Dare to...eat cookies!

This challenge was really fun for me, I love to bake and even more so, I love to eat sweets!  One of my all time favorite cookies is oatmeal raisin - especially when it is soft & chewy on the inside, almost like it is undercooked.  When I saw this recipe online (originally from Good Things Catered) I knew I had to give it a whirl.  And what a whirlwind its was, these cookies are disappearing like flies!

Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
adapted from recipe on the back of Craisins

Ingredients:
3/4 c. butter, softened
2/3 c. packed dark brown sugar
a little more than 1 1/2 c. oatmeal
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 c. dried cranberries
2/3 c. white chocolate chips

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment.
-In bowl of stand mixer, combine butter and brown sugar and beat on medium high until light and fluffy in texture and color, about 3 minutes, while you gather other ingredients.
-In large bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt, stirring to combine.
-To butter and sugar add eggs, one at a time, beating to combine well after each addition, then add vanilla.
-Stop mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn back on lowest setting.
-Add oatmeal mixture, then cranberries and white chocolate, beating just until barely combined.
-Remove bowl from stand mixer and bring over to baking sheets.
-Best way to do this is with your fingers (albeit messy) - pick up loose balls of dough about 2 to 2.5 inches in diameter and place onto baking sheets at least 2 inches apart

-If you have leftover cranberries and white chocolatre chips, top cookies with a couple of each.
-Place in preheated oven and bake for exactly 10 minutes.
-Remove from oven, cookies will be slightly golden around edges and middles look a bit underdone (this is key to getting a gooey center).
-Let cool 5 minutes on cookies sheets and then place on wire racks to cool completely before serving.  Eat them all before your boyfriend does!  :)

Sidenote: Normally I would attempt to take a photo of the cookies looking nice on a plate, but they were just so yummy, they didn't make a plate.  We ate them straight from the cooling rack.

So what's your favorite holiday treat recipe?  Leave a comment with your favorite - I'm always looking for new recipes!  And check out what others are cookin' up over at Kim at NewlyWoodwards.  Happy eating!

Pigskin Pick'Em: Week 12

Here are the picks for Week 12.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I'm busy decking the halls with Ryan today.  I picked up a white Christmas tree while Black Friday shopping and can't wait to see how it looks in the house!

Pigskin Pick'em: Week 12

Posted by Ryan

In the midst of the Thanksgiving holiday and Northern VA traffic that both of us will be sitting in today, MPP & I won't have time to make our full pics this week so we will be doing them in stages. Stage 1 is all the games that occur on Thanksgiving Day and Stage 2 will be all the games that occur on Sunday and Monday which will most likely be posted on Saturday or Sunday just before the games. Plus I wanted to give MPP her ample amount of time to study & research each and every game. Here we go Stage 1:

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm getting ready to hit the road (along with millions of others) for the holiday weekend.  Have a safe and happy holiday weekend, see you on Monday (when posting will return to normal).  :)

Turkey Cake Pops

I did it.  I accomplished something on my November Goals list.  I made Turkey Cake Pops, just in time for Thanksgiving.  I'm going to give them as favors at work and then for family dinner on Thursday night. 

Here's a shot of some of the finished product.  I didn't take a step by step photo tutorial, but if you have any questions about the products or process, just ask!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Dare to...entertain.

This week's challenge in Kim's party was...Dare to Entertain.  Since I don't host Thanksgiving dinner and I don't have any formal china this was a stretch for me.  But I did my best, so let's take a look at my take on a "Modern Thanksgiving".

I dug out a green tablecloth from Target (purchased on sale, and this will be great for future use), and picked up the three tall candles that you see in the picture.  I used scrapbook paper as the place-mat, plain Jane cream dishes, and a smaller appetizer plate featuring a specific style of wine for the settings.  Then I moved the candlesticks from the front room onto the table, topped with pumpkins from our trip pumpkin picking.  I used some leftover scrap-booking letters to spell out Happy Thanks Giving on each candle.  I think the look is simple, yet romantic, especially with the candles lit and the chandelier dimmed. 

Total Cost: $14

-Target table cloth $5

-3 tall candles $5

And I have to admit, I love the look of a set table.  It makes me smile when I walk by...definitely something I will keep doing.  So what did you Dare to Do?  Check out how daring everyone else was over at Kim at NewlyWoodwards.

Pigskin Pick'em: Week 11

Not sure what is happening - Ryan is gaining on me.  And in a major way, I'm only up by 2!  I guess they competition keeps the relationship happy, but I sure don't like it right now.

So here are our picks for Week 11.  Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, I need this massage!  :)

Ornament Exchange

A few weeks ago I signed up to participate in Almost There's Ornament Exchange.  I got partnered with Jen from The Life Accounts.  She's got a super cute blog newlywed blog that you should check out.  Anyways, this week has been pretty hectic with my new job starting (I'm loving it!) so I was so happy to see a package waiting for me on my doorstop.  Low and behold it was from Jen.  She picked out the perfect ornaments for my tree!  They are adorable, my favorite being the bird, which happens to match a pillow that is currently sitting on my couch.  Here's a shot of the ornaments, I've already put them up on my Thankful Thoughts Tree.

  
Thanks Jen, I love them all!

I'm alive.

I started my new job on Tuesday so this week is pretty slammed for me.  I'll get back to posting and commenting this weekend, and hopefully next week won't be as crazy!  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Acorn Cakelets

I love to bake.  I love measuring out all the elements, mixing it up with my KitchenAid, and serving the treats to Ryan and other family & friends.  I have to be honest - I also love hearing all the yummy comments from others when they take a bite of my treats.  My mom is a wonderful baker and I think I get my passion for baking from her.  I finally put my Acorn Cakelet Pan from Williams-Sonoma to use with some blueberry muffins as a surprise for Ryan.  My twin sister gave me the pan last year for Christmas so it was high time for it to make a debut in my kitchen.  And since this was my first time using the pan, I wasn't sure how much to fill the molds but in the end it all worked out.  Here are some shots of the cakelets.  They tasted just as good as they look!  

Dare to....be thankful!

The first challenge for Kim's party was Dare to be thankful.  With Thanksgiving right around the corner (and Christmas trailing) this was the perfect challenge for me to reflect over the past year and think of some things I'm thankful for.  My craft project is a Thankful Thoughts Tree.  I picked up some branches from the neighborhood, spray painted them white, and made "leaves" to represent thankful thoughts.  Ryan and I have been writing one thing we are thankful for each night and then we hang the "leaves" on the tree together.  The "leaves" are actually loops of colored/textured paper that I used for my paper wreath.  Its a great way to reflect on the past year and it makes me smile every time I walk by.  I think its a tradition that we will carry forward for next Thanksgiving.

I also made a paper wreath.  This really doesn't have anything to do with Thanksgiving, but its fall related and matched my Thankful Tree, so I wanted to include it as well.  I picked up a set of fall themed papers from the craft store (on sale too!), used 9 sheets of paper and (1) cut them into 1x4 inch strips (thank goodness for paper cutters at work), and (2) stapled each strip to form a loop.  (3) I wrapped my wreath frame with ribbon to give it a little something extra and then (4) went to town hot gluing the strips to the ribbon, taking care to overlap as needed.  I love it.  It was simple to make but really makes a statement, don't you think!

Here's the step by step picture tutorial that corresponds with the numbers above.

And the final look:

Total cost for both projects: $18 - not too shabby!

$6 for 2 cans of spray paint to cover branches

$5 for ribbon

$7 for fall themed papers

$0 wreath foam (leftover from making cake pops)

What are you thankful for?  Head on over to Kim at Newlywoodwards to see what the rest of the party people are making!

Whoops!

Somehow Ryan and I totally missed the Thursday night game.  I mean, we didn't even remember it was on.  That never happens!  Since we both goofed on that, we decided to count that as a loss.  This week we only differ by 3 picks.  Which happens to be exactly how many Ryan is trailing me in.  I hope I can hold onto my lead!  Here we go with Week 10 picks...

Updated standings can be found on the right side bar.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Fruit Infusion

I picked up this Fruit Infusion acrylic pitcher from HomeGoods over the weekend.  Ryan and I ran tons of errands on Saturday and HomeGoods happened to be on the list.  I love that store.  When we moved into our townhouse, I was there almost daily scoping out the deals.  And the best part, we have 3 in the D.C. area - and each store has a variety of merchandise!

Ryan and I went to the one in Fair Lakes, quite a hike from our place in Arlington, but quite worth it.  I went in looking for some Christmas items, however walked out with this pitcher.  It is awesome.  It has a suspended flavor rod inside the pitcher that can be filled with fruit to make all sorts of concoctions!  As the pitcher chills, tiny open holes in the flavor rod allow the liquid and fruit to mix naturally - (and here's the best part) with no pulp or seeds!  I've already got lemons in my water now...check it out!

The best part, we picked it up for $14.99 and it retails online for $24.99 - gotta love a discount!

All done...for now.

Almost one week later, I think I've finally gotten my blog to my liking.  I successfully managed to convert my 2 column blog to a 3 column blog, adjust my margins, re-size all my widgets to fit, introduce a new font and colors, and make a new header.  Wow - I've been busy. 

A big thanks to my resources:

Shabby Blogs - my background - the cutest stuff!

KevinandAmanda.com - for their great fonts and tutorials about uploading a custom font into Blogger

Thee Column Blogger - great instructions on adding columns and editing margins

Thanks for your patience as I edited my blog, via trial and error.  I get bored pretty quickly so who knows when I'll mix it up again!

Holiday Mail for Heroes

The holiday season is upon us...and what better way to celebrate than by sending holiday cards to our service members?  I've signed up to volunteer with the Red Cross and received an email last week that mentioned their "Holiday Mail for Heroes" campaign.  The campaign invites Americans to "send a touch of home" to U.S. service members and veterans across the country and abroad.  While out last weekend, I picked up some cute Santa cards to use as my holiday cards.  I'm kicking off the start of my holiday season by sending some holiday cheer to our service members.

If your interested in sending some cards of your own, check out the website here.  There are a few specific instructions regarding the cards (like no glitter, darn!).  Cards will be collected until December 7th.  Please let me know if you send some seasons greetings too!

Do I Dare To?

You betcha!  I Dare to DIY.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the party Kim at Newlywoodwards is hosting.  Its sure to be the event of the holiday season!  The party is 6 weeks long and each week has a corresponding "Dare to..." challenge.  I can't wait to start partying!  Join in the fun, its not too late - visit Kim and sign up!
    

Going Green...with my smoothie.

Ryan and I have started the challenge - the green smoothie challenge!  I first heard about it from Her Southern Charm who heard about it from Sara at Happy Foody (check out the challenge information here).  As you all know, I'm all about the healthy eating and I thought since I love fruit and I love salads, what better way to get the best of both worlds than to combine them together.  So for the next 30 days, we'll drink at least 16 0z. of green smoothie a day, cut out soda, get active (remember my yoga goal?), and cut down on our sugar intake.  We picked up a blender this weekend and went to town making our smoothies last night.  The blender bowl is large enough that 1 batch will last us each 2 days.  The batch last night was made with spinach, apples, and bananas.  The possibilities are endless!   

And a big thanks to Chris at Celebrations of Home for telling me about picnik.  I used this website to make my collage, and can't wait to play around with all the other features the site offers.  Thanks Chris!

Recipe Rundown

Here's the plan for the week:

Sunday - leftovers from Chicken Spaghetti - so yummy!

Monday - Baked Lemony Garlic Shrimp (from my Recipe binder)

Tuesday - dinner with friends

Wednesday - Baked Chicken Parmesan

Thursday -Turkey Pumpkin Chili from Jenn!

Friday - dinner with friends

Saturday - Amalea's wedding!

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Pigskin Pick'Em Week 9

Ryan made some headway last week and now I'm only up 4 as opposed to 7.  I've finally gotten around to updating the results in the sidebar.  Let's hope I can hold my lead this week!

Experimenting

I'm playing around with some new layouts/backgrounds/fonts/etc. today while at work, so please bare with me as the site is under construction! 

Childhood...revisited.

In efforts to improve my overall health, I picked up some Multi Vites on my last Costco shopping trip.  Never heard of these?  Check them out here.  They are gummy vitamins for adults.  Remember how as a kid our parents would give us Flintstone vitamins and it seemed like we were eating candy and not a vitamin?  That's the exact thinking I have when I eat my vitamins today only I'm 25 and not 5.  My friend Ellen told me about them...and they are AWESOME.  I'm much more consistent in taking the vitamins daily and I don't feel nauseous as I have before when I take other vitamins.  2 a day and I'm good to go!  Just like giving candy to a kid...  :) 

November Goals

I've noticed something in the blog-sphere, and I'm going to copy it (my dad always said that imitation is the best form of flattery when my twin would get mad at me because I copied her).  I love when I see other bloggers post goals on their blogs and then check back in later.  For some strange reason, I feel like together we are trying to accomplish the goals.  Its weird, I know.  But then again I'm weird, so its OK.  Well I'm going to start posting goals for myself for the month and then check back in as the month winds down.  I think this will help me because:

1.  I won't be able to lie to myself and pretend like I didn't say I wanted to do yoga twice a week.  I'll hold myself more accountable (on purpose) since it will be published for the whole wide world to see.

2.  I'll use my time more productivly.  Instead of zoning out on Food Network on Saturday mornings, I'll be using my time to craft, read, or heck even work out!

Let's see what I'm working towards this month.

November Goals (in no particular order)

-Do yoga twice a week.

-Make holiday banner for dining room.

-Make Thanksgiving themed cake pops (I've already made Christmas themed & cupcakes.

-Finalize plans & itinerary for NYC trip.

-Start planning for holiday party in December.

-Enjoy my first day at my new job (Nov. 17th - eek!).

-Send Christmas cards (at the end of the month).

-Eat a slice of my grandma's pumpkin pie.

-Bake 2 new desserts.
-Start work on knitting a cowl.  

Recipe Rundown

This week is busy for me.  I'm meeting a friend for dinner on Tuesday and then I have a Junior League meeting on Thursday, so Ryan will be on his own those nights (hello pork and red meat!).   

Monday -Lemon Feta Chicken - I didn't make it last week, but did tonight.  It was delicious!

Tuesday - Kristen - dinner with friend, Ryan - probably red meat

Wednesday - Spaghetti with mushrooms and side salad

Thursday - Kristen - Junior League, Ryan - leftovers or more red meat

Friday - Banana Pancakes

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - Chicken Spaghetti - If you haven't checked out Pioneer Woman, you must.  Her recipes are TO DIE FOR.

Let me know if you try any of the recipes!  Happy cooking!

Pigskin Pick'Em Week 8

Here are our picks for Week 8.  This could be a big week for Ryan as there are many good matchups!