#59: First Annual Scarf Swap

This Holiday season, I finally decided to try my luck at hosting a girl's night/Christmas party! I've wanted to host a scarf swap for some time now and thought that this could be the perfect White Elephant/Dirty Santa gift exchange just in time for Christmas!

Last Friday was the big day! Everyone invited brought some sort of appetizer or dessert to share and a wrapped brand new scarf to swap. For my contribution, I made a Christmas cranberry punch, THESE ham and swiss sliders, and THIS hot chocolate cheesecake dip.

Christmas Cranberry Punch

Ingredients:

• 1 qt. Sparkling Water
• 1 qt. Cranberry Juice 
• 1 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/2 cup Sugar 
• 1 Orange
• 1 cup Strawberries, halved
• 1-2 handfuls Fresh Cranberries 

Directions:

In a bowl or serving jar, combine lemon juice and sugar, mixing well until sugar is dissolved. Add sparkling water and cranberry juice and stir. Add halved strawberries, cranberries, and thin slices of orange to the mixture. Serve cold. 

Hot Cocoa Cheesecake Dip

We spent the first couple hours of the party eating and mingling before getting down to the scarf swap portion of the night. Since there were 11 of us, I cut out slips number 1-11 and placed them in a mason jar, asking each guest to pick a number.

Once each person had their number, number 1 went first (obviously). The rules were that you could either open a gift or steal someone else's scarf, causing them to have to open another gift. You couldn't open a gift and then choose to swap with someone.

After everyone had either opened or stolen a scarf, we all had in our possession a beautiful new piece of neck accessory to add to our collections!

We spent the rest of the night hanging out, getting to know each other better, and devising a plan to get to Vegas in 2015. #somuchroomforactivities

I am so glad a group of my closest friends were able to get together for this girls night and feel so blessed to have these girls in my life! Thanks for a successful Christmas party, ladies!

 And now I'm going to close this post out with a final picture of our tree (because why not?!) Ryan and I are heading to the airport in just a little bit for our flight to Atlanta!

Home, here we come!

Funfetti Chocolate-Chip Cookies

Man, these last few weeks have been super busy for Ryan and I- swim lessons for a friend's daughter, Super Summer Kids Week, Family Fun at the Beach, and cook-outs to name a few of the events filling our days and nights! Tonight is going to be the first night in over 10 days that we will be sitting down to a home-cooked meal (Spaghetti and Meatballs- YES)! 

After a swim lesson last week, I hosted my friends Candice and Rachel along with their children for lunch! Candice offered to supply the main course for lunch, but I wanted to make a fun dessert that the littles could help make! So, the night before I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies with a twist! The cookies turned out great and I the kids definitely had a blast scooping the dough onto cookie sheets....and eating them shortly after! Win! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup Butter, room temperature
• 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 2 tsp Vanilla
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 cups Funfetti Cake Mix
• 1 1/2 cups Flour
• 1/2 cups Sprinkles
• 2 cups Chocolate Chips
• 2 cups coarsely chopped Golden Birthday Cake Oreos 

Directions: 

1. In a mixer, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add in eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth. 

2. With the mixer on low, add in baking soda, salt, flour, and cake mix, stirring until the mixture comes together. 

3. Add in sprinkles, chocolate chips, and chopped oreos. Stir until evenly incorporated. 

4. Chill dough in the refrigerator over night. (If you can stand to wait that long!) 

5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough into balls, placing them onto a cookie sheet. 

6. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Cool and enjoy!

Aunt Carol's Pecan Pie

As I mentioned in my post for the sweet potato casserole recipe, there are some holiday recipes that just seriously remind me of home and family. This pecan pie is as close as I could get this year to a Schoeff family thanksgiving, as it is my Aunt Carol's recipe. She was gracious enough to pass it down to me and I couldn't wait to make it for Thanksgiving this year! 

A couple notes from my first (and second attempt) at making this pie: 

- If you use the roll-out pie crusts, be sure to flour both sides of the crust well before placing it in the pie plate...otherwise it'll stick. 

- Don't bake the pie until the filling doesn't jiggle at all...otherwise it'll be burnt on the top. 

Learn from my mistakes, people! I did, and my 2nd try Thanksgiving morning turned out perfect!! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 3/4 cups White Sugar 
• 3 Eggs 
• 1/4 cup Dark Corn Syrup
• 1/4 cup Butter 
• 1 tbsp. Cold Water 
• 2 tsp. Corn Starch 
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Vanilla 
• 1 1/4 cups Pecans, chopped
• 1 Pie Shell 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, butter, water, and corn starch. Bring to a full boil and remove from heat. 

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Gradually beat in the cooked syrup mixture. 

Stir in salt, vanilla, and pecans. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 45-50 minutes or until filling is set.

Thanksgiving 2013

While this Thanksgiving was very different from any other Thanksgiving Ryan and I have ever had together, it was amazing nonetheless and filled with great company and great food. Rachel and her family were gracious enough to include us in their festivities, so we headed to their house around 3 in the afternoon. After greeting everyone we posed for a few pictures in front of the fireplace with Kathy's gorgeous Thanksgiving decorations. 

So thankful for these three! 

Shortly after that, it was time to dig into our feast, featuring a big ole Turkey (of course), mashed potatoes, peas, gravy, stuffing, squash, and this sweet potato casserole, made by me!

The rest of the night was spent eating large amounts of food and spending quality time with the Grant family, both talking and watching football.

I made Aunt Carol's pecan pie for dessert and it was a hit, thankfully! Among the rest of the desserts, there was an apple pie, a pumpkin roll, a trifle, and a bunch of other really delicious things! We definitely weren't hurting for food that night.

Ryan and I have so much to be thankful for during this first year of our marriage. On top of our family and friends in Georgia, we are so thankful for this move to Boston during this time in our lives, all of the amazing things we've been able to do while up here, and most importantly, the great friendships and "northern family" we've established so far. Thanks Grant family for including us in your family holiday plans! 

What's Fall Without Some Good 'Ole Apple Recipes?!

Since Ryan and I picked a peck of apples in Vermont last weekend, we have been trying feverishly to incorporate them into some recipes- which really isn't that hard since I love cooking with apples anyways! This weekend alone we made cinnamon applesauce, apple pancakes, and my favorite, a homemade apple cake!

 Now, let me just talk about this apple cake for a minute. This recipe was handed down to me by my mother-in-law, Susan. I've made it so many times and it's always a crowd-pleaser. Plus, it's pretty easy to make! The only downside is that it takes almost an hour and a half to bake, so you have to sit around and smell the deliciousness for a while before you can actually dig in!

 Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil 
• 2 cups Sugar 
• 3 Eggs
• 3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Chopped Nuts (I use walnuts) 
• 1 tsp. Salt 
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 2 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 3-4 large Apples, chopped

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

Combine oil, sugar, and eggs in a mixer and beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Add vanilla. Add flour, salt, and baking soda a little at a time and mix until well incorporated. Fold in apples and nuts. 

Pour into a lightly greased bundt pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until fork is inserted and comes out clean.

Once the cake comes out of the oven, you can begin making the caramel-ish sauce that goes on top.

Sauce Ingredients: 

• 1 stick Butter
• 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Milk

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour over cake while it's still in the bundt pan and let cake cool completely before removing. 

Enjoy! It's seriously not fall until I've baked this cake at least once! Thanks for the recipe, Susan!!

Scotcharoos

Scotcharoos have become my go-to dessert for group functions or anytime where I'm asked to bring something sweet! This recipe was passed down to me from my Mother-in-Law, Susan, who I believe got it from a sweet friend of hers, Sheryl. It's a pretty easy, no-bake recipe and I almost always have all of the ingredients on hand so I end up making Scotcharoo's more times than I probably should! (Hey, I work out for a reason!!) 

Anyways... here's what you need.

Ingredient: 

• 1 cup Sugar 
• 1 cup Corn Syrup 
• 1 cup Peanut Butter 
• 6 cups Rice Krispies 
• 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips 
• 3/4 cup Butterscotch Chips 

Everything minus the corn syrup! 

Directions: 

Mix sugar and corn syrup together in a large pot and bring just to a boil. Take the pot off of heat and mix in peanut butter until well incorporated. 

Add in the rice krispies, stir everything until blended and transfer to a buttered 9x13 casserole dish. When pressing rice krispies mixture into the dish, don't press down too much or the bars will become very hard. (I can't even tell you how many times I've pushed the mixture down too much in the pan!) You want to lightly press them down- the more air the fluffier the bars will be!

In a medium saucepan, over medium-low heat, melt the butterscotch and chocolate chips, until there are no more lumps in the mixture. 

 Pour chocolate mixture over the rice krispies and place dish in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

When cooled, take the casserole dish out and cut into bars. Enjoy!!

Like I said before, I really think this will always be one of my favorite recipes! So, thanks Susan and Sheryl for passing this one down to me!! 

-Sarah 

Not Your Average Peanut Butter Cookie

Ryan has been feeling under the weather lately so we've been cooped up in the apartment all weekend in the hopes that he would shake this illness. For me, lounging around the apartment all weekend also means watching a WHOLE lot of food network, infecting me with the "baking bug."

We didn't have too much in the house, but when I opened the pantry and saw a big bag of heath toffee bits (Ryan's favorite), I knew what I wanted to do! I pulled out the rest of the ingredients and got to work on some Toffee Butterscotch Peanut Butter cookies with a twist!

Here's what you need!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter ( I used a super chunky variety)
• 1/3 cup of Cookie Butter (NOTE: If you don't have cookie butter, you can just add another 1/3 cup of Peanut Butter to your mixture...and then go to Trader Joe's and buy some Cookie Butter for next time!)
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) softened Butter  
• 3 tbsp. Milk
• 1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups Flour
• 3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 cup Butterscotch chips
• 1 cup Toffee Bits

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, cookie butter, milk, and vanilla until just blended. Add egg and mix until it has been incorporated.

Next, slowly add flour and baking soda to the wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Stir in butterscotch chips and toffee bits.

Scoop cookies onto the prepared baking sheets and press lightly with a fork to make a crisscross pattern. Bake for 9-11 minutes. The cookie bottoms will brown but the centers should look slightly under baked. Let cool on cookie sheet for about 2 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Although Ryan doesn't have much of an appetite, he definitely approved these so that's a win in my book!

-Sarah 

*PS- In case you're wondering, that was my first official blog post from my new computer! We took advantage of the MA tax-free weekend and picked up an Acer Aspire v5 131-2840 and I love it!! I'm still getting used to Windows 8, but this computer will work great for work/school for the next few years!