January is almost over. Christmas is long gone, and I’m still packing away the remnants of the holiday. These things take longer when you’re almost 8 months pregnant, right? 😉 As I box up my decorations and massive amounts of … Continue reading
I had grand plans for a second blog post featuring this wonderful idea a friend shared on Facebook. On the first day of February you add a heart to your child’s door with a reason you love them. Each day … Continue reading
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! 🙂
I love the drama and theatre of decorating your home. I love the creativity and escapism of dressing up in costume. I love the irreverance, the silliness, the candy. But most of all, I love how Halloween brings people together. It sounds strange, I know, but think about it: Â even more than Christmas, Halloween encourages people to interact.
Neighborhoods become a giant mix and mingle for children and their parents. Schools throw Fall Festivals. Offices have costume competitions. Families and friends go to pumpkin patches and corn mazes. And once you age out of trick-or-treating, there are Halloween parties galore.
I really believe that holidays help us lead meaningful and intentional lives. They are milestones in our year, markers of the seasons, and a reminder to celebrate with those we love. At its core, each holiday reminds us about an important value:  faith, gratitude, freedom, heritage, love, family, joy … and yes, even silliness. 🙂
Happy Halloween!
Sorry for the little break! We just got back from a lovely little trip to Chicago to visit my Dad’s family. We enjoyed brisk weather, changing leaves, and Bingo! Plus, my wonderful Grandma floated some new cookie recipes my way. Guess I’ll be making goodie boxes for Christmas presents this year! 😀
Now, this little gem of a recipe was just waiting for me in a Taste of Home magazine my mother gave me when we moved into our new home nearly a year ago. I tweaked it by replacing the Velveeta Cheese (ick!) with some Gouda, upping the Worcestershire (yum!), and subbing one of the cans of celery soup for a can of cheddar cheese soup.
Ingredients:
Directions:
And nothing goes better with beer cheese (or beer cheese soup) than a big, soft pretzel. AH-maaaaaaazing! 🙂 This is a thick, creamy, flavorful soup that is perfect for fall.
Bratwurst & Beer Cheese Soup
It was really the perfect end to an October Sunday of pumpkin picking and carving!
Love me some pumpkins!
They want some Beer Cheese Soup, too!
Happy Easter! To celebrate, here’s another Pinterest Challenge I’ve been saving: Birds’ Nests. Check out the original recipe by The Curvy Carrot here. Her version makes 12 servings, so I just doubled the recipe since I have several family functions to attend!
Ingredients:
1) Grease the wells of a muffin pan with butter or shortening.
2) In a large pot, melt the peanut butter and the chocolate and butterscotch chips. The original recipe says to microwave, but I’m always wary of burning chocolate. Stir on low heat until smooth and completely combined.
It’s like the opening scene to Willy Wonka!
3) Add the chow mein noodles, stirring carefully until completely coated.
4) Using a large spoon, fill the wells of your muffin tin, indenting the tops slightly with the back of the spoon. Press in three cadbury eggs on each nest. The original recipe says to add the eggs at the very end once the nests are chilled, but I prefer them to be slightly secured to the chocolate coating.
5) Chill the nests for 1 hour, or until hardened.
Relatively easy instructions, but I will say this is definitely a messy recipe — though I didn’t really mind having to lick chocolate or peanut butter off my fingers!
TheCurvyCarrot’s Birds’ Nests
After tasting them, I think these are more appropriately catergorized as a candy versus a cookie.
ShinyHappyPeebles’s Birds’ Nests
ShinyHappyPeebles’ Birds’ Nests
Now, halfway through making these I realized I only have one muffin tin … so the last half of the batch looks more like nests for baby pterodactyls.
It’s the Easter pterodactyl!
Actually, these look even more like real nests.
Pinterest WIN on this one, for sure! I think this is the closest I’ve come to making something that actually looks like the beautiful picture with the original recipe. An Easter miracle, indeed!
What a perfect reminder about why I started this blog: the little things. You don’t need complicated projects or fancy purchases to make life great. Sometimes, all you need is green food coloring!
St. Patty’s Pancakes
Though my pancake pen skills need some work, I was pretty happy with my little shamrock! 🙂 This was a simple alteration, but it was a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
It has four distinct leaves. That qualifies as a four-leaf clover!
Plus, the green pancake batter gave me the perfect excuse to pull out my Yoda pancake mold again!
Cake from a pan am I! Delicious covered in syrup am I!
Shiny Happy Peebles 