Seasonal

Anytime Fudge!

~ atastytrip ~ 1 Comment

Happy 5th of July!

I know I know…this is why I can’t ever be a serious blogger. Serious bloggers start posting potato salad recipes during the last week of June to ensure that you have time to make their recipe before the actual holiday. Serious bloggers also post more than once every two months so there’s that too…

I guess I will be relegated to occasional, fun blogging for the time being. I’d like to think my lack of posting is because I am now spending all of my time being the World’s Best Mom like the t-shirt I felt certain I’d get for Mother’s Day would say. Instead that t-shirt never came and I am still stumbling through most days. I did get a t-shirt from my friend Justice that says “Doing My Best” which is actually a much more apt sentiment for my current life state.

Sams Dessert
What someone actually ‘doing their best’ at 4th of July blog worthy desserts looks like…courtesy of my brother-in-laws sweet mother

On the 3rd of July my best looked like me making TWO desserts for the 4th as Robert watched WWF (WWE?) wrestling on the couch. If you are like me and are now thinking, wait a second…WWF wrestling is still a thing? The answer is yes, yes it is. Now before you start questioning my taste in men, I’ve never known Robert to watch pro wrestling before. I say I’ve never known him to because I’m pretty sure everyone went through a pro wrestling phase at some point, no? I recall it being sometime around late elementary/early middle school that pro wrestling was ‘cool’. I don’t think I ever actually watched any wrestling matches, but at that point I was still desperate to be cool like everyone else so I sure acted like I did and had a ‘favorite’ wrestler. I couldn’t just choose The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin like all the other girls though, I had to go for eccentricity. So I chose Ric Flair “The Nature Boy”, WOOO! That was his tagline, anyone remember that? Needless to say, desperate as I was, I was never really that cool.

So enough about my awkward middle school years, lets get back to those TWO desserts for the 4th of July. I really shouldn’t capitalize two because the first dessert was my Snicker Bar Salad which although delicious, isn’t really all that festive and is even perhaps better suited for Fall. Whoops.

Parade
Clearly too busy decorating for the 4th of July golf cart parade to be a serious blogger

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Post Holiday Update! A Christmas Card Craft and a Detox Side Dish: Roasted Winter Salad

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Happy New Year! Well technically happy January 4th but close enough! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was fabulous, full of family and joy and FOOD. My parents and sister came to town to spend Christmas with us and having them here along with Robert’s whole family was really a special treat!

They got to experience some of the fun Christmas traditions we do with Robert’s family like his mom’s fun Christmas Eve Birthday Lunch where everyone wears Santa hats.

And the most beautiful Christmas day dinner hosted by our Aunt Vanessa.

V's Table

Her place settings included a special ornament for everyone which was so creative and thoughtful!

A plane for my Jet Setting sister
A pacifier for me ❤

After being told at my 36 week Dr’s appointment the Friday before Christmas that I was already 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced and that they wouldn’t be surprised if the baby came within the week…we are still waiting and not much appears to have changed :/

On the bright side, it did cause us to hurry up and get all of our baby gear assembled and hospital bags (half way) packed. So we are “ready”, and now we wait…and wait…and wait. Luckily I have found plenty of ‘nesting’ activities to keep me busy. Besides the usual laundering and cleaning, I put all of our Christmas decor away and completed an easy Christmas card craft!

Card Tree
My card tree

I LOVE getting Christmas cards from family and friends, especially photo cards! I also hate the thought of tossing them out post holiday, it seems like such a waste! So a few years ago I came up with this idea to save my cards…just in case I ever get extra nostalgic and want to flip through them all (which I do every year!).

All you need for this craft is a hole punch and a set of loose leaf rings. I bought mine in a pack from Michaels but I’m sure you can find them at Staples or on Amazon.

Rings

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A Winter Wonderland Shower <3 & Homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi!

~ atastytrip ~ 2 Comments

Merry almost Christmas! Wow, the holidays seem to come quicker every year and with the baby due so close to the new year this Christmas has really snuck up on me! We’ve officially got less than 4 weeks til baby and I am not so sure I feel prepared yet. I have yet to pack a hospital bag or get the carseat out of the box but thanks to two fabulous baby showers, we have got a beautiful (almost done!) nursery and plenty of baby gear!

My sister threw me a darling baby shower in TN over Thanksgiving and just a few weeks later I was lucky enough to be treated to a second shower at home in HHI by my sweet Aunt Vanessa. The theme was Winter Wonderland and it could not have been more beautiful.

Hostess with the Mostest
Mother and Sister in Law
Mom, and sweet details everywhere!

I aspire to entertain as well as Vanessa does someday as she truly outdoes herself with each event! The food was to die for, a beautiful brunch spread complete with a low country shrimp and grits station and egg cups with caviar!

The decor was beautiful and the little details, like this sweet Christmas tree and the elephants tucked away everywhere were absolutely precious!

Tree

I knew with Vanessa at the helm that the shower would be wonderful, but it truly couldn’t have been more perfect.

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A Thanksgiving Shower and Homemade Pumpkin Puree

~ atastytrip ~ 1 Comment

Happy bi-week! I think that’s a football term for an off-week which is pretty much what this week is right? The week between Thanksgiving and December. AKA time to shop til you drop, get all of your Christmas decorations up and get so sick of leftover turkey sandwiches that you vow not to eat it again for another year, or at least until Christmas.

For once my family avoided turkey overload and didn’t eat a single leftover. Why you may ask?

Ren

This guy….

My parents and sister both own small dogs and therefore aren’t accustomed to “counter surfing”. Unfortunately for Renly, his efforts proved to be for naught and he didn’t actually consume any leftover turkey either.

Robert, Renly and I traveled to Tennessee for Thanksgiving this year. My grandparents were also attending and it was our last trip before baby (hallelujah because riding in the car for long periods of time is getting less comfortable for me by the day). After we ate our Thanksgiving meal at my parents house we went over to a friends home to visit and have dessert. Upon returning we discovered that my mother had inadvertently left the lid off of the tupper-wear container she had put the leftover turkey in. She also left it sitting too close to the edge of the counter. The tupper-wear container was now flipped over onto the ground and pushed into the corner of the cabinets. I didn’t take a picture at the time but it looked something like this…

Turkey Tupperware

My theory is that Renly, at the urging of the little dogs no doubt, flipped the open container onto the floor with his head and it landed perfectly upside down, with all of the turkey still trapped inside. They then probably all took turns pushing it around the floor, trying to get to the meat inside until they pushed it into the corner and it became stuck.

Turkey that has been used to sweep the kitchen floor isn’t high on my list of things I’m willing to consume so thus, no leftover turkey for any of us…or the dogs, although it is likely that my father the notorious dog feeder snuck them some without my knowledge.

The rest of our Thanksgiving was lovely; we did lots of relaxing, watched a few movies, I got all of my Christmas shopping done (hooray), spent wonderful time with family and friends

and to cap it all off my sister threw me an adorable baby shower!

Gifts

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Almond Lace Cookies

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I am interrupting your regularly scheduled Italy recaps to bring you a recipe.

Finished Cookies decorated

And it’s not just any recipe, it’s a Valentine’s Day recipe!

Dry ingredients

Yep. You heard that right. For once and maybe the last time so don’t get used to it I am attempting to be a good food blogger and give you a seasonal recipe. How people are on top of it enough to start giving you football food recipes a month in advance of the super bowl is beyond me, teach me your ways! So lets just start with this admittedly anytime cookie recipe that I have dressed up in pink and red thus qualifying it as a Valentine’s Day treat and agree that I’ll work on it. Ok?

Full disclosure: I kind of love Valentine’s Day. First of all, I’m a sucker for greeting cards so that makes me a fan by default, but there’s more to it than that. There are so many Valentine’s Day haters out there that it’s easy to jump on the anti hallmark bandwagon, but I refuse. I mean really, who can honestly say that they hate love?  Maybe you hate being single on Valentine’s Day, but you can celebrate any kind of love, and you should! Even if you are significant other-less, Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to drink wine and eat chocolate with your friends! Heck, treat yourself to a fancy dinner with your best friend, or your mom! I mean, you love her too right? So why not celebrate it! There is more than enough hatred and criticism to go around on this earth. When given the chance to celebrate love and pass out cheeky conversation hearts, take it!

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