Last year...

Last year I decided to try to challenge myself to cook 52 new recipes during the year--they could be things I had eaten before, but the recipe had to be something that I hadn't tried yet. I'm a recipe addict by the way--I work at the library so I'm constantly looking at cookbooks and other things trying to find something tastey and fun to try for dinner or dessert. So basically the idea was to try some of those recipes that I copy and hoard in my house. And I did it! Over the last weekend I ended up making the last of my 52 recipes, and here they are in no particular order:
Focaccia and Dipping Oil, Oat Bread, Black Bean Tortilla Bake, Pina Colada Cheesecake, Crepes, Random Casserole--not good!, Peanut Butter Valentines Day Chex Mix (which is super yummy and I think I need to make some really really soon!), Sugar Cookies from a jar--and the icing to go with it, Beer Bread, Fried Rice, Coleslaw, Margarita Frozen Dessert (definitely a good one too), Taco Casserole, Peach and Raspberry Pie, Tex Mex Lasagna, Papa Johns Pizza Crust (Cheryl loves this), Lasagna rolls, Crispy Orechiette with Broccoli Pine nuts and Garlic, Zucchini "crab" cakes, Sweet Potato fries, Crab cakes with stovetop stuffing, Sesame Noodles, Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo, Couscous with yogurt dressing, Peach Cupcakes, Raspberry Buttercream Icing (my first attempt at buttercream, it wasn't very good either), Mountain Dew Apple Dumplings, Penne pasta with Spinach and Ham, Sue Schoppman's Pie Crust, Homemade Apple Pie filling, Cheesy Chicken and Biscuits, Apple Dumplings, Layered Enchilada Bake, Cheesy Turkey and Rice Burrito, Pumpkin Pie, Crockpot Thanksgiving Turkey, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Sweet Potato Casserole, Mom's Chicken and Noodles from Scratch, Mini Spice Cake Tarts (super yummy!), Apple Pear Crumble Pie (also a favorite now!), Bruschetta Chicken Bake, Creamy Pasta with Peas, Oatmeal Scottchie Pan Cookies, Apple Swirl Bundt Cake, Cream Cheese Cookies, Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake, Lasagna, Spice Cookies, Chicken Crockpot Curry, Velvetta Taco Pie, Pineapple Upside Down Cake (which has been the best thing ever in my mind! I love coming home to it at the end of the day!).

I'm actually pretty proud of myself for just setting a goal and sticking to it! It was a lot of fun!
What to challenge myself to in 2009? Well I didn't decide to do this until the end of January, so I figure I'll give myself about a month before I start the challenge, whatever that may be....

Best Wishes!

Boxer Puppy for Christmas and a few other dogs too!

This is my cousin's boxer puppy!
He's so cute!
Lets call him Steve!!!!

Look Steve has his own puppy teething ring!!!
You are too cute Steve!!!

Gussy found a girlfriend!
That's Maggie his favorite Puppy friend!
Um... and Blue no longer has ears...
actually he is no longer living at my house because he had to
move on to greener pastures after his stuffing was systematically removed by two crazy dogs!

This picture just makes me smile!

Enjoy the New Year Holiday and see you in 2009!
Best Wishes!

Last of the Christmas Items to Share

This was the handmade felt Christmas Tree Top that I ended up making for my tree. I couldn't figure out what to do for the top, but after looking online at different things I realized that a dove symbolizing peace was the perfect thing! I modified some ornaments and patterns from online and made my own tree top--it doesn't light up, but it does make me happy to see it!

This was a fun and creative wrapping job I did for my mom's Christmas present. I think she was actually more excited by the wrapping than by the gift. :o)

This was the ornament that I made for Lydia--she has a dachshund named Eddie and I made her a tiny felt version of Eddie. It was so hard to sew! Nothing that tiny again!

Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday!

Handmade Gifts from my cousins

For Christmas my cousins got together and made all sorts of fun handmade items. Here are a few of them:

Salt Dough Ornaments--the star is my favorite!

This is a mug filled with chocolate that the kids melted and poured--
they are peanut butter, white chocolate and milk chocolate
and there are some chocolate covered pretzels in the back too!

Thanks for the Christmas gifts kids! I loved them!

Steph and Michelle's Ornament Swap!

This year my friend Stephanie and I decided to do our own ornament swap at home. We asked every participant to bring six handmade ornaments which we traded with one another. Actually we chose to set them all out on the table and took turns choosing them. They were so fun! There were some really great ornaments and the party itself was a lot of fun to co-host as well!

This is a photo of my parents, Lydia, Stephanie, and myself. We were the ones who came early put everything together and then stayed late to clean it all up! You can tell us by our aprons--even my dad joined in the fun!

This was Stephanie before the party putting together her cookie tree creation!
It turned out lovely!

Here is Gussy waiting for the party to begin and hoping for snacks to fall from the heavens! He's dressed for the occasion too in his cheery little Christmas bandana

These were the ornaments sitting out on the table. We had pinecones, crocheted snowflakes, decorated glass bulbs, felt ornaments using all sorts of fun stitching, beaded ornaments, painted ornaments, and collage ornaments. Honestly it was a great mix and left me wishing that there was one of everything for me to take home!

These are some of the ladies making their choices.
See you all next year at the next ornament swap!!!

Online Ornament Swap (last one)

The last few ornaments from the online ornament swap:

Probably one of my favorites! This one is made from an altered domino!

Cute little handmade house!

Fuzzy little hand felted penguin--he got smushed,
but I think I basically got him back to normal.

There was one more ornament too--but unfortunately someone stole him!
I got the package in the mailbox, but it had been cut open and the ornament had carefully been removed. Someone probably thought they were stealing a gift card or something and not an ornament, hopefully though they at least gave him a place to live instead of just throwing him into the garbage!

Online Ornament Swap

Here are some more ornaments from the online Cake and Pie Ornament Swap that I did on swap-bot.com:

This one is totally creative and was done with a button maker!

This one was done in plastic canvas--it's making a comeback!

(This is a hand felted heart ornament!)

This ornament is my mom's favorite!
On this side it has a tiny glittery deer on it and on the back side
it's equally as cute and has a glittery M on it.
My mom loves it and points it out to me every time she sees the tree!