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

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!

Candy Cane Lane Poway – Video

Spent some time over the holidays walking Poway to see the holiday lights. What a great neighborhood! You must put this on your holiday list of lights to go see. Enjoy! 

POWAY

12631 Stoutwood Street – off Twin Peaks Road & Deerwood Street. Through Jan. 4, 5:30 to 10 pm. Nicknamed “The Griswolds”. Map Hickory Court, Hickory Street – off Twin Peaks Road and Silverset St. Also Includes Butterwood Ct. and Rockrose Ct. Named “Candy Cane Lane”, the entire cul-de-sac is lit up Dec. 3 through Jan.1, 6 to 9 pm . Map

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

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

NIGELLA LAWSON/ Nigella Christmas: I love this book!

I picked this book up at Costco recently and have been reading it like a romance novel. Enjoy NIGELLA LAWSON/ Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities Food to Celebrate Life The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food!

  • Below is a video and some links to the book and FoodTV for yumminess.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-2657327655192531701&hl=en&fs=true