Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Fabulous Fun Making Fondant

My darling daughters, Emily and katelyn, have been bugging me for weeks to make fondant
 (or "Fon dant" as Emily says). They LOVE watching food shows, especially Cake Boss, Cup Cake Wars and The Next Great Baker. 
So...I finally gave in and we had two days of baking an fondant making. We used the recipe for Marshmallow Fondant from Wilton.com and followed the pictures at What's Cooking America.
Just a few ingredients needed:
Easy to make-not so easy to roll out for little hands
They all made their own creations
Daniel made a space ship (turn head to the rt and you will see it)
Katelyn did a fab job on her flowers!
Emily got creative with a braided border, dragon fly, flowers and more.
This might just become our favorite rainy day activity :)

Vroomm...

Here is what Daniel received for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Peters



We all had a lot of fun. It took awhile for us to convince Katelyn to get on, but once she did, she didn't stop smiling!

Girly Giveaway!!!

Oh if you have girls, you must check out this Girly Giveaway at Colies kitchen
Crayola Pop Art Pixies Party LightsPop Art Pixies Mayas Shadow Box KitCrayola Pop Art Pixies Glass Vase Trio
Here are just a few of the fun projects. Go to Crayola.com for lots more fun, like coloring pages, craft ideas, etc.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

More Silhouette Giveaways!

Yay! Christmas has come and gone (without a Silhouette in our home) but there is still a chance to win one of these super fabulous machines. I love all that it can do but would love to make some inspirational vinyl wall art or try out the glass etching.

Head on over to Little Miss Momma  to enter. While you are there, check out her great tutorials on things like Cake Pops (YUM) and fun accessories. She is very creative and fun to read.

Or you can go here to the Familylicious site and enter one of her contests. Just found this site and LOVE it so much!!!

Familylicious Reviews

And...go here too, to Brown Paper Packages where you will find tons of ideas for food, crafts, etc.
brown paper packages

And here too! Look at all of the creative ideas at Room To Inspire.


And here...Cute stuff at The Stories of A 2 Z









And here... Stop by and visit Honey Were Home





Oh my gosh and here is another!!!Woo Hoo! Head on over to Life Rearranged where you can not only enter to win a Silhouette, but also help a sweet little guy get what he needs all for $1.00

Favorite Commercials

Do you have any favorite commercials?
I love WORDS and so I LOVE this commercial from Progressive.


I also love this from Walmart. Makes me laugh everytime!


But I have to say the new commercials from Discover just crack me up!


How about you? Do you have any favorite commercials from 2010?

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

 Luke 2: 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

On Christmas Eve our children receive Christmas pajamas and open one gift. Then we read the Christmas story in "What God Wants for Christmas." It's a great way to prepare us for celebrating Jesus' Birthday.
This year we had Christmas brunch at our house. I made some yummy things (recipes below)

Farmer’s Casserole
3 C frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
¾ C shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 C diced cooked ham, bacon or sausage
¼ C sliced green onion
4 beaten eggs or 1 C frozen egg product
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk (I was out and used ½ and ½)
¼ tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt

Grease a 2 qt baking dish generously with butter. Arrange potatoes evenly in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with cheese, meat, and onions. In a medium mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over potato mixture in dish. (I cover and refrigerate overnight or for several hours). Bake uncovered, in a 350 degree oven for 40-45 minutes (or 55-60 if made ahead and chilled) or until center appears set. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Paula Deen’s Baked French Toast Casserole

1 loaf French bread
8 lg. eggs
2 C half and half
1 C milk
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
¼ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
Dash of salt
Praline topping (below)
Maple syrup

Slice French bread into 20 slices, 1 inch each, and arrange in a generously buttered 9x13inch flat baking dish in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl combine the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat with a rotary beater or whisk until blended, but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the egg mixture. Spoon some of the mixture in between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread Praline topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden. Serve with maple syrup.

Praline Topping:
½ lb (2 sticks) butter
1 C packed light brown sugar
1 C chopped Pecans
2 Tbs. light corn syrup
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well. Spread over French toast Casserole

Sweet and Yummy Citrus Dip


1 8 oz container plain or vanilla yogurt
1 Tbs. Vanilla (if using plain yogurt)
2 Tbs. orange juice concentrate
1 Tbs. lime juice
1 Tbs. light brown sugar
2 C chopped or sliced Fruit (Strawberries, Peaches, Bananas, Blueberries)
Combine all ingredients, mix well, and chill. Serve sliced fruit with dip or toss chopped fruit with dip just before serving.

 
 
Orange Julius

1 6oz. can Frozen orange juice concentrate
1 C milk
1 C water
½ c granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Ice cubes ( a handful or so)

Put all ingredients in the blender and mix until smooth. Serve and enjoy!
To change it up you can switch out the OJ with frozen pineapple juice (or for adults, reduce the amount of water in half and add some rum!)

Friday, December 24, 2010

T-Shirt quilt

My husband handed me a dozen of my father-in-law's car t-shirts and asked me to make him a quilt. So, because I am such a super fabulous wife, and I have a great father-in-law, I did. Here is what the front looks like. I have sewn the back, but it was 1:30am and I forgot to take another picture. This will get the idea across though :)  




Thursday, December 23, 2010

Disney Ditch Day!

Last year my family and I volunteered to help clean up our 'Rails to Trails" for the Disney Give-A-Day, Get-A-Day" and received free tickets (except for Daniel. Technically he was too young). We did this in the beginning of the year so we had lots of time to take advantage of this free day.
However, we waited until the last minute (or I should say "I" waited to the last minute to organize our day). So when I called in early December, I thougght we would have until the end of the month and could go during Christmas break. Not the case. We had until December 15th and the weekend of the 11th/12th was blacked out. This of course was the only weekend Matt had off. So....
We had a Disney Ditch Day! You have to realize I do not usually let my children stay home unless they are puking or have a fever. Really. So this was a big deal. Even our principal teased me about ditching.
The trip began on a sour note. Miss Katelyn was sick to her stomach that morning and so we waited for her to feel better and stop throwing up. Then she said she was fine so we got in the car and headed for So Cal. She threw up every hour just about for the next twelve hours (car, restaurant, grandmas, etc). You know you are a fabulous mom when you shimmy on the fast food restaurant bathroom floor, to get under the door that your child has locked, so you can help in her while she is sick.
But we finally made it to the "Happiest Place on earth."Here is the proof!







Christmas at Disneyland-Beautiful!
Oh, and here are a few pics from our Christmas Kidz Take Over Church Program last night.

Katelyn and Charity sing and dance. 

My little angel :)
 


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Giveaways!!!

Here are some more super fabulous Giveaways! Really, what do you have to lose. There are some great prizes out there.
Check out Our Thrifty Ideas Become One to enter for a chance to win General Mills Cereals and movie passes for four.
Or head on over to Sweet Treat's to win one of five, YES 5, fun filled stockings.
While you are there check out their really awesome ideas and subscribe to their feeds so you don't miss a thing.
Best of luck!

Headband giveaway

Check out this really great blog and adorable giveaway!
http://babblingabby.blogspot.com/2010/12/flower-headwarmer-headband-giveaway.html

Friday, December 17, 2010

Christmas Photos 2010

This year we took our Christmas photos in Matt's project car. It was a lot of fun. The first day we ran out of light so we shot more photos another day. Good thing we did because the sky was on fire! The photos were taken by our friend, neighbor and super cool publisher of Traffic Magazine, Frankie Leal. I couldn't choose just one, so here is a sample of our 2010 photo shoot.
Merry Christmas from The Peters 











Sunday Shenanigans

So what did you do on this beautiful, un-winter-like, day? Our family headed up to a shooting range on a friend's property and took turn...