Appetizer Success!

Well, Maddie and Amanda really came through for me during my appetizer dilemma. There were the only two to send suggestions; and so of course I made BOTH of them. They were big hits; or so I was told.

Appetizer One: Maddie's suggestion of Gorgonzola, Pear, and Honey Balsamic Galette.

I was initially concerned because I didn't have a baking stone; but it turns out that a cookie sheet is perfectly sufficient. Tim was exceedingly helpful; and did both the walnut toasting, as well as honey balsamic glazing post cooking. I decided to double the recipe because I didn't think one nine-incher would be enough for 18 people.

The problem was we had about 2 hours to complete the entire process; and each galette took about an hour to bake. (And we had the other app to make; and I had a haircut thrown in the mix...just to make it a bit more challenging for us.) But we did it!!

Success!

I didn't actually try it because I don't like gorgonzola, but other people seemed to enjoy their nomming.

Appetizer Two: Amanda's suggestion of Pesto, Feta, Sun-Dried Tomato, and Pine-Nut Spread. As far as I know, she created the recipe. Let me just say...crowd pleaser.

Four simple ingredients; super easy to make. I toasted the pine-nuts, and then basically mixed in equal proportions the feta, pesto, and sun-dried tomato's. I buttered and toasted some baguettes, and we were set to go!

Unfortunately, at this time we were running a bit behind, and I wasn't able to get a picture of the finished product. But use your imagination, of better yet, make it yourself. It's delicious.

Thanks again!!

Freebies

PS. If you're doing some last minute stocking stuffers, use these coupons!

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You're welcome.

Christmas Lights

Thanks to Maddie and Amanda for their appetizer ideas. They both sound awwwwesome. I might even be brave enough to try the gorgonzola; which is a big step for me. If anyone else has ideas, keep them coming! In the meantime, have a listen to one of my new favorite Christmas songs.

Can I really call this a Christmas song? I don't know. But I'm pretty much a sucker with it comes to anything Coldplay...

I need help

I have been enlisted to make an appetizer for our annual Christmas dinner with our family friends. This is the first year that I have been required to bring anything to the dinner besides my merry self, and I'm beginning to feel the pressure.

I need something with pizzaz and flourish. An appetizer that says, "Yes...Sarah made me; and I'm still going to taste delicious even if she did stray from the recipe." I need a WOW factor.

I've done some basic researching in order to gear myself up for this event, and I feel like I'm coming up cold. I'm trying to steer clear of the bruschetta, cheese and cracker, chips and dip sorts of appetizers and really go for a BANG ba da BOOM situation. Any suggestions?!?

No...I probably won't be making these wine-poached pears. But aren't they pretty!?

Holiday Genius

Hats off to my favorite Christmas season commercials of 2010. And no, this doesn't mean I want an Acura.

Post Modern Gingerbread Haus

The Chestnut, She's a Fickle Beast

Crocs...to wear or not to wear?

Crocs. Some people love them. Some people hate them. I'm mostly indifferent, and owning a pair of the original style myself (in a subtle shade of BRIGHT PINK), I happen to think they're an exceedingly comfortable gardening shoe.

Now...Crocs have really gone through a face life in the past couple of years. No matter how ugly some people insist they are; their level of comfort really can't be denied. WHICH IS WHY...I'm debating THESE!

I saw them at a Croc kiosk in the mall and I thought they weren't horrible looking at all. Quite the opposite methinks. I love the color, and I know they HAVE to be comfortable. As a girl who lives in flats (unless I'm wearing heels), this seem like they might just be a great purchase. My typical MO is to grab some cute target flats when they hit the clearance section. I usually wear them until they fall apart, or the sole completely wears off; and so I'm thinking it might be time to get some shoes that will hopefully last more that four to five weeks.

Crocs is doing a deal of the day everyday this month, and all their shoes are buy one get one 50% off...so I'm keeping my eyes peeled for these babies to go on sale!

SOMETHING TO NOTE in case anyone else jumps on this bandwagon; I've heard this particular style runs excessively big. It's recommended to purchase a full size and a half down. E.G. I typically wear a 7 or 7.5, so I would most likely order a 6.

Thoughts?!

Did you know!

Did you know that if you received all of the gifts listed in the "12 days of Christmas" song, you would come away with 364 gifts?! Here's what I want to know...why isn't it 365 gifts? How ideal would it be if you played this game and got one present every day for a year! (except for that one, sad day when there is nothing left to give.) This would be a fun experiment. I wonder what the cost of actually pulling this off would be...

I could see things adding up around the maids-a-milking. Do you know how expensive milking cows are?!

Fresh Dog Treats

I had the pleasure of dining at my parents home this evening for soup night. I happened to see a recipe for fresh dog treats, which I assumed Kapsie had in the works for a Christmas present for Jake (pictured below).

Jake Sheets

The recipe is as follows...

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup margarine

1 cup boiling water

3/4 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons white sugar

2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules

1/2 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 egg, beaten

3 cups whole wheat flour

Sounds great right? I comment to my mother on how kind it is to make these for Jake, and she says "Oh, I'm going to make those for myself! I think they sound great! I might leave out the beef bouillon..."

Hmmm....not sure what to think about this...

My dad also thinks they sound good. I'll definitely be posting about the results of this abnormal experiment.

all I want for christmas...

This Christmas forget the socks, ties, shirts, and other slightly generic presents that can tend to define the boxes under the tree. No offense intended to anyone who has bought those presents, is planning to buy those presents, or who have received those presents. They are fabulously practical. However, doing some online researching, I've found some great new gift ideas!!

The Lighted Bocce Set!

How great is this? Now I can fulfill my lifelong dream of playing bocce ball 24/7, 365.

The Goldfish Hotel!

Let your goldfish live in STYLE!! Seriously, he's probably only going to live for 24 hours anyway, so give him a chance to explore some posh digs.

The porcupine paper-clip holder!

Love it. Reminds me of Narnia, in an office-y sort of way.

Ninja-Bread Men!

A personal fave. What could make gingerbread men more exciting? Putting them in COMBAT mode with each other and their sweet Ninja moves!

The World's Largest Gummy Bear

Another Fave! Five pounds and 12,600 calories of gummy goodness! And if you're thinking about getting one of these for me, don't bother. I already have one. A red one. It's awesome.

Happy Shopping!

looooove words

Love is a friendship set to music.

E. Joseph Cossman

Congratulations to Valor

Valor Christian High School, home to both my brother (as a student) and my sister (as a rockstar employee) has STOMPED the Wheat-Ridge Farmers in the State, 4-A football championship game. I mean, they really STOMPED them. It was such a fun game, and I'm proud of the Valor Eagles!

Spencer would be the bandana clad hombre

Two Below Zero!

Two Below Zero Dinner Sleigh Rides

Gliding through the snow in a two mule open sleigh...what could be better? Two Below Zero offers the BEST that sleigh riding has to offer. (Voted number the number ONE sleigh ride in America, and Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel voted TBZ as her number ONE thing to do in Colorado!)

The ride starts with time to interface with the mules (ours were Bonnie and Belle..). Next you jump in a real sleigh with BELLS, cover yourself with a luxuriously thick blanket, and hit the road to head off to dinner. Then you are ushered into a warm and comfy tent, and served a four course meal that leaves the stomach bulging in the happiest of ways. Top it off with excellent entertainment and sing-alongs, and you've got a recipe for SUCESS! The entertainer, David Peel, is great; he can do the best impersonations...everything from Johnny Cash to Mickey Mouse! :)

The corral at Two Below.

The tent!

My only complaint is feeling slightly like the White Witch from Narnia whilst traversing in a bell ringing snow sleigh through a dark forrest. If only I had some Turkish Delight.....

Wedding Picture Slideshow!

Our photography Lindsay created a slide-show for us!! I'm excited to get the cd of all the pictures soon! Kapsie is putting lots of pressure on me to create a Christmas card ; )

See the slideshow HERE!!

Yummo!

So after all that smack talk about us having the best food at Thanksgiving...in the rush of excitement to eat said food, I didn't take a single picture of the feast! However the mental image alone of peeling, cooking, and mashing 23 lbs of potato's should be somewhat rewarding.

One of my favorite features of our Thanksgiving is actually the Christmas decorating frenzy that takes place after the meal. We create a line of people from inside the attic down to the living room. This year the line probably had upwards of 25 people...pretty awesome, and SO efficient! So while I failed to capture food images, I DID get a picture of my cousin Clara placing the angel on top of the tree.

Clare-Bear

Mom and Grandpa!

We typically have several dogs present at the Thanksgiving meal as well. Below are the poodle Kipper, and the Shelty Jake. Unfortunately the Golden Retriever puppy Elway couldn't sit still long enough for the photo shoot. There was also a random chihuahua (NOT PICTURED!). This year it wasn't TOO hectic...I was kind of hoping Aunt Pam would bring her Pit Bull and two German Shepherds...

Jake and Kipper

Jake's skinny legs vs. Kipper's poofs

Grandma's new favorite Christmas decoration

Next, we're off to go dashing through the snow in a two mule open sleigh with Two Below Zero Sleigh Rides!

Birthplace of our nation

This wonderful time of year reminds me of the time when me and my good friend Nicole Klink, who I sometimes like to refer to as Nikkolai, went to visit the birthplace of our nation...PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS. We did this while I was at Gordon College. I had the pleasure of rooming with Ms. Nikki Klink; which was totally God's providential plan, because she is one AWESOME girl.

I was able to spend Thanksgiving with her family in Dighton-Rehoboth, MA. Spending Thanksgiving in the SAME STATE where it all started so many years ago??! Yeah, it blew my socks off. Of course, we made a pit-stop at Plymouth on the way to her house, (which actually isn't really on the way...Nikki was so good to me), to see where America was born. Plymouth Rock...I will say I was expecting it to be a bit more impressive....

The ROCK!

Nikki and I, circa 2007

Apologies for the quality of photographs on this day. I recall that my camera was a bit off...

20 lbs of smashed potato's coming right up!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow...I'm so excited!! While I was living in California, this is one of the holiday's I missed spending with my family the most. And NOT necessarily just because of the smorgasbord of food--which always includes some strange forms of jello salad, and super smushy green beans; although those are always a highlight. (pictures to come soon!)

For as long as I can remember, every Thanksgiving we have made the hour-long trek down south to Colorado Springs where my grandparents Will and Bess Perkins live. Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting either Will OR Bess knows how completely awesome and amazing they are. When you compile on the rest of the Perkins/Sheets/Tate/Walker clan...you get one SPECTACULAR event. We're never quite sure of the number of people that are going to be there for the meal...my grandpa has a tendency to invite a handful of people he sees while out and about on the town who may not have a place to celebrate the holiday. Which I LOVE!!

I'm in charge of making the mashed potato's for the big day; which is challenging in a few ways. One, they're a Thanksgiving staple, which really puts the pressure on me to do a top notch smashing of the potato's. Two, since there's never an exact head-count, I have no idea how many potato's to actually make. Three, I only have a small hand-mixer. (Thankfully this last challenge has been rectified by KAPSIE letting me borrow her precious Bosch Mixer--which she uses EVERY day!) And finally, four, I'm an "alternative baker/cook," which basically means I can't follow a recipe to save my life. I'll let you know how it turns out!!

"Call it a clan, call it

a network,

call it a tribe, call it a

family.

Whatever you call it,

whoever you are,

you need one."

Jane Howard

the weather is getting colder...!

"There must be quite a few things

a hot bath

won't cure--but I don't know many of them."

-Sylvia Plath

*kind of ironic when you think about Sylvia, and her life story, but I still like the quote.

Six Layers

Go big or go home.

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Happy Birthday to Spencer!

Today is officially the LAST day I can call Spencer my LITTLE brother. He's eighteen today folks. Legal. Able to vote. Entering the realm of adulthood.

I love him!! Happy Birthday little brother!!

*more detailed post to come tomorrow...I'm attempting a 6-layer cake for the birthday boy's celebration tomorrow night!

Sudden Snow!

There's nothing more exciting than a flurry of snowflakes that comes completely out of no-where! Snow makes me feel like a little kid again; everything seems so magical!!

BOWLING!

Last night the entire Erickson (and King) clan went bowling at Fat Cats. Thanks to Viki and her incredible Groupon getting skills, we had two hours of bowling, pizza, breadsticks, and DIET COKE!!

I started out with four strikes, and went severely downhill from there. Lucas took ownership of round 1, and Tim came back to bring in the victory in the second game.

Gary and Viki

Yes. These bowling shoes are unusual.

Kim and Lucas!

Gary's follow-through position...

Lucas getting one of his many X's.

So much fun!