The Beautiful Lights

      Driving around looking at Christmas lights is one of my all time favorite activities to do during Christmas time.  Usually we just drive around the surrounding neighborhoods, but this year we were determined to check out the famous light displays in Windcrest.  It's been on our bucket list which seems like forever, and now we can officially mark it off!  

Check out these fabulous lights....

 

It was a lot of fun and the kiddos loved it!

Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookie Swap Party

     While I was in Texas visiting my family, my mom and I decided it would be fun to host an Ugly Christmas Sweater Cookie Swap party.  The ugly sweaters have been popping up everywhere when the holiday season hits.  I found my cute "ugly" sweater at Target along with some fun decorations for the party.

     Mom and I also set out some yummy snacks to munch on before we dove into the sweet treats.

     I found some fun Gingerbread Man shaped pasta on Amazon which I made into a pasta salad.  I even found some sweaters and scarves for the wine!

As for the treats...

     I baked up some homemade Gingerbread and my friend made these Balish Cookies.

     Mom made her famous Buckeyes and Pretzel Turtles.

     She also made some Gingersnaps and a friend brought these Hershey Kiss Cookies.

     My friend Tori brought these M&M Sugar Cookies and my sister brought some Mexican Chocolate Snickerdoodles.

     My Mother-in-Law came too and brought these White Chocolate Covered Pretzels and some Peanut Butter Fudge.

     Another family friend brought some yummy Toffee.

     The kiddos had a great time surrounded by the whole family.  Enjoying tasty snacks and cookies.

     We even got to ooVoo (video chat) with the hubby, since he is still deployed.  It was the first time in 5 months that his family got to speak to him.  They were so excited to see him!

     Another great party, laid back and fun.  I love having my family around me for the holidays.  Plus there were cookies! YAY!

Irish Apple Cake

     For my MOPs Christmas meeting all the groups participated in a table decorating contest.  For our table, the Spirited Sisters, I came up with an idea to feature different countries and how they celebrate Christmas.  So each lady picked a country to research then bring decorations and a sweet treat to share with the rest of the group.  I picked Ireland.  So for my sweet treat I brought this Irish Apple Cake.     

Recipe from The Kitchen McCabe

What you need:

3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

6oz unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

4 large Golden Delicious Apples

2 eggs (room temperature)

3/4 cup milk

2 TBsp sugar (for sprinkling on the top)

How to make it:

Grease and flour an 8" or 9" round springform pan (using an 8" pan will give you a taller cake).

Preheat oven the oven to 375˚F.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.

Make sure the bowl is very large to allow room for the apples to be folded in.

Cut the butter into the flour using your fingers or pastry cutter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Add the 3/4 cup sugar to the flour mixture and mix in.

Peel the apples and slice into uniform pieces (this cake works best and gets that 'chucky apple look' if the slices are about 1/4" wide then cut into 3 pieces.

Toss the apples into the flour mixture and combine them thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and milk together.

Add to the apples and flour, mix in with a large spatula until just combined.

Batter will be thick and dough-like.

Transfer the dough into the prepared cake pan and flatten the top surface using the back of your spatula.

Sprinkle the sugar over the top of the cake.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Test the center for doneness, the top of the cake should be golden brown.

Let cool a bit before taking the cake out of the springform pan, then ENJOY!

Christmas Traditions Around the World

     Before we left for Texas for the holidays my MOPs group had one last meeting before the end of the year.  It was our annual Christmas meeting.  Lots of yummy food, an ornament exchange, and this year we did something new.  We had a table decorating contest.  I came up with this idea about displaying different countries and how they celebrated Christmas.  Each lady picked a country, brought decorations, and made a sweet treat to share with everyone.  

We wanted to also display the real reason for the season.  

So we highlighted the Nativity in the middle.

Here are the countries we all picked...

Costa Rica

Germany

Ireland

France

Here are some of the other tables....

Nativity Table

Ugly Sweater Table

Happy Birthday Table

Winter Wonderland Table

     After all the judging was done, guess which table won??  OURS!!  Whoo-hoo!  It was a great last meeting of the year, looking forward to seeing everyone again in the New Year!

Sweet Potato Hash with Apples & Pancetta

     A few weeks ago I made this dish for my MOPs group and it was a huge hit.  It was so simple and tasty so good.  I will definitely have to make it again!

Recipe from Gutsy by Nature

What you need:

6oz pancetta (diced)

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1 large apple (cored, cut into 1 inch cubes)

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 TBsp coconut oil or unsalted butter

1 large sweet potato (peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes)

1 Tbsp fresh sage (minced)

How to make it:

In a medium cast iron skillet over medium to medium-low heat, cook pancetta 3-5 minutes or until crispy and fat has rendered.

Remove pancetta with slotted spoon, leave fat in the pan.

Add the onion, apples, and cinnamon, cook until soft, about 7 minutes.

If pan is dry add 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter and allow to melt.

Add sweet potatoes to pan and allow to cook undisturbed for 2 minutes.

Stir, allow to cook for another 2 minutes undisturbed.

Continue cooking sweet potatoes, stirring as needed to insure all sides get browned and none burn, until soft (about 5-6 minutes more, about 10 minutes total).

Add reserved pancetta, onion, and apples back to the pan.

Add sage and stir to combine and warm throughout.

Serve warm and ENJOY!!

Sisterly Love

     So, as I am planning this Frozen party, I think..."What am I going to wear?"  I had a Frozen t-shirt from when we went to see Disney On Ice.  But that just seemed to plain and I didn't want to be underdressed compared to all the princesses who were going to come in costume. With that in mind, I went online and found an A-MAZ-ING cos-play Anna costume on eBay I just HAD to have!  It would be so awesome if I, as the host, to dress up as Princess Anna.  I mean, I already have the red hair and some black boots.  So, yep, I did it.  I ordered it!  I was SO excited when if finally arrived (since I did have to have it made just for me).  And since I was going all out for the character, I made sure to do my make up like her as well.  

     When the girls started to arrive, them and their moms were taken back at me answering the door.  It was a lot of fun!  I had also set up a little photo-op outside for picture taking, since I knew Queen Elsa was going to be there.  But what I didn't expect was for my friends to want my picture taken with their girls.  I, of course, was more than happy to pose with them.  It was kinda fun pretending to be Princess Anna for a day. 

Here are some of the pictures....

     

  

     Wow!  What a MAGICAL day filled with friends, food, and fun.  It was definitely one of my favorite parties I have hosted so far!

   

     After everyone left, I cleaned up a bit then kicked my boots up to watch the rest of Frozen with the kiddos and enjoyed a Snowflake Cookie before changing out of my Anna Costume.

     We all wound up taking a nap on the couch, little Kinley was knocked out!

What a long but FUN day!