Happy 2011

First of all, I apologize for not posting recently, but in my defense...life's busy during the holidays. Alex, Banana, and I all headed to San Diego on Dec. 16th and we didn't get back until Jan. 5th. Our vacation was packed with family time, outings with friends, and even some time for relaxation. Here are just a few of the details from our trip.

Weather

We headed down a day early since we were driving and heard a big storm was coming...and it did. It rained a lot, especially for San Diego, for 3-4 days but then the sun decided to arrive soon after. The rest of our trip we saw our share of rain and sun. Below is a picture that reflects my holiday trip in San Diego. Santa in front of a rain spotted window and a palm tree with the sun peaking out. :)

Baking

You had to know that baking would be involved. On Dec. 23rd we headed to Myra and Sean's house for a holiday gift exchange potluck. My mom made Poulet de Broccoli (recipe below) which was delicious and I made mini carrot cake and red velvet cake cupcakes (see my previous posts for the recipes).

Poulet de Broccoli

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups cooked chicken, breast and thigh (I use just breast)

2 small or 1 large package of frozen broccoli - or fresh broccoli

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayonnaise (for lighter dish use part plain yogurt)

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp curry powder (adjust curry powder to your taste)

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar

1 1/4 cups soft bread cubes

2 Tbs. melted butter

Instructions

1. Barely cook broccoli spears. (Slash stems for move even cooking)

2. Put in buttered casserole dish. Add a layer of chicken which has been torn into chunky pieces.

3. Mix cream of chicken soup, mayo, lemon juic, and currey powder together.

4. Cover broccoli and chicken with sauce mixture5. Distribute shredded sharp cheddar over sauce

6. Mix bread cubes and melted butter and top casserole with mixture

7. Bake for 30 mins. at 350.

Note: Serves 8

Christmas Eve dinner was at my Mom's house and Christmas dinner was at my Brother and Sister-in-law's house, so I decided to try something new. My nephew, Jack, said his favorite cupcake was vanilla cake with chocolate icing so I made mini vanilla cupcakes and mini chocolate cupcakes, and topped them both off with chocolate buttercream icing. (Note: The above links will take you to the recipes I used. The recipes make 24 standard size cupcakes so reduce ingredients and cooking time appropriately if you're making mini cupcakes.) This was my first time making vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and the batter with this recipe was AMAZING. It was like a fluffy mousse that I wanted to eat by the spoonful, but I resisted. My favorite was the vanilla cupcake. My mom said her favorite was the chocolate cake, but it still didn't have the flavor I was looking for so you'll likely see more chocolate cupcakes in my future.

Family Picture

Two days after Christmas, we got together for a family picture. Luckily, one of my friends is a photographer and agreed to take on the task. He did an amazing job, and you can take a peak at a few of the pictures on his blog at Drew Clayton Photography.

Crafts

Remember a few years ago when message bulletin boards were popular? At the time I watched a lot of "do-it-yourself" home shows and made my own. Recently my mom has been updating her house room by room and she asked me to make one for her office which is the next room on her redecorating list. She decided to go with an English theme for her office, meaning she'd keep things red, white, and blue (like the Union Jack). We headed to Michael's for a bulletin board and some stuffing, and then to Yardage Town for fabric, ribbon, and buttons. The only other things you need is a good staple gun, some thread, and a needle. The best part of making your own is that you can customize it by using whatever fabric, ribbon, and buttons you want. It's hard to see in the picture, but my favorite part of my Mom's is the one red button in the middle. Making these is super easy so I won't bore you with the details, but feel free to reach out to me if you're thinking about making your own and need some tips or help.

Those are just a few of the highlights from my trip. I hope your holidays were as enjoyable as mine. 2010 was a year of many great memories, and I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for me!