Pinterest

Ok if you have not heard of Pinterest or if you have and just havent visited the website then DO IT!!!! I have recently become obsessed with it. I found a recipe for loaded potato soup on it. The recipe came from Live A Little Wilder blog. I made it for my parents the other night and it was so good!! For Christmas I got a KitchenAid mixer and it is my new baby!!!! I seriously could go bankrupt buying things to make with my new mixer. To go along with the potato soup, I made homemade bread. I was nervous at first because to make homemade bread you have to have time and patience...two things I normally do not have a lot of but luckily break provided me with both. My next thing I want to make is the Santa Fe Chicken Fajita Soup.

My new baby and her accessories


The bread: It is round because I did not have a loaf pan...


The final product!!


For real Paula you should watch out there is a new chef in town. :)

Watch our Paula...

Since I have had so much down time during break I have worked on my cooking and baking skills. I had no idea what to get my dad for Christmas other than a funny t-shirt that said: "I came, I mowed, I kicked grass" because even though I live on my own, he still comes to mow my lawn! I sure do love my daddy!!! After thinking for awhile, I decided to make him a homemade caramel cake using my grandmother's (his mother) caramel icing recipe. Not to toot my own horn, toot toot, but it was pretty delicious and daddy loved it. :) To make the cake I just used a box cake recipe but for the icing all you need is powdered sugar, light brown sugar, whipping cream, vanilla extract, and butter. Below is the masterpiece:


The beginning stages of the icing


The final stage of the icing


My final masterpiece after daddy ate a slice!! He loved it!!

My other thing I made was a pound cake! Usually I struggle with making the pound cake stay moist by Oh buddy it was real good!! All you need is butter, sugar, flour, almond extract, cream cheese, baking powder, and eggs. Here is the final product:

Christmas Season!

I cannot believe Christmas is just 2 days away. 2011 is almost over. So much has happened in the past year and I am so lucky for the many blessings that were brought to my life. In 2011 I finished my first year of teaching, first year of grad school, bought a house, went to Alaska, and paid my own bills. There are times I come home from work and I am still in shock that I am a "big girl". I love having my own house and be able to provide for myself, although I did not mind at all living with my parents. :) I used to absolutely HATE yard work, especially picking up pinecones. Lucky for me my house has one tree and it is not a pine tree. I have thoroughly enjoyed Christmas break so far. I never realized how badly I needed a break to kind of get myself back together and run some errands. I completed all of my Christmas shopping yesterday...I was a little behind/didn't start until Wednesday. My only complaint about break is that I wish it was a little bit colder outside so that it would feel like Christmas! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!