Thursday, January 6, 2011

A Tennessee Christmas

I realize I'm still behind on my blog posts, since this one is about our Christmas in Tennessee, which was 2 weeks ago, BUT, better late than never, right?  John and I were so excited to be able to go back to Memphis (where we lived the last 3 years, and where John grew up) to visit our family and friends over the holidays.  We had a great time and even stayed a few extra days due to cancelled flights into North Carolina!
Enjoy the pics!! 

Memphis Bound!  And apparently, the guy in the background thinks we are crazy to be taking a picture in the airplane. 

The beginning of our annual gingerbread house :)

Gotta love Twizzler mustaches



Dinner at Huey's w/ friends


Me and my sweetie



Our sweet nieces arrived!


Christmas Eve in Jackson w/ John's family






John's white elephant gift!

Bonfire w/ friends


We had such an amazing time -- thanks everyone for making it so wonderful!!
XOXO

Monday, January 3, 2011

Chocolate Caramel Brittle


Chocolate Caramel Brittle

(recipe via Framed Cooks)

1 sleeve saltines
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
12 ounces chocolate chips

 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
 2. Line an 11x17 baking pan with foil.
 3. Lay out all saltines in a single layer in pan, sides touching.
 4. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.  
     Add brown sugar and heat to boiling for 3 minutes, stirring 
     frequently.
 5. Pour butter/sugar mixture over saltines, making sure to 
     cover all of them thoroughly.
 6. Bake for 7 minutes.
 7. Meanwhile, melt chocolate chips in microwave for 2-3 
     minutes until they are completely melted when you
     stir them.  Spread them on top of the saltines, 
     covering completely.
 8. Refrigerate until completely cooled and hardened.  
     Break into pieces.


This sweet treat is soooo tasty and is similar to any other 
kind of bark, but it has the sweet and salty combination that 
I love!  It's so easy and was a huge hit with my family over 
the holidays!  I would definitely recommend this to any
chocolate lovers, especially if you like the sweet/salty
flavors together!  
Enjoy!  Here are my pictures of the process :)












XOXO

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Winter Beginnings

So I'm a little behind on my posts due to the craziness and wonderfulness that the holidays bring, and I have about a million pictures and stories that I want to post.  But for now, I'll be taking you back to the beginning of December.  This is by far my favorite month of the year, and I'm always so sad when it is over, because I look forward to it ALL year long. The twelfth month (wait, doesn't the word 'twelfth' look weird? I promise I spelled it right, John and I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure it out and then we finally googled it! Ha! It just has way too many consonants next to each other...ok now 'consonants' looks weird.  Am I losing my mind?)   Anywhoooooo, the twelfth month (December, that is) brought a whirlwind of festive parties, birthday dinners, tasty treats, and....our first snow!
It was so pretty and when we weren't trying to drive in it, we really loved it!  



I made several batches of my famous peppermint bark, and oh my, it was so good.  It's a perfect decadent combination of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and peppermint.  Sooo easy, and a great treat to give to friends and family :) 


all bagged up for my bible study girls :)
Pastas and soups became our go-to dinners... they are the ultimate winter comfort food, and I tried out several new recipes that I loved!

spinach and sausage penne pasta
My friend, Meredith, hosted an amazing "Secret Santa" party for all of the Duke girls, which was so much fun!  Lots of savory snacks and tasty desserts, and I got my first Duke shirt!



I also was soooo excited to make my first real sewing project - an apron!  I actually made 2, and gave them to my mom, and my mother-in-law for Christmas!  They turned out pretty cute, if I say so myself :)


you can't really tell, but there are pockets!

Oh, and last but not least....we attended our first Duke basketball game together!  John was able to get tickets to lots of the games this season, but we were invited to this game by some family friends.  It was soooo much fun and those players are seriously some kind of amazing.  And of course, they won!  This game might have been the most spirited game I've ever seen - the Duke student section was out of control!  
We will be in the student section for the rest of the games we go to.  
On a side note, I saw a couple of the basketball players at Super Target the other day, and they are GIANTS.  Seriously, so awkwardly tall, I couldn't stop staring.  





That's all for now ---- be back soon with lots of holiday pictures and updates!!
Happy 2011 :)

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Update and Gievaway winner!

We finally made it back to NC after 2 cancelled flights, 3 delays, one missed connection, and lots of stress.  We had SUCH an amazing time in Memphis -- thank you to everyone (especially John's parents) who made it so special!!  It is wonderful to be home - and my parents arrive this evening from Florida!!  I've got tonnnnnns of pictures and stories to post from the holidays, but will post those very soon.  No time now!  Have to clean, unpack, grocery shop, wrap presents, cook, bake, and shower.

Here is the fabulous giveaway winner!!!  Congrats Candice, number 8!!!  I'll email you shortly!


Blogger Candice said...

Wow what a fabulous giveaway! Thank you for doing this!! I'm a follower!


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