Christmas 2014

Hi all!  Thought I would share a few photos from Christmas.  We had a wonderful day full of family, good food and making memories.  To say that I adore all of these people is an understatement.  They are the wind beneath my wings.  Cliché maybe but they are.  My life is abundant of blessings because of them.  Yes, we have our challenges and heartbreaks sometimes but we are in it together.   I love them to the moon and back.

My precious momma ... 89 and going strong! 

My love.  G asked me what my favorite memory of 2014 was I said without a doubt celebrating 30 years of being married to this man. 

Oh my heart. 

E and N with Penny, of course!

Mimi with her grands. 

Nana with her grands ... and Lucy.

And D with the fur babies. 

E sent me this photo over the weekend.  They are the cutest. 

Sunday D and G went to the Falcons game.  Love this photo of my two favorite guys. 

That's a few photos from our Christmas (and a few days after).  What a wonderful season of celebration.  Looking forward to all that 2015 holds!

The Best Christmas Dessert ... Ever!

Last year I did a Pound Cake Challenge on the Cooking with Crevolyn blog.   I made 16 different types of Pound Cakes - it was a blast!   If you want to see the list and the recipes, you can go here.  I must tell you that when I stumbled upon this idea for a pound, I was like ... "shut the front door - this is the best!"  It is the absolute epitome of a Christmas dessert ... Red Velvet Peppermint Pound Cake! 

I've made it many times since and every time it is just as good.  I took a basic pound cake recipe and added the essentials for a red velvet cake.  Then for the frosting, I took a basic cream cheese frosting recipe and added the soft peppermints for the top and garnished with the hard peppermints.  If you are really feeling the peppermint flavor, I've found that adding just about a teaspoon of peppermint extract to the frosting is good, too.

Trust me, you will want to make it!  I also included the recipe in my Times column last Wednesday. 

 
Red Velvet Peppermint Pound Cake: 

Ingredients for Cake:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ cup all-vegetable shortening

• 2 sticks butter, softened

• 3 cups sugar

• 5 medium eggs

• ¼ cup cocoa powder

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 bottle red food coloring

• 1 cup buttermilk

Ingredients for Icing:

• 12 soft peppermints

• 1 stick butter, softened

• 1 (8-ounce) cream cheese

• 1 box powdered sugar

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• Hard peppermint candies, for garnish

 

Directions for Cake:

1.        Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Grease a 10-inch tube pan with butter and dust with flour or sugar to coat.

2.       Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

3.       Cream shortening, butter and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Add cocoa, vanilla, peppermint extract, salt and food coloring.  Mix well.

4.       Add alternately the flour mixture and the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.  Combine well.

5.        Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes or until pick comes out clean. 

6.       Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack before icing. 

Directions for Icing:

1.        Put soft peppermint candies in a resealable bag and crush. Set aside.

2.       In a large bowl, cream together the butter and cream cheese.  Gradually add powdered sugar and then the vanilla.    Cream until smooth.

3.       Divide the icing in half.  Add crushed soft peppermint candies to half and spread on top of cake.  Spread the other half on the side of the cake.

4.       Place hard peppermint candies around base of cake for garnish. 

All is Well

Y'all, I know you must think that I am obsessed with Carrie Underwood since apparently when I see a great video, guess what? she's in it.  If this won't put you in the Christmas spirit, I'm not sure what will.  This is beautiful.  You might have seen it on the CMA Country Christmas special.  They are two of my favorites ... Carrie and Michael W. Smith. 

12 Days of Christmas - for the Dog Lover!!

Can you believe it?  We've come to the end of our 12 Days of Christmas!   I hope you have enjoyed the journey and maybe been inspired in your gift giving.  Just to recap here are our past 11 days of Christmas Gift Giving fun ...

Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories Galore
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite
Day 9:  Clarisonic Facial Cleaning Brush
Day 10:  Big Green Egg Accessories
Day 11:  Keurig Coffeemaker

Today, we are talking all about one of my favorite subject .. dogs. 

Now you may not have a dog and if not, I'm sorry.  We are crazy about ours.  Here are some cool items that your little furry kids might like.  I saw all of these at our local PetSmart, all except the stockings.   I found those online.

1.  Check out this bed from Martha Stewart.  This is adorable. 


2.  This dog blanket is so cute.


3.  These are leg warmers ... for your dog.  Cracks me up.


4.  Mrs. Claus Dress


5.  Ugly Sweater


6.  Olaf Dog Toy - this is too cute to play with.


7.  This is so cute too.

8.  Candy Cane Dog Treat



9.  I think we need these. 



These photos I took in the store because I thought they were absolutely adorable.  This one is an Olaf dog harness - oh.my.goodness. 

This one is a weather resistant coat ... polka dots ... with a fur hood.   It was all I could do to not leave with this.  If they had had 2 I might have.  Have you ever? 



12 Days of Christmas - It's a Keurig?

Well, it's Day 11 of our 12 Days of Christmas!  Today we are talking Keurig Coffee Makers.  But first let's recape ...

Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories Galore
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite
Day 9:  Clarisonic Facial Cleaning Brush
Day 10:  Big Green Egg Accessories

I love my Keurig Coffee Maker but as we know the beauty of it lies in the fact that it makes just one cup at a time allowing everyone to choose their own flavor, caffeine or not, brewing in just a very few seconds.   So I was interested to find out more about the new Keurig 2.0 Brewing System which includes the ability to brew a 4 cup carafe or the traditional one cup.  This smarter Keurig can read the top of the K-cup or K-carafe which is really pretty cool.  So this is the new hot thing from Keurig.  I think it would be a great gift for the coffee drinker in the family.

12 Days of Christmas - Big Green Egg Accessories

Day 10 of the 12 Days of Christmas Gift Giving Guide!  Today I thought we better think about the men (and maybe some women Egg-heads - as Big Green Egg-ers are lovingly called).  So I asked around, looked at some BGE forums and came up with a few favorite accessories for our favorite smoker.   But first let's look back at our past 9 days of fun.

Remember ...
Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners and Products
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories Galore
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite
Day 9:  Clarisonic Facial Cleaning Brush

So here are some of the most useful and favorite accessories for the BGE:
1,  Digital Remote thermometer:   When I asked D about his favorite accessories he immediately said this remote thermometer.  You use it for smoking meat as this device allows you to always know the temp of your grill and the internal temp of your meat. It's not good to open the grill much, if any during slow smokes, and this will keep you aware of the temp at all times.



2.  E and N got D this BGE glove and he loves it.  Better than a pot holder, it is super heat resistant but easy to use when handling all of the hot parts. 


3.  Plate setter:  The place setter is designed to facilitate indirect cooking on the Big Green Egg by providing a heat-directing barrier between the food and the fire, instantly transforming the BGE into an outdoor convection oven. The design of the place setter in conjunction with the thermal properties of the BGE, allows heat to efficiently radiate within the dome while preventing the flames and heat from over-cooking the food.




4.  Grill Brush:  This is patented stainless steel mesh that works much better than a wire brush with no bristles to come loose.  Makes cleaning food off the grates super easy. 


5.  Firestarters - There are several ways to start the fire on the BGE but this is probably the most popular.  D says he has much success with a half of one for our Large BGE.  I have put these in his stocking the last few years. 

This is a great cookbook for BBQ and the fixins' in our humble opinion:  "Wiley's Championship Barbeque:  Secrets Old Men Take to the Grave."   The name of this cookbook caught our eye for obvious reasons when we were in St. Simons one time.  I read it to D all the way home in the car.  It's entertaining  and informative.  You don't have to have a BGE to enjoy this book.




Sidenote:  I loved Wiley's Baked Bean recipe and incorporated a few ingredients like the Rotel tomatoes into my own recipe.  Again, a cooking and recipe bonus - lucky you!     Here's my version of BBQ Rotel Baked Beans:

Ingredients:

1 can baked beans, drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup barbeque sauce

1/2 cup bacon bits

1 can Rotel tomatoes, drained

1 heaping tablespoon baked beans

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2.  Put all ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine.  Pour into prepared baking dish.  Bake for 30-40 minutes until it starts to brown and bubble. 

12 Days of Christmas - Cleansing Brushes!

Welcome to Day 9 of the 12 Days of Christmas Gift Giving Fun!

Remember ...
Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners and Products
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories
Day 8:  Kindle Paperwhite

So let's talk about skin care and products.  About 2 years ago, I started using the Clarisonic Mia cleansing brush.  I can tell a huge difference in my skin.  I finally feel like my face is clean when I wash it.  I have since bought these for my mom and E.  When you purchase the brush, you can choose the type brush head you need; whether for sensitive skin, delicate skin, normal, acne or deep pore cleansing.  I purchased the sensitive skin brush head.  There are recommended facial soaps to use with it but quite honestly, I've found that using plain ole Dove soap works the best.    You do need to replace the brush head about every 6 months.  I just pick up a package of two when I'm at Ulta.  These cleansing brushes are available at Ulta, Macy's, Sephora and I think I saw them at Belk. 

I pulled this from the Clarisonic website to give you an idea of the benefits of using the cleansing brush.  "The patented Clarisonic Sonic Cleansing brush uses a sonic frequency of more than 300 movements per second to deeply cleanse the skin far more effectively, yet more gently, than traditional superficial cleansing or simple rotating brushes.  The result is noticeably smoother, more radiant skin." 



There are several brands of these on the market.  There is the Clinique Purifying Cleansing Brush and Mary Kay also makes one. 

I just love mine and highly recommend for the ladies on your gift giving list. 

12 Days of Christmas - E Reader Edition!

Day 8 - The E-Reader Edition! 

To Recap:
Day 1:  Erin Condren Planners
Day 2:  Grateful Bags
Day 3:  Riley Clay Designs
Day 4:  Sara Happ Lip Scrub
Day 5:  Bible and Books
Day 6:  Crock Pot Casserole
Day 7:  Accessories

Y'all know I don't know a lot about electronics.  I always say whatever kind of phone my children have is the kind of phone I'm gonna have.  They will have to be the ones to teach me how to use it because I could never figure it out on my own. 

So when they whole e-reader came out I was conflicted for several reasons.  I know we have had this discussion before but I am a lover of a real book, with real pages, and a real smell that I can hold like a book was meant to be held.   All that being said, I'm also close to being a hoarder of books so I have to come to terms with that.  I just can hardly part with a book.  I'm sure it's a sickness.  On the other hand,  I don't want bookstores to go out of business because a bookstore is my happy place.  If I'm having a really bad day, I can go get a coffee at a book store and walk the aisles and I immediately feel better.  Something about it is very soothing and comforting to me.  So, all of that to say, I didn't really know about the e-book/e-reader thing.  However, with much apprehension I said I would try it and D got me a 2nd generation Kindle several years ago.  Well, as with most electronics, things quickly change and it become outdated and on top of that, it quit charging.  But by that time I was on to my iPad which I do really like for the reason that it is a whole lot more than just e-reader.  So, let me just stop here and say that I still bought real books but I read a lot so I was working both sides of the coin - reading some real and some electronic books. 

Okay, so fast forward to about 6 months ago.  D and I are going on a little vacation to a sunny spot and certain things become apparent.  First, D won't let me carry on the airplane the 6 books I had been saving to read just for vacation (something about weight and having to pay and blah, blah, blah).  Second, my iPad is big and more importantly, when you're in the sun you can't see a thing on the screen.  So ... I began thinking I might need another option.  I just happen to think that E's husband, N had got a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas last year and I thought I would talk to him about how he liked it.  Well, he did so I decided to go to the electronics store and actually look at one to see what I thought.  I was pleasantly surprised.  First, the Paperwhite is super light.  It's size is small however, the print is big enough to read.   As a 50-something, that is very important so I was good with that.  Also, the price is reasonable.  And one of the biggest selling points, you can read it in direct sunlight.  And the battery life is amazing.  I have not been disappointed with my purchase at all.    Yes, I still buy real books but I do enjoy it more than I thought.

Also, I receive a daily email from ereaderIQ.com with the free and discounted books for that day.   I've "bought" several books and cookbooks for free or a discounted price. You can go to their website and sign up. 

So,  here is a photo of the Kindle Paperwhite and  link to the case I bought.  This is the 3rd case I've had during my short tenure with the Paperwhite.  So while my Kindle purchase was easy, finding the right case was not. This case protects, is small and just works great. 




So if you have need for an e-reader, I highly recommend the Paperwhite.  But keep in mind that I only have experience with Kindles and the iPad.  This is by far the most user-friendly for basic reading.