We Got Everything On Our List

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did! We have been celebrating - and feasting - for three days straight, and we have one last celebration tonight to wrap up the holidays.

Turns out we have quite a bit to celebrate this year; our Christmas family dreams came true on Friday afternoon when we found out that we are having both a little girl and little boy! We could not be feel more grateful, blessed, or excited for our little guy and gal. We have a lot to do before they arrive, but now that we know what they are we have a vision that I will slowly start executing this week. (I'll be sharing an updated inspiration board tomorrow.)

But before we say goodbye to Christmas, here's the holiday card that we sent out to family and friends.

I got the idea from Pinterest. (I was not logged in when I found the inspiration photo, and by the time I logged in, it was gone. I spent a hour looking for it and couldn't find it, so if you know the original source, let me know so I can give them their proper dues.)

So with this Week 19 photo, I am wishing you and your families and very happy and relaxing Christmas!

My Christmas Morning and a Holiday Identity Crisis

I woke up at 6 this morning after a dream-filled, fitful night of sleep. Yep, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, and to be honest, today kind of is my Christmas morning... the grown up version. This afternoon we are finding out the sexes of the twins in my belly, and WE couldn't be more excited! I will be pacing around the house, dusting/cleaning/washing/mopping everything within an inch of its life until the appointed hour.

And yes, I'll reveal what we're having, but only after a big Christmas announcement to our family  on Christmas day. So look out for a Monday post on that.

In an attempt to pass the time before our appointment and get the house holidazzled for our first Christmas here, I did a little decorating. Only, our holiday decor is having an identity crisis. Does it want to be rustic and homemade, or does it want to sparkle with glitter and frosty crystal?

It can't make up it's mind, and either can I. For a total of $8 spent on decor this year, I can't complain. We're not hosting any holiday festivities, and it is our first holiday in our new house, so we still have some kinks to iron out but that's okay.

But thinking about Christmases to come, I need to pick a style: baskets, wood chargers/placemats, and handmade holiday decor (maybe accented by some plaid checked and burlap fabric)... or all things glittery and sparkly. I am leaning towards the first, but I think I am going to let the after holiday sales on the 26th make up my mind for me.

One thing that's definitely making a repeat appearance next year? This card "wall" that I created on the door of our entry closet (the first thing you see when you enter the house).

Thanks also to the yarn wrapped wreath I made in a movie-watching frenzy last night - I think Ryan found me and the yarn more entertaining than the movies - I have made one of my least favorite spots in the house somewhere that I want to stop and spend some time.

If only I could accomplish this feat the remaining 11 months of the year...

The Christmas Blitz Continues: Cookie Madness

Well, I have made some serious progress on my Christmas to do list. Let's check it out, shall we?


Buy presents
Wrap presents
Take Christmas card photo
Order Christmas cards
Send out Christmas cards
Watch Love Actually at least once (much to Ryan's chagrin)
Decorate small tree
Decorate house (stockings, wreath, tablescape, garland?)
Bake cookies for neighbors


Today the plan is to get a few household decorations and the supplies needed to package up the cookies for neighbors, and tonight wrap presents while watching The Holiday and maybe Love Actually again. 


As a side note, if anyone else out there plans to have a wrapping party and is a wee bit behind like me, you can check out some gorgeous and FREE printable gift tags here. (Thanks to E Tells Tales for originally posting the link!) 


Okay, let's get to the main event: Christmas Cookies!

I made the Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses cookies that I posted about last year again; you can check out that recipe here. In addition, I decided to take some inspiration from my fellow bloggers and try out some of their favorite recipes...


First up, Hello Dolly Bars from Ashley at Calmly and Chaotic (originally from here). My mom used to make something similar when I was little - I think she called them Everything but the Kitchen Sink Cookies - and I always loved the combination of flavors. It takes me right back to childhood holidays.


Note: I made a recipe and a half to fill up a lasagna dish and a smaller casserole dish. 


Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs (or about 8 graham crackers, pulsed in a food processor)
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk (just under half a small can)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile, melt butter in microwave until just melted when stirred (I used 50% power for a minute, and it did the trick). Add graham cracker crumbs. Mix together with a fork and then press evenly into the bottom of 8×8 baking pan using the backs of your fingers.

Layer coconut, pecans, butterscotch and chocolate chips on top of graham cracker base. 

Pour sweetened condensed milk over whole mixture and bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. (Note: The chips will not have melted. That's okay.)

Let them thoroughly cool before cutting. Putting them in the fridge for an hour or so can speed up this process. 

Okay, on to the next recipe! These Chocolate Crackle Cookies are courtesy of Nicole at Me Oh My (but originally from Martha Stewart). 

As a warning, these are much more labor intensive than the Hello Dolly Bars and take some planning because they need to refrigerate for 2 hours before baking, but they could be really fun to do with little ones since they get rolled in both granulated and powered sugar. Plus they're worth the trouble. Also, I made a double recipe and ended up with approximately 50 cookies, so one batch goes a looooong way. 

Ingredients: 

1 bag chocolate chips total: half semi sweet, half milk chocolate

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature

1 1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 c. granulated sugar, for rolling

1 c. powdered sugar, for rolling

Melt chocolate chips over medium low heat, careful to not burn. (A double boiler is amazing for this step, as you don't have to be watching them vigilantly and can move ahead with the recipe.) Let cool. 

In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. 

In your mixer beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat until well combined.

Add 1/3 of cooled melted chocolate to dough, combine. 

Alternate adding milk and dry ingredients until all chocolate and dry ingredients have been folded in. Be sure to scrape down the bowl between additions. Mix until just combined.

Divide dough and wrap in plastic. Don't do this step in front of your husband though, or he will tell you that it looks like a giant turd. Boys.

Chill in refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours. Remove dough, cut into rounds, and roll into 1 inch balls. (They don't have to be perfect.) Dust in bowl of granulated sugar, and then generously in powdered sugar. 

Bake about 15 minutes until cookies have flattened and sugar cracks.

Oh, and I can't believe it passed me by (actually, I can in all the holiday madness), but yesterday was the one year anniversary of this little blog! What a whirlwind year. 

She's Making a List, She's Checking it Twice

This is rather embarrassing to admit, but we did not start Christmas shopping or preparations until last Saturday. We have a small Christmas tree thanks to Ryan's aunt, and the red runner is out on the table, but other than that, you can't even tell it's the holidays around here.

Now Christmas is 5 days away, and I have still accomplished little.  

Buy presents
Wrap presents
Take Christmas card photo
Order Christmas cards
Send out Christmas cards
Watch Love Actually at least once (much to Ryan's chagrin)
Decorate small tree
Decorate house (stockings, wreath, tablescape, garland?)
Bake cookies for neighbors

I am headed to the mall today to hopefully wrap up our shopping in one trip (pun intended!), and tonight our cards will arrive, so we can address those and get them out in the mail tomorrow. We plan to decorate our mini tree tomorrow, and hopefully holiday up the rest of the house while we are at it. Tomorrow and Thursday I plan to bake away, and then Friday I will wrap every one's gifts and we will deliver cookies to the neighbors.

I am more than a little sad that we won't be getting a full sized tree this year, but I don't think we have the time to find and decorate a large tree that we will only enjoy for a week or so. However, I am trying to channel my disappointment into thinking about next year and what holiday traditions we want to start as a family.

I know we need to get our tree the first weekend of December, or like this year, it won't happen. We want to put up outdoor lights (which I am hoping to snag at an after Christmas sale this year), and I want to do a Christmas/winter book advent calendar with the twins. Now that I have written it down, maybe I will remember it when December rolls around next year.

What traditions do you look forward to every year? Are you a last minute shopper like me, or do you get it all done before December even begins? And the real question I want to ask, anyone else out there without a tree like us?

Mother's Day Meal

We had both of our moms over for dinner last night to celebrate Mother's Day. I decided to make a dish I love, but that we only have on very special occasions: BBQ filet mignon with blue cheese and crispy shallots.

Ryan is the master of the grill, but I prep the filets with some olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper, which I rub into the filets. Ryan then cooked the filets for five minutes per side (we like them pink in the middle in this family), and when they were done, we let them rest for 10 minutes while I fried up the shallots. More on that in a second.

While they were resting under some loose tin foil, I placed a little slice of Point Reyes Blue cheese on the filets to melt like so:

Then I got to work on the crispy fried shallots. I sliced 2 shallots into long, thin slices and then dredged them in corn starch.

Then I heated some vegetable oil over high heat, and when it began to bubble away, I added the shallots, letting them fry up until they were golden brown.

Lastly, I removed them with a fork and let them drain on a paper towel.

The last step was to add them to the filets right away so they remained crispy. Soggy shallots are no fun.

The sweet shallots were the perfect contrast to the sharp blue cheese. Yum. Oh, and the Crispy Oven Fries and homegrown salad on the side was pretty good too. (More on that and the low-fat carrot cake we had for dessert in the days to come since this post is getting a bit long.)

Here's the table all gussied up with our gemini roses, which are in full bloom these days.

I would have loved to use our china and crystal, but it's still in boxes since we don't have as much storage in our new place. But hopefully those big roses, which my mom said were so perfect that they looked fake, distracted attention away from our everyday plates.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, moms-to-be, aunties, and grandmas out there! What did you all do to celebrate Mother's Day?

(Insert Your Favorite Primary Color Here) Velvet Cupcakes

If your wondering what dessert to serve with your Shepherd's Pie in honor of St. Patrick's Day, look no further than these [Insert Your Favorite Primary Color Here] Velvet Cupcakes. Today I am sharing my recipe (adapted from Epicurious) for Blue Velvet cupcakes, which I made in honor of our school colors. Go Eagles!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 2 ounces water
• 1 ounce food coloring in your color of choice
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 t white vinegar
• 1 t baking soda

Directions

Preheat the over to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and blend well.

Make a paste of cocoa and food coloring, like so:

Add to the butter mixture. 

One at a time, stir in the following ingredients: buttermilk, vanilla, and water. 

A third at a time, mix flour and salt into the butter mixture until just combined. Do not overmix! 

In a small bowl, combine vinegar and baking soda. Gently fold it into the cake batter. Make sure it's incorporated; don't beat it. 

Spoon batter into cupcake tins until they are 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 mins, or until an inserted fork comes out clean of batter. 

While your cupcakes are baking, start on the Cream Cheese Frosting...

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 12 ounces cream cheese (I use Neufchatel cheese - a creamy cream cheese alternative with less fat)
• 1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 t vanilla 
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 t lemon juice or extract (optional - to cut some of the sweetness)

Cream, cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon (if using). Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, and beat until smooth. (Note: If doubling your cupcake recipe, this frosting should be enough for a double batch.)

Let cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

** I would post pics of the frosting-making process and the finished product, but Blogger is refusing to upload the rest of my pics right now, and I am too tired to try to figure out what is wrong. Sorry. Now I guess you will really have to make these delicious treats to see what they look like!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! How are you celebrating this year? Is there a tradition that you honor each March 17th? Either way, I hope you get out there and have a green beer for me so I can celebrate vicariously through you! I will be curled up under our new duvet - it came in yesterday! - grading papers for the rest of my life...or until next Wednesday when 3rd quarter grades are due. 

Shepherd's Pie

I can't stomach Corned Beef and Cabbage, but I love me some Shepherd's Pie. And with St. Patrick's Day tomorrow, I thought I would offer up a recipe that is a festive alternative to more traditional Irish fare.

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef or cubed beef (like you would use for stew) - Note: I have used both elk and buffalo meat instead of beef, and it is stupendous!   
• handful mushrooms, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• Marsala Red Wine Sauce (optional - see recipe below)
• mashed potatoes - Here's a recipe from Martha Stewart that I really like if you don't already have a preferred way of making them
• grated sharp cheddar for sprinkling over casserole

Marsala Red Wine Sauce

Saute one finely minced shallot in olive oil until tender. Add one cup red wine and 1/2 cup Marsala. Bring to a boil and simmer until reduced by 1/3. Add 3/4 cup beef demi glace (the stuff from Williams Sonoma is phenomenal) and 2 T red currant jelly (or whatever jelly you have in the fridge). Lastly, add 1.5 t butter (cut into little cubes), one cube at a time, whisking until fully incorporated. Remove from head and add pepper to taste. 

(This sauce is perfect over filets. I had some left over from Valentine's Day, so I thought I would throw it into the casserole. It was a welcome addition that I will definitely incorporate from now on, although the Shepherd's Pie still tastes delicious without it.)

Shepherd's Pie:

Saute onion and meat in some olive oil until browned. Scatter over the bottom of a casserole dish, like so:

Add mushrooms and zucchini on top: 

Top with Marsala Red Wine Sauce and mix.

Cover mixture evenly with mashed potatoes. 

(I forgot to snap a pic before I began adding cheese. Sorry :) Now smother in cheese.

Pop in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the potato peaks are golden. Enjoy with a green beer!

I will be sharing my recipe for Blue Velvet Cupcakes tomorrow, which can easily be turned into Red or Green Velvet depending on the occasion. We gotta wash that casserole down with something sweet, right? 

Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

If you have yet to do any holiday baking like me, here's a recipe to try out: Soft and Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies. I had visions of making at least three different kinds of sweet treats, but I just finished my Christmas shopping yesterday, so I was feeling like I needed to ratchet down the dream just a tad. But I wanted to try out a new recipe... Luckily, during my last minute shopping yesterday, I was reminded of a ginger molasses cookie that a local chain of coffee shops (Carmel Valley Roasting Company) makes, and that I have wanted to emulate for years. The sweet caramel-y-ness (is that a word?) of the molasses mixed with the bite of the ginger makes the flavor perfect for this season!

Here's the recipe:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a medium size bowl, combine the following dry ingredients:e2 1/4 c all-purpose flour; 2 t ground ginger; 1 t baking soda; 3/4 t ground cinnamon; 1/2 t ground nutmeg; 1/4 t salt. Set aside.
• With a standing or hand-held mixer, cream together 3/4 c butter (a sick and a half) and 1 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. 
• Beat in one egg.
• Stir in 1/4 c molasses and 1 T water.
• Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, about 1/4 to 1/3 at a time, until just combined. 
• Shape dough into walnut sized ball (I did this my rolling it in my palms), and then roll them in 4 T of white sugar.
• Place them 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet, and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges. 

We enjoyed ours last night after a dinner of leftover roasted chicken and butternut squash soup, courtesy of the Big Sur Bakery Cookbook. I am planning on giving some of the cookies away to my dad's family and to our friends hosting a holiday cocktail party tonight. I will try to take some pics of how I package them up to give away. 

Happy baking and eating! 

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com

Oh, and we are going house hunting for the first time tomorrow! We are so excited. Can't wait to share some pics and details!

Holiday Cards

For a few years I have wanted to send out holiday cards. One year I even went as far as to buy a bunch on sale the day after Christmas, but I never sent them out. The first year it was because my now-husband and I were not yet married, and a proper Southern friend of ours told us it went against etiquette to send out holiday cards together. The next year I was in grad school (even though we were finally married and it would have been appropriate to send out cards together), and after that I was a first year teacher. Enough said.


But this year I had no excuses, so I ordered some props on Amazon and held a little photo shoot in the backyard. Behold! 

My two Rhodesian Ridgebacks were the reluctant models for my creative vision. Azlan, my momma's boy, is the angel on left; and Zoe, my demonically possessed girl, is the devil on the right. 


After the "photo shoot," I had to find the perfect card to accompany my silly photo. I knew I wanted it to say something about being naughty and nice. I searched high and low, and found many lovely options, but they either needed customization or were out of my price range. So I ended up going with the following card from Shutterfly. 

In retrospect, I wish Azlan and Zoe could have traded places so my devilish girl was above the "naughty" and my angelic boy above the "nice," but I still think it turned out well. 


What holiday cards are you sending out this year? Have you ever made your pets dress up or play model?