Herb-Roasted Turkey: recipe here

“Thanksgiving is a holiday of peace, a celebration of the simple life…a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year – and the deep, deep connection of all things with God.”- David Grayson

May you

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Happy Thanksgiving

Herb-Roasted Turkey: recipe here

“Thanksgiving is a holiday of peace, a celebration of the simple life…a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year – and the deep, deep connection of all things with God.”- David Grayson

May you have a wonderful time of thanksgiving, cherishing these moments with the people you love most in this life~!

“Let’s have a bonfire!” was one of the first suggestions made when our family was making plans to visit our friends on their farm. I chimed in “Oooo, and can I make s’mores? I mean, GOURMET s’mores? I’ve been wanting to try out this marshmallow recipe anyway!” Yes, right then and there I was offering

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Gourmet S’mores

“Let’s have a bonfire!” was one of the first suggestions made when our family was making plans to visit our friends on their farm. I chimed in “Oooo, and can I make s’mores? I mean, GOURMET s’mores? I’ve been wanting to try out this marshmallow recipe anyway!” Yes, right then and there I was offering to make a batch of homemade marshmallows and graham crackers – enough to feed the whole crowd. Was I cuh-razy??

Always.

these are from smitten kitchen. not from me.

In the end, I didn’t make the graham crackers because – when hubs was at the store to get graham flour and noticed they were all out, he instead opted to buy several boxes of all natural graham crackers. I will say, though, smitten kitchen has a REALLY good recipe that I’ve made…and we always eat too many at a time. It’s hard to stop once you’ve started. But it IS a pleasant experience – if you don’t make yourself sick chowin’ down the whole batch all at once!

The marshmallow recipe I used was from the kitchn and it was easy ‘n good! I actually made my own organic sugar cane syrup, too. Mmm. These things turned out so wonderfully delish! You need to try your hand at these. STAT. They are so worth the extra effort. Then all you’ll need is some good quality chocolate and a big fire! It’s a formula for fun, peoples! Enjoy your weekend~!

Meal to Try:

Pan Fried Chicken Breasts in a Lemon White Wine Sauce

over a bed of Linguine Alfredo

and a side of Spinach Strawberry Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

and ending with a big slice of Tiramisu

So hubby whipped up the Alfredo sauce because he has skillz to

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Chicken + Salad + Tiramisu

Meal to Try:

Pan Fried Chicken Breasts in a Lemon White Wine Sauce

over a bed of Linguine Alfredo

and a side of Spinach Strawberry Salad with Baked Goat Cheese

and ending with a big slice of Tiramisu

So hubby whipped up the Alfredo sauce because he has skillz to make it perfect – all his own – with NO RECIPE. I did a quick search online to try to find something similar, and here’s one I came up with. Tyler Florence presents a basic Alfredo recipe here. Be sure to scroll down to get to it. I will note, too, that Corey squeezed a little bit of fresh lemon in ours because that’s how we roll. SO GOOD!

And the chicken? Heavens. You know that cooking chicken with the skin and bone action still there keeps that tasty flavor that we all love. So please don’t cut corners and buy boneless, skinless for this recipe!

Here is the recipe for the chicken and sauce:

Crispy Chicken Breast with White Wine Lemon Sauce

4 Bone-in Chicken Breasts
4 tbs Olive Oil
Kosher salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup white wine
Juice from 1 lemon
6 minced garlic cloves
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a large oven safe skillet on medium high heat. Drizzle chicken with half the olive oil and season with a good crust of salt & Pepper. When pan is hot add chicken skin side down. Cook approximately 3 minutes or until a nice golden brown color.

Sprinkle the minced garlic around the chicken add the sprigs of rosemary, & 1/4 cup wine transfer to oven for 8-10 minutes.

Remove from oven, place chicken on serving platter & tent with foil. Return pan to stove. Add butter and thyme, stir. . .add the rest of wine and lemon juice, turn heat to medium-low. Cook for 3 minutes. Discard rosemary. Drizzle over chicken.

On Giada’s Tiramisu: we loved it. I changed the recipe up just a tad, though. I actually doubled the ingredients and was still able to use the 13 x 9 pan, but it was extra deep Tiramisu. EXTRA DEEP TIRAMISU? I’d say that that’s a good problem to have! Also, I took a carton of heavy whipping cream, some organic sugar and a drop or two of pure vanilla extract, threw it into the mixer and whipped up a really thick whipped cream. Why did I do this? Because I am crazy and wanted an even deeper, fluffier, creamier Tiramisu. I put this layer of whipped cream on top of the Mascarpone cheese layers. Then the dark chocolate pieces got sprinkled across the top…and finally, pure cocoa powder dusted across every slice. This is something that you’re going to want to eat…RIGHT NOW.

No, this is not a meal that you can cook up super fast. There is a couple of hours invested in it. But is it worth it? You betcha sweet bippy, it is!! Try it this weekend and lemme know how you love it!

Looking for something gourmet – yet EASY – to make for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day? I gotcha covered. You are seriously going to love everything about this dessert. It is so easy to whip up and tastes like a million dollars. Plus, who doesn’t love babycakes? Perfectly, smooth chocolate melting from the inside of

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Molten Chocolate Babycakes

Looking for something gourmet – yet EASY – to make for your sweetie this Valentine’s Day? I gotcha covered. You are seriously going to love everything about this dessert. It is so easy to whip up and tastes like a million dollars. Plus, who doesn’t love babycakes? Perfectly, smooth chocolate melting from the inside of the treat once you cut into it…every luscious bite scooped up with a heaping spoonful of freshly whipped cream…Mmmmm….

Molten Chocolate Babycakes

Serves 6 [but I easily tripled this recipe for the people in my life!]

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins

1/3 cup granulated sugar [or Sucanat], plus more for dusting muffin tins

3 large fresh eggs

1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

8 ounces best bittersweet chocolate, melted

Carton of whipping cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar/sucanat, and tap out excess. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.

To serve, turn out cakes upside down onto plates. Serve with fresh whipped cream, if desired, and it definitely is. [To make freshly whipped cream, simply pour in a carton of whipping cream into your mixer's bowl, and turn on a med-low speed. As you whip air into it, it starts to get fluffy. If you wish, put in a little bit of sugar or sucanat...and a few drops of pure vanilla extract. Keep mixing until there are soft peaks. Takes just a few minutes and is way better than that Cool Whip nonsense.]

This is GOOD, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not good enough.

Okay, NOW we are getting somewhere. See that melted chocolate oozing out?

Now THIS is Heaven on Earth. Served with that freshly whipped cream? Oh MY.

These bake up in about 8 minutes for me, and they do need to set up for 10 minutes before you remove them from the muffin tins. Otherwise, they will be too soft and gooey to plop out. However, that is not long at all to wait and is definitely worth it. Your honey bunches will love you all the more for giving them such a treat!

Tell me how you love it! And Happy Valentine’s Day to all you sweethearts out there! <3

I had to use up ingredients tonight for pizza toppings, and this turned out to be such a winner that I knew I needed to share with ya! If you would like to see my how-to on making your own pizza, then just CLICK HERE to go to my past post about it.

So really

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Parmesan Artichoke Pizza

I had to use up ingredients tonight for pizza toppings, and this turned out to be such a winner that I knew I needed to share with ya! If you would like to see my how-to on making your own pizza, then just CLICK HERE to go to my past post about it.

So really quick, this is all you need:

• Extra virgin olive oil
• salt crystals [or reg. sea salt], to taste
• fresh ground pepper, to taste
• dried oregano, to taste
• dried basil, to taste
• best grade mozzerella cheese, sliced
• parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1 can of artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
• half of white onion, thinly sliced
• mushrooms, sliced

After you’ve prepared your pizza dough on the pan, then pour on 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread the love all around with your fingers, going right up to the edges of the crust. Shake on a little of your herbs and seasonings all over. Then add on your mozz. cheese and parmesan cheese. Last, add on the artichokes, mushrooms and onions. [If you do not like your mushrooms and onions on the soggy side, then it is important to add these toppings on LAST or else they won't crisp up in the oven as good! - Little tip there.]

Make it and love it!!

*I’m sharing this on Tasty Tuesday over at Balancing Beauty & Bedlam. Be sure to check out the other food shtuffs going on there, too!*

Try this – and I’m nearly positive that it will be a keeper at your home! It’s so easy to make up 2-4 pans of this, too…so it’s simpleness is another perk. Plus, I know that everyone will be cooking out soon and these potato chips are definitely something you’ll want to serve up with

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Homemade Potato Chips

Try this – and I’m nearly positive that it will be a keeper at your home! It’s so easy to make up 2-4 pans of this, too…so it’s simpleness is another perk. Plus, I know that everyone will be cooking out soon and these potato chips are definitely something you’ll want to serve up with your grilled goods.

All it takes is:

4-6 russet baking potatoes, rinsed & peeled

Olive oil

Garlic cloves

Salt

Fresh cracked pepper

Optionals:

Cheese, your choice, shredded

Herbs [oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary,etc.]

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees.

Get out two baking sheets and grease them up with olive oil. You should have plenty of extra olive oil on your sheet pans because you will be coating all of your potatoes – both sides – in it.

Slice up your potatoes thin, but don’t worry about it being TOO thin. Naw, you won’t need to worry with that mandoline-slice-the-skin-off-your-fingers-thing! Just use a regular chef’s knife for this deal. Then pat ‘em dry with a towel.

Place the potatoes in a single layer on your baking sheet, being sure to get both sides of the potatoes covered well with oil. *Warning: if you do not have enough oil on your pan, then the potatoes might not cook right and could possibly dry up and burn. I have NO idea how I know all that!*

Sprinkle with sea salt, preferably something more coarse. See the big ‘uns up there? Yeah, drool.

Then get out your nifty garlic mincer and mince up the garlic cloves. Gianna [age 3] helped me “sprinkle” this all over the potato slices. They don’t really ‘sprinkle’, though, obviously because it’s wet. You will see what I mean. Just twinkle your fingers together to release minced garlic from your fingertips all over ‘em. I have no other way to explain this to you…So sorry…

Crack on some fresh black pepper! And last, add on whatever the crap you want to – to suite your tastes!

Pop the pans in the preheated oven and bake for approx. 18-20 min. Do keep an eye on them towards the end, checking regularly so they don’t burn. Once you see them start to turn a golden brown [especially on the edges], pull them out and eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat!!!

[They are SO daggum tasty!! Hope you and your fam enjoy!!]

The highlight of this recipe to me was the pink peppercorns, which I had never had before this. Not only did they match the colors of my tablescape , but they also looked cute and were delicious in this creamy cheesy sauce! Have you had pink pepper before? It

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Mother’s Day Tea Party [Recipes]

Artichokes with Pink Peppercorn Dipping Sauce

The highlight of this recipe to me was the pink peppercorns, which I had never had before this. Not only did they match the colors of my tablescape , but they also looked cute and were delicious in this creamy cheesy sauce! Have you had pink pepper before? It is less peppery than black peppercorns and delicious in its own way!

Braised Artichokes

• 2-4 whole large fresh artichokes
• 2 lemons
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered
• 2 fresh green bay leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil per artichoke

1. Trim up the artichokes [cut off all the rough tips of the leaves and the top of the head. It IS called a 'head', right?] and everywhere that you’ve trimmed, rub on a halved lemon. Also cut off the stems and peel ‘em. Place the trimmed artichokes and stems into a bowl of cold water to chillax while you get your mess together.

2. In a large pot, add in all the rest of your ingredients [minus the olive oil] and get it tuh simmerin’. At this point, you can now remove your artichokes and stems from their water bowl, being sure to place the artichokes base down in the pot. Why? I don’t know, but it’s in the directions – so let’s roll with it. Now drizzle in the olive oil in each of the leaves of the artichokes.

3. Get these mugs cookin’ until the water is rapidly simmering. Pop on a lid and let it go for 45 minutes or so. You can test it with a fork and will know it’s done when you can easily pull down an outer leaf with the fork – and it’s tender. [Careful now - I tried that trick also, but after it had been out of the pot for a while, it wasn't quite as tender. So mine should have cooked for probably 10 minutes longer.]

And for the yummy dip…

Pink Peppercorn Dipping Sauce

Yields 1 2/3 cups dip

• 3 tsp. pink peppercorns, ground up
• 5 oz. fresh shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese
• 1 c. crème fraîche or sour cream
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tbsp. mayo

1. Add the ground peppercorns and shaved parmigiano reggiano to a food processor fitted with the sharp chopping blade.  Process until the peppercorns and cheese are the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the crème fraîche or sour cream, kosher salt and mayo.  Keep pulsing until all the ingredients come together and the dip is smoooooth.

3. Pour the dip into a bowl and cover ‘n fridge it until ready to use.  If your dip is in the fridge a while, then it will probably separate like mine did. No worries! Simply mix it back up and you’re back in the game!

This recipe [dip + artichokes] came from Stephanie Beack, from Scrumptious Street Blog. Click HERE to go straight to her recipe!

Oh mercy, mama! These are my egg salad sandwiches, a long time fav that my mother taught me, but I’ve made it my own. For one thing, I make my bread from scratch [highly recommended!] and I also like to add some herbs in to my egg salad. There were tons of fresh eggs in the egg basket, so I used up those along with some homemade mayonnaise, basil, sage, salt, pepper and finely chopped up green onions. It’s a delish combo!

Basic Egg Salad

• 8-10 large eggs [hardboiled]
• about 1 cup of mayo
• dried sage [to taste]
• dried basil [to taste]
• 2-3 finely chopped green onions
• salt and pepper [to taste]

In a bowl, chop up the hardboiled eggs with a pastry blender until they are all in small-ish pieces. Add in the remaining ingredients and mix to perfection. Slather over your fav bread!

This is not a picky recipe and you can fudge on the ingredients. You may like a little less mayo than we do….or your eggs may be larger and you may NEED the extra mayonnaise. At any rate, you really want your egg salad to be moist and fluffy, but not too wet. You can certainly taste it as you go!

Now THESE are some supa tasty, supa easy hors d’oeuvres that I can get behind!

Easy Hors D’oeuvres

• Frozen Wild Salmon Steaks
• Lemon
• Onion Powder [to taste]
• Garlic Powder [to taste]
• Red Alaea Sea Salt
• Fresh celery, julienned
• Creamy goat milk cheese w/herbs
• Kashi’s TLC Honey Sesame Crackers

We bought several frozen wild salmon steaks from Trader Joe’s…squirt ‘em with fresh lemon juice…onion powder…garlic powder…salt and pepper to taste…pan fried them and then stuck it in the fridge. Yep! Save it for later. Then the next day, I took it back out and flaked off sections to use in this recipe. Have you ever bought those multi grain TLC crackers that Kashi makes? Yeah, that’s the base of this mug. Then on top of that, add on a small dallop of creamy herbal goat milk cheese, and on top of that some julienned celery, and on top of that goes your salmon. To serve it, I put it all on a bed of Red Alaea Sea Salt – and used some of that to sprinkle it all over the hors d’oeuvres. This is so easy and full of flavor! You’ve gotta try it.

Because we are really into dark, DARK chocolate here – I decided to whip up these baby cakes using [what else?] dark, dark chocolate! On top of that, I made a quick maple buttercream frosting and stuck in a freeze dried strawberry in the top of each. Now…I could have used fresh strawberries since they are certainly in season now and we have an okay amount popping up in our patch right now, but that was not my original plan. I had purchased a bag of organic freeze dried strawberries for the sole purpose of all natural food coloring for my icing.

Imagine it, folks: pink icing…colored with strawberries…and tastes like..STRAWBERRIES! Well – what a brilliant concept! You just can’t beat the real deal…

Yep, I wanted it pink – and I didn’t want to sacrifice our livers with chemical food dyes to eat it. So guess what happened? Everything was going along fine ‘n dandy…and I had the baby cakes and basic frosting all made up ‘n ready to go. I quickly opened the bag of freeze dried strawberries and dumped it all into the food processor and gave it a whirl. One minute later, I’m popping the lid off and looking in and saw all the perfectly beautiful pink powdered strawberries – - and then my eyes fell on a teeny white bag, shredded up, that read “TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS. DO NOT EAT.” Auuuuuggghhhh! Yeah, so it was all in the food. Think we ate it? NO. I’m trying to get away from the chemicals…and there I was totally adding them back into our food! Lesson learned, though. I was in too big a rush at the very end and didn’t have my thinkin’ cap on. Thankfully, I had pulled out several whole pieces of dried strawberries ahead of time to chunk on top of the baby cakes…and was still able to use them on there for color and tasty times.

Dark, Dark Chocolate Baby Cakes

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter + extra for buttering pans/cups [all should be room temp.]
• 3 cups dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Butter one 12-cup muffin pan and one 6-cup muffin pan.

Beat up the butter and maple syrup. Next add in the cocoa powder and the canola oil and mix until combined. Next, add in your eggs one at a time, making sure that each one is mixed in before adding the next. Add in the vanilla. Finally, dump in the flour and salt, and mix it all together until it is a luscious, dark and smooth batter. Taste and see.

Pour the batter into the greased muffin cups and fill them up. [You may or may not have one or two empty cups. If you happen to, simply fill it halfway with water so it doesn't burn in the oven]. Pop the pans into the oven and bake for about 6-8 minutes. If you’ve never had baby cakes before, then let me explain: the outsides should be solid and dry but the insides…ooooh mercy…the insides are almost like a thick pudding! So you really can’t use the toothpick trick here to test your baby cakes. What I like to do is just get a butter knife and pick up one of the muffins in the pan. If it’s holding its shape well and seems like it will plate up nicely, then it’s DONE!

Serve ‘em upside down and top them with…

Maple Buttercream Frosting

• 3 large egg yolks
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup [2 sticks] unsalted butter, still cold and cut up into small pieces

Beat up the egg yolks in your mixer until they are light ‘n fluffy and then set ‘em aside.

Then in a small pan, bring the maple syrup to a boil [over med-high heat]. Let it go until it reads 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Kill the heat and remove the pan. Take it over to your mixer, and with it mixing, slowly pour in the syrup down the side of the bowl steadily. Keep mixing for another 5 minutes until it’s all incorporated and the frosting is thicker [another 4-5 minutes].

Spoon this all over your hot dark chocolate baby cakes and chow down! Mmmmmmmmmmm….

The frosting recipe is from Grandma Martha!

I partnered with MountainRoseHerbs.com to bring you this awesome spread. Any of the links you see here will take you straight to their online store via my affiliate awesomeness. After you’ve read all the way through the post, please come back and click the banner to place your next order with them. They sell anything from pink peppercorns to tea pots to herbal tinctures to books and gifts. This is an awesome company and you will love ordering through them!

W I N N E R

So you can, of course, serve ALL of this up with your beautifully tasty flowering tea, poured up from your quaint glass tea pot! You can purchase the teas and glass tea pots from Mountain Rose Herbs. However, for ONE awesome reader today, you will get yours FREE in the mail! Thank you to everyone who entered the Mother’s Day Tea Party GIVEAWAY that I’ve hosted…and Random.org has picked a winner from the previous comments:

And check his comment, too:

She sounds like an amazing woman! Congratulations to CHRISTOPHER! Please contact me to claim your prize ASAP in time for Mother’s Day!

I hope all the mothers out there have an AWESOME Momma’s Day this coming weekend!

Have a great day, everyone!

People, this is a keeper! And you’ll be amazed to find out that they have no processed sugar in them, but are totally delicious.

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] All Naturally Sweet ‘n Moist Dark Brownies [+winners!]

People, this is a keeper! And you’ll be amazed to find out that they have no processed sugar in them, but are totally delicious.

• 1 stick [1/2 cup] unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups cocoa powder [we love to use dark for this!]
• 1.5 cups pure maple syrup
• 2/3 cup expeller pressed canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Butter your pan. I use a smaller glass casserole-type dish that is about 9″ x 6″. However, it’s deeper than your average dish. So if you use a 13″ x 9″, be prepared for thinner brownies.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

What I like about this recipe, too, is that we make it all on the stove top, so you’re not dirtying up 500 extra dishes for mixing. Everything goes into this one pan, step by step.

In a medium-sized skillet on the stove top, melt your butter on low. Then incorporate the cocoa powder. When you get to this point, it will smell soooo divine but it will honestly look like crap. If your hubby were to suddenly walk in at this point, he might question your kitchen skillz. It looks like this pasty mass of blackness. YUH, not too delectable. Anyhoo, just keep doing your thing and know that they will come out on top in the end. Kill the heat.

Next, add in your maple syrup, canola oil and vanilla. Mix.

If your eggs are still in one piece [mine just barely made it in time thanks to Gianna's curiosity], add them in – one at a time – and mix pretty durn skippy after each one. By now, you should see the mixture starting to come together nicely. It actually looks like a batter!

Finally, add in your flour and salt, and mix just until there are no huge chunks of flour and all the white is gone. At this point, you can taste the batter [if you are into that raw egg sorta thing and if you trust your chickens] and see if it’s sweet enough for your liking. If not, simply add more maple syrup…a little at a time until it’s perfect for your family. Our family loves it by my recipe here. Do what works for you, though.

Pour it all into your pan and then pop it in the preheated oven for approx. 40 minutes. This takes a lil’ while, but will fill your entire home with the most delicious scents. Oh. My. Goodness. While you’re waiting, get out the rubber spatula and start scraping at that batter leftover in the bowl. You didn’t seriously think that I was going to recommend not eating that, did you?!? Naw, girlfriend! Go to town! Oh, and wipe your mouth, quick-like.

So you know the drill: you’ll know the brownies are done when a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center comes back out clean. Let it cool for just a bit…and either cut it into 12 tee-niny pieces [perfect for your frail, dieting friends], or 9 average sized pieces, or 4 huge-a-MONGO sized pieces [perfect for those late night gorge-fest sessions after all the kiddies are in bed! what? you don't do that, too?? oh, stop being so modest!!].

These lovelies are DARK! Yes, dark chocolate is a love of mine. How ’bout you? [They were also hard to photograph because of that!]

Serve ‘em up and chow down – all too happy that you successfully baked a sweet chocolatie dessert with zero processed sugar in it. It’s proof that it can be done!

In cased you missed it live online, the winners of the Lisa Leonard Jewelry were announced on Twitter! Scroll down to recap that info:

3rd prize [$25 gift certificate to Lisa's shop!] goes to:

Angie!!

I’m happy that you get to get that necklace! It’ll be cute!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Next, 2nd prize [Heartstrings necklace] goes to:

Andrea!!

Wow! Just what ya wanted!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Finally, the grand 1st place prize [Family Crest Necklace] is given to:

Very Married!!

Yep, I’m chuckling over this because she was one of the folks who chimed in with how she never wins anything! Looks like you were PERFECT for this giveaway, friend!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Congrats to all the winners! [Please contact me so I can hook you up with your prizes!] And if you didn’t win, don’t worry ‘cuz I never win anything, either! Why do you think I gave this that title? But seriously, I plan on having more awesome giveaways in the future, so keep trying and you will surely get yours one day.  

As I mentioned in a previous post about Gianna’s recent party celebration, we love smoothies for a treat or for breakfast or for anytime! Can I share with ya on how we make these? It’s supa dupa easy!

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] Naturally Sweet ‘n YUMMY Smoothies

As I mentioned in a previous post about Gianna’s recent party celebration, we love smoothies for a treat or for breakfast or for anytime! Can I share with ya on how we make these? It’s supa dupa easy!

• 3 cups of fresh milk [preferably with the cream still on top! what? fresh milk is unhealthy?? somebody LIED to YOU!]
• 4 frozen bananas
• 1 [10 oz.-16oz.] bag frozen fruit [you pick: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mangos or just a mix]
• 4 big spoonfuls of raw honey
• mint for garnish ‘n flavor

We are in the market for a new blender, and have been researching some good ones out there. I tell ya….they ain’t cheap! But we both know that when you buy the best stuff up front, you might spend more – but in the LONG run, you will save a lot of money from having to buy a new blender every year or two! So y’all with blenders out there, tell me what brand you have and if you love yours or not.

Since we don’t have a blender right now, we actually use our ghetto food processor to whip up smoothies. It truly does whip it up in a decent manner, I suppose, but a.) it makes a pretty big mess and b.) I can only do small batches at a time. So when I make these smoothies, I have to split it up and make half of it at a time. Do you feel sorry for me? Just send Paypal money if you want to donate to our new blender fund!

I have started buying a WHOLE bunch of organic bananas all at once, and then coming home – peeling them and tossing them into this huge lidded, plastic container that stays in the freezer. It totally works – even if it DOES make for ugly banana pics [see above].

In the blender/food processor, throw in your bananas and milk and blend until smooth. As you know, this whips up the creamy milk and incorporates so much air into it that is gets thick and wonderful! Then add in your choice of berries and the honey. Give it a whirl again until it is super smooth and creamy. Oh man! This is SO delish! All of the frozen fruits help to thicken the creamy milk even more and it really does seem like a good ice cream or gelato. Truly, it’s not as dense as either of those because of all of the air whipped into this really quick, but it is just as satisfying, I promise!

Last, pour it up in tall glasses, top it with a sprig of mint and serve it to the people you love most! It will be loved by all!

The “I Never Win Anything!” Giveaway with Lisa Leonard Jewelry Designs is STILL going on here! It’s free to enter and easy to do – and there will be several winners chosen. Click here!

You might not believe this, but I used to really hate coffee. I’ve always liked the smell of it brewing, though. Isn’t that weird? Something else weird…if I drink regular caffeinated coffee, then it messes me up! I feel like I am hallucinating or something. So whatcha’ see here is freshly ground coffee that is

[...CLICK for more article goodness!---->] i heart lattes.

You might not believe this, but I used to really hate coffee. I’ve always liked the smell of it brewing, though. Isn’t that weird? Something else weird…if I drink regular caffeinated coffee, then it messes me up! I feel like I am hallucinating or something. So whatcha’ see here is freshly ground coffee that is naturally decaff. It’s the good stuff from Trader Joe’s!

So Allison has been asking how I make my lattes SWEET without sugar and without that UnSplendid crap and here is the secret:

Pure. Maple. Syrup. We get these bigger bottles of it from TJ’s, and while this kind is Grade A, I do actually prefer Grade B for my lattes. From what I’ve learned, Grade B is harvested later in the season than Grade A, and therefore has a stronger taste to it. So while I only use about 3 regular spoonfuls of Grade B added to my latte, you will want to probably add a little more than that if you are using Grade A. If this is the first time you’ll be trying your latte with pure maple syrup, then I recommend measuring out a spoonful at a time and tasting after each addition to see how sweet you like it.

For the milk, I definitely use fresh milk. What else would ya think coming from me? It makes a GREAT latte! Mmmm…

There are other things that you can add for added all natural flavors:

• a few drops of pure vanilla extract
• a few drops of pure mint extract
• chocolate powder dusted across the top
• 70% cacao chocolate in one or two small chunks dropped straight in the hot coffee
• good quality cinnamon
• freshly grated nutmeg

If you want a simple, quick design on top of your latte, then make a stencil out of parchment or freezer paper. You remember how to cut out a heart from kindergarten, right?

You could do any basic shape in this same easy way!

After you’ve cut out your stencil and assembled your latte, lay the stencil on top of the cup and watch as the heat from the coffee curls it up all crazy. At this point, you think it’s not going to work, but no worries. Hold down one side slightly if it makes you feel any better, and just don’t move the stencil at all. From several inches above, just start sprinkling on whatever you’d like. First, I did cinnamon here, and then finished it with a little fresh grated nutmeg.

When you pull the stencil away, you’ll see that it works nicely! Now you have a CUTE tasty mug ‘o latte!

Super yum!

Let me know how you love it!

I’ve linked this post up to TidyMom’s Lovin’ It Fridays. You can go there to see other peep’s stuff that they love~! =-)