Valentine's Day Surprise

I'm back! I hate that it's been so long since my last blog post, but life has just been busy. Here is a quick snapshot of my life lately: developing, scheduling & meeting on multiple IEPs, graduate school readings & classes, and, of course, the regular day-to-day responsibilities around the house.


My sweet husband realized how work-oriented I've been lately, and he took it upon himself to plan a wonderful Valentine's Day surprise for me. And this is HUGE considering he believes that Valentine's Day is a "made up holiday created by Halmark and Hershey's." 


I was told to not make any plans after school on Thursday (16th) and to come straight home. Once I got home we hit the road...We headed north on I95 and 2 hours later we were in Richmond! And our night began with beers and stellar food at 821 Cafe.

Photos Thanks to Yum Veggie!

 Us & our fabulous beers!

I should have taken pictures of our food, but as you can see my poor-old blackberry isn't taking pics like she use to. Tim had an amazing Chicken Parm sandwich,  and I had an Artichoke & Brie warp with Sun-dried Tomatoes with a side of yummy orzo.

At this point in the evening I still did not know where we were headed after dinner, but I was already one happy lady. It was so nice to put work aside and get out to a more eclectic eatery, with craft beers and amazingly fresh foods.  After dinner we walked a few blocks and as we turned the corner I saw this...

I had no idea we would be seeing The Lion King, but I was super excited and beyond thrilled.

If you haven't seen The Lion King (on or off Broadway), it is a must! I never cared for the Disney movie, and I wasn't thrilled in 2001 when, on a school trip, we were scheduled to see the show in Toronto. BUT I was presently surprised, and it has since been one of my very favorites.  The additional (nonDisney) music is just wonderful and the way in which the animals are portrayed is incredible.

Another poor image from my elderly blackberry, but proof that I was there!

My hubby's Valentine's Day Surprise was perfect. It was exactly what we needed - a break from life and a night to just be together and have fun! Did I mention this was our first married Valentine's Day?! I believe it was the first of many memorable married adventures and moments together. How did you celebrate with your love?

Here's hoping I'll be blogging more regularly and soon!

Kelly Anne 

Making Snowflakes!

Unfortunately (in my opinion), we have had a very mild winter in NC. While we do live in Eastern North Carolina where snow isn't exactly a staple,  ENC is usually good for at least one decent southern snow. A southern snow is only a few inches and rarely accumulates on the roads, and to any non-southerner it may appear to be nothing more than a light dusting. However, a southern snow is sure to turn the flat-brown piedmont into a beautiful winter wonderland just long enough for warm-fuzzy feelings and a snow day or delay. 


I love everything about a southern snow, everything from the predicted anticipation to the crazy milk & bread shoppers. But this winter there has been no snow, not even a slight chance of wintery mix. So when decorating for Christmas, I decided to bring the snow to Periwinkle Place one popsicle stick at a time. I found this awesome DIY project on Pinterest and hopped on over to Crafty Nest for the step-by-step snowflake tutorial.

This project was actually more time consuming than I originally expected, but I couldn't be happier with the final product.  

 This was my favorite shape.

 My dining room is red & white snowflake themed, so these XL flakes were perfect on the backside of my cabinets facing the dining room.

I opted to spray paint both sides red, which ended up being time consuming as paint doesn't exactly dry super fast this time of year. I imagine you could just paint one side if you displayed them flat on the wall as I did. 

But, don't forget to hit all the sides and corners with the spray paint as well!

I also flanked my Roanoke frame on the far wall of my dining room too. 

We made 5 in snowflakes in all.

In hopes of coaxing some real snow our way, I've decided to leave my dining room decked out in the red & white snowflakes throughout the remaining winter months. I realize that the red is a nod at Christmas, but I just couldn't bring myself to pack up all the fun decorations. And besides, I think I can totally justify the snowflakes as a dual purpose decoration (a two-for-one if you will) :)

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I have to give a shout out to my wonderful, math teacher, super awesome husband! 

Tim helped to ensure my angles were just right and that the final product did indeed look like a true snowflake.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Kelly Anne 

Follow Me Wednesday!

A blog I follow, 3 Four and Under, is hosting a Follow Me Wednesday. I decided to join the fun and hopefully gain some new followers too.  If you found me during today's Follow Me please leave a comment and I'll follow you back!

Happy Following!

Kelly Anne 

O Tannenbaum

I just wanted to share the evolution of our tree over the years. Keep in mind our living room dimensions have not changed.

2008

2009

2010

2011

Kelly Anne 

White Christmas Sangria & Cheddar Sausage Balls

In addition to the tons of sweets at the cookie swap, I also served a Sun-dried Tomato Cheese Spread (for details, check here for a Feb. 2011 post) , Cheddar Sausage Balls and White Christmas Sangria. 

The sangria was a hit, and I only wish I had made more!  Recipe Link.

White Wine. Apples. Pears. Grapefruit. Tangerines. Fruit Juice of Choice. 

Sparkling White Wine before serving.

 It turned out to be more "blush" in color than white. I used Cran-Apple juice which added the hint of color; I could not find white cranberry juice, and I'm unsure if it even exists, even though many recipes called for it to be used. 

The drink spread: White Christmas Sangria, White & Red Wine, 

A Sam Adams Holiday Sampler and Sodas.

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Cheddar Sausage Balls
I have to admit, I felt a bit guilty at how easy this recipe was to prepare.  I had never made sausage balls before, and I just assumed there was more to the recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised at my mistaken assumption.


The basic recipe:
- 2 cups Bisquick Mix
- 10 oz. Cheese of Choice 
(I used cheddar, but I've heard using a mexican blend turns out great!)
- 1lb. Sausage of Choice
- Mix all ingredients together, shape into balls, bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. That's it!

 I used mild sausage since I was having guests, but I bet the spicy with the mexi cheese would be awesome!

All kids (ingredients) in the pool

You've got to get your hands dirty on this one.

Before.

After.

I added a touch of finely chopped onion to my recipe; I believe you could dress up this recipe with any extras you find fun and tasty.  I'm thinking peppers and garlic too!

Again, if you're feeling stressed to come up with a Christmas Eve treat at the last minute tonight, this recipe would be perfect!

Merry Christmas Eve Cooking & Baking!

Kelly Anne 

Christmas Greetings!

Our first Christmas as the Mudds!

Married Christmas & a Happy Newlywed Year!

Kelly Anne 

My Christmas Cookie Swap Recipes

On Sunday, I hosted the "2nd Annual Christmas Cookie Swap" at casa de Mudd. The premise of my cookie exchange is for each guest to bake and bring 4 dozen cookies - one dozen to taste/eat at the party and three dozen to share. Each guest shows up with four dozen cookies and each guest should go home with roughly three donzen cookies of all varieties. 

I knew that I wanted to bake something new.  It is always risky to try anything new when you're inviting guests over, but I trusted my baking skills and decided to try two Pinterest recipes.  (um, did you expect anything less than a Pinterest idea).

Both recipes turned out fabulous! It was definitely worth the risk. Now for the details...

White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

I absolutely love the taste of gingerbread, but I'm not a huge fan of the hard texture of traditional gingerbread cookies (like the gingerbread men cookies).  These cookies were the perfect balance of taste and texture. Recipe Link.

 The players: Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Ginger, Egg, Unsalted Butter, Baking Soda, Salt, AP Flour, Molasses, Vanilla.

 This is a great little cooking tip: When a recipe calls for tightly packed brown sugar, use a gallon sized zip-lock bag - place the brown sugar and a measuring cup into the bag, then pack the brown sugar using the bag as a barrier between your hand and sugar.

 Dark Karo Syrup would work just as well as Molasses

 It looked and smelled like gingerbread!

 Shape into large "dome" and place in fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.

 Roll cookie balls in sugar before baking.

Place Hugs Kisses into the center of the cookies immediately after removing from the oven. I baked these on parchment paper, and then just slid the paper/cookies off the baking sheet, then I added the Kisses. This was great because I didn't have worry about the excess heat from the baking sheet melting the Kisses too quickly.

YUMMY!

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Apple Cider Carmel Cookies

These were super easy and quick. One side note: it is best to zap these in the microwave for a few seconds before eating, as the caramels hidden inside do get a bit hard (especially if you're enjoying a few days after baking). Recipe Link.

The players: Apple Cider Drink Mix Packets, Kraft Caramels, Vanilla, Eggs, Melted Butter, Sugar, Baking Powder & Soda, Flour.

You do have to unwrap all 10 individual drink packets - the drink mix gets added in with the flour, sugar and baking powder & soda.

 One by one everything ends up in the mixer.

 Scoop into balls, and then press and small "bowl" into the middle of the cookie ball.

Add an entire Kraft Caramel and seal the cookie dough completely around the caramel

(and yes, you have to unwrap each individual caramel).

This is a picture of my last batch, which I made JUMBO sized, because I was running out of caramels. The recipe makes enough dough for about 60ish regular sized cookies, but one bag of Kraft Caramels only contains 50 candy pieces.  I would suggest buying two bags of caramel if you would like the cookies to be uniformed in size...or I guess you could just make all the cookies a little bigger :)

Both recipes turned out fabulous, and were super easy & fun to make. I will definitely be adding these to my traditional holiday baking list. The apple cider cookies would actually be a great Thanksgiving treat too! The cookie swap was a great success once again; stay turned for a post about my White Christmas Sangria and Cheddar Sausage Balls that made their debut at the party as well.

Merry Baking!

Kelly Anne