Blog Stalking

My search for the perfect rama chicken recipe was put on hold after discovering this beauty of a website. It isn't necessarily a great resource for us unless we suddenly find ourselves in the Chicago area, but it's still a fun idea. I was thinking we could do something similar, allowing our own recipes to count as well. What do you guys think?

Temptation

For some unexplainable reason, I was trying to divert my attention from my chocolate craving by reading blog posts about chocolate. Crazy, I know. Nevertheless, I just discovered the single most incredible thing in the universe. Homemade chocolate hazelnut spread. I repeat, homemade chocolate hazelnut spread.

http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-chocolate-hazelnut-spread.html

She says it's tastier than nutella. More flavorful. I don't even know what to do with this information. Who wants to fly out and try this recipe with me??? Any takers? It won't be the same without you.

Deck the Halls. You heard me - deck those halls!

Thought you might like to see some pics of our festive Christmas tree.

We decided to do something different this year - a bit more contemporary, but it looks quite traditional to me now!



We got new ribbon (olive/lime green with silver glitter swirls) and some new ornaments (glass - yikes! gold and silver with beautiful decorations, so that part is new and fancy!

We've also broken down and added lots of our old glass ornaments, too. They're also quite be-u-ti-ful (read this in the voice of Miss Piggy).

Popcorn treat that smells so sweet

Two weeks, two tries, and several successful popcorn balls. I realized recently that when we vowed to experiment to the point of perfection with popcorn ball recipes, it meant I would actually have to start trying. Discovering how easy they are has only made me sad we didn't get into them sooner.
Surprisingly, Dad has made for an excellent kitchen companion. We used the Jell-o recipe on Allrecipes. It's quite easy, but we increased the amount of popcorn called for on the second round we made. The aren't quite so sweet when there is more popcorn to spread the sauce around. We also tried some lightly salted air popped corn in place of microwave bags and the result was very desirable! Now it's your turn!

Pita Pita

Mmmmm. I made these gyros for a dinner party Sunday night, and they were a hit. I'm not sure the raw garlic and onions were a great choice for such a gathering, but fortunally we all ate it so the offensive odors were shared by all :)

I would suggest sauteeing the garlic or opting for garlic powder in the tsasiki sauce, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. The chicken marinade is to die for, and the pitas were delish- just don't roll too thin or overcook. I think I did both. They were still lovely, just a little hard. Stop reading, and start cooking.

We gobbled it up before I could snap a picture. Sorry Charlie.

Wisdom from BH and G

We are so much smarter than we give ourselves credit. I just read an article in Better Homes and Gardens (so you know it's good) that basically tells me that we are certified geniuses. Turns out all that time we thought tennis was just a really fun game we were "whittling our middle; improving strength and flexibility; improving balance, agility, and overall coordination; and getting ourselves into great shape." While that may not be exact quote -pronouns and tenses needed to be changed- the message was clear: tennis is a great way to get into healthy. I know that tennis was a part of our general health plan, but who knew that we picked "one of the most calorie-scorching activities out there?"

If you got the November 2009 copy, be sure to check out the article on page 238. After months of being away from it, the article got me pumped to get my tennis on again. Now to find a partner...