Cranberry Pear Sauce

My mom has been making this cranberry sauce for the last couple of years and it has become such a staple at the holidays that the family always requests it. This year I will be with D's family for Thanksgiving and would have missed out on this awesome dish otherwise. Granted we would have the canned cranberry sauce that you slice, which don't get me wrong I LOVE still, but there is something about the combination of the cranberries and the pear pieces that just marries so well together! I made a batch last night for the first time so we could have the opportunity to nosh on this wonderful yumminess, and we both wanted to eat spoonfuls out of the hot pot. (the hubby actually did!)

It's super simple and if you have time this holiday season I highly recommend trying it. It's super simple and makes a wonderful addition to your plate of goodies.


What You'll Need:
2 1/2 Cups cubed and pealed ripe pears (about 3 medium)
1 Cup Water
1/2 tsp ground ginger or 1-2 tsp minced gingerroot
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches) broken in half
1 package (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries
1-1 1/4 Cups sugar

Directions:
 1. In a saucepan combine the pears, water, ginger and cinnamon. Bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in cranberries and sugar. Return to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10-12 minutes or until the cranberries have popped and sauce is slightly thickened. Stirring several times throughout.

5. Discard cinnamon sticks and mash un-popped cranberries if desired. Place in a glass container that has a lid. Allow to cool, cover and refrigerate.

And that's it! So simple and it just reminds me of the holidays! Now you may notice that the finished product isn't very pretty.....but it tastes good so that's all that matters! What are your favorite holiday foods?

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

Last weekend, we borrowed my mother-in-laws camera (since our camera is now officially in the shop getting repaired) and went to a local nature center to take some family Christmas card photos.

We brought the pup with us, but because there were so many people, kids and distractions such as squirrels she refused to pay attention. Which lets be honest, when your working with a 10 second timer she never would have made it to actually look in the general lens direction anyways.

So we just posed in some nice area's and got some good shots, considering we had to use a timer. We went during "the golden hour" and had some wonderful fall trees in the background.

I thought I would just share a sneak peak of one of the photos, and when we decide which photo's to use I will of course share them here!

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Boys Behind the Blog - November

It's that time again! We get to hear from the man that deals with all of my craziness and all the projects that makes our home a disaster! The third Thursday of every month is dedicated to the Boys Behind the Blog. If your interested click the button at the bottom and Stephanie and Mallory will catch you up! As per usual my comments are in purple.

1. Who is your favorite band/musician?  I love all music, except for rap (crap). I wouldn't say I have a favorite band or musician. We both had a short stint with listening to Eminem.....see question three. But now we have moved onto the easy going lifestyle and sound of country music.

2. What was your first cd/tape? Wow. I honestly can't recall which was my first cd but the first cd that I recall buying for myself was I think Usher or Dr Dre. Um....yea. I had to introduce him to many things, which helped because I worked at a music store for four years....bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC, The Eagles.....I really love classic rock!

3. Who was your first concert?  My first concert was a horrible experience. We went to the Anger Management Tour with Eminem. A friend won tickets on KROQ FM and gave us his two tickets he had paid for. We did not enjoy the concert because there were fights, drug use, and mosh pits. Which are not at all our type of a good time. Granted, the name of the concert was the Anger Management Tour, but when you keep having to move seats because people are starting fires, punching each other and lighting up....it puts a damper on your day. We left before the headliner even went on stage.

4. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food? My favorite thanksgiving food would have to be Turkey. But I always look forward to homemade cranberry sauce now. YUMMMMMMMM I still love the canned cranberry sauce, (the one that you slice!) but my mom started making a homemade sauce that is to die for....I am attempting to make it this year because I wont have hers. Also, Grandma's pies.....will miss those too.

5. Finish the sentence: I am thankful for.... I would have to honestly say the thing I am must thankful for is my wife, Diane. She is my best friend and one of the only people I can seriously always count on being there for me. She is my support system in good/bad times. She shows me unconditional love every day. I can't wait till we are lucky enough to start a family. If I could choose again I would pick her to be my wife and the love of my life every time. I love you Babie. Swoon! It's always nice to hear those kinds of words! I couldn't agree with them more for him!

There you have it.....the Music/Thankful version of the BBtB. Wonder what the questions are going to be like for Christmas? BTW has anyone else felt the need to start decorating early? Since we cut cable I haven't gotten the Christmas overload yet and am wanting to put up our tree.....sigh the hubby said we have to wait. Not allowed to skip Thanksgiving I guess.

Shower for Baby Aidan

I have been posting about all the craft projects for our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. H's new addition, and I finally can post everything I made and a couple of shots from the shower because it has finally passed! Yay! She had an adorable Owl themed shower and the minute I saw her invitation I knew exactly what I was going to make. I meticulously stalked her registry to make sure that the bought items I was going to include were still on there when I was finished. I MAAAAAY have gone a little overboard on the handmade gifts, but honestly I so thoroughly enjoyed making each piece and I know that they will be loved forever. Her little bump is just the cutest!

Let's talk a little bit about the shower. Her friends and family were the warmest and kindest people! I was standing in the corner, because I didn't know anyone really, and her girlfriends from high school took me under their wings and brought me into their circle without question. That was so sweet. We had wonderful conversations from all aspects of life.....all the ladies were around the same age but we had newlyweds, engaged, old time marrieds, (raises hand) and mothers. The conversation went all over but it flowed nicely and we laughed and laughed. The family was outpouring of hugs, smiles and AMAZING food!

They played many games.....some I have played before and others were new to me. Old favorites included the pin game....I lasted a long time, but eventually got it taken from Sam....who ended up winning the game. Guess the baby food.....we were able to smell them which did NOT help at all. Let me say that when we do have kids, we are making our own baby food.....that stuff was nasty! How many Jordan almonds are in the jar and the guess how big the belly is, which I won! Hehe.....I tend to be good at this game. My trick when you think you are right (always put it on yourself) back it off an inch.....not only are you not going to be as big but it tends to work for me. I came within 1/4 of an inch! Yea. New games to me were: wrapped baby items that you had to feel and guess what they were.....man was that difficult. We all had concentrative faces trying to guess those baby items....It was harder than it outwardly appeared. Next was memory. Which apparently there were 18 items on the tray, but I only remembered 10.....not very good. We also played bingo too.

Decor was amazing and this homemade owl cake from her mother-in-law was something to be envied! It was fancier than our wedding cake!!!! I love the little owl with the tree branch!

Are you all anxious to see what I made? Have I talked too much thus far? Ok well get ready for photo overload! Above is the basket of everything she got. It almost all didn't fit in there. I had to play puzzle to make it work. From her registry I bought her these adorable Owl Crib Sheets from Carter's for Babies r Us, a couple of Pacifier's to go with another part of the gift, and as a free gift with purchase I got a cute Dr. Brown's holiday bottle as well. Now here we go with the handmade items:

Like I said earlier, the minute I saw her invitation I knew what I was going to make. This little guy stuck out to me on Pinterest and I had to make him. He is made with denim, upholstery fabric and felt with a little rick-rack and trim thrown in for good measure.

Carseat Canopies have been all the rage with crafter's and DIYers alike. They are easy as well as functional but I wanted to make mine a little different and throw in my quilting skills also. She told me at the shower she had been looking for one for months but couldn't justify the price of buying one....well now she has one of her very own. Also I found the cutest baby fabric!

Another Pinterest find, but this one was just too good to pass up. This diaper bag has multiple straps so that it can easily hook onto the stroller and then re-attach as a messenger-type bag. It's got a denim front and upholstery fabric inside so it's durable and still will work for mommy and daddy to use. The hubby has pre-requested that I make one to hold onto because he liked it so much.

I made her four burp rags with the cutest material ever! That square material has mini animal silhouettes on it. Elephants, rhinos, giraffes.....sooo adorable!

She got a couple of bibs from my denim bib stash....the construction worker and the red stripe were the last "boy" ones.....people need to have some girls here!

She needed some nursing pads as well....these were the only things that didn't coordinate with the whole gift, but I made them girly just for her.

The cute minkie taggie blanket has now found a home. I really enjoyed making this project! She also got two pacifier clips and two diaper/wipes cases.

I discovered that the owl looked really good on my recliner. I think I need to make one of these cute little guys for myself. Thanks for bearing with me. I know that it was a long post, but I hope it was worth it. I really had soo much fun coordinating this gift for baby Aidan, and I hope he gets a lot of use out of it! I will be posting tutorials for the Owl Pillow, the Quilted Carseat Canopy and the Convertible Diaper Bag so I hope that you stay tuned for that! :-)

 

Homemade Pasta Fagioli

I grew up in an Italian family. We had so many recipes that have become heavy staples in my own home including our pasta sauce and Italian dressing. You might remember my Meatball Sub Sandwich recipe from earlier in the year and those are our family recipe meatballs, minus the Parmesan cheese which I miss! So I keep asking my great aunts and grandfather for specific recipes and was finally able to track one down. The pasta fagioli recipe (pronounced "fazul") The hubby loves the Olive Garden version, but I remember it being slightly different and wanted to try our own recipe before attempting the O.G. knock offs on Pinterest. He was on board and helped me out with making it.....well he cut the veggies and then got a call to run to work really fast.

What You'll Need:
1lb Ground Beef
1/2 an Onion (chopped small)
3 Stalks of Celery (chopped small)
Carrots (chopped small) - 2 handfuls baby carrots
6 cloves garlic Minced
(1) 16 oz Can Tomato Sauce
(2)  16 oz Can White Beans (If you can find Cannellini or Great Northern Beans that is preferred)
(1) tbsp Oregano
(1) tbsp Garlic Powder
Pinch of Pepper
1lb of Small Elbow Macaroni
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Brown your ground beef until cooked and drain fat. Chop all your veggies small.

2. In a large stock pot begin to boil your water for your pasta

3. In a separate stock pot, pour about four tbs olive oil in the bottom of your pan. Add your minced garlic and saute until brown. Add in your veggies and saute until cooked.

4. Add your 16oz can of tomato sauce and cook on high to bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to medium and add your (2) cans of beans. Then add your garlic powder, oregano and pepper, and ground beef.

6. Increase heat to high and bring to a fast boil for 1 minute. Switch heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. If your sauce isn't juicy enough you can add water from your pasta pot.

7. While simmering finish cooking your elbow pasta until al dente.

8. This is where there was an oops.....I remember everything being mixed together (like goulash) so I added my cooked pasta into the sauce and mixed it together. I guess you are supposed to just add the amount of pasta you would like for your sauce, for it to be more like a stew/soup. Either way works and tastes just as good. Just pick how you would like it dished up. Remember that the pasta is going to absorb a lot of the juice from the sauce.

Another tip straight from the hubby.....if you cry a lot while chopping onions, then just utilize your swimming googles to help with the sting! Haha. I was giggling when he put these on, but was glad that we were cooking together!

The couple that cooks together, stays together.

Even though it wasn't the same as his favorite O.G. soup, he still went back for seconds and we have plenty left over for lunches.

Always remember that with any spice you should adjust to your own taste. I added more pepper and might adjust the other spices the next time I make it, of course I could add to it as well!.

DIY - Pacifier Clip (Baby Shower)

Hi guys! I have another really simple DIY baby shower gift tutorial! The pacifier clip is simple yet so functional for any mom. You know that when babies need a pacifier, they will inevitably drop said pacifier. This contraption helps save time (from washing the thing every five seconds) and your ears from an unhappy baby wanting their paci, because it not only hooks to the pacifier but also the child's clothing.

What You'll Need:
(1) Fat Quarter, minimum 18" wide
(1) Suspender Clip
(1) Ouchless Hair tie
Pins
Sewing Machine

Directions:

1. Cut your fabric 18"x3" If its directional (striped) you might want to choose a pattern or direction first to cut in.

2. Fold your strip of fabric length wise with right sides facing together. Pin the long open end and sew a 1/4" seam along the entire length.

3. Using a safety pin....turn your project right side out.

4. Press flat and turn your open ends in 1/4" and pin.

5. Sew an 1/8" seam along both long sides. Leaving your short ends open.

6. Take your suspender clip, and place face down. Insert your strip into the open end along the bottom and pull through about 1". Sew 1/4" seam along the edge to close your strip around the suspender clip. Make sure to back-stitch to lock it in place.

7. Cut your hair-tie along the seam. Insert your cut end into the opening of the other end. Push the hair-tie in about 1/4" or so, and sew a 1/4" seam to close the opening and seal the hair-tie into place. Back stitch a couple of times to ensure that the hair-tie will stay put. Clip all threads and admire your work!

The total time it took me to create two was about 30 minutes. This is so simple and a cute/functional craft to add to any baby shower gift! Want more simple and easy baby shower gifts? Check out my newly revamped All Things Crafty tab at the top of the page! I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. I have more to come and a re-cap of everything Mrs. H got in her baby shower gift! I had way too much fun with this!

Happy Wednesday!

Halloween 2013 - Better late than never

I know....Halloween was last week and like I said on Thursday we went over to our good friends house for a barbeque and passing out of candy. I had no idea that he was going to go all out for the event. Using a power drill to carve his pumpkins and pulling his grill and fire-pit out onto his driveway and setting up a buffet style hamburgers for us. It was awesome.

As per Thursday I did not dress up and neither did Mrs. H. We both went comfortable as she is 7 months pregnant and I went in leggings and a baggy sweatshirt to be warm. The guys however did dress up. The hubs and J.P. went as fake cowboys with their hats and plaid shirts and Mr. H went as a giant panda....as per his usual. He sat next to the fire pit with the candy bowl in his lap, scaring half the children with the costume alone.

We enjoyed ourselves looking at the cute kiddos costumes. I was on Minon count but it seems like the Avengers were a heavy choice this year. All I can say is when did we become old enough to be those people hanging out in their driveway passing out candy? All we were missing was the cooler and the fake dead body in the grass and we were the epitome of my memory of trick or treating as a kid!

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween. We also found ground zero for our kids trick-or-treating! Uncle Jayes!