Happy Weekend!

{lit a candle at St. Patrick's cathedral}
I can’t believe that tomorrow is already December 1st.  Tonight we plan on "finally" putting up our tree.  I say finally because it seems as though everyone has their Christmas decor up except for us.  I truly plan on embracing the upcoming holiday season.  Next week we're visiting my dad in Florida and going to Art Basel.  I've never flown during the month of December so I'm pretty excited about that.  Bring on the cookie decorating, caroling, coquito (Puerto Rican egg nog) making, and all around holiday cheer!

Christmas Entertaining Pinspiration

As the holidays are approaching I find myself looking through Pinterest like nobody’s business.  It’s a problem.  So many great ideas, so little time.  I love to entertain during Christmas so I am always looking for new, creative ideas.  Here are a few “pins” that caught my eye this week.  You can follow me on Pinterest here.

Quinoa Breakfast Cookies

I wanted to bake something that would make me feel like I was doing something good for my body since it endured me eating like a beast over the Thanksgiving holiday.  You know how it goes...  You eat on Thanksgiving, then you eat the leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of the weekend.  Needless to say I'm done with turkey until next year.  I was inspired by this recipe.  Quinoa is an ultimate superfood and gives these cookies such a great texture.  Two cookies for breakfast with some vanilla yogurt made for the perfect way to start my day.  Here is how I adapted the original recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1teaspoonkosher salt
• 1/2teaspoonbaking powder
• 1/2teaspoonbaking soda
• 1/2cup(1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4cupsugar
• 1/4cup(packed) light brown sugar
• 1/4cuphoney
• 2large eggs
• 1teaspoonvanilla extract
• 1/2teaspoonalmond extract
• 1cupcooked quinoa, cooled
• 1cupold-fashioned oats
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2cup chopped walnuts

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 375°. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, both sugars, and honey in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and extracts; beat until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in quinoa, oats, cranberries, coconut, chia seeds and walnuts. Spoon dough in 2-tablespoon portions onto prepared sheets, spacing 1” apart.  Use a drinking glass to flatten the cookies.

• Bake cookies until golden, 12–15 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool. DO AHEAD: Store cooled cookies airtight at room temperature for 1 day, or freeze for up to 1 month.

Life Lately...

 Happy dragging a** Monday!  I was definitely spoiled by the four day weekend.  Lots of food and fun with the ones I love.  Now onto holiday planning.  It's a Never. Ending. Cycle.  I'm looking forward to yummy recipes, Christmas crafting and spending quality time with my family.  Have a great week!

Apple cider sangria prep

The hubbs surprised me with AMAZING Dulce de leche donuts from The Doughnut Plant (i die)

Got to spend some time with my niece & nephew at a costume bday party

Fell in love with the store windows at Tiffany's on 5th Ave

Had my first Sprinkles cupcake - Salty Caramel deliciousness!!

Pumpkin Pie Bars

 In celebration of Thanksgiving I decided to make one last pumpkin dessert.  This recipe is pretty genius if I do say so myself.  It consists of a press in shortbread crust, a creamy pumpkin filling, and then here comes the genius part...the crust doubles as the crumble topping!  OK some of you may not find that very exciting, but I thought it was pretty awesome.  These were delicious and absolutely perfect for any Thanksgiving get together.

Life Lately

Happy Monday!  I am super happy this is a short work week.  I've been finalizing my Thanksgiving food contributions and I finally decided what dishes I am going to make...

 

Macaroni and Cheese (if I don't make this I will be disowned by my family)

Cornbread Stuffing w/Bacon (my own recipe and yes, if I don't make it I will be disowned)

Creamed Spinach

German Chocolate Pecan Pie

Apple Dumplings

Apple Cider Sangria (my own recipe)

What, if anything are you making for Thanksgiving?

The view after my Saturday morning jog

A cannibalistic, yet extremely cute Hello Kitty filled macaron

Fresh seafood from the local Asian market

"Ice Cream" cake pop favors I made for my niece's 2nd Bday

 The birthday girl herself

DIY: "Nailhead" Studded Bag

I started this DIY not really knowing how it was going to end up. All I knew is that I wanted to update my old bag by using the color of the season, Oxblood. Once I finished painting I knew my work was not done. I thought studs would look great, but was really not in the mood to go through the whole process (as seen here). These brass plated fasteners were the next best thing. Check out the process below:

 {I used acrylic paint and a paintbrush}

{first coat.  I used three.  be sure you allow to dry in between} 

{brass plated fasteners can be found at any office supply store}

 {use pliers to clip off the ends as close to the base as possible}

{use super glue to adhere the "nailhead" to the bag}

 {press down for a few seconds to make sure it sticks}

{end result}

Peach-Whiskey Barbecue Chicken

As I was scouring the internet for some new meal ideas I came across this recipe for Peach-Whiskey Barbecue Chicken.  It was fall-off-the-bone deliciousness.  The sauce is sweet with a touch of smokiness from the barbecue sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s all the way).  There was plenty of leftover sauce so I plan on grilling up some chicken breasts and just pouring it on top of those.  Pairing up the chicken with some red skinned smashed potatoes made for the perfect comfort meal.

Life Lately

 {last week we welcomed our first snow storm.  I'm using the term "welcomed" very loosely}

I don't know about you, but I am in total disbelief that Thanksgiving is next week!  That being said the menu planning has commenced.  On a separate note life after Sandy is slowly, but surely getting back to normal.  Chris and I ventured out to the mall this weekend and it was worse than shopping during the holidays.  Total madness.  I think everybody and their mama just wanted to get out of the house.  The experience just solidified the fact that most of my Christmas shopping will be done online.  I really can't deal.
Last, but not least I made these AMAZING apple dumplings.  The recipe is ridiculously easy, so much so that I have it memorized.  The secret ingredient is Mountain Dew.  Yes, Mountain Dew.  I don't know what it does all I know is that these were the best things ever and I am not eating carbs for the next few days.  Have a great week!

 {last Friday we went to the Mr. Mustart solo show.  Check out an awesome video of the show here}

{enjoyed some Entwine Cabernet}

{made "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed cake pops}

 

 {a small piece of heaven with ice cream on top}

The Limited Edition Nars Andy Warhol Collection

When you combine some of the best makeup on the market and one of the most innovative artists of his time, you get the Andy Warhol collection for Nars.  The 29 piece collection captures the spirit of Warhol — and his many muses, including Edie Sedgewick, Debbie Harry and Candy Darling.  The collection arrived in stores in time for the 25th anniversary of the Pop artist’s passing, and were released in two parts: core products on Oct. 1 at Sephora and holiday-focused kits and palettes on the Nars website Nov. 1.  I need at least one piece of this collection in my life before the vultures start selling it on Ebay for 3 times the price!

{all images via}

Apple-Blackberry Crisp

Being stuck in the house for the most part of last week I cooked and baked quite a bit.  I came up with this apple-blackberry crisp recipe by using ingredients I had on hand.  Sometimes this is how some of the best recipes are born. 

For the topping:1/4 cup crumbled graham crackers
1 Tbls coconut flour
1 Tbls almond flour
1 Tbls rolled oats
1 Tbls packed dark brown sugar
1 Tbls granulated sugar
Pinch salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 Tbls. slightly softened unsalted butter, cut into pieces

2 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup blackberries
1 Tbls sugar

1Tbls brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 Tbs. lemon juice

---

Heat the oven to 375°F.

Make the topping: Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it's well blended and the mixture crumbles coarsely; it should hold together when you pinch it. Refrigerate the topping until you're ready to use it.

Make the crisp: Put the apples and blackberries in a large bowl. Taste the fruit and sprinkle on the sugar as needed.
In a small dish, dissolve the cornstarch in the lemon juice. Gently toss the mixture with the fruit.
Pour the fruit into a small square baking dish. Top the fruit with the topping and bake for 20 minutes.
Let cool for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.  Ideally, I would top this with ice cream, but since I didn't have any on hand I made some homemade maple-cinnamon whipped cream.