Life, Family, and Home - Simplified & Sweetened
Today we’ve got another holiday treat! Today’s is an adult friendly treat, perfect to serve at your holiday cocktail parties. It comes to us from Diane at Simple Living and Eating. She is sharing her Campari Cranberry Orange Mimosa!
Hi I’m Diane Balch and I am coming to you from Simple Living and Eating a blog dedicated to the Mediterranean Diet and Lifestyle. [Read more…]
Hi everyone! Welcome to Friday Favorites! It’s so great to see what everyone is making and baking for the holidays, and I know it will only get better from here. This week I’m featuring a few sweet treats that I know you will love!
And if you’re looking for more recipes, please check out my blog throughout the holidays, as I’ll have a great group of guest bloggers sharing their holiday treats with us!
And I’ll also have several fun review & giveaway promotions. This week I launched one of our big giveaways. You have a chance to win a collection of 9 books (perfect gift for the cook or crafter in your life) and then we also have a sweepstakes from Nature’s Sleep which includes a very sweet prize! Go enter! [Read more…]
Today we continue our Christmas Treats series with a fun little snack from Bonnie at The Pin Junkie. This one is a mix of salty and sweet and if you’ve never tried it, you really should!
Hi! I’m Bonnie, The Pin Junkie and I write about the recipes, crafts, and home improvement projects I do that are inspired by Pinterest. [Read more…]
I was very excited when the PEEPS® company contacted me about being a part of their 24 Days of PEEPsonality! Starting December 1, they will be featuring recipes from 24 bloggers on their Facebook page.
I received samples of PEEPS® holiday products, including Marshmallow Trees and Peppermint flavored Marshmallow Stars. The peppermint flavor inspired me to create a Frozen Peppermint Pie (decorated with the PEEPS® Peppermint flavored Marshmallow Stars, of course).
This recipe is very easy to make and very fun to decorate! It will definitely be a big hit this holiday season with peppermint lovers everybody! [Read more…]
I’m very excited to be participating in the Home for the Holidays Giveaway Hop. For this event, about a hundred bloggers will each be giving away prize packs valued at $25 and above and each prize is revolved around the theme of gift giving, and there will also be a grand prize that you can enter to win.
My sponsor for this event is Ulysses Press. In the past, Ulysses Press has given us some great recipe and craft books for reviews and giveaway, and I was thrilled when then generously offered us a book bundle valued at around $115 and including 9 great titles! [Read more…]
Starting this week I’ll be participating in a fun, month-long giveaway hop called Home for the Holidays. The hop revolves around holiday gifts and we have about a hundred bloggers participating as well as a grand prize from Nature’s Sleep!
For my giveaway package, I thought it would be fun to give away some books. As a blogger who loves to share food, craft, and decor ideas, I think books that inspire new ideas in these areas make great gifts, so I was very happy when Ulysses Press agreed to us with a book bundle for this giveaway!
Here’s a fully detailed list of the titles that will be included in our giveaway package! [Read more…]
Photo CreditWhen Thanksgiving is almost here, people are busy wondering what to cook. Thanksgiving recipes and appetizers are loved by each one of us. But a good Thanksgiving meal is incomplete without a good Thanksgiving dessert. So, let’s discuss a good dessert that can make Thanksgiving 2013 a great day to remember.
A good idea for one of your Thanksgiving desserts can be a pumpkin pie. You can never go wrong with a pumpkin pie. This Thanksgiving dessert has been an all time favorite for a lot of people for years and definitely makes them happy. By adding a little twist to this traditional dessert, you can prepare a small surprise for your family members. You can serve a pumpkin cheesecake to do that. Serve the pumpkin cheesecake with a dollop of whipped cream and you are sure to win hearts with this creative Thanksgiving dessert.
The snack sized pumpkin cheesecakes are better when the size of the gathering is small. And this cheesecake can spend up to five months in the refrigerator without losing its flavor, this is for sure. The ideal thing to do is consume some cheesecakes now and defrost the rest to use them in the coming months. The benefit of doing this is that you can reminisce Thanksgiving recipes even days after the festival is over. And cheesecakes are something that every person who has a sweet tooth relishes. Your guests are sure to love these tiny little treats; they taste great and can make your Thanksgiving 2013 an extra special day. And they are unique in their own way because this recipe is one that is not common for this day.
If you want to serve the pumpkin pie in its traditional way, and then consider serving the Pumpkin dish, the Pilgrims likely ate at the first Thanksgiving. This first pumpkin dessert was all cooked in its shell. The whole pumpkin was heated over hot embers and seasoned with thyme and rosemary. This traditional pumpkin was seasoned with honey or maple and moistened with milk. While it is not the Thanksgiving dessert that your loved ones would expect, this dessert will definitely give you a taste of history of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is a time for togetherness, happiness, joys, laughter, appreciation, gratitude and a good meal shared with all your family members and good friends. By serving the above mentioned dessert, it will add sweetness also to so many emotions, among others. To make this day special, people make a lot of efforts in preparing Thanksgiving recipes and desserts. And it is one day in the life of every American, which he looks forward to having a great meal with his family. Thus, to make this day special, go ahead with the above mentioned wonderful pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake andserve it just the way you like it. And you are sure to receive compliments for this Thanksgiving dessert at Thanksgiving 2013. A delicious yet simple Thanksgiving recipe that will win over hearts of everyone for sure, thus, it is a must try.
I’m excited to be teaming up this holiday season with Target for #MyKindOfHoliday. How do you celebrate the holidays? It is it super elegant and festive or a simple affair? Our Thanksgiving dinner is pretty simple and low key and it usually includes dinner with my parents and/or in-laws. And I love that because I get to enjoy great foods like chicken & dressing, baked ham, deviled eggs,potato salad and more!
Usually I make a dessert or two like a chess cake or pound cake, and then I’ll make something special for my dad like a custard pie or a cobbler. But for this holiday season, I’m thinking of doing a banana pudding and either a chess cake or an oatmeal cake. But I’m also currently testing some other recipes. For example, the other day I tried out this Frozen Peppermint Pie (recipe to come!).
I actually bought the pie dish and the red platter pictured here at Target. And when I was shopping the other day, I also found a lot of great fall table decor in stock. They have so many great platters, bowls, and other accent pieces in bright, bold fall colors that would really dress up the Thanksgiving table.
Take a look! Don’t these look fabulous?
I especially love the platters! They would be perfect for meats or sides such as the deviled eggs, or even cookies and candies. And I think bright colors like this really help to make your table look more inviting and festive, which just makes the whole meal more special!
As a blogger, I guess you could say that one of my new holiday traditions is taking photos of the foods I make, so for this reason, the platters also appeal to me, as they would be perfect for foodie photo shoots!
And then I also love their line of Mercury Glass! These dishes and candle holders look so elegant! Don’t you agree?
What are your favorite holiday traditions? Are you buying any new decorations or table decor for the holidays this year?
Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Target.
Hey guys! I’m very excited to be celebrating the holidays again with Six Weeks of Christmas Treats. Today we have our first several guest posts that we will have throughout the season. Our first guest is Carrie from A Mother’s Shadow. Please be sure to go over to her blog and say hi. But first please check out Carrie’s take on one of my favorite appetizers, Spinach & Artichoke Dip!
Hi, my name is Carrie and my site is A Mother’s Shadow. Come by for ideas of practical life skills, suggestions of how to be self-reliant, and suggestions for how to serve others, as well as inspiration and tools to strengthen family. I hope you will come by often and leave feeling refreshed, motivated and encouraged in your journey.
A wonderful dip for the holidays. Easy to make ahead and warm in the crock pot, a crowd favorite.
Ingredients:
10-12 oz. frozen chopped spinach
1/4 – 1/3 cup milk
1 Tbl. olive or vegetable oil
14 oz. can artichokes, not marinated, rinsed and drained
1/2 bulb roasted garlic or 1 tsp. garlic, finely mined
1/4 tsp. hot pepper sauce, or to taste
2 – 8 oz. cream cheese blocks
1/2 tsp. montreal steak seasoning
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 roasted garlic seasoning, optional
2/3 – 1 cup fresh parmesan cheese, grated
Cook spinach according to package directions. In a colander, drain the spinach; pressing with the back of a spoon to remove excess moisture.
Combine in a food processor or with a hand mixer.
Pour into a small crock pot to heat through slowly.
Serve warm with crackers, pita chips baguette French bread or cut-up vegetables.
Recognize a blessing and be a blessing today.
Thanks again to Carrie for being here today. Be sure to visit her over at A Mother’s Shadow. And follow her over on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
