Christmas just flew by...

The month of December was the busiest, fastest month of 2010.  It really just flew by.  The first day of 2011, and one resolution is to cherish the moments, because they are gone in the blink of an eye.

and Happy 7th Birthday to our daughter Mia

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas

I know, I know 

Thanksgiving has not even arrived yet and I'm already making Christmas cookies?  

This is the first batch with many more to come.  

This is the best recipe!

Sugar Cookies

I measured and packaged the dry ingredients to store in my pantry for the holiday season.  

Mia and her friends had a great time decorating cookies this afternoon.

I have also started putting up my Christmas decorations.

 Of course it would have to have my flair...

Stir it up

Stir it up, little darling, stir it up
Come on, baby, come on and stir it up, little darling, stir it up...

One of my favorite songs that I have influenced my daughter into being one of her favorite songs too.  Maybe it was the constant playing of Bob Marley in the car that influenced her.

Well today after opening Disneyland (9am), hitting The Jungle cruise, Haunted Mansion (Nightmare before Christmas Themed), Pirate's of the Caribbean, the train, Small world, and lastly the Omnibus back up Main Street (we left at 12:30pm)  we went home and stirred up some caramel apple turnovers.   

Caramel Apple turnovers

• 1 bag already sliced organic apples
• 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 Tablespoon butter cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Trader Joe's caramel sauce
• 1 store bought pie crust
• 1 egg white for for egg wash

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix the first 6 ingredients together, cut out circles, scoop 1 spoon full of apple mixture, place it in the middle of the circle, fold and press with a fork. Brush on egg wash and bake for 10-12 minutes.

This stuff is dangerously yummy!

 

My Take Five recipe

There are two days I have "must reads".  I'm talking about the the newspaper which seems to be going out of style in the era of internet access EVERYWHERE.  I don't really touch the paper any other day unless it's to hand my husband the sports page, not for any other reason except my lack of time.  But the two days I do make time available for the paper are Thursday's food and wine section and Saturday's garden section.  Those days are my favorite! 

I submitted a recipe to the Take Five column in the Food and Wine section.  These are just five ingredient recipes that are pretty easy to make.  I had submitted one when I was in my early 20's and it was picked, I thought it couldn't hurt to submit one again.  They picked this one too!  They printed this on on my mommas birthday and guess what...

I didn't even see it, until I got my gift card in the mail.

TAKE FIVE                                                                                By CYNTHIA FUREY FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER “My family loves to order cream cheese wontons when we get Chinese takeout, so I put this recipe together so that I can make them at home,” says Jennifer McClellan via e-mail. CREAM CHEESE WONTONS Yield: 8 to 10 servings 6 water chestnuts (from 8-ounce can) 2 green onions 1 package (8 ounces) softened cream cheese 1 package (1 2 ounces) small wonton wrappers 1 egg white, beaten Vegetable oil for frying Procedure: 1. Finely chop water chestnuts and green onions. In a medium bowl, mix chopped vegetables with cream cheese. 2. Drop 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into each wonton wrapper. Brush corners with beaten egg white and press together to seal. 3. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet until it reaches 365 degrees. Fry wontons until they are crispy and golden brown. Drain briefly on paper towel-lined plate. Serve hot. Recipes submitted for Take Five must contain no more than five ingredients, excluding water, salt, pepper, oils or fat for frying or sautéing. Your recipe can include one commercial mix. When using packaged ingredients, be sure to list the weight (ounces, liters, etc.) of the package or can. Tell us where you got the recipe, why you like it or how you serve it. Include your name, daytime phone number and address. Write: Take Five, The Orange County Register, P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711-1626, or e-mail recipes to cynthiafurey@yahoo.com. Readers whose recipes are published will receive a $25 gift certificate. Allow four to six weeks for delivery. Recipes cannot be acknowledged or returned.  Publication:Freedom - Orange County Register;

			.Date:Jun 17, 2010

What keeps us busy!

With fall in the air we said farewell to summer. 

Farewell to the carefree evenings and summer concerts. 

Farewell to camping on the beach

and smores by the fire.

 Farewell to all day adventures to Disneyland and waterparks.  

And farewell to long weekend getaways.

We said Hello to...

Soccer

and Baton

 

We just trade one busy season for the next.

But it is our life and we love every moment of it!

Back to School

Mia's first day of School.  My little girl is now a big first grader! 

This is the cutest back to school treat ever!  Just thought I would share it.

back-to-school-treat

from The Blackberry Vine

Today was also my first day of Kindergarten

I am super lucky to have such a great kids in my class!  

see my adorable flower in my hair 

I won it at Purdy Burdy Handmade 

Our day at the circus

Momma and Mia at the circus

The elephants were Mia's favorite part!

The motorcycles were my favorite

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey at the Honda Center

The tiger trainer

some ice cold lemonade to wash down the garlic fries!

And you can't leave without the bear!