9 Highlights From 2009

Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife is having a 2009 blog recap carnival!  I love looking back at the year!  She has fun with looking at the first line of every first post of each month.  Mine, unfortunately, are all too boring.  I give a little intro instead of a great first line that grabs you and pulls you in.  Something to work on perhaps...

I decided that I wanted to look back at some of the highlights on my blog this year.  While looking back, I realized - I had fun!!  I really hope that you did too!

Let's recap, shall we?

1.  Simmering Soup Week ~ Yum.  Yes, I continued my obsession with theme weeks this year.  I think the soup week was a hit for the winter.  And I managed to work the soup theme into Chocolate Friday by serving up Chocolate Soup!  Just click on the pic to look back at some great soup recipes.

2.  Vlogging ~  I won a Flip video camera through the blog Real Life and newbaby.com and I started vlogging!  Quite fun for my drama queen self!  I haven't done that many through the year, but I plan to do more in 2010.  You can see some of my vlogs at newbaby.com (I'm Lisablogschocolate over there).

3.  1-Year Blogaversary ~  What a great party!!  It really was so much fun and it was the first time that I had other people/businesses donating lovely items to give away during that time.  I just wish I could have had everyone over for some cake and ice cream!  :)

4.  Cake Week ~  I love cake.  I could probably even stand to have a whole month dedicated to cake - LOL!  So many cake recipes, so little time.  Another fun week!  If you need some delicious cake or cupcake ideas, just click on that pic!

5.  Bloggy Friendship Days ~  My funny friend Kim at Homesteader's Heart is my best bloggy friend and we realized that our friendship had started in June of 2008.  We decided to celebrate our "friendiversary" and host a few days for people to join in celebrating their bloggy friendships!  After all, bloggy friends are real friends too.  :)

6.  Housecleaning Week ~  "Once a year whether it needs it or not" - heh,heh.  :)  I did Housecleaning Week while posting as normal.  I assigned myself mini-tasks every day and a daily project to be done after regular cleaning.  I need to do it again because I never got so many things done in one week before!   

7.  Fall Fruits Festival ~  A week of delicious Fall fun covering pears, pumpkin, apples, cranberries, and my favorite fruit - chocolate.  ;)  I thought it was a fun way to celebrate Fall and find some great new recipes.  Click the pic for all the yummy recipes!

8.  The Nutella Challenge ~  I joined The Nutella Challenge at bell' alimento and then wondered what I had got myself into!  I have to come up with a new Nutella recipe each month for a few months.  I've come up with 4 so far: Mini Nutella Cheesecakes, Nutella Popcorn, Nutella Bites, and Nutella S'mores Cake.  I ran out of time to do one in December, but I will attempt another one in January.  This has been great for me as it's my first experience in making up my own recipes - nervewracking! 

9.  500th Blog Post ~  Another exciting milestone on my blog!  Hmmm...can you tell I like any excuse to have a party?  LOL!  That was an especially fun party because I got to talk about chocri customized chocolate bars and give a couple away!  YUM!  Celebrating with chocolate is always good!

Whether you've just started coming to my blog and these highlights are new to you or you have been along for the whole sweet ride - thank you.  I truly appreciate you, my readers!  And I like you whether you comment or not (but I just love it when you do comment and say hello!)!

I hope you enjoyed this little recap!  If you hop back over to Musings of a Housewife, you can look at some more blog recaps.  It's a great way to catch up on some lovely blogs!

Did you catch my guest post yesterday at The Frugal Girls?  I shared New Year's chocolate dessert ideas!  But you should also check out some other recipes there, like Cranberry Bliss Bars, and a guest post by Frugal Femina with Candie Cane Brownie Lollipops.  Yummy!!

Reminder - no Chocolate Friday or even Dessert Friday tomorrow!  I plan to just relax and enjoy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with my family.  Have a safe, happy, and blessed New Year!

I'm linking this post up to Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life.  Link any post from the previous week!

Thanks for coming by!  Don't miss anything here in 2010 - subscribe now!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Blue Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

Finding new recipes that we enjoy works for me!  I looked through some of my cookbooks before Christmas to find a couple new recipes to try.  One was for an appetizer.  It turned out great!  We will definitely repeat it!

I thought you might like to have another appetizer recipe in case you're having a New Year's celebration!  I found this in a cookbook called Holiday Snacks & Appetizers and Other Holiday Fun.

Blue Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

1 (8-oz.) pkg cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, finely chopped

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped

1 teaspoon oregano

1 clove garlic. minced

Dash of freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Chill and serve with crackers or cocktail rye bread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you tried any yummy new recipes lately?  Are you having people over on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? 

If you have a chance, stop by The Frugal Girls - I have a guest post on chocolate dessert ideas for your New Year's Eve celebration! 

For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas, stop by We Are THAT Family!  I'm also linking this to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam (lots of yummy recipes)!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Cinnamon-Eggnog Scones

Are you sitting down with your cup of tea?  I hope you get to have a few relaxing post-Christmas moments!  I thought I better share these scones while there might still be eggnog in the stores - in case you want to hurry up and try this recipe!

I made these Cinnamon-Eggnog Scones from King Arthur Flour for our Christmas morning breakfast.  Wow - absolutely delicious and liked by all!  I will definitely make them again next year!  They are rich and have such a nice flavor combination.

I didn't get the best pic of them, but here it is:

You can stop by King Arthur Flour's blog for the recipe.

And just because it goes with tea in my mind, I'll tell you a couple of gifts that my hubs gave me: the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy) and the BBC version of Jane Eyre (with Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester)!  Isn't that sweet?

I hope you get to try these scones - they're so yummy!  Did you make something special for Christmas morning?

Friends Don't Let Friends Go Through Life With Unresolved Barbie Doll Issues

Yes, you read that right.  And yes, I am the one with unresolved Barbie issues.  If you already saw the vlog (video) I posted a few months ago, then you know what I'm talking about!

Here's the link to that video in case you feel the need to better understand my childhood and you have a spare 5 minutes or so that you'll never get back.  If you decide that you would rather not watch the crazy chocolate woman babbling over-dramatically about her childhood issues (though now I've made you curious, haven't I?), I can sum it up for you.

My parents did not buy me a Barbie doll...ever.  *gasp*  They did buy me (the supposedly favored eldest daughter) a Skipper - Barbie's short, flat-chested little sister.  BUT, they bought my sister 2 different Barbies and a Ken doll!  Shocking!  Anyway, I've never gotten over it and my sister's Kissing Barbie's pretty pink floral dress is burned into my memory.

My friend Katie was well aware of my video and er, issues.  She knew just what to do - she got me the perfect Christmas present!

YES!!!  I am now the proud owner of a very cute and glittery Barbie doll!  Thank you!  I feel that some bitterness has just melted away - LOL!  Hey sister's old Kissing Barbie - see that tiara and heart-shaped handbag?  That's MY Barbie...uh-huh,YEAH...that's right.

Wow - childhood issues resolved.  Well, one of them anyway.  One of many.  Hmmm...I wonder if a friend would be willing to get me a Big Wheel??

Did you have Barbies?  And did you have a favorite?  And do you have childhood issues like me?  :)

Have a marvelous Monday!

Merry Christmas!!

Cheers!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

I'll be taking a break and enjoying Christmas with the family (no Chocolate Friday), but I'll be back here on Monday!  Hope you all have a wonderful time!

Wordless Wednesday: Dose of Christmas Reality

Two days before Christmas

And all through my place
Are things that aren't done yet;
Better pick up the pace!

Just so you aren't totally fooled by all the pretty pics on my blog, I thought I would give you a peek into my Christmas reality today!  Some of you organized people will be horrified, but I think many of you will feel much better!  :)

Still-undecorated tree.

Bin of tree ornaments to put on!

Still working on Christmas cards!

My attempt at divinity (to surprise my hubs).  It turned out to be some form of very chewy vanilla taffy that won't peel off wax paper!

Feeling better now?  I've got to go because obviously I have a lot to do!  Enjoy more Wordless Wednesday pics over at 5 Minutes For Mom!

Have a wonderful Wednesday friends!!

Reminding You About The *Dangers* of Sending Christmas Cards

Since I'm working on Christmas cards today (Hey, doesn't getting them postmarked before Christmas count for something?  Is it really my fault that the post office can't deliver them all in 24 hours after I mail them?), I thought about this post from last year.  Christmas cards can be *dangerous*!  This post was originally published on 12/18/08...

Though I'm sure ALL of you are already done with your cards (heh, heh...right), I still thought I would share this important public service announcement. They might need to actually start printing some warnings on boxes of cards.

Please be very careful as the following have been known to occur:

~ Carpal tunnel in wrist from signing so many cards

~ Illegible handwriting after writing so many addresses

~ Blurred vision from looking at so many names and addresses

~ Brain freeze when discovering that you have more than one address for a person and don't recall which one is right

~ Toxic envelope glue aftertaste that only a White Peppermint Mocha will get rid of

~ Papercuts on tongue from licking envelopes (Ouch!)

~ Feelings of guilt for not putting Christmas stickers on envelopes

~ Boomerang cards (happens when you don't put postage on - see Shannon's tale of woe)

~ Feelings of anxiety as you receive cards from people that you forgot to send cards to

You all be careful out there, OK?!

I don't have much time for blogging today, but I knew this was important to share! ;)
If you have any other warnings, please share them!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wasn't that helpful?  :)  I'll be sure to watch out for the dangers as I work.  Did you send cards this year?  Are you done yet?

Have a terrific Tuesday friends!

Another Christmas Meme...

Good morning (or afternoon for you probably)!  Are you ready for Christmas yet?  I am not, so that's why I'm late in posting.  Lisa from All That and a Box of Rocks tagged me for this Christmas meme and since it's different than the one I did previously, it's the perfect easy post for a Monday!

Here goes...

1. Have you started your Christmas shopping?
Yes - if I hadn't by now that would be a little scary!  I do have a few more things to take care of this week though.

2. Tell me about one of your special traditions.
We do always like to drive around and look at the Christmas lights.  This year, we're going to do that on Christmas Eve - I'm looking forward to it!

3. Are you a Black Friday Shopper?
NO way!!

4. When do you put up your Tree?
Um...in December...before Christmas.  We did manage to get the tree up a couple weeks before Christmas this time, but the decorating of it still isn't finished - LOL!!

5. Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home?
We stay home and have a fairly quiet Christmas which I enjoy.  We usually have 2 of the brothers-in-law over on Christmas day.

6. What is your funniest Christmas memory?
A couple of years ago, my son and I made my hubs go searching around the house following clues to find his big gift.  We put little gift boxes in each spot that he had to open only to discover notes from my son like, " Oh BUMMER, this is still not your gift!  Guess you better go look in the bedroom."  We put 1 of the clues waaayy under son's bed, so hubs had to lay down and scoot under to get it.  Oh so very amusing to watch!!  Don't worry - he got a good gift to make up for it!  We all had a good laugh!

7. What is your favorite Christmas Movie of All time?
Well I really love It's a Wonderful Life!

8. Do you do your own Christmas Baking, what’s your favorite treat?
That's all I've been doing the last few days!!  Things like Dried Cranberry Biscotti, Christmas Mocha Balls, Vanilla Party Mix, Rich Chocolate Chip Toffee Bars, and a couple recipes from blog friends: Chocolate Raspberry Crumb Bars from Frugal Creativity and Lace Cookies from Knit1Kids4.

9. Fake or Real Tree?
I love real trees, but after a few years of spending a fortune on trees that ended up crispy and ugly by Christmas (no matter what tricks we tried), we decided to go with a fake tree.  I miss the smell, but don't miss the needles everywhere!

10. What day (as a mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
My panic is always the night before my son's last day of school and Christmas party!  I am always trying to put together all the homemade teacher gifts and goodies for son to give to classmates.  Hubs' office party is usually around the same time so I have the coworker gifts and dessert for the party to get ready.  After that, nothing seems as stressful even if I don't have it all done in time!

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?
Yes, we usually still have a couple things to finish wrapping that evening, but not much (we don't give each other a lot of presents so there's not too much to wrap).

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?
Seeing lights, making & eating goodies, and just enjoying son's time off from school!

13. What Christmas craft do you like the best?
Besides baking, I'm not that crafty.  But this year I was in charge of a craft for son's party.  I used my friend Kim's puzzle wreath craft, but made it into a magnet. I made a little kit for each kid.  Here are a couple pics:

 

 

My wreath is on the left; son's on the right!

14.Christmas music. Yes or No? If yes what is your favorite song?
I love Christmas music!  My absolute favorite song is Oh Holy Night.  I love all the hymns, music from The Nutcracker, and also like songs like White Christmas and Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree!

15. When do you plan to finish all your shopping?
In the next day or 2.  I want to be all done before I have my lovely filling/possible root canal on Wednesday!

That's it!  I'm not going to officially tag anybody, but if you want to play along - go right ahead!  But do come back and let me know so I can come see your answers!

Also, forgot to mention that there will NOT be Chocolate Friday this week (Christmas!) and no Dessert Friday the following week (New Year's Day!).  So the next Chocolate Friday will be on 1/8.  If you need chocolate fixes before then, you can always stop by and click on some links on my sidebar!  :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful week and not stressing too much!  Merry Christmas!

Would You Like Chocolate With That? ~ You Bring The Chocolate

Welcome to Chocolate Friday!  We definitely need the chocolate today with all this holiday busyness!

My friends, I am so swamped getting goodies, gifts, and craft stuff ready for my son's last day of school and Christmas party that I don't have anything chocolatey to share with you!  I am counting on YOU to bring the chocolate today!!

I know you all are busy too.  If you don't have time to put up a chocolate post today, how about looking back through your archives for one?  Even if you linked up some chocolate goodness last year, link it again because Mr. Linky disappeared with all those links.  I try to make it easy for you!

Thanks for sharing your chocolate!  Let's see how many chocolate links we can get today to make up for my lack of chocolate!

Chocolate hugs to all and Happy Friday!

Thursday's Thoughts

Just a few random ramblings today.  While you're reading this I should be busy in the kitchen making goodies or at the store getting the rest of the ingredients or packaging up the goodies for gifts.  Unless you're on the East coast and you get up early to read this - then I am asleep in bed.  :)

 ~  I am feeling rather stressed at how many things I don't have done yet for Christmas.  But then I had a thought - I checked my archives from this time last year.  *Ahem* - I did not have my Christmas cards started at this time last year either.  Also?  I did not have my tree decorated yet.  And I do not have my tree decorated now even though I showed you a pic of my decorated tree (last year's pic).

I only had enough time to decorate the house.  The tree does have lights...'cause they were already on there...'cause it's not real.  So maybe I'm not really behind - maybe I'm right on schedule!!  :)

 ~  I have a hole in my tooth.  Yes, you heard me right.  I went to the dentist yesterday for a cleaning, but I also knew that I had done something to a tooth.  I figured that I had cracked it and was worried about it.  Oh no - not cracked, but a hole, an opening into the tooth.  Blech.  So 2 days before Christmas I get to have a filling and possible root canal!  Merry Christmas to me!  :)

 ~  I'm going to be making several goodies today.  I plan on making Dried Cranberry Biscotti, Christmas Mocha Balls, Vanilla Party Mix, and a batch of Vanilla Hot Chocolate Mix.  Oh and I do have to make Crunchy Party Mix too.  There's probably something else I'm not remembering right now.  What are you making?

 ~  If you saw me crying while driving down the road yesterday - it's OK.  I was listening to the Christmas Shoes song on the radio.  That song gets.me.every.time.  Good thing I was by myself.  :)

 ~  I have been watching the show Sing-Off!  Love it!  Have you been watching it?  I think the group Nota should win and that's all there is to it!

 ~  Tomorrow is Chocolate Friday, so don't forget to bring your delicious chocolates posts to link up!

Thanks for putting up with my ramblings!  Have a terrific Thursday friends!

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Favorite Cookie Bars

Welcome!  Last week I talked about my favorite Christmas cookies, so I thought this week I would talk about my favorite cookie bars.  What can I say - I like cookies!  And I tried to pick my favorite cookie bars, which turned out to be all the cookie bars I've posted - LOL.  Well really, if they weren't delicious - would I post 'em?

I love cookie bars because they're so easy to make and cut up to serve.  Sometimes we don't think about giving cookie bars as gifts because they don't seem as exciting.  But they are delicious!  And they can be cut up in fun ways - cutting with cookie cutters into different shapes, cutting into squares then diagonal into wedges, cutting into bite-size squares, or cutting into giant bakery-size squares.  Here are a few cookie bar recipes you can be proud to hand out as gifts - just click the links for the recipes:

Double Delicious Cookie Bars

Sand Art Brownies

YuMMy Bars

Marble Bars

Raspberry Pecan Bars

Peppermint Cloud Brownies

Luscious Lemon Bars

Coffee Blondies With a Shot of Chocolate

I really think you're going to find at least one cookie bar recipe today that you MUST try!

Obviously cookie bars work for me, but you should check out what's working for everybody else for Works-For-Me-Wednesday at We Are THAT Family!

I'm linking this up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - go check out the delicious recipes!

Have a wonderful Wednesday friends!

A Little Bit Of Christmas At Our House

Welcome to my home!  My decorations are few, but I have tried to give some little touches of Christmas around the house.  I'm linking up my tour at The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes.  There are already over 900 links of homes to see - wow!!

Of course, first things first at my house - goodies!  Help yourself to some...

Vanilla Party Mix

or Peppermint Cloud Brownies

and grab a Vanilla Hot Chocolate!

Now that we've taken care of the most important part, let's look around the house.

 

 

I'm excited about that photo album because I'm going to fill it with all the Christmas card pics from family and friends over the years!

 

I'm cheating by using last year's tree pic because it's exactly the same!

 

 

 

A wreath made with my son's hand prints when he was in Kindergarten - very special!

 

 

I wish I had more to show you, but I do hope you enjoyed yourself!  Feel free to take a break and enjoy your goodies before moving on to another tour!  :)

Have fun seeing all the decorations at the Christmas Tour of Homes!  Have a wonderful day friends and Merry Christmas!

Subscribe right here so you don't miss an opportunity to Stop and Smell the Chocolates!