Christmas 2012

Well, I have a corrupt camera card so some of the pictures I took from Christmas I can't show.  That's ok because we spent all of our Christmas vacation sick from the flu.  Yep, that's right we had the gift that keeps on giving.

Here is one picture I did take off of a different camera card.  Hunter is playing with a remote control toy that he got.  This is a few days post-flu for me and Korey.  We're just thankful that Hunter didn't get it.

The Omni Hotel Dallas

The Maurtizen's blessed us with an awesome Christmas present for me and Korey to share.  They gave us a night at the new Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas and they booked us a room for the night after Christmas!  The hotel was offering room specials since they had just opened in November.

We packed up Hunter and dropped him off at Grandma's house and then drove to the hotel.  When we walked in our TV was on and had a welcome message on it with my name on it.  A nice touch!

Then I walked into the bathroom and found this...a TV built into the bathroom mirror.  I'd never seen that before anywhere.  We never stay in hotels this nice!

 This was our view from the room.

 And our view at night.  The building to the left with the green is the Bank of America building.  The building to the right with the x's on them is Renaissance Tower where I used to work.

 This was part of our present so we busted out the bubbly after dinner.  We ate dinner in the hotel at Texas Spice at which I had the most awesome appetizer salad.  Yum!

 The next morning we had breakfast sent via room service and I had to capture the cute array of mini condiments.

 This was the fireplace in the lobby.

 These gigantic Christmas ornaments were out in front of the hotel so we went and took pics in front of them.

 As modest and shy as he can be, he sure looks like he's trying to strike a model pose!

 Another awesome view from the front of the hotel.

 And finally, some of the awesome decorations in the lobby!  We had a fabulous 24 hours thanks to the Mauritzen's!

Christmas

Christmas morning came early for us.  We had to wake up at 6:30am so we could have our Christmas before we left for my mom's house to have our family Christmas there.  Hunter wasn't quite awake yet and was sporting some awesome bedhead.

 He and Daddy are peeking over the edge of the couch to see what awaits.

 He got a new toy phone and was busy calling his grandma.

After we opened our presents Hunter was off to get ready.  This year we had an awesome Christmas morning.  Last year Hunter needed a nap in the middle of the morning but this year he persevered!  We ate homemade cinnamon rolls, made by yours truly, after we opened gifts and read about Jesus's birth from the book we read to Hunter every night.  We didn't get to read it to him the night before so we read at the breakfast table.

Then we were off to my mom's where I got distracted from picture taking but not long enough to capture this beautiful ham!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Our Christmas Eve tradition includes snacks, church, sub sandwiches, and a gift from "Santa."  This year my sister hosted Christmas Eve so we went to her house for snacks and then we ventured off to her church, The Village, for the service.

My sister found these kid size Solo cups at the store so Hunter enjoyed playing with his.

Dad do I have to look at the camera?

 Dad, really, I'm trying to eat my snack.

 And finally, there's both of them!

 Before we left for the service we took some family photos.  Here are the Mauritzen's.

Here's our first failed shot.

 Success!

After our photos, we went to the service and at the last minute we decided not to put Hunter in childcare.  We knew he would be fine during the music it was just the quiet moments we were worried about.  We weren't prepared for there to be a thirty minute sermon though!  But we had plenty of Cheerios that kept Hunter entertained.  And every now and then we would let him play with the unlit candles.  I only heard half the message but what I did hear was great.  And praise the Lord Hunter made it the whole hour.  Yes, one hour!

We went back to the house after the service for sub sandwiches.  It may be weird to some but our mentality is that we always eat light the day before our big feast.

Apparently Baby Mauritzen requested our mom's famous Italian Cream Cake.  Famous in our family, of course.  And you can't argue with Baby Mauritzen!  It was delicious!

17 Months

I think this picture speaks for itself! 

Saltine Cracker Toffee

I simply call this Toffee in my book because I haven't yet attempted to make real toffee with a candy thermometer.  The surprising ingredient is saltine crackers.  Really?  Yes, crackers.  It's the perfect combination of sweet and salty.  It also makes the perfect gift for neighbors for Christmas or an easy dessert that everyone will love.

I've seen this floating around the internet for awhile but I like to think that my sister and I discovered it first.  This is my go-to recipe every Christmas.

This recipe is not complicated but it does require you to babysit it while it's in the oven lest it burn.  And burnt toffee is not good.  Bleh. 

I first lined a baking sheet with foil that overlaps the edges and laid out saltine crackers on it.  If there's an inch of space left in your pan that won't hold a whole cracker you can cut a cracker in half with a serrated knife and finish lining your pan.

I then microwaved one cup of butter and brown sugar until they melted.

Then stir, stir, stir it all up until it's one color.  I used a whisk for this.  Stir, stir, stir, I tell you!

Then you pour your butter/sugar mixture over the top of the crackers and spread it thin with a knife so that every cracker is covered.  No cracker left behind!

Then you place it in the oven for FIVE MINUTES at 350.  It will start to bubble and turn light golden brown.  Don't walk away and let your oven keep beeping.  Take them out at the buzzer!  This is what they look like after they came out of the oven.  I used a knife to push the crackers back into line.

Then I dumped a bag of peanut butter and chocolate chips (the combo one) over the top.  Since the pan is super hot the chips started to melt so I spread them out with a knife.  I could have used an offset spatula for this but I forgot to tell Santa I needed one.  Once the chocolate was spread out I sprinkled crushed pecans on top and pressed them down with a piece of foil.  This is less messy than using your hands.  Trust me on this one.

Freeze or refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, maybe an hour.  Then peel the foil off FIRST before you break the sheet into pieces.  And voila!  You have toffee!

I like to keep mine in the freezer and pull it out when I need something sweet to munch on.

Bag it up and hand it to your neighbors!

Saltine Cracker Toffee

(click for printable)

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 sleeve of saltine crackers

1 bag of peanut butter/chocolate chips

1 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Line a large baking sheet with foil that overlaps the edges. Line the foil with saltine crackers. Melt butter and brown sugar together in the microwave for 30 second increments until both are melted. Using a whisk, stir the two together until it is all one color. Pour over the saltine crackers. Bake for 5 minutes until light golden brown and bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips on top and spread with a knife. Sprinkles with pecans, pushing them down with a piece of foil on top. Remove the foil and refrigerate the whole pan until firm. Once chilled, peel off the foil from the back and break into pieces.

White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

If you still need a holiday recipe then try these!  A combination of molasses, spices, and white chocolate all rolled up into a simple cookie.  These were absolutely DIVINE!  My first thought in comparing it with a flavor was that it reminded me of a cinnamon roll followed by the taste of gingerbread.  I am definitely keeping these in my recipe book!

A combination of late-night internet surfing and a need to make something for an upcoming Christmas party led to this find.  And I knew I had to make these because cookies are my specialty!

White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies by kSk


There were no extra steps or waiting time for these.  I just put all the ingredients into my Kitchen Aid mixer and let it go to work.  I did debate about whether or not to add an extra egg but in the end I went with the recipe as it suggested.  I think next time I will add two eggs and adjust the recipe around that.

Korey mentioned he wanted to eat these topped with whipped cream.  Yum! I thought these were best right out of the oven.  I typically like to wait for a cookie to cool down but these were even better warm.


White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies by kSk



White Chocolate Gingerbread Cookies

(click for printable)

1 cup shortening


1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup molasses

2 1/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 package white chocolate chips



In a large bowl, mix shortening and brown sugar until creamy.  Slowly add in an egg until it's mixed in.  While the mixer is running on low speed pour in the molasses. In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients.  With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients.  Stir in white chocolate chips. Using a large ice cream scooper, scoop out on onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and let them sit on the baking sheet for a minute longer and then using a spatula move them to wire racks to cool.
 
Adapted from Hanging on by a Needle and Thread

Hunter and the Christmas Tree

Such a precious face!

Christmas Tree

Korey's mom gave Hunter an ornament to hang on the tree.  She gives us one every year and since this was Hunter's second Christmas she gave us a Hallmark keepsake ornament with the number 2 on it.

After we got home from Houston I was in the mood to get out our Christmas decorations.  Korey climbed up in the attic and started handing them down while I turned on Handel's Messiah (one of my yearly Christmas traditions - it's the best!).  There was a certain little one perched at the bottom of the ladder rung wanting to see what all the fuss was about.

The first year we put up our Christmas tree I was worried about what the dogs might do around it...if they might be tempted to mess with the ornaments.  Turns out they ain't got nothing on our toddler.

Here he is with his game face on.

I think it took us about 30 minutes to get him to hang his ornament on the tree.  However, a toddler doesn't understand the concept of gently placing an ornament on the tree.  He does understand yanking it off.  Repeatedly.

All Christmas tree ornaments must be hung while holding Mommy's car keys.  Because even though you have the background music of Handel's Messsiah, there's nothing like hearing the sound of doors unlocking and locking over and over again.

Pardon Korey's scary eyes!  I think Hunter was in the process of yanking the ornament off.

Success!! All he needed was his momma's help.  Love this!

After the ornament hung successfully on the tree, Korey and I were too worn out to hang any more ornaments.  Turns out the night that we did hang up the rest of them was the night that we should have waited for Hunter to first go to bed.  Our poor ornaments may not make it until next year.

Cirque de Soleil - Ovo

For Christmas Korey and I won tickets to Cirque de Soleil in the Right/Left game. The tickets weren't until Feb and so we got to go the day before Valentine's Day. The show was in Frisco. You probably saw the big tents in Frisco by IKEA.

These pics are backwards. This is before the show started and before I got told I wasn't allowed to use my camera. I have no pics of the show but you can check out their website to see what happens. Let me just say it was A-MAZING. The tricks and acrobatics they do are surreal. I was watching them and I kept saying, "No, no, no" like you would if you were about to see a person jump off a high building. But they don't listen to you and they do it anyway and with grace and finesse. They take the circus to a whole new level. I think our favorite act was the "ants" that spun these round discs on their feet and then they passed people around on their feet while they were laying down. In sync and without missing a beat. Incredible.

Before the show started and crammed into our tiny seats.

These were literally tents that had huge steel poles in the middle to support them. I can't imagine being on the crew that has to put these up and take them down for every show. They were stationed in a parking lot and they had driven huge nails/anchor things into the concrete to anchor the tent. The first thing I said when we walked up was where was the bathroom! But they had portable bathrooms. Not a port a potty but an actual bathroom trailer thing.

A random pic from December. We were in Pottery Barn Kids and I sat Hunter in one of their chairs. Too cute.