Christmas Time!

Here are some of the FABULOUS gifts I received!


From totally sporty and fun...


to totally GLAM!

Oh, and I also was given enough money to go buy one of these! And I even get to go on a shopping trip with my older sister to pick it out!

I felt the LOVE this Christmas( oh, and every Christmas always!) from all my dear family.

God has truly blessed my life with so many wonderful people that I love and that love me in return. That is the greatest gift of all! It just shows up more at Christmas when people go out of their way to bestow such unexpected presents... Thanks everybody!!!!

In case you were wondering what was on the dessert menu, here you are:

-Peppermint Crunch Ice Cream Cake

-Vanilla Cheesecake with Chocolate Sauce

-Pumpkin and Apple Pie

Assorted Mini Cheesecake for my Friends

Stressful fun! Ask my Mom if she thought I was having fun, and I am not sure that she would say yes, but it WAS fun! My biggest problem today was that I didn't really wake up until 3 p.m. so that kinda made the day not as fun as it could have been, but oh well. And here I am posting at 10:45 p.m. so that I should have the same problem tomorrow! Good thing it's Christmas Vacation( whoever came up with Christmas "vacation" was of their rocker! I mean, who doesn't work at least twice as hard as any other time of the year?).

The boxes awaiting their goodies...

Chocolate, Vanilla and Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes!

Hopefully all my Basketball teamates are enjoying them this very moment - oh wait, they SHOULD be in bed, but I guess since I am not in bed they won't be either!

Yes, I have been baking plenty, but I just have not had the time to take pictures and post and all that fun stuff! I hope to post some of the many Christmas goodies soon!

Monkey Bread

OOEY, GOOEY, STICKY,CINNAMONEY, MONKEY BREAD

Even with the stomach flu I managed to make monkey bread yesterday - what a sacrifice right? Actually, I ate one piece and couldn't even enjoy it! But I made up for that this morning and ate some for breakfast since I am feeling a little better. The only problem is that I have such a small appetite that I filled my stomach on fluff instead of something of substance - Oh well, I'll have something of substance later!


Monkey Bread:
This is a bread lovers perfect dessert! In our family it's gone in about 5 minutes!
1 cup warm milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons salt
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

8 Tablespoons melted butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup packed brown sugar

In a medium bowl, combine the milk, butter, sugar, water, and yeast. In a mixing bowl fitted with dough hook, combine 3 cups flour and salt. Once combined, slowly add the liquid ingredients while mixer is running. Knead at low speed until dough is smooth and elastic about 10 minutes, adding more flour if needed. The dough should be very sticky but should pull away from sides of bowl. When done kneading, place in a greased bowl and let rise until double. Dump out onto floured surface, punch down or fold like a trifold wallet 3 times. Form dough into a rough square and cut into about 1 inch pieces. Mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Grease a large bundt cake pan very well with nonstick spray. Dip a piece of dough into butter then roll in brown sugar mixture and place in bundt cake pan. Repeat with remaining pieces. Cover with saran and let rise until double. ( At this point you can cover it with saran and let it rise in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Bring to room temp. then continue with regular directions.) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 -35 minutes . Let cool in pan for 5 minutes then invert onto plate.

P.S. My family and friends should be happy to know I have this recipe memorized, so you all know what that means! Anytime, Anywhere, MONKEY BREAD!

Baked Oatmeal with Walnuts and Blueberries

I made Baked Oatmeal ( from the December 2007 Gourmet magazine) this morning for breakfast. I added blueberries instead of the raisins and thought the walnuts would add a good little crunch, although I think that any fruit or nut would be just as good. I think it was an overall success and hey, if you can get your oatmeal but still have it taste almost like dessert, then it's a win-win situation! And this is your lucky day - I am actually going to post the recipe!

Baked Oatmeal:

3 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

1/2 whole milk or half and half

1/4 cup canola oil

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 1/2 cups blueberries

2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees . Lightly oil a 8 inch square baking dish.

~Stir together the oats, granulated sugar, baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

~Whisk together applesauce, yogurt , milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Stir into oat mixture, add nuts and berries, then pour into baking dish.

~Stir together brown sugar and remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle over oatmeal, then bake until wooden toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30-40 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes.

~ Serve with milk if desired.

Giving Thanks... pies!

LOOK at this stack of pie crust dough awaiting its fate...

3 Pumpkin and 2 Apple pies ( and don't forget the whipped cream)!

If I had a vote I would say forget the turkey and mashed potatoes -- let's just eat pie! Actually, I kinda dislike making pumpkin pies because they are really hard to make look very pretty-- the crust always slips or gets burnt or SOMETHING before the custard is actually set up. Oh well, they still tast pretty good and I shouldn't worry much since it disapears so quickly. Note to self: Make a pecan pie ( or 2 ) next Thanksgiving.

On a different note besides pie:

~ things I am thankful for this year~

1) God and His wonderful Word, The BIBLE. It always seems fresh and new with something powerful to say to me everytime I open it!

2) Family... That flag football game was sure fun today

3) 3 darling blue-eyed little nephews

4) A warm bed to crawl into every night

5) A daddy that takes me to races, even on Thanksgiving morning! ( yep, I ran in a 5 K race this morning - it was quite nippy!)

6) AND many more blessings, more than I can count... God is so good... there is no excuse for a lack of joy in my life, that is for sure!

A Change of Subject...

Today I had an adventure of a different kind... coffee filter roses. I got the inspiration over at Mommy Makes Roses and the directions over at Martha Stewart's Website. There is even a video, which is really helpful! It took me about 2 hours [ :-0 ] to make my first one, but I am happy with the results and I am sure that I will be faster next time... hopefully! Sorry about the blurry pictures. There is something really wrong with our camera and I haven't figured out how to fix it yet.