North Pole Arbor Artisans Open House + Art Sale in So. Pasadena

New pics are up! I was invited to make sweets by Jewelry by Monica Lauren for a holiday event last weekend. Check out her beautiful pieces. The open house and sale donates a portion of their proceeds to community needs. The event was hosted at a grand old craftsman home in South Pasadena. Each artist was featured in a different room of the home. My decorated Texas chocolate sheet cake bites  were hosted outside. The event started at noon and people immediately began rambling through the home speaking to artisans about their wares and purchasing on the spot. Many vendors sold via the Square market and made sales on mobile devices. You can tell from the pictures this is a bunch of incredibly talented artists. I made fresh chocolate mini cake bites some were decorated with chopped pecans others with crystallized iceberg rose petals. The best part is the buttery fudge frosting on the top.

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Holiday Decorations: Balboa Park, The Zoo and Extraordinary Desserts

I’ve been meaning to post these since they were taken last Christmas Eve and days after. I found a parking spot right in The Prado lot and while we still can pulled in to take a quick walk through the Botanical Gardens before they closed for the day. Lovely. Also went by at night and snapped some, and the San Diego Zoo lights too, very cool! We live in a wonderful city! On our way out we stopped at Extraordinary Desserts for a Cream Cheese Brownie with overtones of coffee. Really yummy. Enjoy!

Old Globe Theatre Tree

The SD Zoo

Foodie Day: New Mexico Cafe to Coronado Ends at Fillippis

We drove out to Logan Ave. to beat the fog and grab a bite. Las Quatro Milpas was way too crowded to stop so we headed a few blocks down to Newton and hit New Mexico Cafe La Dona, got some food to go and then drove Coronado before being swallowed up in the fog again. We ended the day with a pizza to go at Filippis, for pizza fotos check out this past post, BOMB PIZZA! Early nap day for sure. Enjoy!

Allen Road Walk on New Years Eve

Foggy weather opened to a sunny afternoon full of local sightseeing. We went out for a walk down the Allen Road Trail, named after the old Allen Dairy, located at Allen Rd. and Ft. Stockton Dr. Today was wet and lots of trees down but still a quick down and back up makes for a nice, brisk walk. Look for two swings, old military foundations and the cement remains from World War II gunnery, 1943. Next time we need to leave time for a “Famous” Apple Pancake at Ricky’s…Yum! Enjoy


Our Holiday Sweets in fotos

Here are holiday sweets we enjoyed this season from cookies to pies, candy to cheesecake my waist has seen it all. Can’t wait for New Year to get here…
Lemon Pecan Pie from Hob Nob Hill Restaurant to go

 love Cotton Candy!

Cream Cheese Brownie from Extraordinary Desserts

Sof’ella Caramel Monkey Bread Mix from World Market

Post Nap remnants of Monkey Bread and Caramel Sauce

Sugar Cookies

Peanut Blossoms

ChexMix

Cheesecake Factory Key Lime and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Yum!

Ice Cream Pie with Easy Caramel Sauce | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

I had to pass along this yummy recipe from The Pioneer Woman. 

I love Laura Ingalls Wilder and all things Pioneer, so I have to try this tempting recipe. Thanks to Ree Drummond for this post. You must click over to this amazing site full of great inspiring thoughts and images. Enjoy!

SOURCE: THE PIONEER WOMAN
Prep Time: 25 Minutes  |  Cook Time: 15 Minutes  |  Difficulty: Intermediate  |  Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • Caramel Sauce
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar, Packed
  • 1/2 cup Half-and-half
  • Pinch Of Salt
  • 1 Tablespoon Vanilla
  • Crust
  • 1/4 cup Egg Whites
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 cup Pecans, Finely Chopped
  • Filling
  • 2 pints Ice Cream (1 Pint Each Of Different Flavors)

Preparation Instructions

To make the caramel sauce:
Mix butter, brown sugar, half & half, and salt in a saucepan over medium low heat. Cook while whisking gently for 5 to 7 minutes, until thicker. Add vanilla and cook another minute to thicken further. Turn off heat and pour sauce into a jar. Refrigerate until cold.
To make the crust:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat egg whites until frothy. Add sugar and salt and beat on high until stiff. Fold in nuts. Spread mixture all over the bottom and sides of a non-glass pie pan, making sure to adequately coat the sides. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, watching toward the end to make sure crust doesn’t get too brown. Remove from oven when crust is golden brown. Allow crust to cook completely.
When crust is cool, remove ice cream from freezer. Allow to soften. When soft, spread one pint of ice cream (I used Butter Brickle) over the bottom of the crust. Spread the other pint (I used Vanilla Bean) over the first flavor. Cover with foil and freeze until very hard.
To serve, cut slices of pie and serve on individual plates with cold caramel sauce spooned over the top. *Note that the crust will be a bit sticky…but it’s oh, so good!

Ice Cream Pie with Easy Caramel Sauce | The Pioneer Woman Cooks | Ree Drummond

heirloom philosophy: Cheers! Holiday Entertaining and the Well-Stocked Bar

Frozen Vodka Decorated for the Holidays and a great cranberry orange vodka recipe at the bottom. What does a well-stocked home bar need to have? For some inspiring fotos, click over to the post at the end of this article. Amazing!

By Allison at heirloom philosophy: “Freezing the vodka with seasonal greenery or cranberries is such a beautiful touch! To create your own bar at home you will need the basics…Here is the link to some of Martha’s favorite non alcoholic drink recipes.

For more details, how many drinks per person and what types of beverages click over to this informative post from heirloom philosophy. Enjoy! 

SOURCE MARTHA STEWART
SOURCE MARTHA STEWART

http://www.marthastewart.com/315843/frozen-vodka

http://www.marthastewart.com/313818/cranberry-and-orange-vodka

heirloom philosophy: Cheers! Holiday Entertaining and the Well-Stocked Bar

Dishing Up Delights: Roasted Beet Salad with Wilted Greens, Herbed Goat Cheese, and Candied Walnuts

This recipe comes from one of my fav bloggers Esi at Dishing up Delights. The ingredients look amazing. Enjoy!

Roasted Beet Salad
Roasted Beet Salad
PHOTO SOURCE: Dishing Up Delights

Roasted Beet Salad with Wilted Greens, Herbed Goat Cheese, and Candied Walnuts
(By Esi)

Makes 8 servings

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
3 bunches of beets, roasted, cooled, and diced
Greens from 3 bunches of beets, washed and dried
6 ounces baby spinach, roughly torn
5 ounces herbed goat cheese
1 cup candied walnuts
1/4 cup pomegranate arils (optional)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Add the beet greens and spinach to a large pot. Cover and heat over low heat until the greens have wilted, about 10 minutes. Season the greens lightly with salt and cool to room temperature.

Arrange the greens on a large plate, top with the roasted beets, candied walnuts, dollops of goat cheese, and pomegranate arils if using. Serve the salad at room temperature with the dressing on the side. 

Dishing Up Delights: Roasted Beet Salad with Wilted Greens, Herbed Goat Cheese, and Candied Walnuts

Gift Tags and Garland From Recycled Paper Bags – Love Trader Joe’s!

As you can see from the wrapped gifts in the background, we were in need of gift tags. I cut some out today for free from recylcled Trader Joes holiday bags. The sides are printed strip markations to cut and create your own decorative garland. I used most of the entire bags body for additional strips for a longer garland when I ran out of strips. The top of our mini tree has smaller loops, I cut some of the strips in half, and then continue to full strip loops, fastened with tape. Free tags and a holiday garland, made with love! We are also really enjoying the chocolate drizzled kettle corn they are offering now, skip to the end for that link, Yum! Enjoy!

“Sweet, salty and crunchy. Do we really need to say more? Well, if you insist. Trader Joe’s Cocoa Drizzled Kettle Corn. The name really says it all. What? You still want more? Of course, we‘re happy to oblige.
Our Cocoa Drizzled Kettle Corn is the result of tasting and re-tasting and tasting some more. (Yep, a tough job indeed.) Kettle Corn, in our humble opinions, is one of the great inventions in American history, dating back to the 18th century, with credit most commonly given to enterprising Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania. It’s tough to better what is already so close to perfect, so we set out not to “better” the kettle, but rather to “enhance” the experience.
And so we worked on this one until we found the absolute ideal balance of sweet, salty and crunchy. Too much salt threw off that balance. Too much sugar masked the salt. Too much cocoa drizzle and things got a little soggy. We wanted perfection to match that of the original creation. We got it right. And we did it without any artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, much as those early Pennsylvania Dutch must have done (though we’ll admit to slightly more modern preparation facilities). Try a bag; you’ll see. We’re selling each five ounce bag for $1.99, the perfect price for this perfectly preeminent popcorn.”

Love this Chocolate Drizzle Kettle Corn – Trader Joe’s

The Boozy British Trifle | Dashrecipes.com

Finally a recipe that reminds me of being in England 20 years ago. The taste of traditional English Trifle can’t be duplicated, however this recipe comes close. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Photograph by Lis Parsons
“I think the title of this recipe really says it all. I have written so many recipes for trifle, I scarcely dare reiterate my love for it, but this, perhaps the most traditional of my offerings, shows the sensational, time-honored pud at its glorious, many-layered best: the jam-slashed and sherry-sodden sponge, the sharp fruity layer of flavor-oozing berries, the eggy custard and the whipped cream. On top, my favorite color combination: the Victorian pink of crystallized rose petals with the tender green of chopped pistachios. Perfection.”  Nigella Lawson


Recipes from Nigella Christmas by Nigella Lawson. Photographs by Lis Parsons. Copyright (c) Nigella Lawson 2008, 2009. Photographs Copyright (c) Lis Parsons 2008, 2009. Published by Hyperion. Available wherever books are sold. All Rights Reserved.

The Boozy British Trifle | Dashrecipes.com