Christmas China...and a great meal!

This Holiday season my husband and I finally got one of the gifts we've {him sometimes more than I} been eyeing.  My parents treated us to 6 place settings of Lenox Holiday China! {only 2 full, and 4 dinner & salad plates... but we were just as pleased!}  We got to open it early, so we could put it to use - and boy have we enjoyed it!  The hubs even got up early one morning and make breakfast, just so we could use it. We've been looking for a good excuse to put it to real use - so last night we had over some great friends to break in our holiday dishes and celebrate the season!

I wanted to share some new recipes we tried, and I promise you - they will all be repeats.  They were quite delectable if I do say so myself!

We had a mixed greens salad with cucumbers, pistachios, feta and cranberries to start- served with a champagne vinaigrette dressing that is to die for...

For the main course, we served a Stuffed Pork Tenderloin drizzled with Grilled Peach Whisky Beurre Blanc.

We modified the recipe some because I wanted to use the kale in the mashed potatoes... but I know it would certainly be delicious over the kale as well. We also discovered that you don't need the entire habanero pepper - maybe a quarter will do! It was SPICY!!

On the side we served Giada's Mashed Potatoes with Kale and even the guys couldn't get enough.

It was a fun-filled night with delicious food and great fellowship!  Now we're ready for a long, relaxing Holiday break.  I'll be off the grid for blogging for the week or so... so Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2013 to all of you!

Sour Cherry & Almond Granola

Today I wanted to share with you a delicious recipe and fun Christmas gift for anyone... especially those who you love the most!! Before we get started, I must share that this is not my recipe, however it is from one of my favorite Mango Momma's - who also happened to celebrate a birthday week - so, Happy Birthday Momma J and thanks for sharing your tasty treat with us!

This granola is festive, easy to make, and is pretty easy on the taste buds as well. Today we are making Momma J's Sour Cherry & Almond Granola. 

Ingredients:

3 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups whole un-peeled almonds
1 cup coconut shavings
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamom {I substituted nutmeg and it was tasty... but if you have the cardamom - use it}
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup dried sour cherries

Directions:

Combine all ingredients {except for dried cherries} in a large bowl. Stir until coated evenly.  Distribute among two 2 sheet pans and bake at 300F for 45 Minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and mix in Cherries.

Distribute into small mason jars, seal with a cute Christmas tag, a big bow and you're gifts are ready to go!  The gals {and guys} loved their goodies and I'm sure will love them even more when they have the chance to taste it. It's amazing as a snack, with milk, over yogurt... or even on top of ice-cream!

Check out this blog for cute packaging ideas!

Happy Baking and Merry Christmas!!! 

Hope

Hope is that thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops... at all.  ~Emily Dickinson

On the 12th Day of Christmas

The Stockings were hug by the chimney on the bookcase with care! 

#12 Christmas Stockings

On the 11th Day of Christmas

#11 Giving Back

Jesse and I love being involved in our community and giving back year-round, but especially during the holiday season. We are so very lucky to be blessed with good health and jobs we both enjoy {most of the time anyway} and we're very fortunate to have healthy, loving families that we get to spend the holiday season with! So, each year we try to help others that are more in need than ourselves. Each year  our parish adopts seniors, kids, and families in our community that won't have a Christmas if it wasn't for others. This year we adopted a 72-year old man that wished for a warm hat, gloves and a scarf.  Jesse and I enjoyed shopping for him this weekend and it was even more exciting when I dropped the gifts off at the parish house to see the front room filled with brightly wrapped packages!  The parish is really going to make a lot of people very happy this year on Christmas!!

We also like to think of other ways to give-back. Tomorrow night at our annual Jaycees Christmas dinner we award our fundraising checks from Friday's Alive {and now the Gobble Wobble} to our beneficiaries.  It is pretty neat to have representatives from each of the organizations present to talk about the non-profit and what they do. It's even more exciting to see $1500, $4000 and $5000 checks being handed over after a years' worth of good hard work from young professionals in our community. I'm very proud to be a member of such a great organization where others share the same beliefs and sense of giving that we do!  We're also collecting gifts for Toys for Tots at the dinner!

For those of you that are Pinterest fans, you may have already seen this, but I wanted to share. Pinterest has created a 30 Days of Inspiration Interactive calendar to help guide the holiday spirit. They wanted a way to incorporate giving-back into everyday things people are doing. Check it out if you haven't already, it's inspiring and full of ideas!

We also bought a few gifts this year that actually give back just for purchasing! Toms is one of the easiest - all you have to do is buy shoes and a child in need gets their own pair as well. Such a great cause. You can also drop off food to a local food pantry and many even have locations in the grocery stores, like Wal-Mart, Kroger and Harris Teeter.

Have you found any easy ways to give back this holiday season? Let me know what you're up to!

On the 10th Day of Christmas

#10 Christmas Lights

It's that time of year... when your electricity bill doubles, all of your wall outlets are filled with way to many plugs than is possibly safe, and your neighbors are adding strands every day to compete for the ultimate Christmas vacation display of lights.  Joyous!!  But, really - who doesn't enjoy seeing the streets lit with Christmas cheer!

I thought today, I would share my top 5 favorite Holiday light displays {in no particular order}.

The Richmond Tacky Lights Tour - Richmond, VA

Callaway Gardens Fantasy in Lights  - Pine Mountain, GA

Bellingrath Gardens - Mobile, AL

Miracle on 34th Street - Baltimore, MD

Oglebay's Winter Festival of Lights - Wheeling, WV

Have any great displays in your home town that you love to see every year?  

8th & 9th Day of Christmas

This weekend we are spent Saturday in FULL Christmas mode, right in he heart of Christmas cheer... Times Square, NYC!  We started our full day with a run through Central Park, brunch at Sarabeth's on the park. {AMAZING!} Took a quick sneak-peak at the Plaza hotel... and then a nice walk done 5th Ave to see some Christmas decor. {BEAUTIFUL}  The next stop leads me to another favorite holiday tradition...

#8 The Radio City Christmas Spectacular

On the very top of my NYC list was to see my favorite dancer on stage at Radio City Music Hall!  Haley and I have been friends since I can really remember... and we pretty much made it through Baker High School with each other by our side... Haley at the dance studio {and traveling the country performing} and me, on the court or field during most of my free time. She's always been there every step of the way and I've tried my best to be there for her when I can... and visiting her in NYC was a must!

We really enjoyed watching her on stage and THOROUGHLY enjoyed our back-stage tour. There is so much history at Radio City, we were all amazed.  Mag took lots of pics she will share soon... but I did have one snap shot of us on the Radio City stage!

Next stop is Ice Skating in Rockefeller Center, which leads me to my holiday tradition...

#9 Ice Skating

What could be more fun that strapping on some old school ice skates and hitting the ice for some silly fun? Growing up in the deep south, this wasn't on the traditions list as a kid, but more so on the adult wish list since moving to the north more north. :)  I have been a few times since moving to Virginia and love it!  Find a rink near you and test out your feet... you never know how good you just might be!

Good luck and have FUN!!