Blogaversary Giveaway!

The weekend is here Friends. Yay! Happy TGIF to you All. 

I mentioned recently that my 2 year blogaversary came along last week. I still can't believe it's been 2 years already. It has definitely flown by! And I've loved every second of it. I enjoy this time with you, my dear Friends, so much and I hope to do it for a long time to come! In order to thank all of you - as you really make blogging the joy it is for me - I wanted to do a little giveway.  I thought I would focus on the Christmas spirit and the holidays ahead.

So in the spirit of Christmas and the holidays I have a few fun goodies and even one thing not shown yet!  

First of all, we have a lovely abalone angel necklace. Because I have a thing for angels anyway, plus they remind me of the real reason for the season. And she's just pretty. I got her at a local gift shop in the area and she was made in Canada. (I live pretty close to the border in northern WI).

And what is Christmas without pretty ornaments for the tree? This was also a local gift shop find and it represents my northwoods so well. We have deer around here constantly! Plus 3/4 of the ornament looks like part of a birch tree - and I practically live in forests of birch around here. So maybe it will help you think of your little northwoods friend each year you put it out. ;) 

And frosted cranberry holiday soap. Well, because - FUN! 

**And the item not pictured is the tin of sugared pecans you will be getting as well. My homemade (famous for them) sugared pecans. They stay good for weeks. They're wonderful to just munch. Or they're superb on a holiday salad you may want to serve! 

So if these goodies sound good to you, please leave me a comment about one of your favorite things about Christmas.....or a fun holiday memory. Any wonderful comment will enter you to win. You don't have to live in the U.S. to win either. One week from today - next Friday - I will have my lovely assistant (Miss Annie) help me draw one winner at random and I will announce the winner then. Again, thanks for making blogging such a joy for me! I'm so thankful for you all!! 

Good luck. ;) xo

Chocolate Chip Potato Chip Cookies

Hello Friends & Happy Thursday! 

Sorry I'm getting this post out later than intended, but another busy day here in the northwoods. I made these recently and they were pretty tasty. Of course you just CAN'T go wrong with any salty sweet combination like this...taste bud party, anyone? They are a Pioneer Woman recipe and I always love whatever she's making! 

However, I will say that I think I added too many potato chips into the batter itself. The cookies had kind of a different texture on the inside due to the chips. The recipe calls for 2 cups crushed potato chips in the batter itself and I would maybe only add about a cup. I would also add more chocolate chips next time. The recipe only calls for 1 cup of those. But maybe that's all just me. ;)  Make them and try for yourself and let me know what you think!

First, mix up your batter and then add in the chocolate chips and crushed potato chips.

Then crush more potato chips into a shallow bowl or onto a plate and roll your cookies in them.

Then place them on cookie sheets to get ready for baking. 

Bake until toasty and golden and then enjoy the salty sweet goodness! Here's PW's recipe:

CHOCOLATE CHIP POTATO CHIP COOKIES

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 cups crushed potato chips (8 ounces), such as Lay's

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat on medium speed until just combined. Add the flour, baking soda and salt, then mix on low speed until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and 2 cups of the crushed potato chips. Put the remaining 2 cups crushed potato chips in a shallow bowl.
Roll the dough into 2-inch balls, then roll them in the remaining potato chips so they are completely coated. Place the cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday Blogland Neighbors! 

What's up in your world? Hope you had a lovely weekend. It was a great one over here in the northwoods! More beautiful weather. We got more jobs done around the house. Put away more of the Halloweeny kind of Fall things - and now even the deck is cleared of all the furniture and it's put in hibernation until Spring.  We had a wonderful night out for dinner with friends and then they came to our house for dessert and to play some cards (we've been into cribbage over here lately - boys vs girls). And then yesterday was a fun girlie day with my Mom & Annie & one of Annie's buddies. We went to a Christmas craft and artisan sale - with lots of wonderful booths! It's called The Festival of Trees and we had so much fun doing a bit of shopping for the holidays, sampling yummy goodies and then going to my Mom's after for a treat and to play with her puppy. Wonderful weekend - now the week ahead!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

Chillier today and much more "November" around here. Only going to be in the 40's today...and most of the week. Might hit 50's on Wednesday. Today it's also very gray and cloudy and it's making it more difficult for me to wake up! They're saying temps will drop to the 30's this weekend and first chance of that "s"-word!! (s*n*o*w)

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

1/2 a bagel and some fruit. Coffee - glorious coffee.

  AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:

So gray in the sky it almost looks white. Lots of pine needles all over our driveway from a shedding tree. Some very last shrubs that still have their leaves are outside my office window in glorious golden splendor. 

RIGHT NOW I AM:

Listening to Christmas music! It's getting close enough now - and it goes SO FAST - that I need to get my fill as long as I'm able! I'm also looking at my schedule for the week and it's filled with busy stuff and fun stuff too. I'm also already making my Thanksgiving food list - as I'm going to be going to the grocery store later this week to get a few things I can prep this week and be ahead of the game. I toast up my bread for homemade stuffing - it's a lot (we go to my bro & sis-in-law's and it's a big group) - so I make up 2 pans. It's a lot of chopping! And I can then freeze them so they'll be all ready for me next week! I'm also going to make my homemade pie crust, as it also freezes well and will be ready for me next week too. I'll be making a pecan pie and a snickerdoodle apple pie. Yay pie!!!  I make many of the other dishes as well - so the more I can do ahead the better.  

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:

I need to throw in next loads of laundry and some surface cleaning. I also need to change my kiddos' sheets as I didn't get to that on the weekend. Overall looks pretty tidy around here though.

ON TODAY'S TO DO LIST:

Today is for things I'm working on at home. I need to go do my workout soon.  The rest of the week I have action going on each day. Between a couple of fun luncheons with a relative one day, and belated birthday celebration with some girlfriend's another. But also some kiddo's appointments, groceries, playing wallyball with my gal pals, and some personal endeavors as well. Plus, I'm going out of town to visit some relatives in the near future and I have some shopping and prepping to do for that too. Busy days! 

I had been referencing that I have some new things brewing around here. As I mentioned prior, I'm really trying to balance more time for fitness and health. And of course family time needs to come first always - and sometimes kiddo's sports and their activities just take over! Lol But I've been also working to fill some other holes in my soul that need filling. So first of all, my creative soul.  I'm really trying to focus on catching up on my family scrapbooks and heirloom things for my kiddos. It's a good time of my life to do these things now that I'm not caregiving like I was with my MIL and my kiddos in full time school.  So this and few other reasons are why I may be blogging a little less in the days ahead. I plan to still share a recipe each week if able and visit here on Mondays of course.

I've also been really thinking about opening an etsy store. I've been working on some things for that and you will just need to stay tuned as I have no time frame when I want that to happen yet. In relation to that - I have a friend in town that owns a local gift store that is just wonderful! It has a lot of seasonal decor and decorations...as well as many homemade and repurposed things local artists have made. And it looks like I may be helping cover some hours in her store in the near future...so a little bit of back to work for me in a purely fun way!! ;)  This may even turn into some of my homemade things being in her store as well. Again, nothing concrete yet but in the works. 

The final hole I need to fill is my spiritual one. Yes, I do devotionals, meditate, go to church etc. But I really miss the social work I used to do dealing with end of life issues with older adults and helping their families through that time. So I'm looking at training at a local hospice house in my area and volunteering there early next year. So there you have it. All the balls I'm working towards and juggling right now. Sorry this is lengthy but just wanted you to know and many more of you visit on Mondays - so I thought it was a good time to share. I plan to keep blogging and will have new and wonderful things to share as these endeavors progress. I may even start my own craft kind of link-up down the line in relation to my creations for Etsy!...which will all be paper crafting related in some way (even some jewelry!). Again, please stay tuned! ;) 

 

CURRENTLY READING:

I've mainly been perusing holiday magazines and already ordering Christmas gifts!

ON THE TV TODAY:

A lot of the usuals - cooking shows, Hallmark movies, the regular series I watch or we watch as a family (Survivor, Dancing with stars, Timeless, This is Us, Gold Rush, Shark Tank....)

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

MONDAY: fondue night - as didn't get to it last week

TUESDAY:  sausage, onion, red pepper and cheese quiche, fruit

WEDNESDAY:  2 soups: creamy tomato and veggie beef  , grilled sandwiches

THURSDAY: slow cooker ham and scalloped potatoes and maple corn bread, veggie side dish

FRIDAY: not sure yet - maybe out for dinner

**I finally baked the cookies!!!!! I will share this week. ;) 

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:

So many things - and lots in my head. I think my brain may be melting. :P

NEW RECIPE I WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:

I'll share the chocolate chip potato chip cookies - finally!!!

TIP OF THE WEEK:

It's a good time to start baking those holiday cookies early and freezing them! Many of them will hold up just great. I'm planning to do my Gram's recipe for cut-outs that she used to make every year, but are a lot of work. I don't think I've made them since Aaron was pretty young. I will make them (with my Annie & maybe my Mom too) in the next couple weeks and freeze them. Then I'll just thaw some when I need them, just frost (with her cream cheese frosting recipe) and decorate and savor the memories every bite brings.  

FROM THE CAMERA:

Such a glorious sunset the other night! Even Ruby sat to admire - and I loved this pic so much I put it on my new header. I think I'm going to order a canvas to hang in my home with it. 

Took Ruby for a walk yesterday and caught the super moon coming up. It was glorious! Most of the trees are bare now and someone has their wood stove going each night and it smells wonderful in the chilly air.  And I've been needing my warmer gear when taking her out walking now. Definitely feels like late Fall.

More moon gazing last night from my cozy kitchen with candles glowing. I just love cozy, don't you?

And my crazy Girl kept making me pose with her snapchat filters the other day. I do like how some of them make me look younger and add make up - not to mention GIGANTIC eyes!! Lol 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I'm linking with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.