same thing for lunch whenever we have company over. Sliced turkey and cheese, along with rolls or croissants (my favorite!).


Lettuce and sliced tomatoes.


Mayonnaise and mustard.

I put all of the food on plates about an hour before company arrives, cover them with saran wrap and place in the refrigerator. Everything is quick and easy to get to once it is lunchtime.


I also like to serve a vegetable and dipping sauce. I decided to get a little fancy with the cucumbers.




The girls and Benjamin like crackers too, so I filled up the other side of the plate, and put a bowl of cheese spread in the middle. Sometimes I put out an olive and pickle tray, too.


Everyone seems to like lemonade. I cheat and buy it all ready made.


It's even better with strawberries. I quartered the berries and added them about an hour before lunch.


For dessert, I usually serve fruit (whatever is in season and on sale) and something that I have baked.

I hope I have given you some easy entertaining ideas. I would love to hear your tips too!

~Easy Entertaining~

Hello everyone! Thank you for your comments about our Easter, my new blog header and the well-wishes for Emily. Her bruise has changed from pink/ purple to black, but is shrinking in size. We went to Home Depot yesterday and the salesman said, "I have one question for you....did you win?" I told him the bed won!!

I had a few question in the comments so I thought I would answer them here...

Rebecca, I found the lamb cake mold at a store called "Party City." It's made by Wilton and it was $10.99. I bought it several years ago so if they don't sell it anymore, Ebay might have it.

I was also asked how I did Grace and Emily's hair. First, I put it up in a pony tail. Then I twisted it tightly and at the same time looped it around like a cinnamon run, against their head. I used lots of bobby pins and hairspray! I added the ribbon last.

Oh, and yes, we ate the cake. :0)

Last night we had some friends over for a mission's meeting. Phillip is in charge of the mission's committee at our church so we will need to get together every quarter.

I wanted to share with you my quick and easy menu. Mondays are always busy with school work, laundry and catching up after the weekend. This week was especially busy after Easter. Lots of plastic grass to vacuum up. ;0)

I set everything up buffet style.


I made chicken salad sandwiches on rolls and croissants. I used canned chicken, mayonnaise, salt, pepper and a little garlic powder.


The only thing I had to do for the veggie tray was slice up the green pepper.


I wanted to serve grapes but they were $2.50 per lb. Strawberries were $1.77 a carton so I went with those.


I put the snack-y type foods on the table.


For drinks I served soda, ice tea, lemonade and water. I made unsweetened tea but set out some sugar, a sugar substitute and slices of lemon.


Since it was an evening party, I also made a pot of coffee. Everything was set up for easy self-serve.


For extra seating I brought in our patio furniture and extra kitchen chairs.


I also put my patio couch cushion (which I covered with a blanket) on the fireplace.


Pepperidge Farm cookies were on sale so that was dessert.


I put them, along with leftover Easter candy in the living room, to munch on during the meeting.

It took less than 1 hour to set everything up and clean-up was nice and easy too. I hope I have given you some ideas for simple entertaining! I would love to hear your easy entertaining ideas and tips.


Grace wanted me to mention that the wild bunny living in our yard has had a name change...it's "Carrot" now. I discovered he's been eating my Lamb's Ear plant so I'm rethinking this whole "cute bunny in the garden" thing!

I hope your week is going well and I'll talk to you soon!