Things I'm Loving

So it's a new year!  Lately I've been finding myself obsessed with a few new things, so here we go...
Firstly, it's not that cold here in NJ, we haven't had any significant amounts of snow since October!  I've hardly even seen a random flurry...it's breaking my heart!  I usually love the beginning of the winter after the holidays.  But anyway, it's still cold enough to be in LOVE with these babies:

If you like flannel sheets, you have to try this Polar Fleece set from QVC.  They are so soft and warm!  I'm curious to see if they hold up after a lot of washing, but for the moment, I am smitten.

THIS was under the Christmas tree from my wonderful husband!  This flash has been on my wishlist forever!  I am in no way a professional, but this has totally changed the quality of my shots!  Thank you, husband!

I am completely into pampering myself lately.  I bought some stuff to treat my feet and hands.  It was like once I hit 30, my skin took a nose-dive to Flakey Town.  Gross.  But the lotion I can't get enough of this winter is a new one by Carmex.  It's been hard to find in stores, but it's awesome!  It's a healing lotion for dry skin.  It smells good and it's not greasy at all.  If there is one thing I hate about lotion, it's sticking to my new plush sheets when I'm ready for sweet dreams.

Self-manicures are a must!  I've been getting pretty good too!  My favorite polish brands are Zoya (I have a BUTT load of those due to them always giving away freebies on their Facebook page), Sally Hansen (Their Gem Crush colors are FULL of sparkle!), and China Glaze.  What's not to love about any of these brands?

Here is something you will never get me to like...


Cakepops.  I'm sorry, Bakerella, your talent as an artist amazes me (have you seen some of her other more decorative pops?), but I just can't figure out why they are so popular!  The only thing I can picture when I see them, is someone taking a bite out of a beautifully decorated cupcake, chewing it up and then spitting a wad out into their hand, shoving a stick into it, and saying, "isn't it darling?!"  Nope, not hopping on that bandwagon.  Wake me when it's over and cupcakes go back to being eaten from a wrapper again...pre-chewed.

 Now you have the visual too, you're welcome...

Stocking Stuffers for Men!

I thought this would be hard, but it turns out that this was so much easier than actually buying him real gifts!  Here's what he's getting:

Sliced Jalepenos - He puts these things on everything.

Habenero Tabasco - See above.  (Although, he's never tried the Habenero, should have also thrown some antacids into the old stocking, too).

WD-40 Pen - "Hey honey, that cabinet door is squeaking..." Problem solved.

Loctite Super Glue - I know this is the brand he uses at work a lot.  Oh, did I mention he's going back to work right after Christmas?  He is, and I couldn't be happier, disability payments suck.

Red Stag Whiskey & Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey - He's a Whiskey man.

Manicure Set & Tweezers - Now, I know what you might be thinking.  But if you know a mechanic, you know what his nails look like, and quite honesty I'm tired of him using my stuff on his greasy paws.

I would usually throw some candy in there too, but we are still up to our ears in Halloween Candy because of the freak snow storm we had.

So there you go!  I found all of these things either at my supermarket, Walmart or our Harmon Discount Beauty Supply :o)  Happy Stocking Stuffing!

Peppermint Bark: A Success!!

Seriously, not that hard!

The recipe is sort of a combination of others that I found on the internet of ingredients and steps that I thought would work for me.  I never realized how many variations are out there!  Here is what I came up with:

8 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate (I used all Ghirardelli products)

12 oz. White Chocolate

1 tsp. Canola Oil, divided (Really, no idea why, but I saw it in another recipe, so why not?)

1 tsp. Peppermint Extract, or more if you prefer

4 Candy Canes, crushed

I started by first crushing my candy canes.  *Please unwrap your candy canes.  Then I took a small strainer and sifted out the powdery bits from the chunky pieces.  Not necessary, but I like the flavor it adds to the white chocolate portion.  Feel free to skip this step and just dump more Peppermint Extract into the chocolate.

You might also want to prepare your cookie sheet at this point too.  I lined mine with aluminum foil for easy clean up and then with a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit my pan.

In a double boiler, melt the Bittersweet Chocolate with 1/2 teaspoon of Canola Oil.  When everything is almost smooth, add in 1 teaspoon of Peppermint Extract.  Stir until everything is smooth and combined.  Then spread into the prepared cookie sheet.  Throw it into the freezer for 10 minutes while you melt the White Chocolate.

Do the same double boiler routine with the White Chocolate, but this time when it's melted, add the peppermint powder instead of the extract.  

Take the pan out of the freezer, work a little faster this time spreading the White Chocolate onto the Bittersweet (it starts to harden!) and then you can sprinkle the crushed Candy Canes right on top!  Press down with your hand just a bit so they don't all fall off when you break it later.  Let it hang out in the fridge until you're ready to smash it to bits!

The easiest way I found to break it was to try to break the whole thing in half, put one 1/2 at a time in a large freezer bag and snap small into pieces over the edge of a counter top.  Your thumbs will thank you if you do it this way!  Candy Cane shards are sharp as hell!

I packaged them in candy dishes that I found in Home Goods for less than $4-$5/pair!  I love that place!

SO there you go!  I know I can bake things without many issues, but I've always found Chocolate to be kind of tricky.  This recipe is super easy.  I even know it tasted good when my husband asked if he could have another piece of "that candy cane stuff."  And he's not much of a chocolate eater.  Go me!

Things are Still Crazy

As usual.

I finally got my house cleaned and put the Christmas decorations up!  A small accomplishment.  I usually love to decorate, but I have a nasty head cold that is sucking the life out of me.  

Today I might actually get my Christmas cards written out!  I really like the stamps that the post office has out this year!  I was going to put a picture here, but I haven't blogged in so long that I couldn't figure out how!!  But anyway, they are cute.

Also some things on my to-do list for the week...make cookie dough...if you've never made your Christmas cookie dough ahead of time, it's such a time saver!  I package them in small freezer bags so I can pull them out and make them in small batches as I need them.  Out of town guests coming in tomorrow?  No problem!  Need a last minute gift?  All you have to do is let the dough thaw enough to be able to scoop it into balls and bake!  OR if you really want to save time, scoop them before you freeze them and they just need to be defrosted!  I just don't have the freezer space for that.

I'm also attempting Peppermint Bark.  I haven't had much luck with melting chocolate recently, so this could end is disaster, but that could make for a good blog post!

At some point I will fit in the rest of my shopping...if my husband ever stops telling me he doesn't want anything.  Why are men like that?

One of these days soon I'm hoping the spirit of Christmas overcomes me.  Because right now, I'm teetering  on the edge of  "Bah hum bug."