Holiday Wrap-up

So yeah, I kinda took a bit of a blogging break there, huh? After a crazy Fall, I tried to keep December as stress-free as possible and that basically meant that sewing and blogging got to take a backseat to all of the other holiday activities. While I may not have been sewing, I was spending enough time in the kitchen to more than make up for it.

This year, I spent a full 3 day weekend baking and making sweet treats for co-workers and other friends and family. The goodies were packed into individual boxes and delivered over several days. I think I made somewhere around 600+ white chocolate pretzels snacks, 5 dozen gingerbread snowflakes, 20 dozen cakeballs, 5 dozen gingerbread cakes and a tray of brownies. Yeah, it was nuts. Pictures from the kitchen madness:

Two weeks later, we had my mom and brother over for a small Christmas Eve dinner before we opened gifts and generally made merry. I grabbed the ham from Honey Baked Ham shop so I could focus on the sides - slow cooker gratin potatoes, creamed spinach, roasted carrots with dill and roasted asparagus. For dessert, homemade pumpkin pie.

Add to that a ton of beer, wine and other spirits and we had a great night.

The next morning, Jim and I were up super early to head off to his parent's house for Christmas breakfast and more gift opening. The breakfast spread is always yummy and expansive including pancakes, breakfast casserole, fruit, muffins, bacon, eggs and a variety of beverages. That afternoon, we had the rest of the extended family (including my mom and brother) over for a full Christmas dinner. The average group is 40+ folks and I'm always amazed that we're able to get everyone seated in the house. See?

I had been asked to make a couple of appetizers, so I made mini caprese bites and a gigantor cheeseball (thanks again Winnie!).

The cheeseball was the hit of the pre-dinner hour. That sucker was gobbled up and only a few dregs were left by the end of the night. Guess I'll file that one in the "tried and true" favorites box. ;) Another rollicking good time was had by everyone, but I was pretty much exhausted by the end of the weekend. It had been a looong month.

We were the definition of boring for NYE, hanging out at the house with a homemade dinner, a bottle of wine and the countdown on television. Even though it wasn't terribly exciting, it was just what we needed. We managed to catch up on some sleep and get the house all put back together before returning to work that Monday, so I'm calling it a win.

And now, here we are in 2011. Crazy! I'm not one for resolutions, but this feels like it's going to be a good year. I figure if it's anywhere close to as awesome as 2010 was, then I will be more than thrilled. I'm back in the sewing room, which I missed terribly and am happy to be back to a normal schedule. Hope the holidays treated everyone well and that 2011 is starting off on the right foot for ya!

Caramel Apple Crazy

Two years ago I had my first foray into making caramel apples. I had a lot of fun making them and had fully planned to repeat it last year, but things were just too hectic to squeeze it in. This year, however, I planned ahead and set a side an entire day to make these. Because I'm nuts, I thought making an even 3 dozen would be good and so they wouldn't be too plain, I opted to use this decorating recipe. Go big or go home, right?

First, the apples took a water bath to get all the wax and gunk off their surface.

Next, they took a dip in some thick and luscious caramel.

After that, it was time for a chocolate paint job.

For a little seasonal flair, a drizzle of orange-tinted white chocolate and a sprinkle of sugar ghosts.
To complete the look, a plastic baggie, orange polka dot ribbon and a tag.

The best part of the night, though, was when Jim came in to play DJ and we had a dance party in the kitchen. He even paused his dancing to serenade me.

Eventually, he wanted in on the action, too. I gave him the last apple, which we we're going to keep, to decorate. Pretty funny.

By the time it came for the sprinkling of the ghosts, he was totally channeling Emeril Lagasse. Bam!

Everyone was pretty excited to get these. I was very flattered when the big boss at my office was completely convinced that I had purchased them all. She came by my desk three separate times that day to thank me and to say how she couldn't believe that I had made them. Another co-worker said she shared it with her neice and they decided it was the best caramel apple they had ever eaten. ::blushing:: Now I just have to figure out how to up the ante for next year. :)

T minus 4 days and counting....

Loan should fund today, we should close tomorrow. We hit one last minute snag about 2hours ago, but hopefully it's all figured out. I'm keeping everything crossed -- eyes, fingers, legs, you name it.

The long weekend felt soooo long. We were busy little bees, but it was still nice to have 3 days off.

Thursday:
Since we had our final walk-through in the morning, we carpooled into work (fun!) and when we finally left for the evening around 5pm, we quickly drove home and made a last minute reservation at Mr. Marcel for one last steak dinner before the big move. On our walk over, we figured that we've shared at least a dozen or so dinners, celebrating various occasions, entertaining friends or just because. We're really gonna miss this place.

While Jim ventured out and ordered the NY steak, I stuck to my tried and true filet mignon and gratin potatoes. In fact, I don't think I've ever ordered anything else there. Ha! So good, as always. After polishing off a bottle of wine, we made it back to the apartment and watched the results show for SYTYCD. The right couples were in the bottom three this week. I'm sorta sad to see Kourtini and Matt go, but they weren't going to win in the long run.

Friday:
Our 4th of July started off pretty well. We both woke up early-ish and walked over to The Farm for breakfast outside. The huevos rancheros totally hit the spot, even if it was about a billion degrees outside already.

After breakfast, I managed to convince Jim that driving to an even hotter city was a good idea. Our destination - Restoration Hardware Outlet in Camarillo. I had read online that their outlet stores are full of good stuff and everything in the store was an additional 20% off in honor of the holiday, so I thought it was a good time to check it out.

An hour later we arrived at the outlet sprawl and made our way to RH. Not a huge store, but it was jam-packed with all sorts of furniture, linens, lighting, hardware, etc. Right there in the front of the store was the outdoor chaise lounges I had been drooling over online. Granted, they were a different color, but they were heavily discounted and had no discernible flaws. We weighed the pros and cons of the color change, but ultimately decided that it would work out well in the backyard, so we snatched them up. They were delivered that afternoon and are now sitting all wrapped in plastic in our apartment living room. We can only imagine what the delivery guys were thinking dropping off outdoor lounge furniture to a place devoid of any outdoor living space. ;)

I also found the coverlet that matches the bedding set I have my eye on in the correct color/size for more than 60% off. I can't recommend this place highly enough. Sure, some stuff has flaws, but there is a whole lot there that is in beautiful condition for a pretty decent discount.

The rest of the day was spent packing. So exciting, I know. We opted for good 'ol Baja Fresh for dinner washed down with Framboise for me and Stella for him. By the time dinner was done, neither one of us had enough energy to walk outside and watch the fireworks across the street. Ah well, we heard them, which was plenty.

Saturday/Sunday:
Frankly, these 2 days blurred together for me. Jim had to go into the office and I spent the time at home deep-cleaning the second bathroom and the kitchen -- we really want to recoup as much of the security deposit as possible -- doing miscellaneous packing/organizing to break up the cleaning and several loads of laundry. Fun. I also managed to fit a 3 mile walk on Sunday and downloaded some new music to my ipod throughout the weekend. A marathon of Law and Order: CI and SVU episodes on USA as well as Center Stage (I love this movie!) kept me company as I puttered around the apartment.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Happy Valentine's Day!

As weird as this may sound, ever since getting married this "holiday" hasn't really been as important to me, but it's still nice to take a little time out to make sure the hubs knows how much he means to me. I hope you all do the same for the ones that you love. :)

And speaking of red hearts, I was shocked to find that my pal R had given me a special shout-out on her blog:



Thanks R! I am so touched by it and I totally got the warm fuzzies when I read the post.

And to keep the good vibes alive, I want to pass it along to someone whose blog I usually lurk, but has been in my thoughts and prayers for months, nonetheless. MrsGingerGrl over at Multiple Baby Pileup was recently blessed with 3 adorable babies, but sadly, God called one of them home too soon. I can't imagine what she has gone through, but I can see that she is dealing with everything with a grace that can only come from God himself. Just keep taking it one day at a time and know that there are so many people out here keeping you and the whole family in our thoughts and prayers. Lots of love to you all.

Happy 2008 Everyone!

Last night we went to a small party at our friend's apartment to ring in the new year. The food was plentiful and delicious (sliders, chicken satay, shrimp cocktail, pigs in a blanket, homemade ice cream, etc) and the drinks were overflowing. Well, they were overflowing for most of the guests -- another girl and I were DDs, so by the end of the night it was really the coffee and water that was overflowing for us.

After chatting and eating we played some trivial pursuit 90's edition (the boys team killed us) and Guitar Hero on the Wii. I have never played GH before and I am so bad! The controls are just not intuitive for me at all and yet, by the end of the night I had decided that the game is a must have (that is, if we can find it in stock anywhere.)

Right around midnight we switched on the tv and rang in 2008 with Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve. Anyone else just feel sad when they see Dick Clark on the screen these days? I know he is doing better than he was last year and I give him props for still going on air to count down the ball dropping, but it really just breaks my heart. :( Champagne was toasted, we kissed our significant others and then 2008 was officially here. GH was played for another couple of hours and then it was time to call it a night.

Hope everyone had a great night and that 2008 is a great year!!

It was a Very Merry Christmas!

It's been a few days since the last post and needless to say, it's been busy around here. It's gonna be a long post b/c there is a lot to catch up on. :)

Saturday
Hubs and I spent most of the day recovering from our party the night before. We both had some lovely hangovers, hence the yummy peruvian food for lunch and then takeout pizza for dinner. We watched the Bruins in the Las Vegas bowl at night and that was just sad. Missed a last minute field goal attempt and that was the ballgame. :( Let's hope our season is better next year.

Sunday
Time to gear up for the holidays again! After a relaxing brunch outside at the Farm, Jim and I headed back to the apartment for him to get some work done and for me to get started on my day of baking. Over the next few hours I made another batch of snickerdoodles, rum cake and salty chocolate-pecan candy.
My mom came over that night and we had garlic chicken from Versailles restaurant for dinner and chatted while we watched some TV.

Monday
We decided to do Christmas Eve at our apartment this year and to change it up even more, instead of our usual cold cut meal, I decided to make a ham dinner. Hubs thought I was crazy, but I figure that one day it's going to be us in charge of all the holiday stuff and I might as well start getting some practice doing the big dinner early. I was so busy cooking and prepping that I totally forgot to take pictures, but the dinner went over quite well. The menu consisted of the following:
Baked Ham with Bourbon Glaze
Lemon-and-Herb Roasted New Potatoes
Glazed Butternut Squash
Green Bean Casserole
Rolls
Rum Cake and Salty Chocolate-Pecan candy for dessert

The only thing that really missed the mark was the squash. It was overcooked (ew to mushy vegetables) and I think the sage really didn't add anything to the dish. I'd like to try it again, but Jim informed me that he isn't even a big butternut squash fan in the first place, so I may just leave it alone. We'll see. My brother got sent home with leftover ham, much to his delight and we still have enough leftovers to eat on for several days.

After dinner, we opened presents with my family. Santa was very good to everyone this year, bringing a slew of gift cards to all of us. My family hung out with us for a little while after dessert and we watched the end of the Chargers game. After everyone left, we straightened up the kitchen a bit and then Jim and I opened our presents to one another. We were again overly generous with each other and we both had a very merry christmas eve. One of my favorite gifts was a new necklace from that great little store with the blue boxes and Jim loves his new flying monkey toy! [Obviously he got more exciting gifts than that, but the monkey has been a huge hit]

Tuesday
We woke up early, got ready and then headed to Jim's family home to spend Christmas morning with them. We shared a huge breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, hashbrown casserole and muffins washed down with lots of coffee and juice. So good! Then, it was time to move to the livingroom for more gift-opening. Again, Santa was good to everyone and by the time we were done, the room was a mess of fun presents, torn wrapping paper and empty boxes. The big gifts were a 2 week trip the east coast from my FIL to my MIL, a really nice watch from my MIL to my FIL, a Wii for my BIL, headphones and new luggage for my other BIL, a cricut for me and a bluetooth device for his car for Jim. See, I told you Santa was good to us!

Around 2pm, it was time to pack up and head to his aunt's house who was hosting the big Christmas dinner for everyone. My family was meeting us there, bringing the total guest count to somewhere around 35ish people. so. much. fun. There was lots of eating and drinking before the main meal was ever served, putting the entire group in a merry mood right from the get-go. 2 families even shared a limo up from OC just so no one would have to drive --- such a great idea and it looked like they were already filled with holiday cheer before they ever stepped foot in the door!

Dinner was delicious as always and I ate too much, as always. After dinner it was time for dessert and to start the grab bag gift exchanges. The women's exchange is much more tame and laid back with very little stealing and mayhem. The men's exchange, on the other hand, is complete chaos, with different families trying to work together to get the more popular items (i.e. booze) and steal it from each other so that it becomes "dead" and thus stays within the family. This led to my dad, who doesn't drink at all, actually stealing the Patron from my husband so that it would secure it's position with our family unit. Hilarious, I tell you!

Because the gift exchange is really for the adults, several of us also bring small gifts for the little kids that are at Christmas (this year there were only 3). The youngest boy (at 2 1/2 years old) passed out before dessert was ever served but his little sisters (8 and 5 years old) were still up and ready for presents. I bought books for all of them and while the 8 year old was speechless in a good way over her present (she let me know she is collecting the whole set and that she didn't have these particular titles yet), the 5 year old looked like I had just given her coal. Her mom apologized profusely, but really, it was hilarious. I guess to her, I was a real scrooge this year. ha!

Wednesday
After much pleading on my part, I was able to convince Jim to take the day off and we headed to Disneyland. Granted, since it was still a work day, a lot of the time he looked like this:

Um, the park was freaking crowded!! Nevertheless, we still had a great time running around both parks and managed to still get on almost all of the big ticket rides without too much of a wait (thank you fastpass). We also realized that yesterday was the official day for the Rose Bowl teams -- USC and Illinois -- to visit the park. We saw several groups of very large guys wandering around in the park in their team warm-ups stopping to take pictures with people and sign autographs. We were really impressed at how patient the guys seemed to be with everyone. We also got a kick out of the little kids looking up at these guys with a real look of awe and amazement on their face. While waiting in line for the Tower of Terror ride, one group of Illinois players were seated on the ride and then a small group of little boys were seated with them. They looked like they had just won the lottery. Too funny!

At one shop in California Adventure I found this little gem. Of course, it reminded me of my favorite tater!

In the evening it got COLD! Poor Jim had only worn a sweatshirt and hadn't brought a jacket and he was freezing most of the night. We didn't stay too late though, but I still felt bad for him at how cold he was. Poor guy! :(

All in all, it was a great day and we had a lot of fun! It was a great way to wrap up the Christmas break!

Food, Friends and Fun

Disclaimer: I am blogging completely hungover. So, if some things don't make sense, sorry, but the water and advil haven't really done their job yet.

Last night we had a group of our close friends over for a Christmas party to kick off the crazy holiday weekend. I've wanted to throw a full cocktail party for a while now and finally got my chance. I prepped all week (hence the complete lack of sleep and blog entries) and had about 3 hours after work to get the last minute stuff together. Since I know a lot of you are just as obsessed with food as I am, let's just get right to the menu and the accompanying pics, shall we?

The food and drink set-up before the party got started


Cheese Platter: (from left to right) Agour Ossau-Iraty, Brillat-Savarin and Morbier


Crudite with Lemon-Herb dip


Panko-crusted Crab Cake Bites with Roasted Pepper-Chive Aioli


Stuffed Mushrooms


Seared Beef Tenderloin Mini Sandwiches with Mustard-Horseradish Sauce


Mini Mocha-Toffee Crunch Cheesecakes and Snickerdoodles (recipe from Martha Stewart's Holiday 2005 cookie magazine)

Not pictured: Garlic Fries. Sadly, these just did not cooperate and never made it out of the kitchen. Kinda sad, but at least it was just one boo-boo and not several.

As for drinks, my husband went slightly crazy-go-nuts at BevMo, so the booze were plentiful and varied; champagne, pinot noir, bourbon, and a plethora of belgian beer (stella, chimay, etc).

The food turned out really well! I forgot to take pictures of the table after we had finished eating, but there was pretty much nothing left. Everyone seemed to have their favorite dish; personally I thought the lemon-herb dip was killer and the stuffed mushrooms had a great flavor. I feel like next time (oh yes, this was so much fun that there will most definitely be a next time!) I'd add one more cold and one more hot appetizer. I think everyone had enough to eat, but it's usually better to err on the side of too much food than just barely enough.

Aside from eating and drinking, there was much talking, playing Wii golf and watching several episodes of Three Sheets [If you haven't had a chance to see this show, you're missing out. This guy's job is to go to different countries, explore their drinking customs, get hammered and then try out the local hangover cure the next morning to see if it works. I kid you not. As my husband says best.job.ever.]

We also did a gift exchange that resulted in some fun gifts, most of which were *surprise, surprise* alcohol related. One gift in particular sparked a laughing fit from all of us that made my stomach hurt. My husband was literally on the floor laughing, several folks wound up crying... it was hilarious. I really can't share details as it wouldn't make sense, but trust me that this was easily the highlight of the evening. Mark, you rule dude! My friend J works in PR for beauty companies and the samples she gets are amazing. For her contribution to the gift exchange, she put a bunch of those (rather large) samples in a stocking and called it a day. Huge hit!

Our last guest left a little before 2am and then Jim and I collapsed into bed. This party so put me in the holiday spirit! I'm still feeling slightly ill this morning, but it was so worth it. Thank you everyone for coming over and sharing the evening with us. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again next year!! :D

These were taken before folks started heading out. My eyes tend to disappear in pictures anyways, but obviously alcohol makes that worse. Oops! ;)