Another Year of Joy

This year I had 2 out of 3 kids in the house for part of the holiday, NOT BAD!
The years go by so quickly and they grow so fast. I'm grateful for this!

It's so important to decorate the house with all the traditional decorations
and the tree with the the usual ornaments
that have become memories ...each one of them!
I know they look forward to the day they have their
first tree in their own homes and they can hang
all of their memory ornaments that they acquired through the years growing up.

You can really see how the years have passed when you start to decorate the tree!

Each child with his favorite ornament depicting
a special time in their lives or a favorite thing.

The traditional Angel that tops our tree year after year...

The Nativity scene given to us by my Mother in Law
-made in Venezuela hand carved with love!

Or the Christmas Sleigh hand made by my Dad...
Santa sits in it every year!

They all grow so fast - but one thing we can always depend on is Tradition and the Love and Joy that surrounds our Holiday...
My boys look forward to it ..and I know they will continue all the little traditions we have started together for their families when the time comes.

These are MY Life's Joys

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

How To Cook Pasta Properly

I found this really great article HERE and I wanted to share it with you ...
Properly cooking your pasta is crucial to a good meal.

Important Rule: Pasta should be prepared just before serving it.

Use a Large Pot:

• To cook pasta properly, pasta needs a lot of water. A too-small pot and too little water encourages the pasta to clump and stick together, thus cooking unevenly.

• For a pound (16 ounces) of pasta, you will want a pot that holds at least 5 or 6 quarts of water.

Use only COLD Water:

• Fill that big pot 3/4 full of COLD water or use at least one quart of cold water for every four ounces of dry pasta.

  The reason for this is that hot water will dissolve anything - including contaminants like lead - much more easily than cold water and if that water encounters something like an older leaded pipe or some rust before coming out in your kitchen sink, it could very well end up in your glass. The most common problem is water that has been sitting in your home pipes for over 6 hours.

Bring the pot of cold water to a fast boil:

• Covering the pot of cold water with a lid will help bring the water to a boil faster.

Add Salt:

• Salting the water makes pasta taste better by bringing out the natural flavor of the pasta. This does not increase the sodium level of your recipes. NOTE: I always use kosher (coarse) salt.
  
• Do not add your salt until the water has come to a full boil. There are two reasons for this:
  
  1. First, unsalted water has a lower boiling point than salted water, so it will come to a boil a few seconds faster.
  
  2. Second and more important, salt dissolves faster in hot water. Un-dissolved salt crystals in cold water can mar the surface of your stainless-steel pots with small white dots or pits.
  
• Add plenty of salt, about 2 tablespoons of kosher salt per pound of pasta. This may seem like a lot, but it is necessary for getting the pasta properly seasoned. Plus, most of the salt drains off with the water. NOTE: If you taste the salted water, it should resemble "sea water."
  
• If you are on a sodium restricted diet, please follow your doctor’s orders.

Bring your water, with the added salt, back to a full boil:

• Explanation or Science of Boiling Water: Pasta added to water before it starts to boil gets a heat start on mushiness. Pasta quickly begins to break down in tepid water as the starch dissolves. You need the intense heat of boiling water to "set" the outside of the pasta, which prevents the pasta from sticking together. That's why the fast boil is so important; the water temperature drops when you add the pasta, but if you have a fast boil, the water will still be hot enough for the pasta to cook properly.
  

Adding the dried pasta:

• Add the pasta, all at once, to the boiling salted water, and keep the heat high to bring the water back to the boil as quickly as possible. NOTE: Never mix pasta types in one pot.

• To keep pasta from sticking together, gently stir the pasta in the water during the first 1 to 2 minutes of cooking.

• Cook the pasta, uncovered, at a fast boil. NOTE: Once you have added your pasta, do not cover the pot with a lid. You can regulate the heat so the pasta/water mixture doesn't foam up and over the pot sides. Lower it the tiniest bit, and everything should be under control.

• DO NOT ADD ANY TYPE OF OIL - Oil will coat the pasta and keep the sauce from adhering. After you add the pasta to the boiling water, stir with a long wooden spoon (stirring prevents pasta from sticking to each other and from sticking to the bottom and the edge of pan). Frequent stirring with a long wooden spoon or fork while the pasta is cooking will help the pasta to cook evenly. Make sure the pieces are moving freely.

photo by tikitarawa on Flicker

Cooking Time:

• Don't rely on the package to give you the correct cooking time (this is only a guideline). Start timing when the water returns to a boil. Most pastas cook in 8-12 minutes.
  
• Test dry pasta for doneness after about 4 minutes of cooking by tasting it. It is difficult to give exact cooking times since different shapes and thickness of pasta will take less or more time to cook.
  
• Watch the cooking process of the pasta carefully. Pasta can overcook very quickly. Pasta should be tender but still firm when you eat it, what the Italians call "al dente." To be sure, bite into a piece of the pasta (take a piece of pasta from the pan, cut off a tiny piece, and chew it in your mouth). REMEMBER - Pasta will continue to cook and soften even after it has been taken from the water.
  
  Definition of "al dente" (ahl-DEN-tay): In Italian the phrase means "to the tooth" and is a term used to describe the correct degree of doneness when cooking pasta, risotto, and vegetables. The food should have a slight resistance (chewy) when biting into it, but should not be soft, overdone, or have a hard center.
  
• Fulvia Guyger's Italian tip for stopping cooking time: Once pasta has reached the "al dente" stage, immediately turn off your gas heat or remove the pot from the heat if using electric heat. Add approximately 1/2 to 1 cup COLD water to the hot water with the pasta. This will immediately lower the temperature of the water and stop the cooking.
  

• Cooking Pasta For Baked Dishes: Because the pasta is cooked twice (boiled first and then combined with other ingredients and cooked in the oven), pasta in baked dishes should boil less time than normal. Boil until just flexible but still quite firm (usually about a 1/3 of the normal cooking time). To test, cut into a piece.

Drain immediately:

• Drain immediately into a large colander standing in the sink, and then pick up the colander with its contents and shake it well to remove excess water.

• Do NOT rinse unless the recipe says to do so. the starch that makes the pasta stick to itself also helps the sauce stick to the pasta. If you're going to toss the pasta with the sauce immediately, sticking shouldn't be a problem.
  

Never, Never Over Drain Pasta:

• EXCEPTION: Except when saucing with thin or brothy sauces such as fresh tomato or seafood, pasta needs to be moist to combine well. As soon as it is drained, remove it from the colander and place it either back in the cooking pan to keep warm to toss it with the sauce, or place it in a preheated serving dish or individual preheated serving bowls. Once the pasta is in the pan or bowl, use a fork and spoon and quickly toss it with the sauce.

Do NOT Rinse Pasta:

• EXCEPTION: Do rinse the wide pasta, such as lasagna noodles. If you don't, you will have a hard time separating the noodles without tearing them.
  
• Also rinse when making a cold pasta salad. The thin coat of starch on the pasta will be sticky when cold.

photo by crunked on Flicker

Don't Drown Pasta

Never over sauce pasta. Italians complain that Americans drown their pasta in too much sauce. The Italians way is to toss pasta with just enough sauce to coat it without leaving a big puddle on the bottom of the plate.

• Warming A Serving Bowl:
  Pour some hot water into it and let stand until ready to use. Then pour out the water and dry the bowl. Warm plates by putting them into a 250 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes just before serving.

• Reheating Pasta:
  Microwave the pasta in the storage container on HIGH for 1 to 3 minutes, tossing the pasta halfway through. The length of time in the microwave depends on how much pasta you have. You can also reheat the pasta by putting it in a colander and running very hot water over it. Be sure to drain the pasta well before putting on sauce.

• Making Pasta Ahead:
  Cook the pasta as usual, being particularly careful to cook it only until al dente. Drain, rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking, and again drain thoroughly. Let pasta cool completely, then toss with a couple of teaspoons of oil so it won't stick together. Pasta can be stored in a plastic bag or in a covered bowl in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Pasta Etiquette

• It is considered proper, in Italy, to eat pasta with only a fork, not a fork and a spoon.
  
• You can get some leverage by turning the pasta while holding the tines of your fork against the edge of your plate. It's even correct to neatly cut the pasta if twirling is too hard.
  
• What is undeniably bad manners is slurping in a mouthful of trailing pasta without benefit of twirl or knife. It's often loud, and it's never pretty.
  
• If possible, serve warm pasta in warm, shallow bowls instead of on dinner plates. The sides of the bowl aids in turning pasta noodles on the fork.
  
• During the 18th and 19th centuries, the ordinary people ate spaghetti with their hand. When the fork was invented, pasta became food fit for royalty as well, because they could now eat it without a loss of dignity. The Italians say that a character of a man can be determined by the way he eats spaghetti.

Sunday Baker has been Fiddling Around and you have to check it out!

Tanya at Sunday Baker is having some serious fun at her Blog site with one of her very favorite holiday gift ideas and you have to check it out.

She is giving away $50.00 gift certificate...to design your very own piece of photo artwork at PHOTOFIDDLE...

Tanya says ...All you need is one of your favorite high-resolution photos. You upload it to the PhotoFiddle website and transform it into gorgeous, high-quality artwork that you can proudly hang in your home. You can choose from over 50 canvas art styles! The really fun part is playing around and transforming your photos to see what they'll look like as an oil painting, charcoal sketch, pop-art, and so much more on their easy-to-use editing tools:
Photo changed to Modern Style (photofiddle.com)
Photo Transformed To Pop-Art Style (photofiddle.com) Photo transformed into an oil painting (photofiddle.com)
Photo Transformed to Low-Detail Watercolor (photofiddle.com)
You can get the photo on stretched canvas, or as an art print and frame it yourself (they offer something for every budget). You can also order them in just about any size.

Now if I were to make one of these totally awesome photos it would probably be of my boys...



Hurry over to Sunday Baker before the deadline...(The contest will end Sunday night at 5:00 p.m. )
Tell Tanya I sent you...

Dorie Greenspans Baking Hints

On making biscuits: Use a benignly neglectful technique; be a little lackadaisical about working the butter into the flour. Using fingertips—always my first choice—or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients quickly but not conscientiously. You want the mixture to resemble a rocky road—there should be some sandy patches, some tiny little pebbly pieces, pieces as slim as flakes, and pieces as chubby as peas. Let diversity reign. It's the water in these higgledy-piggledy bits of butter that, under the heat of the oven, turns to steam and creates air pockets in the dough that become flaky layers.

On mixing muffins: Muffins do best when mixed least. No beating, and no worrying about the lumps and bumps in the batter—most will disappear in the baking and you'll get just the right light, open crumb.

On baking cookies:

• Always start with a cool baking sheet, otherwise your dough will ooze and melt before it bakes.

• Avoid insulated baking sheets, which bake more slowly than standard ones.

• Always line your baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat, which will not only make cleanup easier but help the cookies to bake more evenly.

• Give your cookies space: even nonspreaders shouldn't be crowded so the oven's heat can bake the edges properly.

• Keep crunchy cookies in one jar and soft, chewy ones in another—combine them and you'll end up with a jar full of softies.

On chocolate chips: Chop your own chips and chunks from fine-quality bar or block chocolate. The big-name supermarket brands are not of premium quality. Chocolate chips, for the most part, don't come from the choicest cacao beans, and the chips end up with a very low percentage of cacao. What they save in convenience, they often take away in flavor and texture.

When I make chocolate chip cookies, I don't worry about cutting the chocolate into uniform sizes or shapes. Having chunks, chips, and slivers makes the eating more fun, and I love the way the mishmash of shapes looks when the cookies are baked—streaked, marbled, tweedy, and totally tempting.

On using butter: Please, please, please, and please again, when a recipe calls for butter, do not use anything else. You cannot use margarine or any other kind of "spread" in a recipe that calls for butter and expect to get the proper results. Try to find unsalted butter for your baking. Using unsalted butter not only gives you control over the amount of salt in your recipe, it gives you a difference in taste and texture, too, since salted butter has a lower percentage ofbutterfat and therefore a higher percentage of water.

On making layer cakes: Always set your filled and frosted layer cake aside for at least 2 hours so the components settle into a whole and the layers attach themselves to one another. That way you can cut impressively clean wedges.

On baking holiday pies: When you've got a turkey just about living in the oven, you need a few strategies for what I think of as battlefront conditions.

• Roll ahead: Roll the pie dough out and fit it into buttered pie plates and keep them ready and waiting in the freezer for up to 2 months. You don't even need to defrost the crusts:

• Just give them a few extra minutes in the oven.

• Partially bake the crusts: You can do this the night before and keep them at room temperature.

• Get a head start on the fillings: Make them the night before and refrigerate.

• Double up: Desperate times call for desperate measures. You can bake the stuffing, sweet potatoes, and green bean casserole at the same time as the pies. Use the temperature needed for pies, since the fixings are flexible.

On pumpkin: If this vegetable were getting its kindergarten report, it would get an A for "playing well with others." I confess that my pumpkin doesn't come from the patch, but right off the supermarket shelves. I always used canned puree (not pie filling, which is already spiced) and always have a couple of cans in the cupboard because a craving can strike long after—or long before—the proverbial frost is on the pumpkin.

from:
Baking
From My Home to Yours
by Dorie Greenspan
Photographs by Alan Richardson
Houghton Mifflin Company
Full-color, 528 pages,
ISBN: 0-618-44336-3
Reprinted by permission.

Buy It Here..

About the Author

Dorie Greenspan has written or co-written eight cookbooks, including Baking with Julia, which won a James Beard Award and an IACP Award; Desserts by Pierre Hermé, which was named IACP Cookbook of the Year; and Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé, which won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the best English-language cookbook. She created many recipes for The All-New Joy of Cooking and is a special correspondent for Bon Appétit, for which she writes the "Tools of the Trade" column.

Information provided by the publisher.

Win a Kodak Digital Frame! at 5 Minutes for Giveaways

5 Minutes for Giveaways is offering a fantastic prize from Kodak —
the EASYSHARE W820 Wireless Digital Frame with Home Decor Kit.

Can you believe you can have a picture frame that connects wirelessly to your network and plays MP3s! You can play multimedia slide shows of your pictures, videos and music. Amazing.

Set up is simple too, with easy to use instructions and the intuitive quick touch border.

The EASYSHARE W820 Wireless Digital Frame:

• 8 in. (20.3 cm) high-quality display
• 512 MB of internal memory
• Wi-Fi enabled
• Plays MP3 through built in speakers
• Kodak's Quick Touch Border
• Access the latest news, weather, sports, and more
• Automatically send and receive pictures from KODAK Gallery members right on your frame with the Picture Mail feature

If you want to win an EASYSHARE W820 Wireless Digital Frame with Home Decor Kit valued at $219.95,rush right over to 5 Minutes for Giveaways and enter!

My Low Cal Veggie Soup

Too much baking- Too much cooking- Too much eating...and its time for me to start making my low cal veggie soup.


This is a comfort food that is good for you and hits the spot on those really cold days (or any day!).
It is guilt free and healthy.

My Low Calorie Vegetable Soup

Onions, raw, 1 cup, chopped
Carrots, raw, 2 large chopped (7-1/4" to 8-1/2" long)
Celery, raw, 4 stalk, small chopped (5" long)
Leeks, .5 cups washed well and chopped
Endive,1/2 cup, chopped
White beans, 1 cup
Red cabbage 1/4 cup
Swanson Chicken Broth 99% Fat Free, 4 cups
Water, tap, 2 cups (8 fl oz)
Mixed frozen veggies- 1 bag

Saute onion,leek,celery.carrots and any other remaining veggies in olive oil.
Add liquids -
Add remaining items (beans and barley).
Cook until slowly until all is tender-season. Enjoy!
*feel free to add rice, pasta or barley.
(I usually prefer barley)

Number of Servings: 8

Lampwork Glass Ornament Giveaway at Sunday Baker

Tanya at Sunday Baker is hosting a beautiful, hand-crafted, lampwork glass ornament giveaway ... they are flame worked by the artist in Oregon- Lampwork Beads & Jewelry :



Tanya said they are also called a glass "Friendship Ball" which is traditionally hung in your window year-round to remind you of the joy and sparkle of friendship. Such a unique and gorgeous gift!


They have many different colors and gorgeous options available in their shop.

So rush over to Sunday Baker and enter to win one of these unique gorgeous ornaments...oh and please tell Tanya I sent you in your post.

5 Minutes for Mom Giveaway-$100 Visa Gift Card from Scott

Scott Common Sense is giving one lucky reader a $100 Visa Gift Card to put towards your holiday shopping, along with a year’s supply of Scott Bath and Towel products to help you through holiday spills!



Rush over to 5 Minutes for Mom and enter this contest... they will announce the winner Saturday, December 20th.

A Soldiers Christmas

"TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE
MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.
I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE
AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.
I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE.
NO STOCKING BY THE MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND.
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.
WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND.
FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.
THE SOLDER LAY SLEEPING, SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.
THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER.
NOT HOW I PICTURED A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.
WAS THIS THE HERO OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP IN A PONCHO, THE FLOOR FOR A BED?
I REALIZED THE FAMILIES THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD, THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.
THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS, LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.
I COULDN'T HELP WONDER HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE, IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.
THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES AND STARTED TO CRY.
THE SOLDIER AWAKENED AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY, THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE,
I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM, I DON'T ASK FOR MORE.
MY LIFE IS MY GOD, MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.
"THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP.
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT, I CONTINUED TO WEEP.
I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS, SO SILENT AND STILL,
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.
I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT.
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR SO WILLING TO FIGHT.
THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE, WHISPERED,
"CARRY ON SANTA.
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.
"ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

Hurry over to The Giveaway....

DC Stuff Etsy Giveaway at the Giveaway

These are the most adorable crosses I have ever seen.

Hurry over to The Giveaway and check out what is going on...

Can you believe they are actually giving away your choice of any single color Cross Necklace or Keychain by DC Stuff.



Necklace is adjustable.
Cross size is about 1 3/4x1 in.
Each cross is coated with a layer of clear coat acrylic to avoid rusting & chipping of the colored wire.



Each necklace comes in it's own little bag.

Contest Giveaway: A Flight of Fine Finishing Salts

I don't know about you but I am facinated these days by all the different types of salt out there.
Specialty salts are the finishing touch to really great recipes. Ritrovo’s collection equips the home chef with the ability to completely amplify or modify the flavor profile of ANY dish from baked goods (hello sweet salt!) to grilled fish. There is no other salt product on the market that compares to Ritrovo’s quality.

The Marxfood.com blog is having a really neat giveaway .
That’s why they are giving away a flight of seven Ritrovo finishing salts valued at $120.



Ritrovo’s Fine Finishing Salts Collection has just been added to their web store and they are really excited about these exceptional artisanal salt blends.

If you go HERE you can enter the giveaway-A winner will be chosen by random and announced on Monday, December 8.

Carols Italian Cookies

I just finished baking a batch of Carols delicious Italian Cookies from
Bunny's Warm Oven



Now I have had these cookies in the past -
I could never find the recipe to make them.

When I ran across Carols post...I couldn't wait to make them.

Let me tell you they came so good-
I should have made 2 batches.
I will make more tomorrow for sure!
Thanks Carol!




Enjoy!

I'm submitting this to Food Bloggas Eat Christmas Cookies blogging event. Check this link to participate in the event. Or check here to see the roundup (gets updated as entries come in).

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and wom en for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.

LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq

Sour Cream Chocolate Pound Cake with Dark Chocolate Glaze and White Chocolate Drizzle Recipe

I made this recipe to bring to family today.
It was absolutely delicious. Everyone loved it.
Of course I forgot to take a picture!
I am posting it with its original photos courtesy of
Great Chocolate Cakes and Recipes

These photos are not mine!



Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.
For the cake:

* 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup cake flour
* 1 cup cocoa powder plus 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
* 2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
* 2-1/4 cups sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
* 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place a rack in the centre of the oven. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube ban.
2. On medium speed, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (4 to 5 minutes). Add your eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Mix together the vanilla and sour cream.
4. Combine your dry ingredients. Add them to the butter and sugar in three additions, alternating with the sour cream mixture. Start and end with the flour mixture.
5. Pour your batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes. Test the cake with a cake tester or a toothpick to ensure that it’s cooked in the centre.
6. Cool the cake for 15 to 20 minute and then unmold.
7. Let it cool completely before glazing.

For the Dark Chocolate Glaze:

* 3 ounces dark chocolate (I used a Lindt chocolate with 65% cocoa solids — use your favourite chocolate)
* 1/3 cup heavy cream

1. Finely chop your chocolate.
2. Boil the cream and immediately pour it over the chocolate.
3. Let sit for 2 or 3 minutes and then stir until the glaze is smooth.
4. Place the glaze in a bowl and let sit for a few minutes to set a bit. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
5. When you’re ready to glaze the cake, place your cake on a wire rack with a lined tray beneath or place your cake directly on some waxed paper to or aluminum foil to avoid making a mess.
6. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to drip down the sides.
7. Let the glaze set completely.

For the white chocolate drizzle:

* 1 small bar of white chocolate (I used Lindt)

1. Melt your white chocolate in a double boiler.
2. Once it’s melted, stir to ensure that it’s smooth.
3. With a squeeze bottle, pastry bag or with a fork, drizzle the chocolate over the glazed cake in a decorative pattern.
4. Let set completely before serving.

I'm A Winner at Get The Bean

I was so excited this morning to open my email and find that I am the lucky winner of the weekly giveaway at Get The Bean.



The website is amazing there are so many different types of coffees and teas.

• Charity Coffees
• Holiday Flavors & Gifts
• Signature
• Flavored
• Estate
• Peaberry
• Tea
• Chai
• W.J.T.
• Iced Coffee
• Smoothies
• Biscotti
• Monin Syrup
• Gifts

Get The Bean has some of the finest organically grown coffee beans in the world.
Fresh roasted, made to order and delivered right to your doorstep in our full 16oz bags.
Once you try their beans you will never go anywhere else for your coffee.

I chose the CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT COFFEE


- but it was a really difficult choice to make.
I wanted 3 or 4 different ones.
My holiday guests are going to flip when they smell and taste what I'm serving them this Christmas!

Hurry and get over to Get The Bean...You are wasting time!

Oh and while you are there make sure you stop and support the fight against cancer
!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

~Author Unknown

Peanut Butter Chocolate Kiss Cookies

When my son asked me if he could help me make some cookies-
I decided to make something I knew he loved.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter! Perfect way to keep him in the kitchen!

1/2 c Sugar	1 Egg
1/2 c Packed light brown sugar	1 3/4 c Flour
1/2 c Soft butter	1 ts Baking soda
1/2 c Peanut butter	1/2 ts Salt
2 tb Milk	Decorating sugar
1 ts Vanilla	Chocolate kisses

Instructions for Peanut Butter/Chocolate Kiss Cookies

Heat oven to 375. Mix all ingredients except kisses and decorating sugar. Will form stiff dough. Roll into balls. Roll in decorating sugar. Place 2 inches apart on un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes. Press chocolate kiss in center. Makes 4 doz.

Ham Day !!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday was Ham Day-
My niece and her husband came to dinner
and I made a yummy Spiral Cut Ham-
and it was DELISH!

Needless to say I have a ton of leftover ham.

When I was at the supermarket this afternoon I bought a bag of split peas...to make soup with some of my leftover ham!

Then I happen to land on Lisa's blog~

The Cutting Edge of Ordinary .

Lisa made Ham &

Navy Bean Soup.

When I saw her photo I knew I had to have some.

So I got to work.

I followed her recipe and then a

dded a few cut up potatoes

and some diced up kale that was in my fridge.

Then weather is getting colder and we are expecting some snow

and this soup really hit the spot.

Thank you Lisa- it was a hit!

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Ham & Navy Bean Soup

taken from "The Cutting Edge of Ordinary"

6 - 8 cups of chicken stock (or broth)
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced

1 ham bone
1 pound navy beans, rinsed and soaked over night.
Leftover ham, cut into bit size pieces.

In a large pot bring the chicken stock, carrots, celery and the ham bone to a boil then reduce to a simmer.

Add in the navy beans and simmer about 2 hours, or

until beans are tender. I also added some Mrs. Dash, fresh parsley, a bay leaf and some cracked black pepper while it cooked. Take out the ham bone. If you have a big dog in the neighborhood I would save it as a nice treat. Since my pup is only 12 pounds and the ham bone weighs as much as him, I had to toss mine since there wasn't a big pooch around. Add the ham during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Pulse Kick N’ Go Nitrous Scooter Giveaway

Pulse Kick N’ Go Nitrous Scooter



Hurry up and head over to 5 Minutes for Moms



before you miss your chance at this really cool giveaway!
The winner will be drawn randomly and they will announce the winner Monday, December 1st.
Go here for Giveaway Rules