Shhh...Don't Tell My Dad

As I mentioned earlier today, Brandon broke out his Christmas smoker tonight for a test run before his b-day smoke-out on Saturday.  The first culprit was a whole chicken.  Brandon has spent the past few nights researching recipes, methods, and techniques.  And, I have to say it all paid off!  But, don't tell my dad because in his world, you can make dead chicken taste good.  Ever.

Here is the chicken, all rubbed down and ready to go, right as he put it in the smoker.

And here is a good shot of the setup.  See that cast iron skillet?  We searched long and hard for the perfect skillet for this venture.  And to think, I've been wanting a cast iron skillet for some time now and I'm forbidden to use this one...the nerve!

After about four hours, the bird was smoked to a crisp and ready to eat (no fear, the smoking started around 3:45)!  

I bet you wish you had stopped by our house for dinner, huh?  The meat was so moist and tender and had excellent flavor!  Brandon did a kick-butt job for his first attempt if you ask me.  I now  feel much more confident that we can whip up an excellent meal for his birthday this weekend. 

But Dad, if you're reading this, I want you to know that I used BBQ sauce on my meat.  You know, kind of like when Brandon puts A-1 on your steaks?!? 

The After Christmas Void

I always love putting up our Christmas decorations and I always dread taking them down.  But, I'm always itching to take them down because I dread it so much...does that make sense?  So, on the first day of my week off (I know, I'm lucky right?!?) I decided I was going to tackle the Christmas decorations.  Now, I really don't have that many decorations because I don't have the space for much, but it is still a chore to take it all down, wrap it up, and get it into the storage room.

Before I show you the after, I thought I better show you the before.

Here is my lovely and simple Nativity set, prominently displayed on our coffee table:

Side note -- that snow was a MESS!  It had glittery confetti-like particles in it that went everywhere!!

Here is the mantle.  I tried a new look this year with the beads and over-sized ornaments hanging down, forgoing our stockings (which don't match the new look anyway...):

And the crown jewel of every house during the Christmas season, our Christmas tree:

Obviously I went with an all green and silver look this year to blend with our green and purple house decor and  I really loved it!  We also got a new tree this year that fit perfectly between our couch and love seat and created a very cozy space.

This is a shot of my Christmas table centerpiece (the table was set for our girls dinner).  I used things I already had like the tray, vases, and green balls and just added the mums.  I loved this look because it was casual, with a little sparkle and the flowers lasted FOREVER!

So, as you can see I really didn't have all that much to put up or take down, but after it was all down, our living room felt very empty!  So, I got to thinking about what I could do to warm up the space a little bit.  One way was the addition of a really cool lamp I got for Christmas (more on that later).  But another way was to change out the flowers in the centerpiece and move it to the coffee table. 

Every time I am at the grocery store, I always take a peek at the fresh flowers and on Monday, I saw a bunch agapanthus that I just couldn't resist.  I thought they would be a perfect addition to the centerpiece.  What do you think?!?

The little purple blooms will open up and fill out and just be so pretty.  When I worked in the flower shop, we used to call these firework flowers because they look like an exploding firework. 

After we took the tree down, it seemed like there was a huge void between the couch and love seat.  I've always thought that we needed to add something to that space, but it didn't really become too obvious until the tree was gone.  So, when we were at Lowe's last night looking for a few things, I saw this plant for only $15 and convince Brandon to buy it (I don't have a very good track record of keeping plants alive, but this one was clearly marked "Tolerant").  While I think the plant needs to relax a little bit, I think it is a good addition to the space.  Now if I can only keep it alive....

Along with these touches, I also rearranged a few vases and have a few more thoughts of things I could add to help spruce up the place as we begin the new year!

The Gift That Keeps On Giving

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was this cookbook:

 

I have heard good reviews of this book, so I thought I would add it to my Christmas list this year.  Let me tell you, I've already tried two of the recipes and I have been extremely pleased with both. Most of the recipes are relatively quick and easy and pretty much use basic ingredients.  Plus, it has a whole seciton devoted solely to side dishes, which is one category I always struggle with. The book also contains several yummy looking fish recipes, which is another category I'm a little scared of.  I know we need to eat more fish, but I'm always nervous to try new recipes because I'm not used to cooking fish.  

So, after flipping through the cookbook, I decided to try three recipes this week, one of which was this recipe for Asian Salmon Patties.  I don't particularly like salmon, but I thought the ingredients in this recipe sounded good so I decided to try it and believe it or not, I loved it (and so did Brandon)!  If you are wanting to incorporate more fish into your diet, you should definitely give this one a try!

Asian Salmon Patties

1 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillet, finely chopped

2 shallots, minced

2 T. finely grated peeled ginger 

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Sesame Mayo (see recipe below)

In a large bowl, gently combine salmon, shallots, ginger, egg, red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. salt, and 1 tsp. pepper. Form mixture into eight patties, about one inch thick, packing each firmly; transfer to a plate.  Freeze until just firm, about 20 minutes.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook salmon patties (working in batches) until browned on both sides and just opaque throughout.  Serve with sesame mayo.

Sesame Mayo

1/3 cup mayonaise

2 scallions, trimmed and sliced thinly

2 T. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Stir together all ingredients.  Cover and chill until ready to serve.

I also served this dish with the recommended side dish of Chinese Noodles with Sesame Dressing and it was a perfect combo!

Chinese Noodles with Sesame Dressing
8 oz. Chinese noodles (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
1 T. vegetable oil
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
2 T. soy sauce
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
3 T. cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Cook noodles until tender, according to package directions.  Drain; rinse under cold water until completely cool  Transfer to a large bowl and toss with vegetable oil. 

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients.  Pour over noodles and toss to coat.

See, this is the gift that keeps on giving.  It was given to me and now I'm sharing it with you!!

This Christmas

We spent our Christmas weekend with my family at my parents' house.  Unfortunately, Brandon got sick on Friday so he was out of commission that day, but we had a great time regardless.

We spent a lot of time chasing around and playing with these girls:

Wearing matching pajamas:

Leaving cookies, milk and notes for Santa:

Opening gifts and playing with our new toys:

And how could we forget, re-enacting the Christmas story:

After our time in Pratt, we headed back to Wichita to celebrate Christmas with my dad's extended family.  We had a great lunch and played Dirty Santa with the whole crew.  While my cupcake stand was opened by my cousin who is in college at KSU, he rolled with it and thought it could be used as a shot holder...lol!  Luckily, my aunt showed him mercy and stole it from him.

Here is a pic of my dad's family, minus one sister and one brother.  Could the brothers look anymore alike?!?!

After we finished playing Dirty Santa, Brandon and I had to scoot out to go celebrate Christmas with his family.

We started out the afternoon watching "The Little Fockers", which was pretty funny.  His family has a tradition of seeing a movie on Christmas Day, so it was fun to be able to carry it on, even though we weren't together on Christmas.

After the movie, we headed back to his sister's house to eat pizza and open gifts.  This year, Brandon's parents wrote out Bible verses on slips of paper and before we opened a gift we had to read the verse.  All of the verses represented ways that they prayed for us this year and in the years to come.  This was a great way to remember why we celebrate Christmas and to slow the gift opening.


Pam and Craig opening their gifts:

Justin and Ashley reading their verses:

The boys got head lamps from Grandma Cathy:

We were definitely blessed this Christmas, so I will have to do another post to show off our awesome gifts!

Be Right Back.

We have been Christmasing all weekend, which translates to eating lots of food, enjoying time with our families, getting sick (well, Brandon anyway), playing games, watching movies, and relaxing.

Now, it is time for me to get our house in order, make a grocery list, do some laundry, disassemble Christmas decorations, and prepare for the new year ahead of us.  I will be back soon, though, with lots of pictures and fun stories to share!

Oh, and I'm going to live up my WHOLE WEEK OFF WORK by doing fun things with friends :)

Sharing the JOY of the Season

I love Christmas time at our church.  The music is always so touching and beautiful, the church is beautifully decorated, my heart flutters when the lights dim and the advent candles are lit, and the sermons are always so insightful.

This week's sermon was all about the shepherds who were told by God that the Savior had been born in Bethlehem.  You can listen to the whole sermon here, but I wanted to share a few of my thoughts after marinating on the sermon for a few days.

The shepherds werenot the "upper crust" of their society.  They wore tattered clothes, had a reputation of being thieves and partiers, and were pretty much the lowest on the totem pole.  But, God chose to tell them of Christ's birth.  He chose the broken people to spread the good news of Christ's birth.  After they were told the news, they decided they wanted to go to Bethlehem to see this thing for themselves.  Once they got to Bethlehem and realized that what God had told them was true, they began spreading the news like wild fire.  They told everyone they came in contact with that the Savior had been born to a virgin.  They shared the news with JOY!

Often times, we as Christians are nervous or apprehensive to share our faith with others.  Whether it be out of embarrassment, fear of rejection, or lack of answers to hard questions, we sometimes think it is just better to live our lives and hope people see a difference rather than to shout it from the mountain that we love Jesus and we are going to have eternal lives in heaven because of the gift Christ gave us.

One of our pastors gave us a great analogy to put this into perspective; if we were to find a cure for cancer today, we would tell as many people as we could and we would become VERY rich.  So, why is it that Christ has given us a cure for death and we are hesitant to share the steps to be cured?

As I've pondered this thought this week, I have felt very convicted.  Why can't I be more like the shepherds?  I mean, they had a lot to prove, given their reputation, but they shared anyway.  They weren't afraid of what others might think because they wanted to share the joy with everyone.  I can only hope that I can somehow make an effort to share the joy of the season as much as possible.  Because really, who wouldn't want the ultimate Christmas gift??


"These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" -- John 15:11

Fa la la la la

Tis the season to be jolly and boy have we been having a jolly good time!  In the past couple of weeks, we/I have:

• had two office Christmas parties
• hosted my BUNCO group Christmas party
• we've organized 216 gifts for our church's Angel Tree and packed 108 food bags with our small group
• attended the VIP opening of the new Warren IMAX Theatre that Brandon worked on
• gone bowling (and I bowled the best rounds of my life!!) with people from Brandon's office
• had a date night out that included looking at Christmas lights
• hosted a fun girls Christmas dinner and gift exchange

And, it's not even Christmas yet!  Thankfully, we have 99.9% of our shopping done so we aren't having to worry about running around too much more.  I also have a lunch with a couple of my college friends, we have dinner with Brandon's sister and her husband, and Brandon has an office Christmas luncheon left, but that is all very manageable compared to the past week!

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures at our office parties, my BUNCO party or of our small group packing up the Angel Tree gifts, but I do have a pics of the IMAX opening and our girls night.  I also have a couple of recipes to share, so bear with me!

For my BUNCO party, I made a really yummy punch so I thought I would share the recipe here in case anyone is needing a good, refreshing and not too sweet punch for a Christmas gathering this week:

CRANBERRY-RASPBERRY GINGER SPLASH

6 parts Ocean Spray® 100% Cranberry & Raspberry Juice (could also use Cranberry-Pomegranate juice)

1 part orange juice, chilled
4 parts gingerale, chilled

In a pitcher, mix Ocean Spray® 100% Cranberry & Pomegranate Juice and orange juice. Stir in gingerale. Fill with ice and serve.


In recent years, our small group has helped with the Angel Tree ministry by making dozens and dozens and dozens of cookies to hand out along with the gifts.  We have always enjoyed making the cookies, but this year we were all so busy that we couldn't find much time to make cookies, so we decided to make up some food bags to pass out.  We also talked about how this is a Christian ministry, but we weren't doing much to spread the word about Jesus with these families, so we found the poem below, printed it out and attached it to the food bags with a candy cane.  I think it is a fun poem that also talks about Jesus:

Look at a CANDY CANE, what do you see?  Stripes that are RED like the BLOOD shed for me! 
WHITE for my Savior, Who's sinless and pure! 
"J" is for JESUS, My Lord that's for sure! 
Turn it around And a staff you will see --- 
Jesus, my SHEPHERD, Is coming for me!

The IMAX opening really deserves a post all of it's own, but I thought it would be fun to show a few pictures of the building.  Brandon and his team put in so much time and effort and got this building built in less than six months!!  Pretty amazing!!

This past Thursday, the Warren folks had a huge VIP preview party and we were lucky enough to score an invitation.  It was definitely fun to be there with the movers and shakers in the city and to experience the theatre for ourselves, but the movie selection was not up our alley.  TRON Legacy 3-D was the movie and to be honest, we wouldn't recommend it to others.  But, like I said, it was more about the experience than the movie.  Here are a couple of pics from the evening:

{In the limo on the way to the party....yeah, that's how we roll!}

{The project team - Evan (assistant superintendent), Don (head superintendent), Brandon}

{Ready for our 3-D movie experience}

Finally, tonight I had the privilege of hosting the three girls from our small group for a nice dinner and gift exchange.  I've known each of the girls for different amounts of time, but they honestly are some of my best friends.  We've seen each other through a lot and they each have blessed me in so many ways.  I'm so thankful God brought us all together and I hope our friendship continues for many years to come!

{Christy, Emily, Ali, and me}

I wanted to make this dinner special, so I used my china and I had the following menu (links for all but one of the recipes are included):

• Filet Mignon in Mustard-Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
• Rosemary Roasted Potatoes
• Garlic Parmesan Green Beans
• Chocolate Banana Brad Pudding 

The filet recipe was so easy and very tasty, thanks to my aunt Sharon's recipe in our new Bohn Family Cookbook (more about this later!).

Filet Mignon in Mustard-Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 beef tenderloin steaks (filet mignon)
½ cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

About 30 minutes before serving, preheat oven to 425 degrees. In ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, in hot oil, cook filet mignon until browned on all sides, about 6 minutes. Place skillet in oven, bake about 5 minutes for rare or until desired doneness. Remove meat to warm platter; keep warm.

To skillet, add chicken broth, vinegar and mustard. Add some cornstarch to chicken broth if you prefer a thicker, gravy-like sauce. Over medium-high heat, meat mixture to boiling, stirring constantly and scraping until browned bits are dissolved. To serve, spoon sauce over steaks or serve sauce on the side.

Three out of the four recipes were new recipes that I had never tried.  Thankfully, these girls are used to being my guinea pigs and are willing to try out all of my new recipes.  In my opinion, all of the recipes were quite tasty, but I am a little biased!

So, there you have it.  Play-by-play of what we've been up to.  I absolutely love this time of year and as much as I long for some down time, I've loved every minute of the past couple of weeks.  It really doesn't get much better than spending time with friends and creating memories!

Christmas Questions

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? A little of both, but mostly wrapping paper. I love mix and matching papers and ribbon.  It is one of those opportunities to bring out my floral skills :)

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial (and we got a new one this year! hip hip hooray!)

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually after Thanksgiving. This year it went up the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Usually between Christmas and New Years

5. Do you like eggnog? NO. WAY.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The one I remember most vividly is my Barbie house

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad

8. Easiest person to buy for? Brandon

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, a beautifl Willow Tree Angel set.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? One of my favorite things about Christmas is receiving all of the Christmas cards and pictures from our friends and family so it is only right for me to reciprocate the thought.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmmm...I can't really think of anything.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In December.  I just can't get myself organized enough to start any earlier.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything in sight?!?

16. Lights on the tree (colored or clear)? Clear lights

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night or Silent Night

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We usually travel to one set of parents house during Christmas, but always find another time to celebrate with the other set.  This year we will be in my home town for Christmas.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes, but only because of the song..."You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer..."

20. Angel, star or ribbon on top of tree? None of the above.  I have some sprouty sticks that come out of the top of the tree. (I need to post pics soon)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning with my family and either Christmas Eve or sometime during the day on Christmas Day with Brandon's family.

22. Favorite children's Christmas song? I guess I don't know how children's songs differ from regular songs...

23. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The grouchy people.

24. Favorite ornament theme or color? This year we are doing green and silver

25. Turkey or ham on Christmas day? I prefer Prime Rib, but I think we're having ham this year.

26. What do you want for Christmas this year? I never have trouble coming up with a list.  One of the big items this year is an iPod Touch.

27. Does anyone in your family dress up as Santa? No. But my mom and I saw a Santa suit when we were shopping last weekend and I suggested she should have my Dad do it this year.

28. Age you discovered who Santa was? Honestly, I don't remember at all.  I know I still believed the year I got the Barbie house because in later years, my mom confessed that they stayed up all night putting the little stickers on all of the appliances since Santa doesn't deliver unassembled toys.

29. Eggnog, hot chocolate, or apple cider? Peppermint Hot Chocolate

30. Traditional colors (red and green) or other colors? I love the traditional red and green, but it just doesn't jive with the colors in our house, hence why we went with green and silver this year.

Just Like Peanut Butter and Jelly...

Tonight, I made a recipe containing these two ingredients:

{I used the generic version of Nutella}

You may be asking why I combined Nutella and pumpkin and honestly, the recipe probably only caught my eye because a couple of my friends have been telling me how obsessed they are with Nutella.  I have never used it before, but that ALL changed tonight thanks to this recipe for Pumpkin Nutella Cake.

Here it is right after I put it in the oven:

And here it is right after I took it out of the oven:

And I couldn't resist a close up of the gooey Nutella goodness:

I definitely recommend you try this recipe this Christmas season, or anytime of year for that matter!  This was delicious and it was small group approved!

Pumpkin Nutella Snack Cake
{Recipe courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod}
  2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 cup Nutella

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Add the pumpkin puree. Reduce speed to low, and mix in the flour mixture until just combined.

4. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan. Drop tablespoons of Nutella all over the pumpkin cake batter. Swirl in the Nutella with a knife. I wanted the Nutella to stay towards the top, to act as the frosting, so I swirled gently.

5. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until the sides pull away from the pan and a toothpick comes out clean. Place cake on a wire rack and cool completely. Cut into squares and serve.

This combination of flavors is just as good as peanut butter and jelly, I promise!

Here Come the Holidays

With Thanksgiving weekend closing in, it is time to usher in Christmas!  We plan to put up our decorations tomorrow, but in the mean time, I found this little questionnaire that I thought I would share!

1. What is your holiday wish for your family?
My holiday wish for my family is that we all create lasting memories and treasure our time together.

2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
Growing up, our Christmas morning tradition involved getting up early to open our see what Santa left us in our stockings and then we would proceed downstairs to read the Christmas story from the Bible and open the rest of our gifts.  After we opened gifts, we would usually eat breakfast together and then get cleaned up and drive to Wichita to spend the rest of Christmas Day with my mom's family.  Now, our Christmas morning traditions are different each year because we rotate holidays with each of our families.

3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be?
The ability to travel wherever I want to and whenever I want to.

 4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
I love to cook and entertain and love to go the extra mile to make guests feel comfortable and loved.  I also just like to get together with friends and family to spend time together and enjoy the spirit of the season.


5. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
Since we don't have a family yet, I haven't really been able to carry over too many traditions, but one tradition I still enjoy (and we still do with my family) is to read the Christmas story on Christmas morning.  It helps us focus on the real meaning of the holiday and not just the gifts.   My mom once tried to start a new tradition of making egg rolls on Christmas Eve but after one year of making them we quickly stopped because it was a very time consuming process.  

When Brandon was growing up his family always had German meatballs after midnight mass on Christmas Eve and they still get together, albeit earlier than midnight, to keep this tradition alive.

7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?
My parent's lake house.  It is so beautiful there and so peaceful and if it snows, it is exceptionally serene.