Happy New Year!!

Sorry for the delay in posting!!! I had 12 days off of work, McCormick was closed, and I have no idea how I didn't get a chance to post. Well, better late than never. Please accept my apologies. First, Christmas Eve. We really don't have any traditions, Darrell and I. I had heard from some of you and a couple friends that they always do Chinese Food on Christmas Eve. What??? No makin' dinner...hand me that phone. In retrospect, not really my best Christmas Eve dinner but neither was really anything about this year "my best". As you may have guessed it was really all about "getting by". Oh well. It's come and gone and it is just us anyway. Although I must say I love Holiday movies and watching Darrell open his gifts and kitten's playing with ribbon. Christmas Day was great. Watched movies. Christmas Breakfast- Pillsbury Cinnamon Twists and Coffee. Lunch- Shrimp and Crab Civeche with Tortilla Chips and Mimosa's. Dinner- Marinated Pork Tenderloin in a Cranberry Merlot Beet Sauce (thyme & bay leaf made this so yummy), Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans with Smoked Bacon and Onions. A delish Merlot, courtesy of my sis. Yum!

Darrell worked most of the time between Christmas and New Year so I managed to knock a few things off the to do list..primarily painted another room in the house. I hate to say it but I get a little bit better every time. This time, my top edge between the ceiling and wall didn't even need Darrell's help. It looks pretty dang good, if I do say so myself!

New Year's eve was spent with a bunch of friends at their house. I brought grasshoppers and ended being the only one to drink them...oh well. No big loss. We brought in the new year with Dick Clark and 10 of our closest friends. It was fun..BTW...someone needs to call ABC and tell them that even if Dick Clark has a contract he needs to go. He looks so bad, I felt terrible watching him. I guiltfully had to change the channel.

New Year's Day...Michigan looses..bummer. USC wins! Two bowls of Chili and a couple friends over and the day was done.

Today it was back to work! 10 cups of Mac & Cheese and my tummy about freeked at being back at work. The Tums were out for sure.

Here are a couple shots of my beautiful niece and nephew, ....our other ones....when I was in CA a couple weeks ago. And my baby.

Cheers!

STOP!!!!! Just for a day or two

Seriously...the problem with this time of year is that you are constantly running from one thing to the next. Rush for a gift for this person (has to get in the mail today). Dinner party? Ok, I'm throwing this together. What Christmas is in four days and I haven't bought anything for hubby?
Every year, I say the same thing. Next year I will be more organized. I'll start shopping in October like my sister. I'll create a list of ideas for people through out the year so I am not stuck at the last minute trying to remember their true likes. It all seems so rushed. What do I have to do today to get through tomorrow? We've had our tree since the 6th and I barely put the ornaments on it on Thursday! Cards? Ya, I'm looking for New Year's cards!
Anyway, that's my rant this week. I took a trip to California to visit the family the 11th through the 15th. They are just so cute. Then this last week I had business up in New Jersey for a day. (That drive gets shorter every time I do it). Last night we had dinner with 12 friends down in Columbia (almost to DC). Started at 8, 6 courses, and we got home around 2 AM. We definitely woke up with a food hangover this AM. Good stuff.
Finally, I thought I'd share a recipe from a Christmas potluck we had this week. I had heard about this recipe so I thought I would make it. Absolutely Delicious!!!! If you are looking for something VERY EASY to make Christmas Morning....here you go. Sorry for you dieters. There is no sparing the fat in this one. One piece wont kill you!

Monkey Bread

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1/8 tsp ground ginger

2 cans (16.3 oz each) Pillsbury Grands Homestyle refrigerated buttermilk discuits

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon french vanilla extract

3/4 cups butter, or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 350. Lightly grease a bunt pan.
In large ziplock bag, mix white sugar, cinnamon and spices. Separate dough into 16 biscuits. Cut each into quarters. Add to bag and shake to coat. Arrange biscuits and nuts in pan. Mix brown sugar, vanilla, and butter in bowl. Pour over biscuits.
Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until no longer doughy in center. Cool for 10 minutes. Flip over onto serving plate and serve warm.


Enjoy!

The power of purple

First off ....congrats to Hil and gang! You finally have that little boy. Glad to hear everything is going well.

This week's post is about the power of purple! Raven's purple. Sunday Night we went to see the Baltimore Ravens play the Washington Redskins! Big local rivalry. I haven't been to a game yet this season so it was fun. Here are some photo's you might enjoy. The two other guys are friends of ours that live downtown. Our usual posse.

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The weather was in the 20's with winds up to 25 mph. It was cold!!! We each had on at least two hats, four upper layers, two pair of pants, several pair of socks and hand warmers in our doubled up gloves.

Ravens win...24 to 10!!

With the power of purple one can survive anything. There were 71,000 fans at this game!

Burrrrrrrr....Winter is here!

Well...I have broken out the winter coat and scarfs. Baltimore, really, hasn't been that cold. Yesterday you wouldn't have caught me saying so, however today I traveled to Chicago where there are 20 mile an hour winds with a temperature of 20 something meaning....it's colder than 20 something. I'm freezing here!!! I'm really not ready for winter, let alone Christmas. I hit a hard realization this week that I need to send out cards and at least be thinking about what I'm getting hubby for Christmas! I've go no idea.....ok, I have a few but when will I ever find the time to get it all in. Four parties already, luckily not all require me to prepare something and I want to do a cookie exchange....now accepting your favorite recipes. I made a cranberry walnut oatmeal cookie this weekend. Believe it or not, I'm not sharing this one with you. They could have been dog biscuits they were so crunchy. My genius of a husband figured out that 20 seconds in the microwave, and they were good as new! However, this one needs much modification before I share with you all. Baking is NOT my expertise!....yet.
Anyway, happy shopping. I hope you all avoided Black Friday..only my cousin is crazy enough to do that at 4 AM.
BTW..007 movie? Kicks butt..no matter what the critics say! Any man with an English accent wins my 8 bucks. Save me Bond, Save me!
Chao

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I've been forced to take Vacation this week as we have a use it or loose it policy. Our new year starts Dec 1 so it's Turkey Time Off for me. It's just the two of us this holiday. We usually invite friends who's families are far, over for Thanksgiving dinner but this year most folks have other plans. So, D and I will spend the day with our family of 5 (two adults, two cats and one dog = 5, for those of you who couldn't do the math). I thought that this year I would keep it simple as I always make way too much food, ect. I just bought a baby turkey roll rather than a whole bird. The whole bird is so much work. Anyway, it will be fun as we will just sit around and watch movies and football!
One thing I would like to request is that if you have the time, several hours, sit down and watch The Sound of Music. Back about 10 years ago I had Thanksgiving with my whole family in MI. Everyone flew in, including my aunt from Denver. I can remember one tradition of Aunt Sandy's was to watch The Sound of Music every year. In Februray of this year my Aunt Sandy was killed in a car accident. While we miss her dearly, I would like to carry on a tradition that she always loved.

Finally, I thought that I might add this week my top 5 things I am thankful for:

I'm thankful for finding the love of my life so early on
I'm thankful for our health
I'm thankful that my father has found peace
I'm thankful that children and creatures make me smile everyday
I'm thankful that I can taste..for life without taste would be so bland!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Before & After

Kitchen Remodel...The right brown for the wall?

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Dinner for 20

A week late but Saturday was AWESOME!!!! Every year, McCormick puts together with celebrity chefs a flavor paring called "flavor forecast". McCormick publishes this "Top 10 flavor parings to come in the next year". With this publication comes recipes of the pairings.
On Saturday, a friend and I coordinated a dinner party of 20 of our friends where each couple was assigned a recipe. Here is a snapshot of what was made. Now if you will recall we were suppose to also pair wine tasting on top of this but we didn't quite get that far. Maybe next time!
Lychee Lemongrass
Lychee Lemongrass martini
Orange and Wood
Maple wood Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Applies and Tart Cherries
Wood Smoked Chicken Burgers with Orange Peel Aioli
Chili and Cocoa
Braised Mole Beef Mole Tacos
Heirloom Beans and Oregano
Scarlet Runner and tomato orzo Salad with oregano Lemon Vinaigrette
Cuban Spiced Heirloom Bean Soup with Mint Crema
Poppy seed and Rose
Rose infused Goat Cheese with Caramelized Onions and Poppy seeds
Red Curry and Masa
Red Curry Chicken with Masa Dumplings
Rye Whiskey and Sage
Butternut Squash Ravioli with Whiskey Sage Cream sauce
Vanilla Cardamom
Vanilla Cardamom Milk Shakes
Shrimp with Vanilla Buerre Blanc and Cardamom Coconut Rice
Vanilla Bean and Cardamom Whoopee Pies

Let me know if anyone wants recipes!!