Question of The Day

Which came first? The chicken or the nugget?

While dining on her pre-Thanksgiving lunch, Elliott asks, “How do they make chicken nuggets?”

My response, “Hmmmm, not too sure.” (and don’t even want to know)

Her response, “Maybe we can ask Old McDonald’s for the recipe!”

Me thinking…”That’s one recipe that I would NOT wish to pass along to my friends!”

Eat all the chicken nuggets you want today, sweetheart, because tomorrow it’s all about the TURKEY!

Wishing everyone out there in Blogland a Happy, Happy Turkey Day! I hope it’s full of  lots of yumminess, laughter, naps, football, friends, family and most of all LOVE!

Smells Like Christmas!

I’m like a big candy cane during this time of year. If it’s labeled “peppermint”, I’m in. Sign me up. All over it.

I’ve been loving my cheap Suave Peppermint Bliss shower gel, Coffeemate Peppermint Mocha creamer and Yankee Cranberry Peppermint candle.

This morning, after all my errands were run, I treated myself to my first CBTL Peppermint Ice Blended of the season. I didn’t think about the caloric intake, I just delighted in every sip that came up the trademark purple straw! Ahhh, pure joy!

peppermint

This afternoon I made espresso brownies for Jay’s work potluck tomorrow.

No, there’s no mint involved, but these are beyond good. That’s all I will say. You should really see for yourself!

Here are the ingredients:

before

Here is the final yumminess:

after

Here is the recipe:
Espresso Brownies

Perhaps next week I will try these:
Peppermint Brownies

…with crushed candy canes on top, of course!

Healthy, Hearty Soup

OK, so after the post about holiday traditions, I felt guilty about all those calorie laden comfort food recipes I included!

I wanted to make sure you knew that I do try to eat healthy, too! My sister turned me onto this soup and I have made it lots over the past couple months. I must say that the beans make this soup a “meal” – for me anyway. Jay appreciates a grilled ham & cheese alongside his.

I make a big pot of this and eat it for days. It gets better the longer it sits.

Here are the ingredients:

ingredients

And here is the final product. Something you can feel GOOD about eating during the holidays!

soup

Tuscan Vegetable Soup

Enjoy! ‘Tis the season for SOUP!

Holiday Musts

The holidays come and go with the blink of an eye. Each year we hurry to fit in our standard traditions before the magic of Christmas slips away.

My friends Denise and Niki turned me onto a tradition a number of years ago of getting a personalized family ornament. Jay and I bought our first one in ’03 when we bought out first house. Here is the one from last year:

ornament

I saw the one that I want for this year…hope it’s still there when I go back!

Of course, we make the required mall trip to visit Santa. Now, I’m not proud that I take my kids to the local Westfield Mall to whisper their wishes in Santa’s ear, but that’s where we seem to end up each year. We get there right when they open so there’s no line and it just works out perfectly. In and out and onto the next tradition! Here is the pic from last year:

santa

The kids LOVE to drive around and see the lights! Last year was our first holiday in Valencia and there are LOTS of lights, but one street in particular was our favorite. If we were out after dark, Elliott would always ask to drive by the lights. It instantly puts you back in the holiday spirit in case you think you’re done and can’t take anymore! This year we said we were going to grab some peppermint hot chocolate and walk through “Wakefield Wonderland” instead of limiting the view from the car. Almost time to get bundled up for that…I’m sure they will be ready for all us lookie-loos after Thanksgiving! Here is Wakefield Court last year:

lights

This year I told Jay that we HAVE to put lights up on in the front of the house even if it’s just one strand! In a tree, on a bush, around the front door, whatever, just so the kids can have lights on their house! They don’t care if it’s one strand or 100 strands.

Then there is, of course, the tree fetching ceremony. We make it easy and go to Home Depot, get a 3-4 foot Noble Fir, put it up on a table to make it a little more difficult for our 2 and 4-legged kids to get to, add some lights and our special ornaments and we’re good to go. No fuss, no muss! Easy!

And then there is the holiday grub! I make “Puppy Chow” or “Monkey Munch”…whatever you call it, I don’t care, it’s G-O-O-D! I make it for Jay’s co-workers and they love me! Maybe if you’re nice, I’ll make some for you!

During the holidays my favorite Starbucks bev is a Peppermint White Mocha with whip and red sprinkles – the whole nine! It’s the holidays, people! Go all out! The Peppermint Ice Blended from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf isn’t bad either on a typical warm Southern California December day! Then there is Baskin-Robbins peppermint ice cream (or ANY peppermint ice cream for that matter) Love it!

Every Christmas morning I serve the Jimmy Dean breakfast casserole. It’s the best and I assemble it on Christmas Eve so all I have to do in the morning is throw it in the oven. For as long as I can remember we’ve also served Panettone (a typical bread of Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed forChristmas and New Year around Italy, and one of the symbols of the city) on Christmas morning. My Gam started this tradition years and years ago by bringing one over during the holidays. I now get mine at Trader Joe’s. We cut it in wedges, put it under the broiler, slather softened butter on it and enjoy with coffee! The joke growing up was that my Mom would always burn the Panettone, so if you try this, please stay close to the oven because it gets toasty quick! That reminds me, I need to get to T.J.’s and pick one up soon!

I also love to do a full turkey “Thanksgiving Do-over” on Christmas Day. Roast Turkey, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed taters, candied yams, sweet potato pie, oh yeah! Used to get a Honeybaked ham, but they’re expensive and I wasn’t too pleased with the last couple, so we’re sticking to just the bird! OK, now that I am STARVING, here are the recipes:

Puppy Chow

Jimmy Dean Cassserole

Green Bean Casserole

Sweet Potato Pie

Mashed Potatoes

Cornbread stuffing

Candied yams

This year I hope to start a new tradition of constructing a gingerbread house. I am a bit anal when it comes to crafts, but I know the kids will love it and it’ll be fun. Between the four of us we can come up with a quirky, colorful confection! We can all decorate one side of the “gingerbread mansion”.

I also want to have a gift wrapping get together. It’s always more fun to wrap when you have good company, food, wine and holiday treats around. Christmas music in the background. Candles lit. Mulling spices on the stove. I hope to fit this into the holiday craziness this year and make it another yearly occurence.

Hmmm, what else can I fit in? The good news is is that I start my Christmas shopping like in the summer and tuck things away here and there. Then I don’t have to stress myself out when it gets down to the knitty gritty. Oh, the holiday cards…I stay up late in a quiet house and fold, stuff, seal, address and stamp. I love it. There is nothing better, though, than driving to the Post Office and dropping those bad boys off. That is one big relief in my book!

Whatever your holiday traditions are, I hope that you celebrate them with the ones you love this year and make plenty of beautiful memories. I know I will!

Enjoy!

2-Year Old Humor

Holden is now “2 and three quarters”. He knows what he wants. He knows what he doesn’t want. And he will let you know which way he’s goin’.  Lately he has been wanting to wear his jammies out and about. Once in awhile I will pick my battles and let him wear them to drop off Elliott at school, but I do not generally let him wear pajamas out in public.

This morning I needed to run some errands, so I laid out his cool motorcycle shirt and jeans. He fussed and said “No! Jammies!” So, I went and flat-ironed my hair, brushed my teeth and then went back in to fight with him…I mean get him dressed. Hmmm, I laid them out on Elliott’s bed and they were gone. Maybe he just but them back in the drawer…no. “Holdy, where is your outfit?” Ignores me and laughs. He runs away and hides in our closet behind Jay’s dress shirts. I ask Elliott to help me look for them…she said they’re under her bed. Not so. I look under Holden’s bed. Not there. By this time we’re working against the clock and I am getting more and more irritated as the minutes pass. I AM NOT GOING TO LET A 2-YEAR OLD OUTSMART ME! I am determined to find this outfit and get Elliott to school on time…..so I go downstairs and put on “Merry Madagascar” to keep them entertained and head back upstairs to solve the mystery of the missing clothing!

I go back and look in the same drawer, under the same beds, in the dress-up bin, in the pajama drawer, in the guest room, under the guest bed, in the washing machine as the top was open and I thought he may have thrown them in there. Nope! Checked the dryer. Negative. I looked in the Dora hamper. Nope. By this time I am fuming, but NOT giving up. I go in our closet and look in the pile of dirty clothes thinking he may have put them there before hiding behind Jay’s shirts. Nope! Heck, I even looked in the toilet and in the shower of their bathroom. Uh, NO!

“You’re smarter than a 2-year old. You’re smarter than a 2-year old.”

Are you effin’ kidding me? Are you serious?

You know when you’re looking for something and you just go look again in the same place you’ve already looked twice before? So, I got back on the floor and looked under their beds yet again.

I am on the verge of tears and want to scream, but I keep chanting to myself, “You’re smarter than a 2-year old.”

I go back in the laundry room and check the washing machine again – nope. Maybe I’ll check the dryer again too…sure enough…after I moved the clothes around, there they were! The cool motorcycle shirt and jeans! HE HAD BURIED THEM IN THE BACK OF THE DRYER!” I guess he could’ve put them in worse places!

So, after that ordeal, this kid was NOT going to leave the house in anything other than these two articles of clothing!

Once we were all locked and loaded in the car, on our way to school and I had ingested some coffee, I could laugh at Holden’s “humor”.

Just a simple reminder that no matter how MAD you are at the time, you usually can end up laughing about it later.

Little Rascal

I LOVE dachshunds. I grew up with them and always wanted one when I was an adult (I don’t know….am I an “adult” now?) and had a house of my own. In college, I had a picture of one on the ‘fridge. I knew I wanted to name him/her “Rascal”. Well, in September of ’03 after Jay and I had bought our first place, we innocently stumbled into the pet store at the Irvine Spectrum (I know, shame on us for getting our dogs at a pet store) and walked out with not one, but TWO puppies! Rascal (AKA “Rassy”) is now 6 and has been the best dog. He survived Parvo as a pup, had surgery to repair a tear on his ear, has had 2 allergic reactions to his rabies vaccines, but most importantly, he has been a great dog with the kids! I actually thought that after the kids were born that Rassy would take the back seat so to speak, but I’ve always had time for my little Rascal. We snuggle and watch DVR’d shows together (well, I watch and he snoozes!)

Rassy is receiving an early Christmas gift this year….a Pedi Paws nail trimmer. He does NOT like getting his nails clipped and I have tried to do it at home with traditional clippers. Unsuccessful. He was also “kicked out” of a place in San Diego because they just couldn’t do their job. He’s not vicious and doesn’t bite, he just won’t hold still ~ not even for all the treats in the world. Well, it’s been a long while since he’s had a good nail trim so I am going to try this new Pedi Paws contraption that a fellow doxie owner recommended. Wish me luck!

Now, here are some pics of my four-legged baby:

In the pet store waiting to come home.

petstore

Look at that face!

blackandwhite

In the Easter basket.

easterbasket

With his brother, Riggs, a Border Collie. That’s a whole ‘nother post on it’s own!

riggsnrass

So handsome.

backyard

Coming to work with me after his ear surgery.

cone

A true Mama’s Boy. (me passed out at 7pm, 8 months pregnant with Elliott!)

meandrass

I love you Rascal and I hope you still love me after I take the Pedi Paws to those nails of yours!

One Year Anniversary

This past weekend marked our 1-year anniversary here in So Cal. Last November we moved back down south to Santa Clarita from Gilroy/Bay Area in Nor Cal. Talk about time flying! I seriously can’t believe that it’s been 365 days or 52 weeks or 12 months since we moved….proof that life is going by WAY too fast these days and a reminder to enjoy every day, make beautiful memories and appreciate your friends and family!

Our friends, The Sharp’s, recently found out that they’ll be moving to the East Coast…this makes us very sad, but at the same time we are happy that Kev has a fantastic new job and now we have an excuse to hop on a plane and visit Delaware. They came up to visit and say goodbye (sniff, sniff) before they pack up and head across the country. Their dear friends (and now ours too!), The Lundstrom’s, also came up for the night from Simi and we sat around eating appetizers, drinking wine and chatting.

Here is a picture of Holden with Garrett Lundstrom. Holdy LOVES Garrett! (and I think Garrett loves Holdy, too!)

garrett

And here is a pic of Brynn Lundstrom, Elliott, Holden and Sophie Sharp!

kids

The next morning we went to feed the ducks at the lake in our development.

ducks

A hug for Sophie before heading to the playground.

hugs

On our way back to the car, Kevin tried to get a good pic of our fam for this year’s Christmas card. I wanted an organic, candid-type shot. Elliott is NOT liking to have her picture taken lately…sssssoooooo, we will have to try again this weekend, but here is one that was cute and almost the look I was going for. Thanks for your photography skills, Kev!

tesoro

And here are our darling friends Kevin, Debbie & Miss Sophie Sharp.

sharps

We wish you the best as you enter your next exciting chapter in life! You will meet wonderful new friends, uncover new traditions and make many happy memories in your new little part of the world, Delaware! Before you know it, you too will be celebrating your one-year anniversary in your new home. We love you and will miss you lots, but remember this isn’t “Goodbye” it’s “See ya later!” XOXO

Perma-grin

OK, so Friday the 13th was the best day ever! I am still smiling ear to ear (no pun intended…get it…mouse ears). We went to Disneyland and it was great. I am happy to say that whatever attendance pattern tracking system Jay found was accurate. The crowds were doable. We literally walked on to many rides the first couple hours we were there and figured that we did 3X as much as we did last year when we went! It was wonderful!

Every time I visit D-land, I wonder…HOW does that place run? What goes on behind the scenes? How do they staff the place? There is someone assigned to sweeping up popcorn the minute it hits the ground, someone to assist you with getting your stroller out from the back of the sea of Gracos, Maclarens, Pegs & Bugaboos (gasp! why would you ever take your Bugaboo to D-land?), someone to watch over the characters while they are being mobbed by kid fans (oh and adult fans – will talk about THAT in a minute)…my point is, I am intrigued with the inner workings of the 8th wonder of the world known as Disneyland. It truly fascinates me.

OK, so please shoot me if, in 15-20 years, Jay and I are at Disneyland by ourselves and I have a lanyard with all the Disney character pins around my neck and am waiting in line for Pixie Hollow to take my pic with Tink and THEN complain after I see Tink and Silver Mist that, “We waited in line for 20 minutes for THAT?” Seriously. I witnessed this yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, I love D-land just like the next person, but….c’mon. Just sayin’.

Also, a lot has changed since when I went as a kid. Remember the days when you just parked and walked to the front gate – no biggie? Well, now that Downtown Disney and California Adventure are there, there’s no more normal “old skool” parking lot. Now they have all these off-site lots and a whole shuttle bus scenario to go through so it takes 30+ minutes just to get into and out of the park to your car! Geez, how times have changed.

But, the magic of Mickey and his pals is still alive and well, of course. That will never change which is a good thing. Jay was going to get us season tickets, but then his little Jeep needed some TLC and $800 later, there went our season passes. But, you know what, I’m totally OK with that. I don’t think I want the pressure of a season pass. I want to keep D-land special and “new” and I think an annual trip will do us just fine.

elledlandholdendland

Here are two of my favorite pics of the day.

On the good ‘ol old-fashioned carousel.

They’re right…it really IS the Happiest Place on Earth!

Until next year…

Daddy-Daughter Fun

Last night Jay & Elliott had a Daddy-Daughter outing.

They went to the Clippers game. They had hot dogs. They had Kettle Corn.

Even though it was a “school night” and they got home close to 11:00, I wouldn’t have taken this away from them for the world.

Of course, I called during the game. I could hear the crowd in the background and the pure joy in Elliott’s voice.

She was so excited to bring home her leftover Kettle Corn and tell me that her favorite part of the night were the cheerleaders.

And how cute is this pic of her in her seat with her new scarf? School night or not………

clippers