Happy Belated Holidays!

I know I know, you would have thought having quite a bit of time off work I would have blogged more! Well I am just now getting back to it even though the normal life has started back up again :( We had a great holiday with family and friends and I hope you all did too! Before I start, I have to apologize for no pictures. I didn’t take any – not sure why, I guess I just forgot! However, Bryan got me the iphone 4 for Christmas and the quality of the pictures are GREAT so stay tuned. This may be a lengthy post so get comfy…

The holiday cookies I made this year were Oreo Balls and Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies. Oreo balls are an all time favorite with Bryan and I having been introduced to them by my old roommate a couple of years ago. We now make them every year for the holidays. I tried a new mint cookie this year and it turned out really well! It was very flavorful and soft which I am a fan of and don’t like hard cookies. I am definitely adding this to our annual holiday baking list for the years to come.

I also made candied almonds as gifts for family and friends. After reading over 40 cooking blogs daily, I saw many recipes for candied nuts and I wanted to give it a try. I also saw a cute idea on a blog to put the almonds in a jar and tie it with plaid fabric. I love the way they turned out! These almonds were very easy to make, especially with the help of Bryan helping me beat the eggs till they were stiff. :) They were covered with the egg mixture then coated with cinnamon and sugar – YUM! I hope the people I gave them to as gifts enjoyed them as well.

Another holiday favorite is mom’s chex mix. I made a couple of batches of it this year and is definitely one of my favorites. I don’t know why we don’t make this more times than just the holidays – it’s so tasty! We just use all 3 chexes (wheat, corn, rice) peanuts and pretzels. Some people like all the other junk in it, however not us! We also double the spices to add lots of flavor.

You would have thought being home for 10 days or so I would have cooked a bunch. Not true. We were back and forth to WL and doing various things in Indy that we really didn’t eat a bunch at home. However, I was able to collect many more recipes to begin trying this year. I can’t wait!

For the New Year, we went to our friend Kevin’s house and celebrated with friends. Erik, who is our dear friend, lives with Kevin and is a great cook! He of course made some delicious appetizers and I took some as well. I made sausage bites which are simply hot sausage browned then mixed with chive and onion cream cheese then baked inside a crescent roll. I love these - but of course I am biased. I also made s’more bars which is another favorite of mine but I knew everyone would enjoy this one. This simple dessert is a layer of graham crackers, marshmallows, then chocolate chips. Mix together brown sugar and butter and pour over the top then bake for approximately 10 minutes. I knew they were a hit when they were gone right away! :)

The most recent thing I have made (completely from a box unfortunately) was cupcakes for Bryan’s birthday. I took him grocery shopping with me on the weekend and told him to pick out what he wanted for his birthday, yellow cupcakes and chocolate frosting it was! Happy Birthday to Bryan!!
As you know Bryan and I eat with our “Pizza Team” the first Monday of every month. We kicked off January eating at Some Guys in Carmel. It was excellent! Definitely one of my favorites so far, we shared a half house pepperoni (which we have to get at every place because it is Bryan’s favorite) and half artichoke with tomatoes and pesto sauce. DELISH!

If you are still reading – thanks for sticking through! Cheers to more blogging in 2011!