Christmas Is Over! My Personal Reflection:

A Little Personal Journaling To Reflect:
Christmas is over and I can't say I'm terribly happy about it. This Christmas was as perfect as one could wish for. I'm not looking forward to taking it all way, I mean that in the most literal sense. The end of Christmas and the New Year bring on just as much work. The tree needs to be undecorated and everything put in its place carefully for next year. The decorations stored away, and the food eaten and some recipes not even to be thought of until the years end. I'll miss the glow of the tree's lights, the stockings adorning the fireplace, and the holiday photo cards hanging throughout. But I will find comfort in the unexpected turn of events this Christmas brought. Especially because it may be our last Christmas in California if things go as planned in 2011.

We broke tradition in a big way this year. For the better part of the last 20 years I have always gone to my Aunts on Christmas Day. We enjoy exchanging gifts, and family come and go throughout the day and night feasting on homemade tamales, menudo, pie, cookies, etc. This year one of my aunts and one of my cousins were recovering from surgeries, so there were to be no tamales and visits on Christmas Day were to be short. Other deterring factors including a personal matter with my family and another family member were possibly preventing me from attending at all. After much consideration my family decided to skip the events at my Aunt's house on Christmas Day.

My husband arranged for some family to stop by and see us that day and we decided of course to provide food for our guests. To take us back a day we had entertained my brother's family on Christmas Eve, for it is as close as we could get to celebrating his 40th birthday which was on the 22nd. We knew we weren't going to get a chance to see him on Christmas Day since we had opted out of going to the general meeting place.

However, Christmas morning arrived and with tons of food cooked and cooking, I received a call from my brother asking if they could come over for a bit. That's 5 people. Shortly after, our expected guests, a family of 6 arrived! After brunch, my brothers family left,  and I later served an early dinner to my guests. During dinner my cousin and his fiance entered in a surprise arrival.  I was so pleased that even though we weren't able to spend Christmas with all of my family, that people cared enough to spend it with us. I think everyone left fulfilled and full! My kids got to spend two days with so many of their cousins in their own house. They're always asking for that, so it was a real treat! And my cousin asked Chloe if she would honor them by being a flower girl in their wedding. By doing so she has to wear a pink dress! This is way out of her tomboyish comfort zone. She said she'll think about it. Stay tuned to hear what she decides...

Here is a glimpse at some of the food I cooked over the past week:
Christmas Eve Dinner:
Artichoke Dip
Salad
Manicotti
Chocolate Birthday Cake

Christmas Breakfast:
Cinnamon Rolls
Christmas Sausage Casserole

Christmas Dinner:
Crudites and Veggie Dip
Gnocchi Mac and Cheese (courtesy of Plain Chicken Blog)
Salad
Prime Rib Roast

Post Christmas Feast:
Roast Turkey
Noodle Koogle
Stuffing

Rain, Rain, Stay! I want Rainboots from Signals!

Well it's not going to be a white Christmas here in San Diego, but it sure is a wet one! I thought we might just float away last night. Some may hate this weather, but it sure is a nice change, it really sets the mood. I just love wrapping presents and watching Christmas movies with a soft blanket, the glow of candles and the Christmas tree is so relaxing. Some of our favorite movies are Miracle on 34th Street (the classic version), and Olive The Other Reindeer, with Drew Barrymore. Give me a nice cup of cocoa, spiked with some Baily's and I'm in cozy heaven! It's so much better than our typical 80 degree Christmas's!

I was leaving one of my favorite bloggers  a message, when I saw this ad on her site for what looked like some super fly cowgirl boots. I was intriqued and I clicked on the ad. It took me to a place called Signals. Ever heard of it? I haven't, and let me just say, they have super cute stuff! Those cowgirl boots get even better. They're rain boots! Just what I need. I can't bring myself to buy them right now, it's the season of giving, not buying for myself afterall. I also have on my list a cute Lauren Conrad blazer from Kohls, if any hubby is listening, hint, hint. Just kidding. We aggreed not to exchange gifts this year, and I'm fine with that, it was my idea.

I've been super busy with holiday of course, we are hosting a Christmas Eve dinner with my brother and his family, and a Christmas dinner here with cousins. I also do a Christmas breakfast spread so I'll be in the kitchen a lot over the next few days. I'm praying I don't burn my prime rib roast, that would be so wasteful and sad! I've also been working on a new blog for Nash. It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but I really wanted the design to be his vision. Since he helped so much I just let him start it. We launched on Dec. 9th and he has about 6 posts. I moderate all the posts and comments and since I'm also his "manager" I have to make sure it gets to all the right people. Those include sports news anchors, radio personalities, MLB managers, etc. So if you know anyone in the Major League Baseball world or sports world, I would love to get in touch with you!

If I don't post again before Christmas, have a Merry and safe one! I'll leave you with my view of the wet, windy, foggy, cold weather outside...

Macadamia Nut Snow Covered Shortbread Cookies

Snow-Covered Macadamia Nut Treats

*This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday's @ 33 Shades of Green.

I don't make many cookies at Christmastime, or any other time for that matter. I have about 5 different cookies in my rotation and I mostly ever just make chocolate chip. My chocolate chip cookies are special, don't get me wrong. They're fat and soft, and they get many compliments on their full figures. I wish I could eat batches of them and get compliments on my full figure! But I digress, I want to share a special cookie that only makes its appearance in our house once a year. It's small and buttery shortbread goodness and it's dusted with magically festive powdered sugar. And if all that's not enough it's all laced with macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips. It's like a tropical snowstorm in one melt in your mouth crunchy bite. Seems like a contradiction of a cookie, doesn't it? What's even better than all of this? I'll tell you. It's prepared in just one bowl. And it has no eggs, so you can eat the dough and be worry free!

Oh, and check this out! I took these photos on my phone, my Verizon Droid. I was quite happy with the results. And it was so easy, I just emailed mysself the photos and didn't have to worry about plugging in my big camera and downloading the pictures onto the computer! Amazing technology!

Snow-Covered Macadamia Nut Treats

From: Pillsbury

{Printable Recipe}

Ingredients:

1/2 C. sugar

1 C. buter, softened

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 C. Pillsbury BEST all-purpose flour

1/2 C. white vanilla chips

1/2 C. chopped macadamia nuts

Powdered sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, combine sugar, butter and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Add flour; mix well. Stir in vanilla chips and nuts. (Dough will be sticky.)

With lightly floured hands, shape rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into 2-inch logs. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350°F. for 12 to 15 minutes or until cookies are firm to the touch. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets. Cool 5 minutes or until completely cooled. Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar.

Teacher Christmas Gift Ideas

10 Holiday Gift Ideas For Teachers

Some years I feel it is so difficult to shop for teacher gifts. Do they really want another Starbucks card? Nash is in 8th grade so he has 7 different teachers, many of them are men, which makes it even harder! Also, this year Chloe's teacher is going through a really difficult time and I want her gift to be perfect. Chloe's teacher just lost her husband to Lymphoma the week before Thanksgiving. She took two weeks off and is already back teaching. She does have two teenage boys to take care of, so it's no wonder. I don't know her well at all, this being a new school for us and all. To top it off I am the room-mom and I've been told that she is extremely private and even instructed the students not to discuss what has happened. Ouch. My heart just aches for her.

1.Here's one of my absolute favorite ideas, because we all know what teachers really want is cold hard cash, and to know we care! It's a sweet little stack of cash all wrapped up in thoughtful notes of admiration!

Book of $100 Reasons @ Every Thing Is Pink

2. My own post brings us to my next suggestion, the always useful teacher supplies. You could put them all in a Christmas basket or even a large stocking and sub the Caramel Apple for some Christmas treats.

Teacher Supplies Basket @ Lavender Clouds.

3. For the men! Pretty easy actually. A treat, a tool, and a techy gadget! The treat is a box of my savory family recipe Chex Mix, the tool is a package of dry erase markers, and the tech is a SanDisc Flashdrive. Total cost, less than $10 bucks!

4. My wine charm ornaments are great gifts for Nash's female teachers. They are handmade and with the right packaging with make a lovely gift. Find them on the Popular Post section of this blog. I have even included printable instructions.

5. A dear friend of mine whom I have much domesticated respect for once put together a wrapping paper storage container full of supplies and gave that to her child's teacher. It was full of wrapping paper, tags, scissors, tape, gift bags, tissue paper, etc. Everything they would need to wrap their gifts. I thought it was a fabulous idea.

6. My SIL is a teacher and while she is in her 20's she said the best gift she ever got was a purse. For me, it's too intimidating to try and purchase something like that for someone, unless I know them really well. Even then, I can mess that up! But, how about a more personal gift card to somewhere more fun than Starbucks! Like, JCrew, The Gap, TJ Maxx, Michael's Craft store. See where I'm going with this. It's December and hopefully you know your teacher a little better by now than I know Chloe's.

7.  Does she enjoy reading? How about Oprah's Book Club Choices w/ a copy of O magazine?

Oprah's Current Book Club Picks

8. Homemade Sugar Scrub or if time fails, head over to Bath and Body Works.

Homemade Sugar Scrub @ Tip Junkie

9. Personalized Key Chain $9.98

Personalized Ruler Key Ring @ Lillian Vernon

10. Finally, For a small treat that I want to make a little more special, I will purchase a porcelain Christmas bowl, like the one here that I got for under $5. Perhaps they even have some cute ones at the dollar store? To me this is so much nicer than putting your cookies or what not into a tin that they will in turn gift to someone else. This way they can actually keep the dish and use it to serve their own goodies in. Just line it with some tissue or parchment paper and put the entire dish in a cellophane bag and tie it off with some cute ribbon.

There are amazing and talented people who have many great ideas to share with us. I saw so many fabulous gifts by google searching simply "teacher gift ideas blog". I still haven't decided what to do for Chloe's teacher, so I would appreciate any suggestions! Chloe spends half of her day in this woman's care. Regardless of what is going on in her personal life, I think she deserves something special, because I do appreciate what she does everyday.

My Christmas Candle Lit Fireplace

*Disclaimer: As stated above, please remember I am not a perfectionist. This explains why I didn't take the time to clean the splattered wax off the mirror before snapping these photos for your viewing pleasure.

Below is my fireplace. I change this with every season. You can see my fall fireplace here. Yes I know, you're probably wondering why I don't have an actual fire in my fireplace. Well for starters it doesn't really get all that cold here and also, between you and I...I don't really know how. But I digress, who needs that big mess to clean up, and all that wood to deal with. This is so much simpler, and clean, and it smells good, and I don't have to worry about escaping embers burning my carpet. Now that I have justified my candle lit fireplace please enjoy the following pictures and feel free to spruce up your unused fireplace with this simple solution!

In case you're wondering about the fat black cat statue, well my husband and I purchased them together before we were married over 13 years ago. I say them because there is a smaller one on top of the fireplace. The baby fat cat. I love their festive spirits. They don't have names....do you have any suggestions? I'd love to hear them.

Pencil Toppers and Club Penguin

Christmas Gifts You Can Afford & Kids Will Love!

Perfect for a niece, nephew or distant cousin's kid!

Out with the old in with the new! Luckily I went through my 8 year olds toys this summer, so there's not really much to get rid of now, except for maybe Silly Bandz. Yep, incase you didn't get the memo, Silly Bandz are out and pencil toppers are in! And at 25 cents a piece, that's fine with me! We have been buying ours from our local Round Table Pizza, or Blockbuster Video. They sell them in those little machines. I also noticed they have them on Amazon too. Try googling sea mania pencil toppers, or jungle mania, and so on. There is also another brand called Squinkies, but we don't have any of those.

Another gift item on the 8 year old circuit is anything Club Penguin. Club Penguin is a Disney affiliated website with a role playing game involving a virtual world. After reading all of the information I feel pretty comfortable letting my daughter play and it is evident that child safety was an important focus in the development of the features of the game.

While they do offer some free play, the majority of fun is had through a monthly membership fee. I pay about $6 a month and I chose to have it automatically withdrawn. However, they sell Club Penguin gift cards at Target. These would make great stocking stuffers or gifts or could be great for incentives or even bribary. ;-) There are also all kinds of books, stuffed animals, trading cards, and toys that go along with it.

How to display Christmas Cards

Thanks to Diane over at In My Own Style  who gave me this great idea for how to display years worth of my saved Christmas photo cards. Anytime anyone has ever sent me a photo card over the holidays I have saved it. In years past I have just taped them all up on a wall in collage form. Not the most stylish and eye catching way, but still my friends and family loved to see their old Christmas photos displayed.

This year I knew I wanted to display them in a more fashionable way. I simply emailed Diane and she had the perfect answer for me in no time at all! She does amazing things and all of her displays are so beautiful I knew I could trust her advice. So now, I have many doors in my house displayed in this fashion. She instructed me to hot glue a long piece of ribbon on the top of the door. Then simply attach the cards with a pin. I actually glued my cards onto the ribbon. That way I can just carefully fold them up with tissue paper and rehang them next year. Thanks so much Diane. I LOVE my card displays. I love seeing how the families have grown through the years. I even see my kids looking at all the cards multiple times throughout the day.

How do you display your holiday cards?

Kitchen Aid Blender Review, its made in the USA!

*This is not a sponsored post! I just really love this and want to tell you all about it~

It's official, we are in smoothie heaven! Recently my blender broke. The ingredient cap was shattered, and all the parts no longer fit together properly. So you can imagine the annoyance it was causing me. It was dripping out the bottom just enough to leak into the base. The last and final time I used it, I had all the ingredients in the blender, then I poured in some milk. It poured right out the bottom! I screamed some obscenities and knew I could no longer attempt to save the life of my Oster blender.

So when my MIL asked what I wanted for Hanukkah, I quickly sent her this link. I had already been looking for the new blender and I had my heart set on this chrome colored Kitchen Aid Contour 5-speed Blender. I received it last week and let me tell you I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It is beautiful, am I allowed to say that about a blender? Mine has a one piece Polycarbonate Pitcher. Different models come with that pitcher or a glass or stainless steel pitcher. My poly pitcher is shatter, stain, and scratch resistant. Hello? It's also great because it can withstand a variety of temperatures. You can make frozen drinks or boiling soups and sauces. But the best part is its simple ONE PIECE design. This makes it SO EASY TO CLEAN! No taking the blender apart to wash it! And it's dishwasher safe if you want to go that route. I just add warm water and a drop of liquid soap and give it a few pulses. It does so many things and there are so many more great features. I'm in blender heaven.

If I had to report anything bad about it, I think it would be the weight of the base. It's considerably heavier than my Oster, but I think this is because of it's rocket powered motor! I will happily burn a few extra calories lifting it from it's home in the shelf because I know it will crush my ice to a fine little crystal in all of about 5 seconds. Don't get me wrong this baby deserves a space on your counter, right next to your Kitchen Aid Mixer, perhaps. I personally just don't keep my appliances on the counter.

This is a thoughtfully crafted and engineered piece of machinery that will make any amount of time spent in the kitchen seem fun and easy. So if you're in the market for a new blender, or someone you know is, or you have an upcoming wedding stop by Target.com and pick up one of these. If you order now I think it qualifies for free shipping. They do have them at Amazon as well, but they have different colors listed in different prices. So go, go on and check this baby out. If you decide to buy and have any questions before your purchase, feel free to send me an email. Happy Blending!

Do You Yelp?

Do you Yelp? Have you ever even heard of Yelp? It is an amazing resourceful and free website I urge you to take advantage of. Whether in your home town or while your on vacation, visiting this site before you visit most businesses is a must! Yelp is a business review website. Yelp in San Diego is very popular and it is a tool that most business here use to gain valuable customer feedback. However, I have visited some states where Yelp is not as popular, especially in smaller cities.

I have been a member since 2008 and I have left almost 80 reviews for restaurants and shops I have visited. My 80 reveiws is small potatoes compared to those Elite Yelpers, hey I do have a life! Not only do I leave reviews, I also check reviews before I head to somewhere new, or I use it to find new places or restaurants. I always leave honest reviews, sometimes painfully honest. I have in the past left negative reviews based on my experience and actually had chefs or managers contact me to try and make it right. I so admire that type of customer service! So next time you're looking for a hotel, restuarant, hairdresser, mechanic, or practically anything else check out YELP and see if your city is listed!

Do you have any interesting Yelp experiences or comments to share? Tell us about it!

*This is not a sponsored post. I just really love this tool and wanted to pass it along:-)

Free Printable Letters FROM Santa!

I'm back! What a perfect vacation we had. Honestly, hubby made me leave a day early and while that threw off my packing schedule a bit, I'm sooooo glad he did. The original day we had scheduled to travel ended up being the first day of a very heavy week of snow that followed. They had record breaking snowfall and below zero temperatures. It was exactly why we went. My husband loves the dark cold gloom of winter, don't ask me why! It was really beautiful, I must admit. But I do love the weather we came back to in SoCal. It is sunny and the air is cold and crisp.
We did get our family photos done. The day we did it, it was like 7 degrees below zero and windy! But we managed and got some great shots in the snow by the lake. They won't look like all my friends cards I'll be getting from the beach, I know that!

Now that I'm back and in Christmas card and photo book mode, it reminded me of something else I plan to send out along with Christmas cards. Last year Chloe recieved a letter in the mail FROM Santa! It was very very exciting for her. One of her friends mother sent it. Chloe is 8 and has started questioning Santa's reality. I know this is the last year she will "believe" so I want her to get the letter this last time. I know a ton of other young children I can send it to as well. If you want to send some letter's from Santa, click HERE. They're free!

Thanksgiving Wine Suggestions

We're Outta Here!

We are getting ready to head out for the holiday. It seems that no matter how well I plan and no matter how early I start preparations, I'm still running around frantically before it's time to go. I'm so looking forward to this trip to Coeur d'Alene. We are also hoping to make a day trip west to Seattle since none of us have been there. We'll see if that works out. I booked a photographer, so we are going to get professional photos done while on vacation. Hopefully we will be able to do an outdoor shoot if the weather permits. Since I'm not cooking for Thanksgiving this year, I won't be posting my fab appetizer recipes. (Maybe next year!)

But, I did want to give some wine suggestions. I happen to know a little about wine, maybe even a lot compared to some. I studied wine over the course of three years. I've worked in all aspects of the wine industry. I have worked as a sommelier in a fine restaurant, I have sold wine as a distributor to stores and restaurants, and I have worked selling wine directly to the customers either in a store or by leading private wine class parties.

But I digress, my point is that you can trust my advice in regards to this subject! Thanksgiving wine selection is pretty easy and straightforward. For a typical traditional Thanksgiving dinner my selection for red is Pinot Noir, something from the Oregon, perhaps, and a for white, a Riesling. Now with Riesling you can go a couple of different routes. I would suggest a dry or semi-sweet. Germany and Alsace are good bets. I also like one they have at Costco, from the Coppola Collection (California produced). It is called Sofia (after his movie-producing daughter). It comes in a fun, lovely bottle. My guests always seem to enjoy every last drop of it!

Just spend what you can afford. There are great wines in a variety of price points. I think a good starting point is $11-13 a bottle. Of course you can always go up from there, but you don't want to go through all of the trouble of cooking a great meal only to pair it with crappy wine. And if you're buying for a hostess gift, spend at least $20. Either buy one nice bottle or get two, a red and white. Definitely ask a sales person to help steer you in the right direction. That's why they're there. Use them to your benefit!

These two wines are perfect because there are so many different flavors going on, and these will compliment while not overpowering them. I'm sorry I don't have more time to explain but the kids keep talking to me and I'm supposed to be packing!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving All!

It's My Birthday...Crown

Today Is My Birthday!

Today is my birthday! A couple days ago Chloe made this crown for me. She even thought to include little sheets I could tear off each day for a countdown. When she presented it to me, she made it clear that I was to wear it all the time leading up to my birthday...."Even in public," she said. Was she kidding, I thought?

So on Sunday we all had to go out to pick up some supplies for a school project (and my wine ornaments) at Michael's. Being the mom I am, I happily adorned my birthday crown. Let's just say on a Sunday afternoon there were no shortage of shoppers. There were a lot of looks my way, a little girl who pointed and laughed, (no joke), and a past PTA president, with whom I had an entire conversation. I even stopped her to ask if she could take me seriously while I was wearing the crown. At the end of our chat, she tapped me on the arm, looked at me pathetically and said, "You're a good mom." Hmmm, I thought, I guess I am. But, really, I thought, how could anyone not honor a wish like that of their 8 year old daughter? It reminded me to have some childish fun while celebrating my birthday!

On the inside she wrote "If lost return to"....and my phone number.

While at Michael's Nash made a secret purchase for me, asking the store attendants their opinion on his idea. Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it. I already feel like the luckiest person in the world. I have all of life's greatest gifts already.

Wine Cork Ornaments

Wine Cork Ornaments

{Printable Instructions}

Aren't these lovely and adorable? I'm so excited. I have been wanting to make these little ornaments since last fall. (I know, I know!) After searching for an answer for what to do with all my wine corks I remembered this. I can't quite remember where I saw it. This was way too easy and I'm looking forward to making tons of these and giving them in sets this Christmas. These guys were my first try at it, so I'm looking forward to what else I can do. I picked up all my supplies from Michael's including a mini hand drill and I paid $4 for the set of three key charms. Here's a simple photo turtorial, so you can make them too. Just don't forget to share your ideas with us after you've made some. Let's get started, shall we?

Some supplies (shown below) you'll need is a drill, small drill bit, cord ribbon (in the ribbon section), glue, scissors, 9mm split rings (they look like mini key rings), decorative charms with an attached split ring, & buttons with holes.

First, drill a hole through the center of the cork. From one side, through to the other. The hole has to be big enough to thread your cord ribbon through.

Next, attach the split ring (#1) onto the charm(#2). Cut a piece of cord ribbon to 12-18 inches in length. Slide your charm onto the ribbon as you would a necklace.

1.) Slide on the button. One end of the ribbon through one button hole and the other side of the ribbon in another button hole. 2.) Thread both ends of the ribbon through the hole in the cork. 3.) Add a little glue to the button and pull the ribbon so the cork and button are affixed. 4.) Add one or two more buttons as you did in step 1 and 2. Then glue those in place. You should now have something that looks like (from top to bottom) button, button, cork, button, slip ring, slip ring, charm. All held by the ribbon and glue.

To further secure your glued button, simply loop the ribbon one time as if you were going to tie your shoe. Just don't make a bow or not. Now towards the end of the length of your ribbon tie a double knot. Tight. Cut off any excess ribbon.

Wha-La!

ADDENDUM: Dec 27, 2010

I'm adding some more photos to this post, I have been experimenting with different charms, the crystals are expensive, but I really love them. I have also started using a different type of cord, I picked up in the jewelry making section. The cupcake one is perfect for the baker in me, and the ones with the crystal look great hanging from my rear view mirror, although I'm not sure if that's a safety hazard! If you choose to go that route, cut your cord extra long. I also experimented with beads and I started using larger slip rings :

Cake Decorating Book Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations Sue!

You're the winner of the beautiful Toba Garrett Wedding Cake Decorating Book.

You should receive an email from me shortly.

Stay tuned for more great cookbook giveaways in the month of December.

Recipe Blog I love and Easy Cinnamon Bread Recipe

I love the blog Plain Chicken. All of the recipes that I have tried from Plain Chicken have made it into my Tried and True cookbook binder. To qualify to be in the Tried and True Cookbook binder I must have made and loved the recipe at least 3 times. The latest Plain Chicken recipe to make it in was this Parmesan Skillet Bread.
http://plainchicken.blogspot.com/2010/09/garlic-parmesan-skillet-bread.html
It's a great addition to most any dinner but recently I tried a sweet breakfast version using the same method.

Cinnamon Skillet Bread
1 can flaky buttermilk biscuits, cut in quaters
3 Tbsp butter
2 tsp prepared cinnoman and sugar mix
8" saute pan
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Water or milk, start with a teaspoon
Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter in saute pan.  Add cinnamon and sugar.  Add quartered biscuts and toss in saute pan.  Place whole pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and slide onto platter for serving. Combine powdered sugar and liquid, one teaspoon at a time until a desired constistency is reached. It should drizzle off a spoon.