menu monday

monday. left overs from weekend.

tuesday. tacos bowls.

wednesday. omelette's. grits. bacon.

thursday. christmas at my gmas! tapas style. i'm making: cucumber boats with hummas, turkey pesto sliders, pimento cheese, and guac with wonton chips :)

friday. christmas eve babyyyy.

just a few random things.

1. bradley has been obsessed lately with hunting and all things manly/country-ish. he even likes to say "hey bo" when we are camping or in the woods and such. yeah, i thought i moved away from upstate sc, too?? hmm. so, the other day bradley sends me this in a email.



nice.

2. last saturday was full of love. seriously, hearts everywhere.

on an egg:



and on my sock:



spread the love, people.

3. have i mentioned lately how much we love pepper and how she is totally human?



4. and now, i want to inform you of my very favorite animal. like favorite ever. (besides pepper....who obviously doesn't count....bc she is a HUMAN)



eat more chicken. i have always loved dairy cows. i think they are so cute. once, i was in a pageant and during the interview they asked me why a cow was my fav animal. so i said... i love their utters. they are just so pink and cute. needless to say, i didn't win. :D

that's all. :)

chocolate candy cane cookies

i made these for a cookie exchange and they were delightful! the filling is so good. i rushed to make these so they weren't as pretty as they should have been sooo i'm making them again tonight for a christmas party tomorrow night! make these. you won't be sorry:)

source: bonappetit

Ingredients

Cookies
•1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
•1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
•1/4 teaspoon salt
•1 cup sugar
•3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•1 large egg

Filling
•1 cup plus 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
•3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
•3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
•2 drops (or more) red food coloring
•1/2 cup crushed red-and-white-striped candy canes or hard peppermint candies (about 4 ounces)

Preparation

For cookies:
•Whisk flour, cocoa, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in egg. Add dry ingredients; beat until blended. Refrigerate dough 1 hour.
•Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop out dough by level tablespoonfuls, then roll into smooth balls. Place balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using bottom of glass or hands, flatten each ball to 2-inch round (edges will crack). Bake until cookies no longer look wet and small indentation appears when tops of cookies are lightly touched with fingers, about 11 minutes (do not overbake or cookies will become too crisp). Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer chocolate cookies to racks and cool completely.

For filling:
•Using electric mixer, beat powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. Add peppermint extract and 2 drops food coloring. Beat until light pink and well blended, adding more food coloring by dropfuls if darker pink color is desired. Spread 2 generous teaspoons filling evenly over flat side of 1 cookie to edges; top with another cookie, flat side down, pressing gently to adhere. Repeat with remaining cookies and peppermint filling.
•Place crushed candy canes on plate. Roll edges of cookie sandwiches in crushed candies (candies will adhere to filling). DO AHEAD Cookie sandwiches can be made ahead. Store in single layer in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.

menu monday

this week i'm trying to make sure we have leftovers for lunches everyday. i realize this is a lot of chicken...i guess we will really like chicken this week! ha.

monday. chicken fried rice.

tuesday. baked spaghetti.

wednesday. chicken fiesta casserole.

thursday. chicken crescent pockets.

friday. black bean & corn quesadillas.

i do love christmas cards!

our christmas card for 2010 :)

we ordered it from snapfish.com and are VERY pleased!

yay for christmas!!

sweet potato soufflé

fact: i made 3 sweet potato soufflé's this thanksgiving holiday.

fact: i didn't take a picture of any of them.

fact: these were the best sweet potato soufflé's that i have ever made.

fact: i love pecans.

fact: someone gave me this recipe last year but you can find it all over the internet. like, all recipes and such.




what you need-

sweet potato mixture-

4 cups sweet potato, cubed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
topping-

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

what you do-

Preheat oven to 325*. Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash.

In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish.

In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.

Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown

menu monday!

i'm cooking easy things this week due to all the food at thanksgiving:)

monday. pork chops, sweet potatoes, salad.

tuesday. chicken pot pie.

wednesday. taco soup.

thursday. buffalo mac & cheese.

friday. pizza.