Thanksgiving is only 4 days away. So why am I posting a Christmas recipe? Well, you can really make this wassail anytime of the year, but we just happen to make it at Christmas (my mom has made it every year since 1982!), thus making it “Christmas wassail”. I happen to think this would be a wonderful addition to any Thanksgiving day celebration- guests could sip on it while they mingle and wait for the meal, or it could be served after the meal with pie. Joel and I decided to put up our Christmas tree this past weekend instead of the day after Thanksgiving and I made a giant pot of this wassail to sip on while we decorated. Let me tell you, this stuff is WAY better than any holiday candle, potpourri or scentsy burner you can find! It permeates the entire house and makes it smell heavenly while it simmers! It’s one of my very favorite things and I can’t imagine the holiday season without it! Whether you make this for tree decorating day (the best day of the year!), your family Thanksgiving or just a random evening, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!
Christmas Wassail
2 quarts apple juice or apple cider
1 48-ounce can pineapple juice
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon allspice
4 or 5 cinnamon sticks
15-20 cloves, pushed into an orange or apple
Mix all ingredients in a large pot or dutch oven. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours.
*Alternatively you can cook it in a slow cooker on high for 2 hours.
Recipe source: my mom
Throughout my years of blogging, I’ve had the honor of participating in several virtual showers for some of my closest blogging friends. And it just so happens it’s time again for another virtual shower- except this time…it’s MINE! Yippee!!! My sweet, sweet friend Kelsey of Apple A Day offered to throw me a baby shower waaaay back when I first announced we were expecting and I’ve been looking forward to it all this time! She’s gathered up a fantastic group of my favorite bloggers and they’ve all made goodies in honor of our sweet baby girl: Cassidy Grace (I figured it was about time to debut her name on here!). I am so excited about this and LOVE each and every one of these girls so much! Here we go:
First up, Nikki of Pennies On A Platter made these (*stunning*) Hummingbird Cupcakes. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of tasting a hummingbird cupcake before, it’s a moist cake studded with bananas, pineapple and coconut, topped with luscious cream cheese frosting. Sounds good, right? And I love the gorgeous dried pineapple slices on top- what a gorgeous cupcake!
Jessica of The Novice Chef made these decadent Triple Chocolate Malt Cookies. Look at all that chocolaty goodness (and I love the sweet little pink bows!)! I’ve never actually had cookies with malt powder in them before, so I’m reeeeally wishing this shower wasn’t virtual! Jess, mind driving a couple dozen of these over to Texas?? I’ll leave the porch light on for ya! 
Ashley (another Aggie- Whoop!) of Delish (who has her own new little one!) made these yummy Glazed Key Lime Mini Scones. I have a love for all things ‘mini’ and these look seriously dangerous- I could see myself popping these babies like popcorn! Key lime happens to be one of my favorite flavors, so I will definitely be trying these soon!
My good buddy Amy of The Nifty Foodie made these awesome looking Yellow Cupcakes with Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream. In case you’re wondering, Swiss meringue buttercream is no ordinary frosting; it’s smooth, velvety and extra special. In my opinion (and many other food bloggers), it’s the most luxurious of all frostings! I’m loving the specks of fresh strawberry in the frosting, too- just beautiful!
Next up, Krystal of Mrs. Regueiro’s Plate made these adorable Salted Caramel Apple Bites. Umm…YUM! I recently went through a phase where all I wanted was caramel apples (true story…), so these are especially tempting! Like little bites of fall! And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’m thinking these would make an excellent addition to any Thanksgiving dessert spread!
Brady of Branny Boils Over made these sweet little Gingerbread and Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches. The great thing about having baby showers in the fall is the awesome fall-themed treats you get to have! Gingerbread and pumpkin go so well together, so I can only imagine how yummy these taste! And I love the pretty scalloped edges!
Suzanne of Koko Cooks made these (freaking sweet!) Mozart Balls. Suzanne is a fellow musician, so she gets my love for Mozart. (though, she’s probably not as much of a freak about it as I am…) And since there’s a chance Cassidy could be born on Mozart’s birthday (her due date is 2 days before…think I can hold her in until then??), I think these are the perfect treats for my baby shower! For those of you who don’t know, Mozart chocolate is HUGE over in Europe- they’re sweet little balls of chocolate, marzipan and pistachio. Even Izzy discovered she has a love for Mozart chocolate (so much so, we had to pay $400 to keep her from OD’ing on the stuff after she snuck around and found my stash a couple of years back…).
Up next, my good friend (in real life as well as blogging) Jessica of My Baking Heart made Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies. Ok, that title alone is enough to make me start drooling! Anything with the words ‘chocolate’, ‘gooey’ and ‘butter’ in it is an automatic winner in my book! Jess and I have been friends long enough that she knows me and my love for all things gooey and chocolaty! Nailed it, Jess! 
Annie of Annie’s Eats made these sinful looking Twix Trifles. I definitely have a weak spot for Twix and I’m almost too embarrassed to admit I stashed away a bag of mini Twix at Halloween that disappeared all too quickly. I’m loving those luscious, chocolaty layers and the sweet pink bows on the spoons! A perfect baby shower treat (although, now I’m seriously craving Twix!). Gosh, too bad all my Halloween candy is long gone….
Jen of Beantown Baker made these delicious looking Cranberry Turtle Bars. Chocolate, cranberry, pecans and a buttery crust??? What a knockout! This is another dessert that would really wow people at Thanksgiving (I’m getting so many great ideas here!). I’ll take 5, please!
OMG, y’all…up next…..the BEST cookies ever! Fellow Texan, Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride made these adorable A&M Onesie Cookies. I’m so touched (especially since I know how much she hates A&M!) and totally in awe of how awesome these are. Joel loved these too! We already have a fair amount of A&M onesies, stuffed animals and cheerleader outfits, so why not add cookies to the list?!
Courtney of Cook Like a Champion (also a mommy-to-be of a sweet baby girl!) made me this gorgeous Opera Cake. How sweet is that? Opera cake is an almond sponge cake moistened with espresso syrup and filled with layers of espresso buttercream (yum!) and chocolate ganache. An absolute delicacy and Courtney was SWEET enough to make one for me! I am just DYING for a slice of this!
And finally, my sweet friend Kelsey of Apple A Day made these luscious Buttermilk Cupcakes with Pomegranate Cream Cheese Frosting. Oh man. Pomegranate cream cheese frosting?? YES, please! These look moist, rich and absolutely delicious; and the sugar pearls add an elegant finishing touch. What a classy looking cupcake! A perfect finale for my virtual baby shower. Kelsey, you sure know how to put together a perfectly beautiful virtual baby shower!
I am so fortunate to have the BEST blogging friends out there- friends who really know me and know my favorite foods, interests and hobbies. Friends who take time out of their busy lives and schedules to participate in a virtual shower for me. Having friends like that is sweeter than the sweetest buttercream frosting, folks! I’m really, really blessed.
Kelsey, I can’t thank you enough for your kindness in putting all this together- you are SUCH a wonderful friend and I can’t wait for us to (finally!) meet in person someday (soon, ok?!). And to each and every fabulous blogger who participated, THANK YOU! Your special treats made my mouth water and I’m sitting here wishing I could taste every single one of these goodies in person! I’m feeling very loved right now…. thank you, all!
My house is an absolute wreck. A disaster zone. A nightmare. We’re still in the big middle of renovations (we should be long-since finished by now, but you know how these things go…), so all of our furniture is piled in the middle of rooms, half of our carpet is rolled up and disgusting looking, our stairs don’t even have carpet on them, so all that’s there is ugly, torn up padding and tack strips, and up until last night there was a layer of dust 1 inch thick covering every surface of my kitchen and dining room. And on top of all that, we just had a baby shower recently, so there’s baby stuff all over the place and nowhere to put it! It’s. A. Mess. Luckily, (hopefully…) everything will be finished by the end of this week (please, Lord!). So, with all this madness, stress and clutter everywhere, you can imagine I haven’t done much cooking. And by much, I mean practically none. That’s where the beauty of this recipe comes into play. You throw your oats, water, spices and fruit in the slow cooker and let it do its’ thing overnight. In the morning, you’ve got hearty, delicious oatmeal waiting for you. No standing over the stove stirring involved. It’s a beautiful thing. Not to mention really, really delicious. Give this a try this week- your family will love it!
Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
1 cup steel cut oats**
3 1/2 cups water
1 medium-large apple, peeled and chopped (I like Honeycrisp or Pink Lady)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup brown sugar
Spray a slow cooker with non-stick spray and place the oats, water, apple, cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar inside. Stir to combine. Cover, set to low, and allow to cook overnight (about 8 hours). In the morning, stir the oatmeal one last time before serving. Serve with milk and additional brown sugar if desired. Serves 4.
**you don’t have to use steel cut oats, but it’s highly recommended -the texture will be mushier with regular oats since they cook for so long.
Recipe source: adapted from allrecipes.com
Happy November!!! I hope everybody had a fun, safe Halloween and lots of yummy snacks and candy were eaten! I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a leftover bag of Reese’s minis sitting on my nightstand just waiting for me.
But now the fun of Halloween is over and it’s time to start thinking about Thanksgiving! Yippee! In fact, it was a Thanksgiving side dish that inspired me for this soup- mashed sweet potatoes with brown sugar, butter, a splash of orange juice and a sprinkling of pecans. I had four very large sweet potatoes I wanted to use and the idea of soup just popped into my head. I made it just like I make my mashed sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, except I pureed the whole thing until I had a silky smooth, creamy soup, just perfect for a chilly fall evening. This came together so quickly and easily, and it made a pretty big pot of soup, so we had delicious leftovers to look forward to! I’d even recommend this for a Thanksgiving soup course; it really is a breeze to throw together and it’s easily customizable – you can add any number of seasonings or toppings to suit your tastes!
Sweet Potato Soup
4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped into chunks
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1/3-1/2 cup brown sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
splash orange juice
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
In a large pot, bring the sweet potatoes, chicken broth and water to a boil; cook for approximately 20-30 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are very soft. Using an immersion blender (or a regular blender in 2 or 3 batches), puree the soup until very smooth and no lumps remain. Add the salt, pepper, butter, brown sugar, orange juice and cayenne pepper. Check for seasoning. Garnish with chopped toasted pecans, if desired. Serves 4-6.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original
During the Halloween season, there’s nothing better than being snuggled up on the couch, watching Halloween movies and eating fun snacks (well, unless you’re a kid, in which case trick-or-treating is pretty hard to beat!). We make it a tradition every year to watch our favorite Halloween movies- Disney’s Icabod Crane (the cute animated version with Bing Crosby narrating), Hocus Pocus, Young Frankenstein, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and of course, my all-time favorite- The Nightmare Before Christmas (ok, so I watch that one pretty much year ’round…). And watching those great movies just wouldn’t be the same without some kind of yummy snack; like this popcorn. It’s just a simple mixture of popcorn and candy corn coated in white chocolate bark and Halloween sprinkles. Nothing hard or complicated, just fun and downright yummy! Perfect for parties, trick-or-treaters or movie-watching! Whatever you make to snack on this Halloween, I hope you have a wonderful, FUN, safe time with your friends and family! Happy Halloween!!!
Halloween Popcorn
2 bags microwave popcorn, popped
1 bag candy corn
1 16-ounce package white chocolate bark*
Halloween sprinkles
wax paper
Place the popped popcorn and candy corn in a very large bowl (you need plenty of room to stir the popcorn). Melt the white chocolate bark in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each time, until melted. Drizzle over the popcorn and candy corn and stir to coat each piece of popcorn. Pour the mixture over wax paper and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle with Halloween sprinkles and allow to cool for at least 15-30 minutes. Break into pieces. Serves 6-8.
*I know I’ll get questions about this: white chocolate bark (or white chocolate candy coating) can be found in your regular grocery store on the baking aisle with the chocolate chips and nuts.
Recipe source: Sing For Your Supper original (however, this isn’t exactly a new concept- I’m sure it’s been done many times before me)
I realized I haven’t really been keeping you in the loop lately. There has been so much going on in our lives lately and I haven’t really mentioned any of it on my blog. Nothing important, really, just lots of random things that we’ve been super busy and preoccupied with. So, I thought it might be fun to give you a peek into our lives as of now…just a few pictures taken with my phone camera to capture fun moments in our lives right now. Enjoy!
First up, our new front door and steps. This is just a small chunk of our mega-renovations; we’re having new carpet and floors installed and new paint on the walls throughout the whole house! What an ordeal! Our old brick steps were a death trap and quite frankly- pretty unattractive to look at, so we had some brand new concrete steps put in (and I actually have room for a welcome mat now!). We’re so happy with the way it turned out! Now if we could just get the rest of the house done….
We bought these initials for the baby’s room this past weekend and I loooove them! I wonder what they could stand for…..
This past Monday, Joel’s parents took us to game 5 of the World Series! Go Rangers! (*Notice the giant pile of nachos and a jumbo dog sitting in my lap…ballpark food is a pregnant lady’s best friend!)
We’ve been slowly gathering cute little outfits and knick-knacks for the baby; I’ve found SO many cute things already! I just couldn’t resist this one…
Last night Joel and I carved pumpkins- I love this tradition! Mine is Jack Skellington and Joel’s is a USB symbol (yeah, I married a nerd…)
And of course Izzy was there in her snazzy Halloween PJs. This girl loves to show off in a cute outfit!
27 weeks pregnant! Can you believe how the time is flying?! I’m just finishing up my second trimester and still feeling great (if not just a teensy bit hormonal…)! This baby girl is a KICKER and we love feeling (and sometimes seeing!) her sweet little kicks every evening. It’s something I never seem to get tired of (I’m sure by the time she starts playing kickball with my internal organs I might feel a little differently…). Things are slowly coming together- the furniture for the nursery arrived today and this weekend will be our first baby shower! I’m so excited I can’t stand it! This is such an exciting time in our lives and I’m so happy I could share some of it with you all!
You all know how much we enjoy sushi, and even though Joel and I found making sushi at home to be extremely easy, we opt for a slightly easier version every now and then. Like these sushi bowls. It’s the most ingenious idea ever and SO easy! Gather up all your favorite sushi fixin’s, pile it in a bowl and voilà- sushi bowl awesomeness! We used cucumbers, imitation crab meat, avocado, shelled edamame and our favorite spicy sauce- the mayo/sriracha sauce; and BOY did we love this! If you’re searching for a quick, delicious weeknight dinner, I highly suggest making these; for one thing, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than going out for sushi and it’s ready in no time! Perfect!
Sushi Bowls
1⅓ cups rice, rinsed well
1⅓ cups water
3 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into sticks
imitation crab meat (as much as you like), cut into sticks
1 avocado, sliced and cut into chunks
shelled, steamed edamame (as much as you like; you can find pre-shelled edamame in the freezer section of most grocery stores)
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2-1 teaspoon sriracha hot sauce, depending on how spicy you like it
soy sauce and wasabi for serving
Rinse the rice. Place the rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
Combine the rice vinegar and sugar in a separate small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds, until the sugar dissolves. Transfer the rice into a large bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold and cut thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool. Do not refrigerate.
In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise and sriracha; set aside.
Pile the rice, cucumber, crab meat, avocado and edamame in individual bowls and top with sesame seeds, soy sauce/wasabi (if desired) and sriracha mixture. Serves 4.
Recipe source: adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
I guess this pregnancy has me really digging caramel, because I feel like I’ve been making lots of caramel-y treats lately even though I’m normally not a huge fan. Hey, there are worse things to crave! Last week I had a whole afternoon to myself and thought I’d try my hand at homemade caramel corn. I’ve made it once before, but with my mom’s help (in fact, I believe it was during the Halloween season and we munched on our homemade caramel corn while watching Halloween movies!) and lucky for me, she wrote the recipe down for me! Yay! So I got in the kitchen and whipped up this delicious caramel corn- man, oh MAN! What a TREAT! This was rich, buttery and most importantly, good ‘n crunchy! I took a big bag to work and none of us could stop munching on it! I will most definitely be making this again; probably on Halloween, in fact. A perfect snack to munch on while watching Hocus Pocus!
Caramel Corn
6 quarts popped corn (3 bags microwave popcorn- I used Tender White)
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cook brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn and stir to coat. Place popcorn in a large roasting pan or spread out over two baking sheets lined with greased foil. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes for about 45 minutes. Caramel corn will be crunchy (with no sogginess) when done. Let cool and break into pieces. Makes enough to serve a large crowd- approximately 10-12 people.
Recipe source: my mom
Guess what time it is??? It’s SOUP season!! YAY! This morning we woke up to a crisp, chilly morning, and for the first time all season, I don’t need my air conditioner running! That’s definitely something to celebrate (especially considering it was 90 degrees yesterday! Ugh!); so I’ll start today by posting my first soup recipe of the season (yippee!), then busting out my long sleeved shirts and sweaters, and baking some delicious pumpkin bread. Sounds like a heavenly day to me!
Now about this soup. I’m a HUGE fan of broccoli cheese soup. Love it. However, for some reason, I’ve never made my own. A few nights ago, I decided I had waited long enough and set out to make a big pot. This soup is not only cheesy, but rich, creamy and full of hearty broccoli flavor. We loved it! I think you will too! Now, some of you will remember that I am, indeed, lactose-intolerant, so I paid dearly for eating two bowls of this delicious soup (even with my magic enzyme pills), but honestly, it was worth it. However, I won’t be making that mistake again in the near future…
Broccoli Cheese Soup
2 tablespoons butter
2 pounds broccoli, cut into small pieces; stalks peeled and cut into small chunks
3 carrots, shredded
1 medium onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
In a large pot or dutch oven, heat butter over medium high heat. Add broccoli, onion, carrots, mustard and salt and pepper. Stir frequently and cook until fragrant, about 6 minutes. Add water, chicken broth and baking soda and bring to a simmer. Cook until broccoli is very soft, about 20 minutes.
Add milk and cheeses and stir until all the cheese is melted. Using an immersion blender (or transfer the soup to a regular blender and blend in two batches), blend the soup until smooth. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Serves 6-8.
Recipe source: heavily adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, March/April 2011
This picture doesn’t really do this chicken pot pie justice, but I was losing daylight fast and had to snap a quick picture before the whole thing disappeared! We LOVE chicken pot pie. It’s one of those great comfort foods that seem to make a hard day just melt away. I love the creamy white sauce with the juicy chicken and tender vegetables- an absolute winner! I’ve been making this exact recipe for 5 years now and it never, ever disappoints. I normally use store-bought pie crusts because it saves time, but you could absolutely make your own and be totally authentic.
So, the next time you’re tempted to throw one of those frozen numbers in the microwave- consider making yourself a gorgeous homemade chicken pot pie instead. You’ll be SO glad you did!
Chicken Pot Pie
2 large bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup frozen green beans
2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into chunks
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium pot, cover chicken with water and boil for 30-45 minutes, until tender. Remove bones and skin and shred chicken with two forks and set aside. In a saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, green beans and potatoes. Add water to cover and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and add to shredded chicken.
In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. SLOWLY whisk in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
Press bottom crust into a pie dish and place the chicken mixture in the crust (depending on how deep your pie dish is, you may have a little extra filling- just be sure not to overfill). Pour white sauce over. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe source: adapted from allrecipes.com
