HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I can't believe how quickly 2012 has gone by - holy moly!  What a crazy year it has been.  I got a new job, I learned so much about myself, I made some new friends, I got my head shaved (just to name a few things)... it has been awesome.

I am so happy to be where I am in life.  It is not perfect, but that's just not how life works! ;)  I feel so blessed every day to have so many wonderful people in my life, and that's what truly matters.  I have a job that I love with people I'm excited to see every day.  I'm working on improving myself.  I'm excited every time I look to the future and wonder what it may bring!

So now it's time to CELEBRATE!!!  All of the good times we've had in the past - all of the bad times we've gotten through together.  The life we've lived, and the life we have yet to discover.  Here's to the people we've come to love, and the friends we have yet to meet.

A very VERY Happy New Year to you all!!!  Have a wonderful, happy, and safe New Year!! XOXO

Images via pinterest.

Christmastime!

Hey gang!
I'm off to spend time with John's family for Christmas in Oklahoma!  Then we fly back Christmas day to spend time with my fam.  It's gonna be quite a whirlwind, so I probably won't be around for a little bit!

But I wanted to stop in and wish everyone a wonderful & safe holiday season.  Have a very very Merry Christmas, and a super Happy Holidays!

Much love,
Beth XO

Images via Pinterest

Christmas House / Christmas Bark / Javier!

Just after Thanksgiving I decorated our house for the holidays!  I've never actually had a "house" to decorate before (at least on the outside - I've always lived in apartments), so I was very excited to try outdoor decorating this year.  I think it turned out super cute!!

It was a beautiful night when I took this photo - a very pink sunset!  That's the moon in the background - pretty rad, huh? :)

Earlier this week I was working on some yummy Christmas food / cookies, so I decided to make some Christmas Chocolate bark, as well as one of my favorite recipes from last year - Pine Nut Brittle with Rosemary & Sea Salt.  Here are the recipes! 

Image via Elana's Pantry

Christmas Chocolate Bark 
Adapted from Elana's Pantry
This recipe is gluten-free! :) 

2 cups dark chocolate chips (I used regular milk chocolate, but this would be great too!) 
⅓ cup pistachios (mine were salted, but unsalted is great too)
⅓ cup dried cranberries
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt (or more, depending on taste)

In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate (stir with wooden spoon). 
Pour chocolate into a parchment paper lined 8x8 inch Pyrex baking dish. 
Sprinkle pistachios and cranberries over chocolate. 
Using a metal spatula, spread the mixture evenly back and forth to around ½ inch thickness. 
Sprinkle salt over bark. 
Allow to sit out until set, 1-2 hours. 
Cut into 16 squares and serve!

And here is the other one (it is seriously my favorite... I kinda want to eat it all myself!) 

Image via Food52

Pine Nut Brittle with Rosemary & Pine Nuts
Adapted from Ms.T's Food52 Recipe
This recipe is gluten-free! :) 

2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups pine nuts

4 tablespoons (one half stick) unsalted butter

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary (I highly recommend fresh rather than dried for this recipe!) 

1 tablespoon finely ground sea salt 

Place the sugar in a large, heavy saucepan over high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar begins to melt. DO NOT TOUCH IT - it will be ridiculously hot!  Lower the heat to medium-high and keep stirring just until the sugar is melted. Stop stirring and watch for it to turn a medium caramel color. About 10 minutes total. I added about 1/2 the butter at this point too - stir well (it will bubble up for a moment!) 

Stir in half the pine nuts. Allow pine nuts to cook for about two minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in half of the rosemary and half of the sea salt.

Turn the mixture out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and spread it evenly to the desired thickness with a wooden spoon or stiff rubber spatula. Sprinkle remaining rosemary, pine nuts, and salt on top, while brittle is still warm.

Allow to cool completely--at least one hour--then break the brittle into pieces and store in an airtight container at room temperature. If your brittle isn't brittle enough to break into pieces, pop it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, until it hardens enough to snap easily.

Last night we had my work Christmas party too.  I got this lovely Santa during the White Elephant gift exchange! 

We named him Javier, but then decided he kind of looked Russian.  So now his full name is Javier Svetlana-Claus.  I carried him around with me all night! 

It was such a super fun Christmas party - I love everyone I work with so much!  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.  LOVE THEM!!

I hope you've been enjoying the holiday time as much as I have!

Crazy time of year - again!

I know I haven't posted lately, but man, it's been crazy around here!  Ha!

It's already been quite the start to the holiday season - I've been getting a head start on gifts, decorating the house, figuring out what crafts / foods I need to make, oh my!  Busy busy bumblebee.

I did get the tree put up, and those lights along the wall?  I put little hooks on them to hang Christmas cards from them!  Fun, huh?

Fudge helped as well. :)

I'll be back to post more soon!
Hope you're enjoying this wonderful / crazy time of year!
XO

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm going to be at the parent's house for a few days, but before I left I wanted to be sure to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Do you want to know what I'm thankful for?  
Well, I'll tell ya! 
I'm thankful for... 

- beautiful snowy mornings
- giggling babies
- wagging doggie tails
- cupcakes
- family 
- friends
- love
- sympathy
- really good hugs
- comfortable shoes
- a warm bed
- sunshine
- rain
- juicy apples
- home

....and oh so much more.  I'm so grateful to have so many wonderful people in my life, and to be just who I am.  My heart is so filled with love & happiness right now! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful & safe day!  
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  

Images found via Pinterest or We Heart It. 

THANKSGIVING IS ALMOST HERE!!

Oh my gosh - only 1 more week until my favorite holiday!!  THANKSGIVING!! 

If you remember, I posted back in early September about my Thanksgiving menu.  Yep, I had it planned all the way back then.  And man, it's gonna be delish!!

Here's my full play-by-play for the big Thanksgiving Meal: 


Breakfast
Egg casserole - This I'm going to make the night before.  John and I are heading down as soon as I get off work to start prepping everything! :) 
Scones!  (sticky fingers mix) - I'm trying to keep things simple this year, so breakfast will be fast & easy! 

Appetizers
Homemade Pimento cheese dip (with rice crackers) - I'm going to make this the night before too.  It has been hard planning for my little sister (who is gluten AND lactose intolerant), but I'm doing the best I can so that she can enjoy as much as possible!  
Roasted nuts - A family favorite!  It makes the house smell SO GOOD. 

Salad 
Roasted Beet Salad with pears & almonds - I'm hoping our lovely family friend Deb will be able to make this to bring - she always does such an amazing job with the salad! 

Side Dishes
Carrot Casserole - I haven't done a carrot dish in a while, and I think this one will be a nice change! 
Mushroom Wellington cups - This is a new one for me, and may be a bit of a challenge.  I'm hoping it will be a fun one though (and hopefully a hit!)
Mashed potatoes (vegan) - Another one I'm hoping to get completed the night before.  The potatoes are always the easiest ones to make milk-free for Taryn! 
Brussels sprouts with white beans & pecorino (on the side) - I'm kinda lovin' on Brussels sprouts right now.  I think this will be a fun veggie instead of green beans! 
Gravy (vegan) - hoping to get this one done the night before too - it's always a huge hit at Thanksgiving. 
“Sausage” stuffed red onions - Another new recipe!  I hope it's not too complicated... 

Entrees
Turkey (Dad / John) - I never do the Turkey - I don't even think I would know how to cook meat anymore! ha! 
Maple Glazed Tofurkey - A new recipe, but it looks pretty easy! 
AND Currant Maple Citrus Loaf - Ditto on this one, but it sounds delish.  Tofurkey's are pretty small, so we usually do two meatless-loafs instead of just 1 (so that we have plenty of leftovers!)

Desserts 
Apple “Cream” Pie – This will be from my Southern Pies cookbook - another first for me!  I can't wait to give it a try though.  I'm making a small gluten-free apple crumble for the little sis.  
Toasted Coconut pie (from work!!) - Yep, I recently found out that the bakery is going to give each employee a free pie for Thanksgiving!!  How totally rad is that??  I am so excited. 

And there you have it!  I'm so excited to have a couple of days off to spend with the fam.  I just love this time of year!  Man, if Thanksgiving snuck up on me this quickly, Christmas is going to be here even quicker! Holy moly!  

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!  :D 

All images found on either Pinterest or We Heart It. 

New Piano / Holiday Teas!

Oh-Em-Gee - the piano is HERE!! :D 

She came yesterday, and I am just completely in love.  Fudge has already found a new favorite spot (sprawled across her bench), and I've already begun plunking away on her keys, trying to refresh my memory of the years of lessons through my youth.  

I rented piano books from the library, and holiday music books as well.  I'm hoping that with a little regular practice over the next few weeks I'll have a few Christmas songs nailed down for the holidays!! :) 

I can't even tell you how wonderful it is to have a piano in the house.  I feel very lucky that I got to grow up with one in our house, and that my parents had me take lessons so that I could learn how to play it.  I remember how wonderful it was on a lazy afternoon to just sit and play beautiful songs to my heart's content.  My heart is just swelling!! 

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On a completely different note (haha, note - get it?), HOLIDAY TEAS ARE BACK!!  

Oh my goodness, I could not WAIT for these guys to come out again!!  I made John stop at TWO different grocery stores just so that I could get some of them!  Nutcracker Sweet is my favorite (it's a very vanilla-ey black tea, and oh so good), and I haven't tried the other two yet, but I will very soon!  

I just adore this time of year, and I know it may seem a bit ridiculous but I just love these teas!  There's something so warm & comforting about their flavors, it just makes me so happy. 

Be forewarned, not all stores sell them!  But luckily, you can go to the Celestial Seasonings website and search for stores near you that do.  They might not be in the actual tea aisle either (since they are a seasonal item, they could be in a separate location), so don't be afraid to ask!  They're worth the extra work, trust me. :) 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN & my Unicorn Costume!

We had our big Halloween Bash over the weekend, and here are some of the awesome pictures from it!

This was one of my favorite costumes of the night!!  MUGATU!  Haha!  I let him borrow my corset - I can't believe it fit.  Good thing he's a skinny dude (in fact, I don't think I can fit into it anymore - haha!).

Stacey - the biker chick!  Those sleeves looked awesome - she looked the exact opposite than she does in real life!  Ha!

Oh my gosh - she looked JUST like Helena Bonham-Carter in Fight Club.  It was awesome.  That's even her real hair.

Geneva looked amazing!! Those contacts were badass (and totally creepy). She even crocheted her kitty ears earlier that day!

These two cracked my shit up.  Doritos!?  Who thinks of stuff like that?  My friends - love them!

Sasha's sugar skull makeup was amazing.  Katy did it just with eyeliner and eye shadow!  So awesome - she looked great!

Hipster Ghost!  LOL!

Kendra and John just chillin' out.  Such a cute picture. :)

I'm a UNICORN!

Me and Katy!!  She looked hilarious.  Here's a link to the character she went as - it's a band called Die Antwoord, they're pretty crazy. Here's a link to a picture of the girl in the band.  Just search them on YouTube, and you'll see all their crazy antics!  It's worth it, trust me.

And here's my unicorn costume!! Pretty hilarious, huh?  Haha!  Katy lent me a lot of stuff for my costume, but this was pretty much a $10 costume.  I already had my pink Forever Lazy, and I gotta say, I think I'm going to have to incorporate pajamas into my costume every year.  It was SO comfy!  

Everyone's costumes were so amazing - I seriously think it was the most creative ideas I'd seen in a long time.  I only saw ONE duplicate out of everyone, which was pretty hilarious - John had another girl come as a bumblebee!  Haha!

Hope you all have a super happy and safe Halloween!!

A trip to a Haunted House

Last night I went to a haunted house with all of my new work buddies from the bakery! 

I don't usually like haunted houses, and I never really go to them.  I haven't been to one since high school - I just get totally freaked out!  I just don't like the gore & stuff - which is kind of ironic since I have gotten a lot more into horror movies lately.  Ha. 

Anyhoodle, we did have a few beers (and maybe a couple of shots) beforehand which gave me some liquid courage.  Everyone made me go first for the beginning part - no fair!!  But it was still pretty darn fun.  I realized during the second part (through the middle of everything), there is really no safe "spot" in line.  Those guys jump out at you everywhere!  I can't imagine having that kind of job.  So crazy and creepy!  

They had all kinds of bodies hanging everywhere, and really narrow passageways that you kind of had to walk through single file.  I was clutching both my friend in front of me, and my friend behind - it was so scary! 

We had a blast though, and by the end we were giggling our heads off.  I doubt I'll do it again anytime soon, but it was really super fun.  I think it was really just because of all the super fun people we were with!

This is the pic we got at the end - I wore my Beetlejuice pants just for the occasion! 

Tonight I finally got a night off, so I worked on my Halloween costume.  It's going to look something like this: 

But BETTER!  Haha!  Just wait, you'll see... I just finished it tonight, and it's gonna be awesome / hilarious.  Our big Halloween party is coming up in just a few days - it's gonna be crazy! 

Happy Halloween!!  

Thanksgiving Recipe Ideas (yes, already!!)

I'm feeling much better today about the new-job stuff, especially with some reassuring words from friends (you know who you are)! :)  

As you probably know, I LOVE Fall, and Thanksgiving is pretty much my most favoritest holiday ever.  And since it's September 7th, and Thanksgiving is only about 2 1/2 months away, I HAD to get started with my menu ideas!  

Yeah, I'm a little kooky.  

But today it's only supposed to get up to the mid-70's here in Denver, and that fall feeling is in the air.   And I'm absolutely adoring it!

So without further ado, here is the menu I've been working on over the past week or so... 
 

THANKSGIVING 2012

Breakfast

Egg casserole (make the night before!)

Scones!  (sticky fingers mix? I'm gonna keep this simple so that I don't go too crazy)

Appetizers

Homemade Pimento cheese dip (with rice crackers)

Roasted nuts

Salad

Roasted Beet Salad with pears & almonds

Side Dishes

Carrot Casserole (from “At My Grandmother’s Knee” cookbook)

Mushroom Wellington cups

Mashed potatoes (vegan)

Brussels sprouts with white beans & pecorino (on the side for Taryn)

Gravy (vegan)

Fake sausage stuffed red onions

Entrees

Turkey (Dad / John will have to make it!)

Maple Glazed Tofurkey 

AND Currant Maple Citrus Loaf 

(you can find these through my Pinterest page "Yummy Recipes!") 

Desserts

Apple Cream Pie

Chocolate Pecan Pie

OR Butterscotch Pie

(2 out of the 3!) - all of them from the "Southern Pies" cookbook

 

Whaddaya think!?  :) 
I'm so excited to try out some new recipes this year - I think the mushroom wellington cups are going to be absolutely amazing, and I'm actually excited to try the currant maple citrus loaf for a change (instead of just making 2 tofurkeys)!  

Hmmm....maybe I'll try out a few of these recipes ahead of time.  Just for the hell of it!  Yum yum!! 

Memorial Day Dinner - and a leisurely breakfast

I was on a flight for most of the day on Memorial Day, so I was pretty tuckered out when I got home.  I thought about going to join some friends for a cookout, but honestly I just wanted to stay put, and spend time with my fella. 

So that's exactly what happened.  And it was great! 

We watched some TV, ran a few errands, John took a nap while I cooked up some food staples for the week and did the dishes, then we made some dinner. 

Vino, anyone?  Haha!

We grilled up some veggie burgers, and John made his famous fresh salsa.  I also cooked up some green beans, and made a little quinoa dessert with coconut milk, honey, granola, and fresh fruit.  It was so yummy. 

We even let Fudge come out and wander around in the yard while we ate.  He's not usually allowed outside - he's definitely an indoor cat.  We worry about him too 'cause he doesn't have any claws, and there are some strays that like to hang around the neighborhood, and we wouldn't want to leave him defenseless if he got into a scuffle.  

But now he loves coming outside so much that he meows SO LOUDLY at the door every time we go outside, that we practically have to let him out now!  Such a whiner.  Ha! 

I was going to crop my feet & John out of this picture, but I think it looks kind of awesome.  :)  Our veggie burgers were still cookin' on the grill at this point, of course. 

The wine we had was the Gnarly Head Zinfandel - it was SO GOOD.  Really rich and full of flavor!  John had never had a Zinfandel before, and he really liked it.  

Oh, John - such a ham. ;)  Haha!  
Those burgers were pretty darn good, too! 
 

Fudge even got to roll around on the sidewalk.  He was in heaven.  And very very dirty. 

All-in-all a wonderful Memorial Day! 

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This morning I woke up and realized that since I've been feeling a tad bit under-the-weather, I still got up early enough to enjoy a leisurely breakfast.  It was a wonderful surprise, as normally I get up early so that I can do my workout and start my day.  I usually don't have time to sit down and eat - and since I didn't workout this morning (I want to be totally over this cold first), I got to enjoy my meal slowly! 

I made some grits on Memorial Day (man, they take a while to make from scratch, but they are SO worth it), so I had a pile of them with 2 scrambled eggs (from a local farm - they were amazing), some sliced avocado, and hot sauce.  Toast rounded it out with unsalted butter & strawberry jam. 

I even had a cup of P&G Tips tea with soymilk & honey - yum yum!!  It was perfect!

I sat and enjoyed it all while reading No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.  I got hooked on the author after reading The Road for our last book club book.  He's truly an amazing writer, and I think the film version by the Coen Brothers definitely did it justice.  I'm about halfway through now, and really enjoying it.  

After enjoying my breakfast, I walked into work and enjoyed all the flowers.  

A wonderful way to start the day!  

Now if only I could get up at 5:00am every day to do my workout AND have a leisurely breakfast!  HA!  

Easter Sunday - Dinner with the Family

My family celebrates Easter in a pretty laid-back way since we're not very religious.  We just enjoy having dinner together!  :)  So Sunday evening, John, Taryn & I headed down to the parent's house to help with the cooking, and to enjoy a lovely dinner. 

Deb & Mom prepping some of the goodies!

Mmmmm - wine.  I may have had one glass too many, but wine + holidays = fun!  I do love me some wine!

Gabbin' in the kitchen while getting the rest of the meal together...

This is us "helping".  I swear. ;)

My lil' sis, Taryn.  What a cutie-pie!!

Mmmm-yum!!  Dinnertime!

My mom made Meatless-Loaf which I absolutely MUST get the recipe for.  It was super delicious, and she topped it with fresh basil from her plant in the kitchen.  YUM!

A simple (yet oh-so-delicious) seitan recipe - topped with my famous vegan gravy!

Overall a wonderful evening with family & friends. :)

That night we headed home and watched Unchained Reaction on the Discovery channel, then the making of Frozen Planet (which was fascinating).  I got 1/2 way through Mythbusters before I couldn't keep my drooping eyelids open anymore.  

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend too!