Christmas Oreo Balls

I make these every Christmas and distribute them to co-workers and friends.  They are far too decadent to be an everyday dessert, but once a year, they are worth the indulgence. 

Ingredients:

1 pack of double stuffed Oreos

1 log of Philadelphia cream cheese

1 package of white chocolate bark

Making it happen:

Breakdown the Oreos using a food processor until they are this consistency

Once all Oreos are broken down, add cream cheese.  Pulse until the mixture forms a ball. 

Start rolling the dough into balls and lay on cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Once all the dough has been used, put the formed Oreo balls into the fridge for at least three hours. 

Next, melt the white chocolate, roll balls through the melted chocolate until fully covered, and drop on wax paper to dry.  Sprinkle with red or green sprinkles. 

Spicy Pecans

The perfect cocktail party appetizer.  

Ingredients:

20 oz of pecan halves

1 tablespoon course salt

2 tablespoons of cayenne

1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika

1/2 cup sugar 

2 large egg whites 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Mix cayenne, sugar, paprika, and salt in a mixing bowl.  In separate bowl, mix egg whites until foamy.  Slowly add spice mixture to egg whites.  Stir in pecans. 

Spread nuts, in a single layer, on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 250 degrees, turn cookie sheet around, and bake another ten minutes.  Once out of oven, put on a clean piece of parchment sheet to dry.  

- I used aluminum foil and the nuts got stuck, so best to use the parchment paper. 

Once dry, serve along some festive cocktails. 

Chopped Taco Salad

My friend Danielle came over last night and I whipped up this salad.  My mom makes a killer taco salad, but I decided to play around with the recipe.  You certainly could add or take away any of the listed ingredients. Here is what I did.

Ingredients:

1 Romaine Heart (chopped)

Half a Head of Iceberg Lettuce (chopped)

1 Red Bell Pepper (chopped)

1/2 Red Onion (chopped)

1 Avocado (chopped)

4 Roma Tomatoes (chopped)

1 Jalapeno (seeded and chopped)

Bunch of Cilantro (chopped)

1 can of Black Beans (drained)

1 can of White Kernel Corn (drained)

1 lb of Ground Turkey

1 package of Taco Seasoning

Tortilla Chips

Catalina Dressing

Making it happen:

Brown the turkey, drain, and put in fridge for an hour or until cool.  Next, chop your vegetables and put them in a large mixing bowl.  Drain beans and corn, then add to vegetables.  Next, pull ground turkey out of fridge and mix with the package of taco seasoning.  Add this mixture to the bowl of ingredients.  Mix well.  Top with crushed tortilla chips and desired amount of dressing.  Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

This was one of the coldest Thanksgivings I can remember.  I headed back to Belmont on Tuesday and on Wednesday, we had flurries.  The Hukill's arrived Wednesday night and these two rested up next to the fire. 

We headed my my aunt and uncle's for Thanksgiving lunch.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday.  With Thanksgiving comes family time, football, great weather, and in my case, the one day of the year I eat myself sick.

The photograph below is one of the things I am most thankful for this year: Lee.  Lee decided to quit being stubborn and finally walk over the holiday!  As you can imagine, this had everyone excited.

Although I love pie of any kind, my favorite is sweet potato.  This is my Papa's specialty.  I forgo all other types of sweet potatoes on Thanksgiving to save room for a slice of this pie!

I am now back to work and in the final stretch until Christmas break. 

Fall

I love every season.  As much as I adore the summertime, I have off from school and get to travel, I am always ready for fall.  The food, the foliage, everything pumpkin, the scarves.  I love to curl up and watch "Hocus Pocus" or "When Harry Met Sally".  All of these things seem appropriate when fall finally arrives.

Lately I have been cooking up a storm, all of my fall favorites.  A friend brought me some beautiful fish and I have been trying to think of the perfect recipe. Rather than grilling the fish, I wanted to make something a little more hearty.  Here is what I did:

Recipe:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously cover the fish with olive oil, salt/pepper  Once the cast-iron skillet is hot, place the fish, skin side up, in the pan.  Sear for two minutes and flip the fish.  Once the fish has been flipped, top with a slap of butter.  Place pan in the oven and roast for 5-7 minutes.  Top with lemon juice and cover with aluminum foil once out of oven.  I had made a fire roasted tomato sauce, which made the perfect base for the fish.  Root vegetables as the side and voila, the perfect fall meal.

Earlier this week I had my friend Mandy over.  I was making a big pot of my all time favorite soup.  

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Soup

I baked Paula Deen's Blondie Butterscotch Brownies for my advisory students. 

Last night, for Halloween, I finally tried out this recipe. Butternut Squash Pizza.  This pizza has an olive oil base, red onion, sage, roasted butternut squash, goat cheese, and arugula.  It was delicious.  Paired with a great bottle of red and I had the perfect meal for a Halloween night. I chose not to do a gluten free crust, because I love bread and if you don't have to go that route, why would you?

Tip for homemade pizza- go by your favorite pizzeria and buy their dough.  

I carved a, little too happy, jack-o-lantern.

The Pecan Cottage @ Halloween.

Finally, my favorite kid from last night, Mr. President. 

Lee Turns 1

This little guy turned one last Friday.  I cannot believe it has been a year.  It seems like yesterday that he was born.  In the short time he has been with us, he has brought so much joy to our lives.  He is smart, handsome, and hilarious! He is stubborn and full of personality.  He hates to sleep and take naps, but loves to laugh! 

We all headed to Raleigh this past weekend for a fun-filled birthday weekend!  I was in charge of decorations and helping Bethany cook.  There weren't a lot of kids coming, so we turned Lee's table into their play station.  The red chairs were courtesy of my mother via Pottery Barn.  I know Lee will get great use out of these in the years to come.  He is obsessed with balloons, so we tied one to each chair.  We made little gift boxes for the other two kids (filled with bubbles and a ball).  Heidi, Rob's mom, painted the kids' names on little pumpkins for them to take home.

Bethany and the birthday boy! Decked out in his Polo gear.

Gift opening time was a bit overwhelming for such a little guy.  He looked at amazement at all the toys, but at the end of the day, was still enamored with the Ba Ba; the balloon.

The Hukill's mantle

We kept the food delicious, but easy.  Bethany made spinach and artichoke dip, chili con queso, and goat cheese and sun dried tomato dip. 

Bethany whipped up this Black Bean and Cumin Soup. Which paired well with the cornbread muffins.

I made Ina Garten's Chicken Chili.

Lee had a homemade, smash cupcake.  The adults ate almond cake courtesy of Edible Art. 

He loves to share when he is eating..... I wasn't as interested in taking a bite this time. :) 

I am so proud to call this little man my nephew and can't wait to watch him grown up.

10 yr Reuinion

Last weekend was my 10 yr reunion. I headed back to Belmont and caught up with some old friends. 

Class of 2003 

Weekend Fun

Randy and Julie were back down this weekend.  They got in late Friday night.  I had some appetizers and snacks waiting on them; including this cheese platter. 

Julie and I ran the "run for the tatas" race on Saturday morning.  This was my first 5k and I was determined to run the entire thing.  Mission accomplished.  I am so thankful that Julie was able to do this race with me.  She had been begging me to do a race for some time and I think without her motivation I would have never made it. This photograph was post race. 

We went to Towne for lunch and did some beer/wine shopping at World Market that afternoon. We spent the remainder of the day on my front porch, enjoying these- 

Today, we went to Jesters Java for brunch.  This was my first time there and this place, located on Castle street, is a hidden gem.  Julie and I had the eggs benedict, which sat on black bean patties, topped with chipotle hollandaise sauce.  They were delicious. 

Dining Room Makeover

When I bought the house, the dining room was army green.  I wanted so badly to brighten the space that I painted it this color -

My friend Julie and I hated it.  Over Easter weekend, we decided to go big and we did this- 

Totally different huh? I loved it.  I also knew I didn't want the room to become nautical, especially since I already live at the beach.  It all seemed a little cliche.  I found awesome fabric at MaryJos in Gastonia and had custom drapes made.  

Mountain Adventure

We headed to Boone this weekend to celebrate my mom's birthday.  We rented a cabin off of Bamboo road. 

The View 

Sunset

Side View and Dirt rd. 

We got pizza Friday night, went to the shops on the parkway Saturday, because it was raining, and went walking around Blowing Rock today.  I have the greatest family and this little getaway was so refreshing. 

Lee played with the pups 

We got some seriously good deals shopping

My parents on the parkway

In the park