Christmas Dinner 2011

I am VERY happy to report that Christmas dinner was a 
S-U-C-C-E-S-S! Yipppeeee!! I had so much fun cooking all of the food we ate. 

Our menu included:

Hamloaf

Wax Bean Casserole

Stuffing

Turkey

Baked Mac and Cheese

Deviled Eggs (thanks to Amber!)

White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake (yummmm!)

Mickey and I invited our friends Amber and Kerry over. Kerry is Mickey's teammate, and Amber has become one of my close friends (we go to the gym together everyday..yay for a workout buddy!)

Amber and Kerry brought deviled eggs and a chocolate lovers cheesecake (since Kerry doesn't like peppermint...). Amber also brought two bottles of wine which were delish :)

And here is everything all on the table and ready to be eaten...it was delicious and made our Christmas feel a little bit more home-like :) Hope everyone had a blessed holiday.

love Christmas time!!

I cannot begin to express how EXCITED I am for Christmas day! Family at home may be wondering why I am excited since I won't be home with them this Christmas (I am very sad about that, and it is not the reason I am excited :P) The reason I AM excited because I am entertaining on Christmas day, and it will be the first true "entertaining" I have ever done!!! Mickey and I have invited our friends Amber and Kerry over for Christmas dinner and I am so excited to get to cook for everyone and try new recipes! I have been on Pinterest finding yummy recipes and ideas...OH THE POSSIBILITIES! 


I have decided to make a candy cane cheesecake by combining two really yummy looking recipes I found. I bought my first springform pan today! I can't believe I am even excited about that, but I am...who am I turning into!!? 


I also ordered my "hamloaf" meat mixture from our local butcher. Hamloaf is a Pennsylvania Dutch dish so the butcher here in Minnesota had never heard of it, but I told him what it was and he is making it for me...I pick it up tomorrow :)


I have a lot of other ideas as to what I am going to make, but once my menu is finalized I will post it here with recipes :) 


Until then...happy baking, eating, shopping, and whatever else you will be enjoying over the next few days <3

The Minnesota Vikings Christmas Party

Last night, Mickey and I attended his team Christmas party at the Mall of America. It was an absolute BLAST! The team rented out the Nickelodeon Amusement Park in the center of the mall and let us ride the rides all night! Crave catered the event and the food was delicious. They had ice cream stands, candy stations, popcorn stations, bars, coffee, and more. Here are some pictures from our fun night!

Mickey and me with our friends Kerry and Amber!

My favorite roller coaster in the park :)

Awesome ropes course that Mickey, Kerry, and I did! Amber was our photographer.

Gender Reveal Cupcakes I made for a friend!

A friend I met here in Minnesota just found out she will be having a little boy! She wanted to tell our bible study group the sex of the baby by having everyone bite into a cupcake filled with blue icing! I volunteered to make these cupcakes for her since she works and is really busy (and I am currently not working and have plenty of time to do fun things like bake!)


I found a few really cute cupcake ideas on Pinterest and decided to put my own spin on what I found. I went to a really cool store in our local mall called "Kitchens," and found a cupcake corer and purple sugar sprinkles. I then went to the grocery store and bought vanilla and chocolate cake batter. I decided to make my own vanilla buttercream frosting and cheated on the blue icing by buying good old blue icing in a can. I also bought reduced-fat vanilla wafers and black icing gel.


To make the cupcakes I followed the instructions on the box.


To make the buttercream I combined:
-1 cup butter at room temperature
-6 cups powdered sugar
-1/2 cup whipping cream
-2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
-Use a stand mixer and combine all ingredients to the desired consistency. Add more powdered sugar if needed!
**Also make sure you have a frosting bag or you will have to apply the buttercream to the cupcake with a knife, and they never turn out as pretty that way!


After the cupcakes cool, use the corer to remove the center of the cupcake (but only push corer half way in as you don't want the cupcake cored the whole way through!)

(The corer)

When you pull the corer out and push the plunger so the center of the cupcake comes out, save it because you need to put the top back on the cupcake! Fill the hole in the center with blue icing...

Then put the tops back on the cupcakes...

I put my buttercream frosting in a frosting bag with a regular tip on the end and applied my icing in a circular motion. I then sprinkled my purple sugar crystals on top (or any NEUTRAL baby color would work like green or yellow). I then used my black gel icing to put "?" on the vanilla wafers, and placed them on top of the cupcake!

and....WALLAH! you have delicious gender reveal cupcakes!! These are a great way to tell your friends and family the sex of your baby! Make sure everyone bites into their cupcake at the same time so everyone sees the blue icing at the same time! ENJOY!

New Minnesota Beginnings and Ugly Christmas Sweater Party!

Well, where do I begin with telling you all about our new life in Minnesota!? I would say that the biggest key to our new life here has been the Bible study we started attending a few weeks ago. Bible study has opened up so many new avenues in our life...we have met so many new people. I am so thankful for this bible study...we are growing our relationship with our Lord Jesus and also making new friends and awesome memories along the way!

This week our Bible Study had an Ugly Sweater Christmas party with a gift exchange. It was so much fun! Mickey and I went to a store called Rag Stock in the Mall of America to find the perfect ugly sweaters. After two hours of rummaging around the store, we came out with some pretty ugly outfits! (I also was the winner of the ugly sweater contest out of all the girls:)

(Unfortunately this came out blurry!)

We also thought long and HARD (and I mean a couple hours of searching online), for the best Christmas gifts. Each person had to bring a rapped, unmarked gift to the party to put into the middle of the living room. Each person in the room picked a number out of a hat and picked one gift to open. The game rules are long, but it ends up that each gift can be taken only 3 times total, and there is a lot of strategy involved. Mickey and I decided that one of our gifts should be a funny, not-so-desired type of gift, while the other should be a more expensive, nice gift. 


I will share what our funny gift consisted of...
Toilet Time Golf
12 pack of ultra soft toilet paper
Poo Pourri "Trap a Crap"
Poo Pourri Original
**We individually wrapped everything and placed it in a large wrapped moving box :)


The game was a ton of fun and everyone got a good laugh out of our gift. Mickey and I made out well with the gifts we ended up with! What a fun Christmas party and gift exchange! Here is a picture of our whole group! 

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday, and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season :) 

Greetings from MinnesOHta!

Well it has been awhile since I have been on Blogger!! I have been so busy lately because Mickey and I just moved to Minnesota for his job.The past few weeks have been packed with packing up our apartment in Florida, driving to Minnesota (its a LOOOONNNG drive from Florida to Minnesota), finding an apartment here, moving in, unpacking, etc. etc! This is the first chance I have gotten to sit down at my computer in a while, so I figured I would check in here in blog-land!


I am loving Minnesota's winter weather. It really feels like Christmas here (as opposed to Florida, where it did NOT feel like Christmas). We have had a few inches of snow and the best part is that its sunny here 98% of the time! Its cold and sunny, what could be better!?


I will be getting back to blogging, so stay tuned...I have some fun creations coming up! (Hint..I'm making gender reveal cupcakes for a friend and everyone will find out the sex of her baby by biting into them at Bible Study this week! yay!)


Have a blessed night!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving (and Thanksgiving cupcakes)!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, Everyone!

Unfortunately, I am posting this blog later than I had hoped to! I have been so busy these past few days and haven't gotten to my blog. Oh well, better late than never, right!?

I absolutely love Thanksgiving. I think it is such a great time of the year. It is a time to reflect on all of the blessings we have and also a chance to pig out (which I love to do and am always looking for reasons to stuff my face i.e. Thanksgiving)

Unfortunately Mickey and I couldn't make it to PA this year for Thanksgiving (where we are both from and where our families are). Luckily, however, Mickey's parents were in town so we at least got to celebrate Thanksgiving with some of our family!

I decided to make some Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes for fun. They turned out really cute and were super easy!

As you can see in the picture, I just placed a cookie in the center of the cupcake and used the blue icing to make an eye. Then I cut the white tip of the candy corn off to make a beak and placed it next to the cupcake. The red icing fills the gap between the beak and the cookie and makes a gobbler, and the candy corn are the feathers!

Hope everyone had a blessed holiday. We sure did, God has been so good to us! Have an amazing week!

My Mom's Delicious Chicken Corn Noodle Soup!

It was a rather dreary day here in northern Florida, so I decided to make Mickey and I some of my mom's chicken corn noodle soup. When I turned 18 my mom gave me a hand written recipe book full of our family's favorite recipes! I absolutely LOVE my cookbook and use it all the time. Today, I went to the "soup tab" and my mom's recipe was there on the first page. I went to Publix to pick up the ingredients, and an hour later we had amazing chicken corn noodle soup. 

Ingredients: (I bought all organic ingredients, but that is obviously optional)
1. one whole soup chicken 
2. half and half (can use fat free if you wish)
3. one box of chicken broth
4. fresh parsley
5. whole wheat soup noodles
6. carrots with tops
7. shredded carrots
8. one bag frozen corn
9. Parmesan cheese


Directions:
1. Place whole chicken in a pot on the stove, pour broth in the pot and then add enough water to completely cover the chicken. 
2. Rinse the carrots with tops, then place them in the pot with the chicken.
3. Bring the pot to a boil and continue to boil until chicken is completely cooked (time depends on how large the chicken is, but a half hour is usually the minimum amount of time)
4. Once chicken is cooked (no pink in the meat) put a strainer over a new pot and strain broth into pot, leaving chicken and carrots in the original pot. 
5. While chicken cools in seperate pot, add 1/2 cup of half and half to broth. Pour in noodles,shredded carrots, and desired amount of chopped parsley.Bring pot to a boil.
6. When chicken is cool enough in seperate pot, pick off the pieces of meat and add them into the broth pot with the noodles and shredded carrots. Add frozen corn to the soup, and turn on low.
7. The carrots with tops usually just go in the trash, but I cut up the carrots and mixed them with Jagger's dog food. He loves carrots and they are good for dogs :)
8. Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Top with Parmesan Cheese before serving.


Enjoy! <3

Seville Quarter Wine Festival

A few days ago, Sue and I went to the Wine Festival in the historic Seville Quarter located in downtown Pensacola. Seville Quarter is similar to what you would find on Bourbon Street in New Orleans...it has a French flare with adorable brick walkways, courtyards, and fountains. Seville Quarter has seven rooms, each with their own theme. There is also a party plaza, an outdoor concert venue, and a banquet facility. The only way I can think to describe the ambiance in Seville Quarter is "quaint." 

(The Champagne Bar in the courtyard)

There were over 200 handpicked wines from around the world being poured by 10 local distributors. There was also a cigar sampling, oyster bar, handcrafted microbrew beers, live entertainment, and cooking demos and tastings from Harris Ranch Natural Beef, Italian Specialties by Enzo, Tribeca Bread, and Artisan Cheeses.

(Just one of the delicious food tables)

I tried many different types of white and red wines from all over the world and I learned a TON about different wines and the regions that they are from. I enjoy wine because I feel that it is much more than an alcoholic beverage. Wine and wine making is an art, a science, a culture, and an experience. 

Some of my favorite wines were:

Jam Jar Moscato 2011

Trimbach Reserve 2007 Pinot Gris

Dr. Fischer 2009 Riesling

I am not a very "sophisticated" drinker. My mom always teases me and says she can tell I just graduated from college. I love boxed white zinfandel and anything made by Arbor Mist... but I will say that I am starting to like better wines! I can drink Chardonnay without making a face like I used to, and I actually ENJOY the taste of it! I never thought that day would arrive, but it has. I am not a big drinker, but I have enjoyed learning about wine, trying it, and drinking a nice glass of it every once in a while!

Blue Angels

About a week ago my in-laws and I drove to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola to watch the Navy’s Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels. It was such an amazing experience! I had never seen fighter jets up close, let alone watch them fly over my head for an hour. The pilots were amazingly gifted and obviously very, very, VERY trained, because the stunts they performed took extreme precision and left ZERO room for error. The jets flew within 18 inches of each other at certain points during the show. UNBELIEVABLE! Below are some videos I took at the practice.

Here the jets are flying 18 inches apart from one another!

I would highly recommend going to watch the Blue Angels perform (they travel all over the country to different air shows). If you are ever in Pensacola, going to practice is a MUST!! To read more about the Blue Angels, click here.

Baking Extravaganza Part 2: Halloween Cookies

This post is a bit delayed but I figured I would write “part two” to my baking extravaganza I had a few posts ago…click here.

Anyway, long story short, I decided to take the leftover ingredients I had from decorating my cupcakes and make cookies. I followed a pretty basic sugar cookie recipe and then tried to add some fun twists for Halloween (but more just to use my left over candy because I CANNOT leave it in the house or I will eat it all=ZERO SELF CONTROL!)

First, I decided to make “thin mint sugar cookies,” but called them ghost poop cookies when I sent them to my brother (he’s 7 and I had to make it somewhat Halloween-ish/scary). Next, I made M&M cookies…they were pretty difficult to make because I had to put the M&Ms in the cookies mid way through baking, and for those who are challenged bakers like me finding the right time can be difficult. Anywho, I decided to call them “monster cookies” because of the big M stamped on the M&Ms. Pretty creative, huh!?

Then, I got fancy. I decided to whip out my food coloring. Since orange is not supplied in the food coloring kit, I had to use advanced chemistry. I mixed some drops of red with some drops of yellow and got a beautiful orange color.

For the first batch of orange cookies I placed two marshmallows in the dough right before I put the cookies in the oven. I thought the marshmallows would melt and make a nice gooey center, however, they shriveled up and actually ended up looking kind of like…boobs. Weird, I know. It was definitely not my intention, but I went with it and called them “goblin boobs.”

For the second batch of orange cookies, I added chocolate sprinkles to the dough and baked them. They turned out like I had hoped. I thought ahead for this baking experience and had addressed boxes sitting on my kitchen table. I bagged the cookies, put them in the boxes, and drove them to the post office. I hope my mail recipients enjoyed their Halloween treats :)

This little piggy went to market...aka the podiatrist

Good Morning! It is B-E-A-UTIFUL here! The temperature is a brisk 59 degrees and the sun is shining bright. I love days like these, it feels like FALL!

On gorgeous days such as this I love to exercise outside...maybe go for a run or a nice walk. But today, I am confined to the couch.

You see, when someone is blessed with a big toe like mine (ugly and huge with the smallest toenail EVER) he/she is prone to a painful little thing called an ingrown toenail. Now this may sound relatively minor, but let me tell you, they are PAINFUL little jerks! And I had one until this morning.

I knew when my toe blew up even bigger than its normal size, which is already weirdly and embarrassingly huge, I should probably visit a podiatrist. So this morning, Jagger and I headed over to see the doctor (Jagger stayed in the car, but was there for support none the less). He told me that I had an ingrown toenail and that he had to cut it out.

I told him to go ahead and perform the little surgery, so he started to numb my toe. That is when I had a quick spell of nausea followed by the feeling of either fainting or having to run to the bathroom. Luckily, he left the room for a minute to grab something and I was able to regain my composure (and not spew all over his office thank God).

Once he came back in the room he told me to close my eyes, did his thing, and bandaged me up. I didn’t feel a thing so that was good. I left the office and drove myself to Starbucks to get a treat for being so brave and such a good patient (like my mom did when I was little and had to get shots).

And now I’m home, sitting on the couch, writing this blog. Exciting, right!? I’m definitely going to milk this injury at least for a day…after all, the doctor told me take it easy after such a major toe operation ;) I am telling Mickey that the doctor told me to tell him that I need foot massages and probably can’t stand up long enough to cook dinner. We will see if he believes me J haha

Super easy and fun Halloween Treats!

As I mentioned in one of my last blog entries, I love fall...and I especially love Halloween!! To get in the Halloween spirit, I decided to bake some yummy Halloween treats. Originially I planned to bake the cupcakes, decorate them, and send them home to my family. However, I was obviously was not using my brain because there is no way I could send the cupcakes without them being ruined in the mail. Therefore, I baked all 48 cupcakes and have been giving them to the neighbors (while keeping quite a few for ourselves...oink oink).

These guys are super easy to make and are really fun. Little kids would easily be able to help make these edible critters.

To make the bat cupcake you will need:
-Chocolate cake mix
-Chocolate frosting
-Mini marshmallows
-Chocolate creme oreos
-Andes Mints
-M&Ms

Bake the chocolate cupcakes according to the recipe on the box. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them with chocolate icing. Cut a chocolate oreo in half and place them in the cupcake as wings. I cut an Andes Mint in half and then into triangles as the bats eyebrows but that isn't necessary. Place two M&Ms for the eyes and pull little pieces of mini marshmallow off to form into fangs.

 To make the spider cupcakes you will need:
-Chocolate cake mix
-Chocolate icing
-Chocolate sprinkles
-M&Ms
-Gummy worms

Bake the chocolate cupcakes according to the recipe on the box. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost them with chocolate icing. Sprinkle the chocolate sprinkles all over the top of the cupcake to make the spider's little hairs. Place two M&Ms as eyes and push 4 gummy worms on each side to make the spider's legs.

To make the blue monsters you will need:
-Any flavor cupcake batter
-Blue icing (I bought Betty Crocker's Blue Decorating Cake Icing in the can)
-Twizzlers
-Circus peanuts
-Mini Marshmallows
-M&Ms

Bake the cupcakes according to the recipe on the box. I baked "mini cupcakes" by using a mini muffin tin. If you do not have a mini tin, use your large one and only fill half of the cupcake foil. Once the cupcakes are cooled take them out of the wrapper and place them upside down on two circus peanuts. Use the blue icing and the "flat tipped icing nozzle" to make "long hair" all over the blue man. Place two marshmallows for the whites of the eyes and two M&Ms as the eye color. Cut a twizzler in half and then slice in long ways to make the monsters antennas!

To make the candy topped cupcakes you will need:
-White or vanilla cake mix
-White frosting
-Food coloring
-Candy to place on top

Bake the cupcakes following the recipe on the box. While the cupcakes are cooling, put the white frosting in a bowl and add food coloring to make the desired color. I tried to make a grayish color by mixing a few drops of each food coloring. Place a piece of halloween candy on top to make them look spookier.

 If you decide to make these spooky critters, I hope they turn out boo-tiful!

Jagger just chillin'

I think this picture is just hilarious. He was hot from playing outside and decided to prop himself up on the couch like this for a while...

Oh, how I love fall!

I love fall. It is definitely my favorite season of the year for many reasons. In no specific order, these are the top ten reasons why I love this season:

1.       I love cool air.

2.       I love the colors of the trees.

3.       It reminds me of hot apple cider (yummm).

4.       I love anything and everything pumpkin.

5.       Starbucks brings back fall drinks, like the Salted Caramel Mocha (double yummm).

6.       It’s the start of football season.

7.       I love hayrides.

8.       I love Halloween decorations.

9.       I love trick or treating (still…I went last year)

10.   I love Thanksgiving (and the start of Christmas music!)

(My brother, our labradoodle, and me last year on Trick or Treat)

(My sister-in-law and me at a Vikings game)

God Bless the USA

Last night, Mickey and I went over to our friend's house who also happens to be a Navy SEAL. I have such tremendous respect for him. I am so thankful for all of the sacrifices that our soldiers and their families make to protect our beautiful country. I thank God and pray for the protection of our military men, women, and their families every day. What an amazing group of people.

Recently, I read Lone Survivor by Retired Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell.  Every American should read this book. Luttrell recalls the heroic efforts of his teammates who died fighting beside him in order to protect our country.

Caution: once you start this book, you will not be able to put it down.

Click here to watch one of Marcus Luttrell's speeches: Marcus Luttrell Speech

Also, for anyone interested in donating/helping support our military personnel and their families, take a look at Marcus's foundation: Lone Survivor Foundation

May God Bless the USA and all those who have and who continue to fight for our country!

Funny Pup

A funnier video of Jagger’s head turns than the one previously posted…He cracks me up every day! LOVE HIM! (Notice how he sits at the kitchen table on a chair...so spoiled).

Go fetch!

Things that Jagger loves to do:
      1.Play fetch
      2. Swim
Therefore, when you combine the two, Jagger is a REALLY HAPPY puppy.

Almost every day, we take Jagger down to the dock to let him swim. He runs down the dock steps onto the beach then turns and waits for his ball to be thrown. Once his ball is thrown, he leaps and bounds through the water like a wild man! The water around the dock does not get very deep, so he usually- doesn’t have to swim (unless it’s REALLY high tide). He will get his ball, run back up the steps, and drop his ball on the dock for us to throw again.

 

Jagger swimming back to shore after fetching his ball!

His beloved tennis ball.

Ruger also loves to swim, but he swims for different reasons. He has absolutely no interest in fetching a ball. We are almost 100% sure he swims because he is hunting.  You see, Ruger is 6 years old and it has been a while since he went pheasant hunting. Sue thinks that he has learned to hunt other things now, like fish. He will run up and down the dock staring into the water, and will even point when he sees something (such as a fish…). Then, without any thought he will run straight into the water and try to catch what he found. It is extremely entertaining to watch him. It is also amazing how hard wired these dogs are to hunt.

Ruger swimming.

Jagger loves playing with Ruger, but Ruger always tries to get away from him in the water. It is almost like Ruger is saying, “I’m hunting here, buddy, leave me alone!”

Jagger listening to birds...

Oh yeah, did I mention Jagger liked birds?? I played “bird songs” on YouTube and this is what happened…

A Beautiful Morning.

What a beautiful morning it is here. I love nothing more than a breezy, sunny morning to start my day off right. Every morning I get up with my hubs to make him breakfast. I love making eggs. That probably sounds strange but it is something I have always liked to do (and I have often said I would love to own a cute little breakfast café…but that’s another story). After he eats, I take Jagger out to do his morning business and play fetch in the yard for a while. Then, it’s my turn…I make myself coffee and something to eat. I go through phases of what I want for breakfast. A month ago all I wanted to eat was cereal with blueberries, now all I want is peanut butter toast. But anyway…

I bring my breakfast onto our back patio. I love looking out into the sound and watching the water. Little waves roll in and crash on the beach while crab trap buoys bob up and down in the water. Boats are usually out, and today a big, white yacht is powering through the water. I love watching the boats go by. I usually say my prayers out here, because it is quiet and I can focus. I thank God everyday for many things…I thank him for sending his only son to die for our sins, I thank him for my family and friends, and I thank him for the beauty that surrounds me every morning.  <3 J

Jagger keeps me seriously entertained ALL DAY. He is the most high strung, animated, and vocal dog I have ever been around (I would argue that he is by far one of the most loving dogs I have ever been around, too). He is OBSESSED with playing fetch, and is usually sitting on top of me or beside me waiting for me to play with him. He is quite the talker...most often I think he is saying, “hey mom, lets play! Please, come on! Throw me my ball…lets play fetch! Come on mom, pleaseeee!”

       I love when he does his head turns! They crack me up!

                                               

Wine and Running

Today, Sue (Mickey’s mom) and I went for a run. Mickey’s parents came down to visit us. They traveled in their motorhome and are staying right down the street from us. I am happy to have my running/wine buddy back. Sue and I always have fun on our runs, and she is teaching me about different kinds of wine. She makes wine as a hobby, and she actually made wine for our wedding! The wine bottles were our guests’ placecards and added such a personal touch to our wedding day. I will post more pictures of our wedding once we get the CD from our photographer!

(This picture shows more than the wine bottles I discussed above, however, it is the only picture I have of them! Top left picture is of our toasting flutes that were painted by my friend's mom, Terry. Bottom left is our dinner menu. Middle is our signature drink. Right is my friend, Joanna, holding our signature drink at the cocktail hour!)

Okay..back to where I started this whole post...RUNNING.

Sue also got me into running my freshman year of college. She helped me train for my first half marathon, which was the Nittany Valley Half (http://www.nvrun.com/index.php/racing/club-sponsored/nittany-valley-half-marathon) I was so proud of myself when I finished the race that I decided to run more. To date I have run three half marathons, and am planning on running a full marathon as soon as I can! Sue and I also ran the Miami Muddy Buddy last year. It was such a fun race! If you have never heard of the Muddy Buddy, check it out here: http://muddy-buddy.competitor.com/. Everyone should run this race at least once…it was the most fun exercise I have ever had!

                     (Me and Sue—post race, Muddy Buddy 2010)

Annnnnd, on that note, I’m heading to bed. Goodnight everybody. Don’t forget to give thanks to God for the day. Sleep tight!