Happy New Year!!!

Here is a little peak of what our evening will look like...

Wishing everyone a safe, happy and wonderful New Year's Eve!

May all your dreams come true in 2011!

2010 Year in Review

My Closet, A True Sanctuary!!!
Weekends~I live for them.
~Strawberry Bruschetta~
Kitchen Make~Over= Bliss
Roasted Caprese Salad
Home
Peanut Butter And Jelly Bars
I loved showing you my make-up addiction
My All Time Favorite Cupcakes
Pineapple Fried Rice
Love
My First Post
I have had the most wonderful 6 months of blogging. Seems

like, I've been doing it forever. I look forward to the upcoming

year. I have so much to share with you, all. I just want to thank

each and everyone of you who stops by and spends some time

with me. Hugs~Val

Winter Salad

I don't know about you, but this time of year...I start to

crave salad's. My body longs for healthy greens. This salad

is anything but boring. It is one of my favorite's and if

you try it....it will be one of your's too.

Winter Salad

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1-2 chicken breasts, cooked & diced

1 large bunch of spinach

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese-or your favorite

1 pear, diced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

Dressing

2 tablespoons, red raspberry jam ( with seeds)

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cups olive oil

salt and pepper

1) Preheat oven to 350* Arrange walnuts in a single layer

on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 5 minutes.

2) In a large bowl, toss together the spinach, walnuts, pear,

chicken, cranberries, blue cheese, avocado and red onion.

3) In a small bowl, whisk together jam, vinegar, olive oil,

pepper and salt. Pour over salad just before serving and

toss to coat.

Gumdrop Fudge

Goody, goody gumdrops. How cute are these?? Not only

are they cute, but they are so good. I love gumdrops and

only eat them around the holidays....so this recipe is just

perfect. Enjoy and share.

Gumdrop Fudge

1 1/2 pounds white candy coating, coarsely chopped

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups gumdrops, chopped

1) Line a 9 inch square pan with foil, set aside. In a heavy

saucepan, combine the candy coating, milk, and salt. Cook

and stir over low heat until chips are melted. Remove from

the heat, stir in vanilla and gumdrops.

2) Spread into prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate until

firm. Using foil, remove fudge from the pan. Cut into 1 inch

squares. Store at room temperature.

Taco Bites

I love to entertain and have a full house of family and

friend's. I get great pleasure out of making other's

happy! I live for it. I always put SO much pressure on

myself. The one thing I've learned over the years is to

keep some thing's simple and appetizers have to be

easy and delish.

Taco Bites

1 pound ground turkey or beef

1 onion, finely chopped

1 envelope taco seasoning

3/4 cups water

1 1/4 cups shredded Mexican cheese, divided

2 packages miniature phyllo tart shells

taco sauce or salsa

sour cream

chives

1) In a skillet, cook meat and onion over medium heat

until meat is no longer pink, drain, Stir in taco seasoning

and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered

for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in 1/2 cup cheese.

2) Place tart shells in a baking pan. Fill with taco mixture.

3) Bake at 350* for 6 minutes.

4) Top each shell with sour cream, taco sauce, Cheese and

chives. Enjoy!

Coconut bonbons

If there is one thing you should make for the holidays,

it should be these highly addicting and beyond yummy

bonbons. I boxed these little beauties up in decorative

boxes with bows and handed them out to friends. Try

them...your won't regret it!!

Coconut Bonbons

2 2/3 cups flaked coconut, chopped

2/3 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup finely chopped almond, toasted

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1 tablespoon shortening

colored jimmies or coarse sugar, for sprinkling

1) In a small bowl, combine the coconut, confectioner's

sugar, milk, almonds, butter and vanilla. Cover and

refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

2) Roll into 1 inch balls, place on waxed paper-lined

pan. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

3) In a microwave safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and

shortening, stir until smooth. Dip balls in chocolate,

allow excess to drip off. Return to waxed paper-lined

pans. Sprinkle with jimmies. Chill until firm. Store in

an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Love

Oh....how I love this child!! She owns my heart and makes

everyday a good day. I'm truly thankful and blessed.

Festive Blondies

Baking for the holidays? If so, you must make these!!

You probably already have all the ingredients. I love

how festive they look. I just had one for breakfast with

my morning coffee. I'm thinking I might have one for

lunch too.

Festive Blondies

2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more, for pan. room temp

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

m&m's

1) Preheat oven to 350*. Brush an 8 inch square baking pan

with butter. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving 2 inch

overhang on two sides. Butter paper.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together butter and sugars until

smooth. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt, stir

just until moistened. Transfer batter to a prepared pan and

smooth top. Arrange candies in 12 rows ( 2 rows per color)

on top of the dough.

3) Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a toothpick

inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Using parchment overhang, lift cake from pan and transfer

to a cutting board, cut into 16 squares.

$50 Pottery Barn Giveaway!!!

This is my first giveaway. I just wanted to thank all the

great people who have stopped by my little blog and

showed me blog love. When I first started blogging it was

for me to have a creative outlet and for my children to

maybe one day look back at our lives and see all the things

we have done and recipes they can carry on.

The one thing I never expected was the friendship's that

would come along because of blogging. I'm grateful and

you have made my heart bigger. The Giveaway is my way

of saying, Thank you. Whether you have been with me

from the start or just today.

All you have to do to win is....You must follow my blog to enter

and just leave me a comment and let me know what your favorite

holiday food is..... A winner will be chosen one week from

today. Good luck. I know we all LOVE Pottery Barn!!

Holiday Stuffing

Holiday Stuffing aka Pineapple Stuffing. This dish is on

every holiday table we have. I love it best with a Spiral

ham. The combo is magical. Confession, sometime's I

will even eat it cold the next day for breakfast.

Holiday Stuffing

6 slices of bread

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 ( 1 lb 4 ounce) can pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cube bread. Cream butter with

sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in pineapple. Fold in

bread cubes. Place in a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole. Bake,

uncovered for 1 hour.