Movie Night at Home with the Family
I know a lot of families have movie night once a week where they gather around the television for a good movie and have popcorn. So, I thought I would teach you how to make fantastic popcorn using your waterless cookware instead of the microwave…it’s sooo much cheaper and way more fun!
Traditional Popcorn
Utensils: Electric Skillet
Directions: Pre-heat Electric Skillet to 400 degrees. When temperature light goes off, add 3 tablespoons of oil and a 1/2 cup of popcorn. Cover and let pop until all corn is popped.
Makes about 2 quarts; season to your liking
Greaseless Popcorn:
Utensils: Electric Skillet
Directions- Start with a cold skillet, add 1/2 cup of popcorn and turn skillet to 400 degrees. Cover and let pop until all corn is popped.
Makes 2 quarts; season to your liking
Bridal Registry Etiquette
I found an article on wedding registry and I thought I would share it.
1. Give your guests plenty of options
Telling your guests what to buy and where to go isn’t much fun for them. But giving them a choice in stores and in products makes them a cheerful giver. Choose more items than necessary to provide more options and don’t limit your interests down to one store. Put a little bit of fun into the mix by signing up with very different types of stores like REI, The Home Depot or even a lingerie store.
2. Let your relatives be as kind or as cheap as they want to be.
It’s their choice. Some relatives may go all out to buy you something you really want. Others will think your value is limited in dollar amount. Some relatives simply cannot afford an expensive gift as much as they may love you. Taking into account everybody’s circumstances is important. So be sure and buy plenty of inexpensive gifts.
3. Plan for early shopping and late gifts.
It is customary to open registration, at least in one store, a short time after the engagement is finalized. This allows friends and family to purchase preliminary gifts for engagement showers and other pre-wedding events. Eventually you will open more registries with different stores and these ordinarily are good for one year after your wedding ceremony. This allows for late presents including as honeymoon registry gifts.
4. Don’t invite people to buy for you.
This seems like common knowledge, but a lot of people are in the habit of sending bridal registry information on wedding invitations, or on special cards printed up by bridal websites. This is not polite and encourages the idea of “soliciting gifts.” The polite way to announce a bridal registry system is through word of mouth.
Another acceptable way might be to include a subtle notation on the bridal shower invitations, since the future bride and groom do not send them personally. Another prolific way to spread the news is via a website. The important thing is, that newly weds do not directly ask for presents.
5. Say Thank You!
It’s only good manners to say thank you after receiving a gift. All the more so should newlyweds be appreciative when it’s precisely the gifts they wanted. So sending thank you notes is a very important practice-and yet one that can easily be forgotten in the midst of wedding nerves. Always remember your manners in this most elegant time period.
http://www.wedding-web-site.com/bridal_registration_etiquette.shtml
Check out this registry… www.simplicitybridalregistry.com
How Do I Get My FH Involved In Our Wedding Planning?
Wednesday September 03rd 2008, 11:55 pm
Filed under:
Jamell,
Wedding
Okay, so I found my dress already and I absolutely love it! I took my girls with me to try on dresses and they each picked out a dress for me to try on. I ended up going with the one I picked out but it was a lot of fun. It’s a little difficult for me to plan because my location is ten hours away. I’m getting married on Lake Michigan and I live in Nashville, TN. I know I have almost a year to plan but I’m already starting to get stressed out about all the details. I am attending another bridal show this weekend to get some more ideas. The fact that I was able to be a part of my friend’s wedding this past weekend helped tremendously. Her wedding was very beautiful and it gave me some great ideas.
Although, I’m trying to get my fiance’ to get involved in all of the planning, I’m not having much luck. I know guys don’t care about all the girly stuff but I want him to be a part of the decision making. I’m glad I have friends who love this kind of stuff. I’m open to any suggestions on how to get him involved.
I’m Getting Married!!!!
I know there’s probably only two people I haven’t told but I’ve been engaged for two weeks now! I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. Although it’s a bit early, I have already started planning quite a bit. We won’t be getting married for a year but there is so much to do. I have to admit I’m enjoying every minute of it! I can’t wait to try on dresses; I have already found one that I think might be “the one”. I have signed up on about three websites to use all the neat tools available…you never know what to sign up for because of all the scams out there.
I am defenitely going to register with Simplicity Brides for my china. I’m going to my first bridal show as an actual bride next weekend and I’m sooo excited! I’ll get to see all the vendors and get information and ideas. The best thing that I have found with going to bridal shows with other people is that they give away a lot of free stuff. I will try and keep everybody updated as much as possible and if anybody has any tips on planning a wedding, PLEASE, share them with me.
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A Few Recipes for the Holiday Weekend
I ran across these recipes and I thought I should share them with everyone. I’m sure there will be a lot of cooking this weekend. I’m going to spend most of the 4th in the car on my way back from Oklahoma…it’s a small price to pay though because I get to go watch one of my friends marry the man of her dreams! Because the 4th of July isn’t really the time for gourmet food here are some simple recipes:
American Casserole
Utensils: Electric Skillet, Master Kut
Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
16 oz. fresh or frozen broccoli, chopped
6 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
2,10 oz. cans broccoli cheese soup
1 large potato, shredded on the #1 cone (or 1 pkg broccoli-cheese Lipton rice sides)
Preheat the skillet on medium-high for 3 minutes. Cut the chicken into 1-inch strips. Add the chicken to the skillet and saute until brown; the chicken will stick to the skillet at first, but will release juices and loosen as it cooks. Add the soup, broccoli and potato (or rice packet) and mix well. Cook over medium heat until water beads around the edge (whistle sounds on the Large Skillet). Reduce the temperature to Simmer (Close the whistle and reduce heat to low if using the large Skillet). Cook for 5 minutes longer. Unplug the skillet (remove from heat if using the large skillet) and sprinkle with the cheese, using the #1 cone to shred. Cover and let stand for 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve as a casserole or in flour tortillas.
Bread Pudding
Utensils: Electric Skillet
Ingredients: 2 ripe bananas 1 cup raw sugar
3 egg whites 1 cup evaporated milk
1 tbsp. Canola Oil 1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 slices of whole wheat, or white bread (coarsely chopped)
Prepare the ingredients ready for use. In a large bowl mix all ingredients except the egg white. Fold the egg whites into the batter. Set the electric skillet to 225 degrees and spray with cooking spray. Pour batter into the skillet evenly and cover. Cook for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the middle of the pudding comes out clean.
How To Set a Formal Table
Okay, so, here’s the truth: I don’t actually care how you are supposed to set a formal table. I typically only use one utensil to eat all of my food, so, I don’t see the need to have multiple utensils at the table – I’m just not that kind of girl…and lots of you aren’t. Now, the problem is, when I do need to know how to set a table, I can’t even remember what side of the plate utensils should go on! Ah, the simplicity of it, and yet, still so complicated for some reason – and embarrassing to boot if you don’t get it right for the right situations. There’s always that one girl who knows – and she knows that you don’t know! Even though this isn’t my standard operating procedure for every day, I’ve come to realize that now that I’ve dabbling in more gourmet cooking, as I’m about to get married and have people over to my new home, this is something I definitely need to become more acquainted with. This is what I’ve learned…
First, choose an appropriate table cloth. A white linen tablecloth is a fine choice for covering your dining table. Any color tablecloth will do but a white one signifies cleanliness and elegance. It also makes the silverware and the dish ware stand out better. Your napkins should match the color as well as the fabric of the tablecloth.
Next, decide on how many guests are going to attend your dinner, and have the appropriate number of silverware and dishware pieces on hand. Your silverware should be a complete set and ideally the patterns on all of the pieces should match. Your dinnerware should also be a complete set of china or crystal. Do not try to put together odds and ends of different sets can create a broken effect. For those of you who prefer a more eclectic or whimsical look, you can mix and match patterns but make sure the texture and colors coordinate both with each other and with your linens.
To set your table with a formal, traditional look, every piece of silverware and each piece of dishware has its distinctive spot on a formal dining table, and must be put in its proper spot. A service plate, or charger, may be used as the anchor for each place setting. Start with the largest plate which is the dinner plate. It is placed in the center of each place setting. The soup dish is then placed in the center of the dinner plate. Next, place the dinner fork to the exact left of the dinner plate, with the salad fork to the left. Up above the salad fork, and to it’s left, place the salad plate. Directly above the dinner fork, the bread plate with the bread knife horizontally across it. To the exact right of the dinner plate, place the dinner knife, and position the soup spoon to it’s right. Now, right of the soup spoon is where the coffee cup and saucer are placed. Directly above the coffee cup, place the wine glass, with the water glass placed a little above it and to it’s left. The napkin is folded either in the empty water glass, or on the dinner plate. Last, the dessert spoon is placed in the center above the dinner plate.
Add a centerpiece, usually consisting of a flower arrangement, and your formal dining table is complete. Keep in mind that the centerpiece should be low and not obstruct the view of each dinner guest. Now you can serve gourmet food to your guest on your elegant table.
Now I know this picture isn’t exactly as i descibed for the formal place setting but this is a more non-traditional look that is still formal and elegant. This is a perfect example of how a put together table can make all the difference. It also doesn’t hurt to have some of that gorgeous china displayed. I saw this pattern on Simplicity Gourmet’s web site. For everyone who likes to host formal dinners I hope this helps.
