Double Delicious

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I apparently was a good girl this year because Santa brought Double Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. I read the cookbook cover to cover yesterday afternoon and was so excited about it...I pureed a bunch of vegetables last night and have planned 4 meals for this week.

So happy to cook a little healthier for my family!

Santa's #1 Fans!

Mollie and Bea telling Santa what they want for Christmas ("MOM! GET ME OUT OF HERE!")

Here comes Santa! Needless to say she never left her Daddy's lap!

Its the Year of the Nutcracker!

Our families enjoyed a Santa brunch last weekend together...well, I should say the adults had a great time! Bea and Coplan not so much. On the way home Coplan told me she "hated Santa" and didn't want him coming to her house to bring presents! Very strong feelings for my 2 1/2 yr old.

So instead of fighting the crowd @ the museum to see the "Real Santa" and get our traditional Santa picture...we headed to the Jefferson to see the pretty Christmas Tree, Gingerbread House, and Nutcrackers.

Baby Shower Wine/Champagne Glass Charm

A few weeks ago I hosted a baby shower for a dear friend of mine.  I wanted to do something special for my friend to add just a little something to the shower, so I decided to make the little charms that go on the bottom of wine/champagne glasses.  I went to Michael's and bought "It's a Boy" charms (there various different baby themed charms), beads, and wire (all pictured below).  Using needle nose pliers, I cut the wire into about 3 to 3.5 inch segments and just threaded the beads and charms as I liked.  Then I used the pliers to bend the ends into hooks to clasp around the base of the glass and viola!  I wasn't sure if they were going to be noticed by the guests or not, but they were very well received, most of all by my friend.  For the couple of hours and about $15 I spent, it was well worth it!!

Homemade Caramel Sauce

I really enjoy making this easy and delicious caramel sauce! Its a great little "treat" to share over the holidays.

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar and water in a large heavy saucepan, cook over med-low heat, stirring often. Increase heat to med-high, and boil gently without stirring until syrup turns a deep amber color (about 8 minutes). Gradually had cream and butter, stir until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Gobble Gobble Play Date

We had a wonderful play-date the Friday before Thanksgiving where all the children were able to create various Thanksgiving themed crafts.  We had construction paper, feathers, leaves, googly eyes, glitter glue, paper plates and dried beans.  We made head dresses and tambourines for the kids to enjoy.  It was a bit of a madhouse... controlled chaos of sorts.... but everyone had a great festive time!