A Few Photos From Colorado

Hello!!!

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've posted! It's strange because I've totally missed Blogland, but I have also enjoyed a little break from the computer. Honestly, I've hardly checked my Facebook and I think I've looked at Pinterest twice in 6 days! (Can you even believe it???)

I just wanted to share a few pictures of my trip so far... By the time I finally get around to writing about the details of Christmas, food, decorations, and my parents new home additions, it'll probably be December 2012... so I'll try to stick to the most interesting points in January, when I recap everything.

Okay, onto the pictures...

We came home to 13 inches of snow!! 

We went to an Avalanche game with our parents and a few close friends.

Brian's parents on the left, my parents on the right. 

 We drove by Denver City Hall to see their beautiful light display. 

The rest of the pictures are from Christmas.

Check out Brian's mom's cute Christmas napkin holders!! 

Brian's family Christmas tree. 

Christmas morning, we decided to wait on opening presents and went sledding!! 

We acted like a bunch of kids... even though the youngest person with us is 21. 

It was awesome. 

I'm wearing the green jacket! 

Did you want to see that view again?? 

I miss seeing these mountains every day.

We opened presents and found out what an incredibly talented artist my brother is. 

Below is a picture of our family dog, which my brother gave to my parents.

He drew this with a permanent marker on a canvas. 

And this was our present. He turned this picture of us (taken a a year ago), 

Into this beautiful work of art.

He. Is. Amazing. 

Seriously... HE DREW THAT!!! 

I cannot wait to hang this in our home! 

I pitched in on our Christmas Day meal for the first time ever. 

This Sweet Potato Souffle was a hit! 

My dad and I in the kitchen.

We ate way too much food. 

Brian and I with my parents

And then the boys played on the new Wii... 

For hours!! 

Overall, we had a wonderful holiday and now we're spending our time seeing friends and family and trying to relax every now and then. 

Sorry I've been absent... I'm going to have a LOT to catch up on with all the blogs I read! 

Hope you're having a great holiday season! 

Treats, Treats, and more Treats....

Last week I made a million cookies and treats.

Okay, well maybe a million is a bit of an exaggeration, but it was a LOT. Plus I had never made any of these recipes before so it was quite the accomplishment! (Can you tell I'm proud of myself??)

I don't have a ton of time (I gotta pack for our trip to Colorado!), so I won't bore you with the hairy details of each recipe. But here are the links to each recipe I used.

Butterscotch Haystacks

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ritz Cracker Treats with Chocolate Peanut Butter Coating

The funny thing is that every single one of these recipes has peanut butter in it and I don't even eat peanut butter! I think it's totally disgusting. But since I work with small kids, I've gotten used to making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (while holding my breath). So, while I didn't actually try any of these treats, Brian and the family I nanny for LOVED them.

Here's a few pictures of my cooking process:

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Ritz Cracker Treats with Peanut Butter Coating

I did have a lot of trouble coating these in chocolate (see my burnt chocolate above??). I had so much trouble that Brian had to go buy more chocolate and coat them himself. 

He did a MUCH better job than mine... 

Check out my attempt on the left. They look pathetic next to his amazing ones!! 

    

Butterscotch Haystacks

Are you as impressed with me as I am??? If you've been reading my blog over the last week or so, you know that I've been busying myself with crafts and cooking!!

Now onto packing...

Oh and I'll probably be posting a little less frequently over the next couple weeks.

Have a WONDERFUL Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Handprint Christmas Trees and Saltine Toffee

Last week, we headed over to the kid's neighbor's house to do some fun Christmas crafts and eat treats. It was awesome.

She had a wonderful spread of treats that included saltine toffee (I just made up that name and then googled it and a picture of it came up!!!), homemade marshmallows, and sugar cookies we could frost ourselves. The saltine toffee is AMAZING and I'm going to tell you guys how to make it (original recipe found here)!! 

Can you see the excitement???

 

After we got a sufficient amount of sugar in our blood, we began to craft. She had canvases and paint all ready for us. We painted the kids hands and helped them to create a Christmas tree made out of handprints. 

We let the green paint try a little and then painted their fingers in a few different colors and helped them put ornaments on their tree. 

Seriously, how cute is that??? PLUS it's acrylic paint on canvas so it should last a long time... and they're pretty nice Christmas decorations to keep over the years. 

Oh... the saltine toffee you ask??

This treat has changed my life. I baked dozens and dozens of cookies last week and for what?? To pine after a saltine with butter, brown sugar and chocolate...

I realize (after googling it) that maybe this treat isn't so new and innovative after all... but it's new to me and I'm excited about it. I may never make anything else ever again.

Here's the recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything:

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Ingredients: 

• 40 salted saltine crackers (or enough to line your pan)
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 cups milk chocolate or semisweet chocolate chips
• (Optional) 3/4 cup chopped pecans (the ones I had did not have this)
• *You can either use salted butter or salted saltines but not both. 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Line saltine crackers in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
2. In a small pot, combine sugar and butter and bring to a boil. Once mixture is at a boil, continue boiling for 3 minutes. Mixtures should be a deep caramel color. Immediately pour over saltines and spread to cover crackers completely.
3. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-6 minutes. It will get all bubbly. 
4. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top and let it sit a couple of minutes to melt. (You can also melt chocolate chips in microwave and spread it on.) Spread melted chocolate and top with nuts if desired.
5. Cool completely and break into pieces.

I made some last night and I am OBSESSED. 

Linking up:

Remodelaholic's Recipe Link Up