Before we get to this delightful little recipe…

Yesterday we took Samuel for his first haircut.  His hair was L.O.N.G.  Part of the front was hanging down past his nose.  We just had the girl trim it a little, and now he looks like a little boy and not a baby.  I may have {read: did} take about 30 pictures and record it. 

Here he is before his first haircut playing in the special firetruck chair.

Here he is after.  Still playing in the chair.  He was so good the entire time, and he just wanted to “drive” the truck.  He didn’t care at all that someone had scissors near his face.

Sigh.

Before we got his haircut yesterday I took cupcakes into Nathan’s office.  One of his coworkers was celebrating her birthday, and there is no person more suited to these little treats.  She’s a fun girl who we regularly meet on the patio of a Mexican place close to their office.  I had told her I’d make her birthday treats, and when this idea popped into my head I just knew it was the way to go.

I skipped the alcohol on these, but you could definitely dump in a shot or two of tequila.  They would be delicious.

Margarita Cupcakes {adapted from AllRecipes.com}

Ingredients:

for the cake:

• 2 1/4 cups homemade cake mix
• 3 egg whites
• 1 can of frozen lime margarita mix {make sure you let it sit out about 15 minutes before using}
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tbs lime juice

for the icing:

• 1 8 oz package of cream cheese {let it sit out for a bit}
• 1 stick softened butter
• 1 tsp lime juice
• 5 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• green food coloring
• green sugar sprinkles

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a cupcake pan with liners. {Note: this makes about 18 cupcakes, so you may have to do this in shifts depending how large your cupcake pan is.}

2.  In the bowl of a mixer, add cake mix, egg whites, margarita mix, vegetable oil, and lime juice.  Blend until well mixed.  This is a pretty thin batter so don’t be shocked if it looks watery.

3.  Pour into the cupcake liners.  I did about 1/4 cup in each one.

4.  Cook for 30 minutes.

5.  Let cool completely. {I let cool about 12 hours…mostly out of laziness.}

6.  To make the icing, add the butter and cream cheese to the mixer.

7.  Mix the cream cheese and butter on medium speed until well blended.

8.  Add the powdered sugar very slowly.  Maybe 1/2 cup at a time.  Wait about 15 seconds between each pour.  You don’t want to over do it {or make a mess by having powdered sugar go everywhere…trust me.}

9.  Add just a little bit of green food coloring to the completely mixed icing.  Mix on low speed.  You want it to look very pale green.

10.  To ice the cupcakes: using whichever icing tip you want {I used a Wilton 22} make a circle around the outer edge of the cupcake.

11.  Pour a lot of green sprinkles on a plate. 

12.  Carefully roll the cupcake, icing side down, in the sprinkles.  You want it to look something like the salted rim of a margarita glass.

13.  Using your icing bag again, fill in the rest of the top of the cupcake.  Repeat for each cupcake.

14.  Try to eat only one.

Grade: A

Comments:  These taste just like a lime margarita.  There is definitely a very lime-y taste to them, so if lime isn’t quite your thing you may want to swap out for strawberries or some other flavor.  You could also cut out the lime juice in the cupcakes and just use the margarita mix.  This is the perfect treat for Cinco de Mayo tomorrow, so get baking! {or really any time of year…margaritas are always good}

{this week’s menu is posted}

Happy Valentine’s Day!  Maybe you’re like me, and you’ve had your dinner plans drawn up for over a month.  Or maybe you are still scrambling to put something together for your sweetheart and/or your family.

Don’t fret!

I’ve scoured the web looking for the best of what’s out there, and I think I’ve got some resources and recipes for you.

Best Valentine’s Day Recipes

• Valentine’s Day Desserts {Brown Eyed Baker}
• Valentine’s Day Treats {Martha Stewart}
• Valentine’s Day Recipes {allrecipes.com}
• Molten Chocolate Cakes {Confessions of a Foodie Bride}
• Chocolate Waffles {Annie’s Eats}

Best Valentine’s Day Crafts

• Easy Valentine’s Day Gifts {Martha Stewart}
• Homemade Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas {About.com}

How is Christmas just two days away?!?  I feel like this year really flew by, and I can’t believe 2011 is right around the corner!

In one last ditch effort to get some Christmas cookies made, I pulled out my favorite cookie book of all time: Martha Stewart’s Cookies.  Not the cool iPad edition, but the regular old fashioned paper one.

These cookies were good.  Not great, but they got the job done.  I also didn’t have the right size cookie cutter so mine were incredibly huge.  My recommendation is to stick with a 2″ circle rather than oh I don’t know…a 3.5″ one.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies {adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies}

Ingredients:

for the cookies:

• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbs all purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• powdered sugar for the work surface {you will use this to roll out the dough rather than flour}

for the ganache:

• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp pure peppermint extract

Directions:

1.  Whisk together cocoa powder and flour in a bowl.

2.  Put butter and sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

3.  Mix an egg into the sugar mixture until well blended.

4.  Reduce speed to low and add flour.  Mix until just combined.

5.  Divide dough in half.  Shape into two disks and wrap in plastic wrap.  Keep in the fridge overnight {or at least an hour}.

{why yes that is my incredibly disorganized refrigerator.}

6.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

7.  Lightly dust your working surface with powdered sugar.  Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick.  Using a round cookie cutter {preferably 2″} cut out circles and put on a baking sheet.

8.  Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes.  Let cool completely.

9.  While the cookies are cooling make the ganache.  In a small saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over medium-high heat.

10.  Once boiling, add the chocolate and stir until completely smooth.

11.  Remove from heat and add peppermint extract.  Cover and let sit 10 minutes.

12.  On half of the cookies spread ganache.  Using the other half of the cookies to create tops.

13.  Stick the cookie sandwiches in the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving.

Grade: B+

Comments: These were a great treat on a cold night!  Not the best cookie I’ve ever had, but they were good enough that I enjoyed one {or three}.  The best part is that they were easy to make, and that is always a plus at the holidays when you are making cookies en masse.  The peppermint flavor is strong but not overwhelmingly so.  These would be excellent with ice cream {is it too cold for that?}.  I’ll be adding them to my cookie tins again next year for sure!

Last Friday I had some girlfriends over for a gingerbread decorating party.  I baked a LOT of cookies {maybe 6 dozen?} of all different shapes and sizes: gingerbread men, women, and children, Christmas trees, stockings, candy canes, presents, ornaments, etc.  It was a blast, and I’m definitely going to be making it a yearly tradition.

I did so much baking I had to break open my very first Costco purchase:

Per usual for my menu posts, click on the item if you would like to see the recipe.

Menu:

Signature Cocktail:

Grasshoppers

Food:

Molasses-Gingerbread Cookies

Royal Icing

Sprinkles, Chocolate Chips, Coconut, & Small Gingerbread Pieces for Decorating

Pumpkin Cake

S’Mores on a Stick

Chocolate Cupcakes with Fluffy Vanilla Frosting

{PS: BEST cupcakes I’ve ever had hands down.}

Homemade White Crackers with Cheese

Dip & Chips {brought by friend}

With the holidays rapidly approaching, there is lots of talk about plane reservations, long road trips, and complicated schedules.  While a lot of those around us are dealing with the task of planning trips, Nathan and I are sitting idly by.  Let me tell you a secret: we don’t usually travel for the holidays.

It all started in 2006.  I was working for a large corporation doing commercial real estate work, and it was forbidden to travel at the end of the year.  If you’ve ever worked for a large corporation racing against that December 31st year end who works with other companies doing the same thing then you understand.  So, Thanksgiving & Christmas were celebrated in Atlanta.  Just Nathan and I and Stitch, who at that time was just a small puppy.  {Fact: This is the Christmas for which Nathan bought me my Kitchen Aid mixer!}

2007 was exactly the same.  Except I ran a half-marathon in the morning on Thanksgiving.  In 2008, we spent Thanksgiving by ourselves on St. Simons Island then traveled for Christmas.  We also traveled for 2009.

We live over 12 hours from both of our families.  Who live 7 hours from each other.  Like a lot of couples who meet in college we’re not from the same area {me: PA, him: OH} which makes seeing both families for holidays impossible.

Enter 2010.  This time we have a baby.  We’re still not traveling. Instead of traveling for the holiday, we did a massive road trip in August so everyone could meet Samuel.

This has brought mixed input from a lot of people.  Most people are shocked that we’ve decided to spend our baby’s first holidays away from our families.  Then they understand.  Traveling during the holidays with a baby less than 6 months old would suck.  The car ride is awful, and it needs to be split up into two days each way.  Hartsfield-Jackson at the holidays is even messier than usual {who would have thought that was possible?}.  I don’t want to spend my child’s first holidays miserable.  I want them to be happy in the days leading up and the days afterward.  Then there was the issue of which family would we see for which holiday?  Who would “get” Samuel’s first holidays?  How would we decide?  So we didn’t.

However, staying in Georgia doesn’t mean we skimp on the holidays.  Absolutely not.  Half of the fun of doing our holidays “solo” is doing them in a way that starts our own traditions.  This year I’m looking forward to having a few gifts under the tree for Samuel and helping him open them.

Here are some tips to make the most of the holidays if you live far away from family:

1. Still celebrate. Don’t skip Christmas just because you live 20 hours from your family.  Even if you wrap just one present and stick it under the tree you’ll be grateful.
2. Use the opportunity to make traditions. Thanksgiving on the beach is definitely headed in the direction of being a tradition for us.  We’re thinking about leaving after I finish the half-marathon & heading to St. Simons for the long weekend.  It was a blast the first time, and it is something we could easily do yearly.
3. Don’t feel guilty. Yes.  We could travel for the holidays.  We could figure out a way to spend Christmas with both families if we did presents at one place first thing in the morning and the other place last thing at night.  That isn’t how we want to spend the holidays.  We don’t feel guilty for doing them how we want.  You shouldn’t either.
4. Call your families. Even though we’re not there, we like to make sure we check in during family celebrations.  Make sure you call when you know the most people will be there.  It is easy to have someone put on speakerphone to say hello to everyone.
5. Remember YOU are a family. It grates my nerves when people say “holidays are about family!”  Nathan and I were our own family before the baby.  Now the three of us are a family.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to spend the holidays with your small family.

I think it is wonderful that there are people who make the trips to visit family.  Just as I think it is wonderful that people decide to do their own thing.  The holidays are about celebrating, and even if you aren’t with everyone you can still celebrate in your own way.

How do you celebrate the holidays?  Do you travel?  Do you take a vacation?

This is a great breakfast dish, and I definitely didn’t make it the way the cookbook recommended.  I’ll put the step I skipped in { } so you can see.  It is enough to feed 8 – 10 people!

Mozzarella and Pesto Strata {Betty Crocker Cookbook Bridal Edition}

Ingredients:

For strata:

• 16 slices {3/4 inch thick} French bread
• 1/2 cup basil pesto
• 1/2 cup sliced ripe olives
• 1 jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and sliced
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

For basil pesto:

• 2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• {1/4 cup pine nuts}
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic

Directions:

For basil pesto:

1. In a blender or food processor, place all ingredients.  Cover and blend on medium speed about 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape sides until smooth.
2. Use pesto immediately, or cover tightly and refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze up to one month.

For strata:

1. Spray 13×9 inch glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Spread one side of each bread slice with basil pesto.  Arrange bread, pesto sides up, in the bottom of the baking dish, cutting slices to fit if necessary.  Sprinkle with olives, bell peppers, and mozzarella cheese.
2. In medium bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt, and pepper with fork or wire whisk until well blended.  Pour evenly over cheese in dish.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  {Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours but no more than 24.}
3. Heat over to 325 degrees.  Bake uncovered for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean and top is golden brown.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Grade: B+

Comments: I really liked this dish.  I would use more vegetables if I did it again for sure.  I probably should have put it in the fridge like the recipe said, but I was running really short on time.  I didn’t realize that it needed to sit for that long, and I just started it about 90 minutes before I needed to serve it.

During the Holiday Baking Spree of 2009, I finally tried this recipe.  When I got my Martha Stewart Living December 2008 issue, there was a recipe for Glaceed Figs, but I wasn’t so sure I would like it.  The recipe has been haunting me since.

Finally, this year I decided to just give it a try.  I’m glad I did!

This recipe is so incredibly easy, and it can be used in so many ways!

Glaceed Figs from Martha Stewart Living December 2008 {makes 10 figs}

Ingredients

1. 10 ripe black mission figs
2. 1 1/2 cups water
3. 2 1/2 cups sugar

Directions

1. Using a paring knife, carefully peel figs. Leave stem attached. Bring water and 2 cups sugar to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add figs, and return to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cover partially. Cook at a very low simmer for 15 minutes. Return to a boil, then reduce to a very low simmer for 15 minutes more.
2. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, stir gently, and cook until sugar dissolves. Simmer, undisturbed, until figs are translucent and tender but maintain their shape, about 45 minutes. Let cool in syrup. (Glaceed figs in syrup will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 week.) Drain figs on a wire rack before using.
   

Grade: A

Comments: These were so easy to make, and they were incredibly delicious.  The figs can be used as toppings on cheese, cakes, and other sweet treats.  I have no complaints!

I was going through some recipes I had cut out of various magazines over the past few years, and I stumbled across this recipe.  Unfortunately, I never wrote down from which magazine it came, so I don’t know to whom credit should go!  I mentioned it to Nathan, and it became the first thing in my holiday baking bonanza!

Candy Cane Twists

Makes: 32 cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plus 1 tbs all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp peppermint extract
• 4 drops red liquid food coloring
• 3 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten

Directions:

1. In small bowl, whisk 2 cups of the flour, the baking powder, and salt.  In large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth.  1 minute.  Beat in egg, egg white, and peppermint.  On low, beat flour mixture.  Remove half of dough to a bowl: stir in remaining tablespoon flour and tint dough pink with red food coloring.  Knead cocoa into second half of dough.  Flatten each pieve into 8-inch disk; wrap each in plastic.  Refrigerate 2 hours.
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.  On floured surface, roll out chocolate dough to a 10×8 inch rectangle.  Cut lengthwise into 16 1/2 inch wide strips.  Cut each strip in half crosswise; you will have 32 strips, each 5 x 1/2 inch.  Roll under hands to make 6 inch ropes.  Repeat with pink dough.
3. Twist together one chocolate rope and one pink rope.  Curl a “hook” in one end of each twist, to form a candy-cane shape.  Transfer to an uncreased baking sheet.  Brush with beaten egg white.
4. Bake cookies at 350 for 8-10 minutes, until firm and golden around edges.  Remove promptly from baking sheet; transfer carefully to cooking racks with large spatula.  Cool completely.

Grade: B

Comments: Nathan really likes them, but I wasn’t sold.  I don’t think it is a bad recipe.  I just think it isn’t my type of cookie.  They would be great for an open house or as gifts!

I was not so subtly hinting to my parents what I wanted for Christmas this year, and I realized almost every single item was related to my kitchen.  Well, almost.  I also realized my attempts to be the next Martha Stewart may also be a little…shall we say…ambitious?

Let’s review shall we?  You tell me what all of these things have in common.

1.  The Martha Stewart Encyclopedia of Crafts

2.  Martha Stewart: The New Classics {I already own the Original aka The Orange Book}

3.  A subscription to Martha Stewart Living {I buy it almost every month at Kroger!}

4.  Paula Deen Sweet Potato Biscuit Mix

5.  Vera Bradley Celebrations Book in Hope Garden

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What is on your Christmas Wish List this year?

Last year for our first married Thanksgiving, we headed down to St. Simons Island, GA.  Both of our families live up North, and our schedules didn’t allow us to travel for the holiday.

Instead, we decided we were going to celebrate Thanksgiving on the beach at sunset.  It was probably the most amazing Thanksgiving ever.  We sipped wine, ate Honeybaked turkey, chips and salsa, Triscuits and cheese, salad, and enjoyed fruit salad for dessert.  It was far from a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but I can’t imagine a better way to spend our first major holiday as a married couple.

I just love St. Simons Island.

We need to go back sooner rather than later.