Thursday, December 31, 2009

9 Highlights From 2009


Jo-Lynne at Musings of a Housewife is having a 2009 blog recap carnival!  I love looking back at the year!  She has fun with looking at the first line of every first post of each month.  Mine, unfortunately, are all too boring.  I give a little intro instead of a great first line that grabs you and pulls you in.  Something to work on perhaps...

I decided that I wanted to look back at some of the highlights on my blog this year.  While looking back, I realized - I had fun!!  I really hope that you did too!

Let's recap, shall we?

1.  Simmering Soup Week ~ Yum.  Yes, I continued my obsession with theme weeks this year.  I think the soup week was a hit for the winter.  And I managed to work the soup theme into Chocolate Friday by serving up Chocolate Soup!  Just click on the pic to look back at some great soup recipes.


2.  Vlogging ~  I won a Flip video camera through the blog Real Life and newbaby.com and I started vlogging!  Quite fun for my drama queen self!  I haven't done that many through the year, but I plan to do more in 2010.  You can see some of my vlogs at newbaby.com (I'm Lisablogschocolate over there).


3.  1-Year Blogaversary ~  What a great party!!  It really was so much fun and it was the first time that I had other people/businesses donating lovely items to give away during that time.  I just wish I could have had everyone over for some cake and ice cream!  :)


4.  Cake Week ~  I love cake.  I could probably even stand to have a whole month dedicated to cake - LOL!  So many cake recipes, so little time.  Another fun week!  If you need some delicious cake or cupcake ideas, just click on that pic!


5.  Bloggy Friendship Days ~  My funny friend Kim at Homesteader's Heart is my best bloggy friend and we realized that our friendship had started in June of 2008.  We decided to celebrate our "friendiversary" and host a few days for people to join in celebrating their bloggy friendships!  After all, bloggy friends are real friends too.  :)


6.  Housecleaning Week ~  "Once a year whether it needs it or not" - heh,heh.  :)  I did Housecleaning Week while posting as normal.  I assigned myself mini-tasks every day and a daily project to be done after regular cleaning.  I need to do it again because I never got so many things done in one week before!   


7.  Fall Fruits Festival ~  A week of delicious Fall fun covering pears, pumpkin, apples, cranberries, and my favorite fruit - chocolate.  ;)  I thought it was a fun way to celebrate Fall and find some great new recipes.  Click the pic for all the yummy recipes!


8.  The Nutella Challenge ~  I joined The Nutella Challenge at bell' alimento and then wondered what I had got myself into!  I have to come up with a new Nutella recipe each month for a few months.  I've come up with 4 so far: Mini Nutella Cheesecakes, Nutella Popcorn, Nutella Bites, and Nutella S'mores Cake.  I ran out of time to do one in December, but I will attempt another one in January.  This has been great for me as it's my first experience in making up my own recipes - nervewracking! 


9.  500th Blog Post ~  Another exciting milestone on my blog!  Hmmm...can you tell I like any excuse to have a party?  LOL!  That was an especially fun party because I got to talk about chocri customized chocolate bars and give a couple away!  YUM!  Celebrating with chocolate is always good!


Whether you've just started coming to my blog and these highlights are new to you or you have been along for the whole sweet ride - thank you.  I truly appreciate you, my readers!  And I like you whether you comment or not (but I just love it when you do comment and say hello!)!

I hope you enjoyed this little recap!  If you hop back over to Musings of a Housewife, you can look at some more blog recaps.  It's a great way to catch up on some lovely blogs!

Did you catch my guest post yesterday at The Frugal Girls?  I shared New Year's chocolate dessert ideas!  But you should also check out some other recipes there, like Cranberry Bliss Bars, and a guest post by Frugal Femina with Candie Cane Brownie Lollipops.  Yummy!!

Reminder - no Chocolate Friday or even Dessert Friday tomorrow!  I plan to just relax and enjoy New Year's Eve and New Year's Day with my family.  Have a safe, happy, and blessed New Year!

Thanks for coming by!  Don't miss anything here in 2010 - subscribe now!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Works-For-Me Wednesday: Blue Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread


Finding new recipes that we enjoy works for me!  I looked through some of my cookbooks before Christmas to find a couple new recipes to try.  One was for an appetizer.  It turned out great!  We will definitely repeat it!

I thought you might like to have another appetizer recipe in case you're having a New Year's celebration!  I found this in a cookbook called Holiday Snacks & Appetizers and Other Holiday Fun.



Blue Cheese & Sun-Dried Tomato Spread

1 (8-oz.) pkg cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained, finely chopped
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon oregano
1 clove garlic. minced
Dash of freshly ground pepper

Combine all ingredients.  Chill and serve with crackers or cocktail rye bread.
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Have you tried any yummy new recipes lately?  Are you having people over on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? 

If you have a chance, stop by The Frugal Girls - I have a guest post on chocolate dessert ideas for your New Year's Eve celebration! 

For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas, stop by We Are THAT Family!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tea For Two-sday ~ Cinnamon-Eggnog Scones

Are you sitting down with your cup of tea?  I hope you get to have a few relaxing post-Christmas moments!  I thought I better share these scones while there might still be eggnog in the stores - in case you want to hurry up and try this recipe!

I made these Cinnamon-Eggnog Scones from King Arthur Flour for our Christmas morning breakfast.  Wow - absolutely delicious and liked by all!  I will definitely make them again next year!  They are rich and have such a nice flavor combination.

I didn't get the best pic of them, but here it is:


You can stop by King Arthur Flour's blog for the recipe.

And just because it goes with tea in my mind, I'll tell you a couple of gifts that my hubs gave me: the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice (with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy) and the BBC version of Jane Eyre (with Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester)!  Isn't that sweet?

I hope you get to try these scones - they're so yummy!  Did you make something special for Christmas morning?

Monday, December 28, 2009

Friends Don't Let Friends Go Through Life With Unresolved Barbie Doll Issues

Yes, you read that right.  And yes, I am the one with unresolved Barbie issues.  If you already saw the vlog (video) I posted a few months ago, then you know what I'm talking about!

Here's the link to that video in case you feel the need to better understand my childhood and you have a spare 5 minutes or so that you'll never get back.  If you decide that you would rather not watch the crazy chocolate woman babbling over-dramatically about her childhood issues (though now I've made you curious, haven't I?), I can sum it up for you.

My parents did not buy me a Barbie doll...ever.  *gasp*  They did buy me (the supposedly favored eldest daughter) a Skipper - Barbie's short, flat-chested little sister.  BUT, they bought my sister 2 different Barbies and a Ken doll!  Shocking!  Anyway, I've never gotten over it and my sister's Kissing Barbie's pretty pink floral dress is burned into my memory.

My friend Katie was well aware of my video and er, issues.  She knew just what to do - she got me the perfect Christmas present!


YES!!!  I am now the proud owner of a very cute and glittery Barbie doll!  Thank you!  I feel that some bitterness has just melted away - LOL!  Hey sister's old Kissing Barbie - see that tiara and heart-shaped handbag?  That's MY Barbie...uh-huh,YEAH...that's right.

Wow - childhood issues resolved.  Well, one of them anyway.  One of many.  Hmmm...I wonder if a friend would be willing to get me a Big Wheel??

Did you have Barbies?  And did you have a favorite?  And do you have childhood issues like me?  :)

Have a marvelous Monday!

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas!!


Cheers!
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

I'll be taking a break and enjoying Christmas with the family (no Chocolate Friday), but I'll be back here on Monday!  Hope you all have a wonderful time!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Dose of Christmas Reality

Two days before Christmas
And all through my place
Are things that aren't done yet;
Better pick up the pace!

Just so you aren't totally fooled by all the pretty pics on my blog, I thought I would give you a peek into my Christmas reality today!  Some of you organized people will be horrified, but I think many of you will feel much better!  :)


Still-undecorated tree.


Bin of tree ornaments to put on!


Still working on Christmas cards!


My attempt at divinity (to surprise my hubs).  It turned out to be some form of very chewy vanilla taffy that won't peel off wax paper!

Feeling better now?  I've got to go because obviously I have a lot to do!  Enjoy more Wordless Wednesday pics over at 5 Minutes For Mom!

Have a wonderful Wednesday friends!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Reminding You About The *Dangers* of Sending Christmas Cards

Since I'm working on Christmas cards today (Hey, doesn't getting them postmarked before Christmas count for something?  Is it really my fault that the post office can't deliver them all in 24 hours after I mail them?), I thought about this post from last year.  Christmas cards can be *dangerous*!  This post was originally published on 12/18/08...

Though I'm sure ALL of you are already done with your cards (heh, heh...right), I still thought I would share this important public service announcement. They might need to actually start printing some warnings on boxes of cards.

Please be very careful as the following have been known to occur:

~ Carpal tunnel in wrist from signing so many cards

~ Illegible handwriting after writing so many addresses

~ Blurred vision from looking at so many names and addresses

~ Brain freeze when discovering that you have more than one address for a person and don't recall which one is right

~ Toxic envelope glue aftertaste that only a White Peppermint Mocha will get rid of

~ Papercuts on tongue from licking envelopes (Ouch!)

~ Feelings of guilt for not putting Christmas stickers on envelopes

~ Boomerang cards (happens when you don't put postage on - see Shannon's tale of woe)

~ Feelings of anxiety as you receive cards from people that you forgot to send cards to

You all be careful out there, OK?!

I don't have much time for blogging today, but I knew this was important to share! ;)
If you have any other warnings, please share them!

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Wasn't that helpful?  :)  I'll be sure to watch out for the dangers as I work.  Did you send cards this year?  Are you done yet?

Have a terrific Tuesday friends!