Friday, December 30, 2011

Gingerbread House Party

Earlier this month, Ethan hosted a Christmas party for his friends from daycare. 

We started off the party with hot chocolate and sugar cookies. Following our snack, we played Pin the Red Nose on Rudolph

The main event was decorating candy houses that I assembled the day before out of graham crackers. 


Each child received an apron that they could take home and got to work on their creations.





I wrapped each house up in a cellophane bag so the kids could take home their candy cottages. 

The party was a success and I was so thankful to my Mom and good friend/fellow mommy, Samantha, for helping with the house assembly. Their extra sets of hands came in very useful for piping on frosting and holding on candy to dry.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Thanksgiving Family Pictures & Recap

I loved Thanksgiving this year! I had an excuse to eat for two and wore elastic waist pants with no shame. I may wear elastic waist pants every year, pregnant or not, going forward. 


When we arrived at my parent's home for dinner, I grabbed my nephew and made him take some quick pictures of my little family in the backyard. I can't remember the last time we had a picture with all three of us in it at the same time. (Actually, I guess it's all four of us ---> check out that baby bump below.)


For being quick pictures taken on my cheap camera by a 16 year old, I think they turned out great!

During the day, I spent lots of time in the kitchen preparing for the big meal. I made dinner rolls, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pie, a relish tray, and sweet potato gratin. 

I made Bobby Flay's Sweet Potato Chipotle Gratin by popular demand. The recipe only has three ingredients but has such a depth of flavor and has a "wow" factor presentation. The recipe is from my Mesa Grill cookbook by Bobby Flay but you can find the recipe online on Food Network.


I tried a new recipe for dessert this year. It was also from Food Network and is Sunny Anderson's Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie. The pie had a very creamy texture that was a mix between cheesecake and traditional pumpkin pie. I found the recipe on Pinterest and am so glad that I tried it even though I'm not a huge fan of hazelnut. Several people commented to me that it was the best pumpkin pie they had ever tasted. It will likely become my go-to recipe for pumpkin pie in the future.


Food photos from foodnetwork.com. I was so busy running around on Thanksgiving that I completely forgot to take any pictures.