Christmas Party

The bake-a-thon was a success.

I made peppermint bark:



Mama Peas Vegan Balls

These turned out very well. I need to take them out about a minute earlier. They taste like a molten Reese's in cookie form!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip with Coconut

Molasses-ginger cookies I'd made before.

I also made baba ghanoush and buffalo chicken dip. The chicken dip is super easy and everyone raved about it.
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
4 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded
4 T hot sauce
1 can diced chicken
Serve with tortilla chips, celery and carrot sticks.

Here's our little tree. I made gift bags for everyone to take home. Lots of cookies needed to be given away!




And the table.

Minus the dips.


Sweets all lined up


People came with homemade cookies and morning glory muffins. A good time was had by all.

Jake and I gave each other Rock Band 3 and upgrades for Christmas, so we spent the evening with friends trying out the new keyboard and characters.

We leave for Minnesota tomorrow. MSP is expecting a snow storm with 6-9 inches, so here's hoping we actually make it!

Overzealous with the cleaning

Our Christmas party is tonight! Yesterday was the big bake-a-thon. I made three types of cookies and baba ganoush. Pictures and recipes will be up tomorrow. Hopefully.

I just got an email from my boss telling me there's a meeting tomorrow morning - in Nederland. Nederland is about 80 minutes from my place. Ick. I can't complain too much, though. The boss postponed his flight by three days to have the meeting.

The place needed a big clean. I even washed the marble fireplace! I ran out of 409 a few weeks ago and just grabbed the Target equivalent. I noticed it "contains bleach" but did not think much of it. There has definitely been a slightly bleach-y smell on previous cleans, but nothing crazy. Today, however, I have already managed to bleach my pants and my face. Ow. Luckily, the pants are some old sweats and the face got washed immediately. Still, I did not spray the stuff directly onto me - it bounced off the sink and floor. That's a bit too much bleach for me. I might hold off on the kitchen for a bit - that's the place most in need of cleaning.

Cookie break!

Sushi Party

Last week, Jake and I headed over to C&P's for dinner. They planned a sushi making party for us! I'd never made sushi before and was surprised at how easy it was. C is an expert and explained the process.

We had some beautiful tuna, celery, jalapeno, green onion, cabbage, sugar snap peas, daikon radish, carrots, and various spices and sauces. We each made at least one roll. Mine was very tight for a first-timer. TWSS.

We ended up with enough sushi for an army.

So delicious!

I'm not sure why I look like I am trying to suck out P's soul with my eyes. I blame the eyeliner.

Plan for tomorrow: bake-a-thon!

Molasses Cookies

I made molasses cookies from the 12 Days of Cookies. I'd been eying several versions of molasses cookies and finally settled on these. The decision was mostly based on the fact that the butter is melted, not creamed. This helps those who are sans mixer.

I was a little worried at first.


But I kept on stirring.

And ended up with these.



Verdict: Delicious!
I may skip the rolling in sugar step next time - most of the sugar ended up on my floor and counter.

I now have to go clean, because the kitchen looks like this.



At least I'll have cookies and Christmas music to power me through!

The Dress!

Jake - avert your eyes and skip this post!

*****

Seriously! Go away.


***********


Is he gone yet?



****


Ok, on to business.

On Black Friday morning, Mom and I got up at 6 and braved the crowds. We scored some good deals. :) We shopped for a few hours, then went home for brunch. After brunch, we picked up Grandmere and headed to the bridal salon.


I tried the dress on again and still loved it.

It's light and airy without too much frou frou. Plus, it makes my waist look tiny!



Here's the back:



Can you see the slight lace detail on the bottom?

Because I am a shrimp, I had to get the gown with a custom length. I was also stubborn. My measurements are between two sizes. Despite suggestions I go with the higher size, I decided to go with the smaller. I need some incentive to stay on track with my workouts. Fear of not fitting into my dress should do the trick. ;)

Boarding Buds

Wow. Total fail on the last part of NaBloMo (or whatever the correct word is). Once I got home I lost a bit (all) motivation to blog. Oh well, moving on.

Yesterday several friends and I headed out to Keystone. Jake snowboards, as do the two other friends with whom we went. I ski. We did the lifts together, but then typically we went on separate trails. I am much more comfortable on blues than blacks. I did a black run yesterday without trouble, but they stress me out sometimes. Instead of the blacks with the boarders, I did moguls, lots of moguls, hours of moguls. By the end of the day, I definitely felt I had a rythm going. :)

Somehow, on one of the lift rides, my brake and R's binding got entangled. We realized this about five seconds before getting off. This made getting off the lift super-interesting. I still have no idea how we managed it without falling, but we did. Go team, go!

Upcoming posts: sushi making party and the DRESS!