Surprise!

Just in case you are curious about what I put away in my giveaway boxes I thought I should post this.  Homemade gifts are great, thoughtful gifts for friends and family...well, at least I think so.  I try to do it every year when I have the time.  All the people who ended up signing up for the giveaway were my personal friends so I decided to give away the boxes to everyone who signed up. 

I finalized on these three recipes to put in my cookie tins.  They were tested by my kitchen and passed.  =) 

 

Here are the links for the recipes!

Lemon ricotta cookies seemed to be everyone's favorite!  It is one of my favs and I don't have a sweet tooth so I love the lemon-y lightness of the cookie.  Plus, the texture is soft from the cheese. 

These chewy chocolate chip cookies are totally scrumptious and my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Just how I like my chocolate chip cookies....perfectly soft and chewy!  They are semi-technical to make because the recipe has weight measurements so you have to use a food scale.  You also have to refrigerate the dough for an hour before you bake it but it is so worth the effort!  I cannot say that enough.  The results are awesome.  You won't believe you even made these yourself after you have a bite.

Last but not least, I put ancho chili rosemary roasted nuts in tin because not everyone has a sweet tooth so nuts were an easy choice. Definitely check this recipe out! 

If you are curious, I purchased these non-toxic cookie tins from The Container Store.  I found the velvet ribbon from MJ Trim.  And, I got the cellophane bags at Sur La Table so the contents inside the tin wouldn't be a total mess by the time the receiver got the box in the mail.  

So 'til next year!

DIY Holiday Flags from The Sweetest Occasion

I stole this fabulous idea from The Sweetest Occasion and they were designed by Belletristics.  

How cute are these flags?  

They will help guests to keep track of their own drinks and they are FREE.  I used the grey and white striped straws leftover from my wedding but you can use bamboo skewers too if you don't have straws.  The download is here.  Act quick!  You still have time to do this one before the weekend is here!

  

Christmas is almost here

Christmas is just around the corner and I feel like I have a million things to do.  We are hosting dinner this year which is starting to become a family ritual because we happen to have a lot of space and we just love having people over at our house.  It makes our house seem so much cozier.  

image sources left to right: 1 unknown / 2 unknown / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7


This is my checklist of all the things that will be on the menu this year.

Prime Rib....check!
Butternut Squash and Broccoli Soup...check!
Creamed Corn...check!
Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread...check!
Roasted Cauliflower with Mint and Pine Nuts...check!
Whole Wheat Mac and Cheese...check!
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes...check!
Chinese Sticky Rice...check!
French Green Bean Casserole...check!
Dessert by 85C Bakery....check!
Mango Rosemary Cocktails...check!
Blood Orange Mimosas...check!

I think
this is
enough food.....

Friends... please come by if you are around and hungry on Christmas Eve.  Our house will be fully stocked!

Holiday Giveaway Boxes

For those of you who participated in the holiday giveaway, the boxes went out today!  I shipped priority so it should be there in 2 to 3 days.  I stayed home on Sunday and baked a LOT.  I feel a huge sense of accomplishment getting it all done.  It is still a surprise for what is in them but I tried to put a good mix of goodies in there.  Look out for your box! 

Dumpling Day

Over the weekend, we got together with all of our cousins on my husband's side and made pork dumplings.  It is an annual family tradition that we started doing.  The recipe is from my husband's grandma and it is perfect for a group activity because if you want to make traditional Chinese dumplings, it takes a lot of manual labor.  There were about 8 people working constantly for 5 to 6 hours to make 500 dumplings.  I'm not going to share the recipe today because it's one of those recipes that you add a little bit of this and a little bit of that in there and I didn't keep track of the measurements.  Sorry! 

 

However, I will share a secret to making them.  You have to churn the ground pork with chopsticks to tenderize the meat properly.  We grabbed 5 or 6 wooden chopsticks and held them together with a rubber band and the guys (you need major arm strength), churned the meat for about a good hour 'til the pork looked like tuna fish and thickens.

Wrapping the dumplings... try doing this 100 times!  It's better with a glass of wine and good company. =)



You can eat the dumplings steamed or fried.  We did both.  Totally delicious either way.

Ancho Chili Rosemary Nuts

Well hello there!  I'm still alive over here.  I have been busy thinking about life and hibernating when I can.  It has been really cold in LA lately.  Don't laugh my Chicago friends.

Christmas is just around the corner.  Mat and I are hosting Christmas dinner for our family and I am thinking of all the things that need to be made... prime rib, cream corn, roasted veggies, jalapeno cheddar corn bread, mac and cheese... I'm getting excited just thinking about it!  I'm also making these nuts along with a couple other goodies so people can munch on them with wine and cocktails before dinner.  This recipe was adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Chipotle and Rosemary Roasted Nuts.  This is a great recipe because you can make these ahead of time and you can also package them for little gifts to friends and coworkers. 

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Canola oil
4 cups nuts (use a mixture of your favorite nuts)
2 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons lightly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons orange juice (you can use grapefruit juice too)
1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary, divided
Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Brush a generous amount of canola oil on the bottom of a baking pan.  Toss nuts with 1 tablespoon of canola oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, ancho chili powder, 1 tablespoon of rosemary, and 1 teaspoons of salt.

Roast nuts in the oven for 25 minutes.  Toss the nuts with a metal spatula or wooden spoon half-way through.  Remove from the oven and toss with 1 tablespoon of rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  

As the nuts cool, toss the nuts frequently to prevent them from sticking to one another and to the bottom of the pan.  

These nuts are addicting.  They are sweet, salty, smokey, and aromatic from the rosemary.  Perfect combination of flavors.  

Home Office Design Ideas

I want to warn you guys in advance that I am not going to be posting as often as I used to.  I am considering a new opportunity (completely unrelated to this blog) and I have to take time off to think about it.  You never know what a little itty bitty blog can do which led me to this new opportunity.  I never did.  My husband never did......but God works in miraculous ways.  And here I am contemplating life and what I really want to or should do with it... what we should do with it (now that I am married, I have to do the "we" thing...haha).

In the meantime, I'm going converting one of our bedrooms into a home office between Christmas and New Years.  We always needed an office in the house and now is the perfect time to do it.  We currently have this spare room we use as a laundry room so our lazy selves do not have to fold laundry and we can leave it hanging around or in baskets everywhere.  Sounds lovely huh?  I think we can make much better use of it.

Here are some of my ideas....

I really want a Louis ghost chair.  What would drive me to spend $400 for an uncomfortable looking plastic chair?  Because it looks oh so pretty!  I have to run this by the husband (crossing my fingers).

Source: designsponge.com via Monica on Pinterest

Cool artwork.  I haven't decided if I want a big art piece hanging on the wall OR.....

Source: paloma81.blogspot.com via Monica on Pinterest

Lots of various pieces hanging on the wall.

Source: stylebyemilyhenderson.com via Monica on Pinterest

Can I please get a cool chandelier?  I'm obsessed with chandeliers.

 

Source: fabulousonabudget.com via Monica on Pinterest

Bookshelves for all my books too!  Yes, definitely need some of those.  I like how there is a mirror hung on the bookshelf too.  You know... so I can check myself out while I am working.  I'm totally KIDDING.  But it would look pretty if there was a mirror hanging or some type of artwork.

Source: luxeandlillies.blogspot.com via Monica on Pinterest

I probably have to figure out a way so that the whole office isn't totally fem so Mat can use it too but I haven't figured out how yet.  Still thinking.....