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Holiday Baking Items You Need in Your Kitchen

December 4, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

It’s holiday baking time, my favorite time of year! I’ve already started my baking and can’t wait to try out a few new recipes, as well as bake some of my old standby recipes. I just created this little list of items that you’ll want to have on hand before you start your holiday baking. If you have these items in your pantry/refrigerator, you’ll be able to create many, many of the tasty recipes that you find in your favorite cookbooks and on your favorite websites. Hopefully this will be a great reference for you as you begin your holiday baking!

Happy baking, everyone!!

It’s Time for Another Giveaway!

December 4, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

During the season when all of our credit cards are feeling the burn of holiday shopping, wouldn’t it be nice to have someone give you a gift card and send you off on a shopping spree?? If you like the sound of this, waste no time…sign up for this amazing giveaway and you could win a $500 gift card to Amazon!! I’m so excited to be working alongside some of my favorite online bloggers and businesses to bring you this amazing opportunity!

We’re giving one lucky winner a $500 Amazon Gift Card that they can spend on some holiday shopping or on themselves! The giveaway is open to entrants in Canada + the USA only and will run from December 4th through to December 18th.

We’re using Rafflecopter for this giveaway because it’s one of the best, most secure ways to host a giveaway like this. It allows us to store and track entries as we get them and to draw a winner when the giveaway is over. To enter, you can either login to the widget with your Facebook account or with your name and a valid e-mail address. Comments are welcome; however they will not be counted as an entry to the giveaway.

You must like all participating sponsors on Facebook in order to successfully enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best of luck to you all!!

Filed Under: Around the House Tagged With: christmas, giveaway, holidays

Peppermint Bark Cookies

December 3, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

T’is the season for baking lots of cookies. Pull out your aprons and your stretchy pants, and let’s hit the kitchen!

In the past, I’ve made many, many different types of cookies during the holidays, but this year, I feel like trying something different. This year, I’m going to bake fewer types of cookies, but I want to make sure they’re all extra super tasty…and these Peppermint Bark Cookies definitely fit the bill!

I started with a bag of Andes Peppermint Crunch bits. Since my family isn’t big on coconut and pecans, I decided to tweak the recipe on the bag so that it would suit all of us. I also doubled the recipe on the bag and added a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and some white chocolate chips…it’s amazingly delicious!

Peppermint Bark Cookies

Ingredients

2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups dark brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cup old fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups Andes mint baking chips
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Using an electric mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes).
Beat in egg and vanilla extract.
Add baking soda and salt, and then flour. Mix completely.
Stir in oats, semi-sweet chips, white chocolate chips, and Andes baking chips.
Scoop into one tablespoon cookies and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, two inches apart.
Bake for 20 minutes for large cookies or 12-15 minutes for small. Do not overbake.

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Filed Under: Baking Tagged With: baking, christmas, Christmas cookies, cookies, food, holiday baking

It’s A Burlap Christmas!

November 29, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

I’ve been sharing with you lots and lots of posts recently about my love for burlap. I was able to create some great decorations for my home, as well as a cute centerpiece and table runner…and I still have lots more to use! The best part about burlap is that it’s quite inexpensive, I’ve been able to find it multiple places for less than $2.00 a yard. One quick little stroll around the internet will help you see that incorporating burlap into your Christmas decor is simple and will make a real impact on your holiday decor! Check out some of my favorite burlap Christmas decorations from around the web!

Have you ever used burlap in your Christmas decorating?? Leave me a comment and let me know…let’s all be inspired!

Image Sources:

burlap wrapping paper
burlap ornaments
burlap pillow
burlap Christmas trees
burlap gift bags
burlap Christmas stocking

Filed Under: Around the House Tagged With: around the house, burlap, burlap decorating, christmas, christmas decorating, DIY, diy gifts, diy projects, holiday decorating

The Greatest Brownie Recipe…Ever!

November 28, 2012 By Carrie Leave a Comment

Oh my goodness, friends, I LOVE brownies. Brownies are the ultimate treat. They’re delicious on their own, topped with ice cream, warm out of the oven, or the next day…you can’t go wrong! While I have NO problem with brownies from a mix, recently, I was hungry for some brownies, but didn’t happen to have a mix on hand, so I found a recipe online and gave it a try.

At the risk of sounding bossy, let me just say…..you. must. try. this. recipe!!! You know those recipes when immediately after you try it, you instantly text your dearest friends telling them that they, too, must try the recipe? THIS is one of those recipes…and yes, I actually did text my friends…

These brownies are a fudge brownie as opposed to a more cake brownie, which I definitely prefer. AND, they bake in a 9×13 pan, which is kind of unusual for a from scratch recipe. Because really, an 8×8 pan?? That would be gone in my house in a matter of hours! When it comes to brownies, it’s definitely a case of “go big or go home”!

I used the Christmas chocolate chips that are available in stores now for my brownies to give it a more festive look, but feel free to use whatever you like…they’re your brownies, go crazy!