1 Green Beans with Goat Cheese, Tomatoes, and Almonds

I took some of my leftovers with me to school today and the favorite of the group was this delicious green bean salad! I used the dressing on the green beans Sunday night, but realized that it really doesn't need dressing! So, if your counting calories or just don't want to hassle with a vinaigrette, then eat the salad plain! It is still amazing!

Picture and Recipe by Southern Living 

Prep Time: 21 minutes

Other: 6 minutes
Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 pounds haricots verts (tiny green beans), trimmed
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar*
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 (4-oz.) goat cheese log, crumbled
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake almonds in a single layer in a shallow pan 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
2. Cook green beans in boiling salted water to cover 6 to 8 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Plunge beans into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain.
3. Whisk together vinegar and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; add olive oil in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly until blended and smooth. Add cherry tomatoes, shallots, garlic, and green beans; toss to coat.
4. Top green bean mixture with crumbled goat cheese and toasted almonds.
*White wine vinegar may be substituted.

2 Tis the Season for CHRISTMAS CARDS!

I know that the Christmas card season begins when a sweet family friend sends out their "Thanksgiving card" every year! This family's card is always the first and it is so much fun to look at the picture, admire the pretty card, and then read the beautiful scripture and news of this past year! Christmas cards are definitely not the "real" reason for the season, but they are certainly an added bonus! ;-)
It has been so difficult to choose a picture or even a couple pictures for our card! Should we do a wedding picture, one from Whistler, Birmingham, with our puppies, or just a casual, picture of us hunting? Our Christmas card last year was our Save the Date and no matter what I find (in my biased opinion) nothing will match the elegance of our Save the Date. So, this year I am going with cute and casual! .
We are going to use Shutterfly for our Christmas card and I am having the hardest time narrowing down all of the beautiful cards! Normally, I am really good at just making a decision. . . . but this is just wearing me out! :-) Which is your favorite?

I love this one. . .

but this one is so cute too. . .

maybe I'm over thinking this decision. . . I'm going with this one. . .

but then I just found this one. . .

Aren't these Christmas photo cards PRECIOUS?
A great gift idea on the Shutterfly site is the photo calendars for 2011. We give my dad a calendar every year and it is one of his favorite Christmas gifts!
They also have the cutest party invitations . . . just in time for your Christmas party!
I hope your Christmas card decision making is much easier than mine. . . at least it is the season for lots of FUN MAIL!

FYI: Shutterfly is doing a promotion for bloggers. Here is a great way to receive 50 free Christmas cards!

1 Pumpkin Crumb Cake

This cake was another favorite from last night! I love how Christy Jordan from Southern Plate had a blog post dedicated to ideas for Thanksgiving dinner (I'll post ideas for Christmas!) I'll share another recipe of Christy's later on in the week! This was the perfect way to end "fall/Thanksgiving" and now I can't wait to dive into apples, cherries, and peppermint for Christmas! What is your favorite holiday dessert??

Batter:

1- 15 ounce Can Pumpkin

2C sugar
1 C milk
2 C self rising flour
1 stick margarine
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Crumb Topping:
1 stick (1/2 c) Margarine
1 Cup brown sugar (dark or light)
1 cup flour (self rising or plain, whatever you have on hand)
1 Cup oats (quick or old fashioned)
Spray 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Place all batter ingredients into large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended.
In medium bowl, place all topping ingredients. Cut together with a long tined fork until well blended. Pour 1/2 of batter into pan, top with 1/2 crumb mixture. Pour remaining batter over and top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350.
Cake is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
Recipe from Southern Plate

1 Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham

Tonight we had "Thanksgiving" dinner with my family!

Nate reminded me to take a picture of the "buffet line" right before everyone was starting to serve themselves. . . Not a great picture, but at least you get to see the other great recipes to come!!! :-)

Since everyone had already eaten at least one Thanksgiving meal, I decided to fix a ham instead of a turkey! The Honey Bourbon Glazed Ham was a unanimous hit!!  Don't let the name scare you. . . I don't like tasting alcohol in my food and even though you use a 1/2 cup of bourbon in the glaze, you can not taste it at all! :-) I'm not going to lie, it is pretty impressive looking!! ;-)

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Other Time: 3 hours
Yield: Makes 15 servings
Ingredients
1 (9 1/4-lb.) fully cooked, bone-in ham
40 whole cloves
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup bourbon
1/3 cup Creole mustard
1/3 cup molasses
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Remove skin from ham, and trim fat to 1/4-inch thickness. Make shallow cuts in fat 1 inch apart in a diamond pattern; insert cloves in centers of diamonds. Place ham in an aluminum foil-lined 13- x 9-inch pan.
2. Stir together brown sugar and next 4 ingredients; spoon over ham.
3. Bake at 350° on lowest oven rack 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting with pan juices every 30 minutes. Shield ham with foil after 1 hour to prevent excessive browning. Remove ham from oven, and let stand 30 minutes.

0 Honey Butter

This Thanksgiving lunch (just like last year) was spent at the Petroleum Club! Since Nate wants left overs and since both boys were with their significant others, we are having dinner at our house Sunday night! It will be such a special time of thanksgiving! Parker and Emily are on their way "home" for the first time since getting married and we are looking forward to hearing about their honeymoon and going over every beautiful detail of their wedding!
To get ahead of the game, I made the Honey Butter today! (to go with the homemade rolls)
Once again I found this fabulous recipe from Our Best Bites. Hope you had a blessed Thanksgiving!

Picture by: Whats Cooking America

Honey Butter

2 sticks of butter (temperature should be somewhere between chilled to room temp) (use salted butter)

2/3 cup honey

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Place all ingredients in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer for about 30 sec. Serve at room temp! Refrigerate leftovers!

Our Best Bites 

2 Surrounded by Blessings!

As I sit with my Venti Carmel Apple Spice, I am overwhelmed by the blessing that surround me! I re-read my post last Thanksgiving and I feel like the Lord has only added to our family's joys!

Just two weeks ago, my brother married the most perfect woman in the world for him. It was only by God's perfect timing that these two met and started dating. Their story is a post in and of itself. But as reflected at their rehearsal dinner, Emily and Parker were literally made for each other. God's hand is ALL over their relationship and he has blessed them for their faithfulness. God is so good and we are so thankful that Emily is a part of our family this Thanksgiving!

There is another sweet addition to our family this Thanksgiving! Clark's girlfriend, Rebecca, is such a joy and a delight to be with! She and Clark have so much fun together and are the "life of the party!" Rebecca is so beautiful inside and out and I love the time we get to spend together (almost weekly!) I thank the Lord for the godly women that are in my brothers' lives!

My parents love has grown this year. They have married two children since last Thanksgiving and have weathered through pretty stressful situations (mostly Mom planning my wedding! :-)  with poise, grace, and their love has only deepened. This Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for Nate's relationship with my parents! Whenever he is asked about his "mother-in-law," Nate always describes her as the sweetest woman in the world! My dad and Nate are best friends and they love spending time together (and have so much in common). Nate, honestly, wants to hang out with my parents more than I do! :-) The Lord certainly out did himself when he designed our family dynamics!

I have the most amazing and beautiful friends! Each one has impacted my life in such a special way and I love reflecting over the many memories we have together! God has blessed me with friends from birth to bringing my "maid of honor" into my life just a couple years ago!

Our "children" also enrich our lives! Wrigley is "Miss Priss," pouts; drinks and eats daintily; gets jealous; is sassy; doesn't like getting her feet wet or dirty; loves to cuddle; KNOWS that she looks good after getting a bath or going to the groomer; has never met a stranger; LOVES kids; talks; and loves to PLAY! She is SUCH a good girl!

and then there is Gus. . . bull in a china closet; drools; eats like he has never seen food before; goes a mile a minute; is VERY wary of strangers; ADORES water, mud and getting dirty; is the best bird dog in the world; looks he has been trained in German Shepard personal protection school when someone rings the doorbell; LOVES to be petted; once he has ok-ed you to be around his mommy, he LOVES you; Daddy and Grandpa are his two favorite people to play with, and he is such a sweet boy!

It is fitting that Thanksgiving is our first "holiday" together! It is the little things that I am most thankful for. . . like when Nate surprises me at school with an extra large diet coke with lots of ice. . . and how he is so sweet to my kids! God has blessed me more than I could have ever dreamed about!

Last but certainly not least, thank you for reading my blog!! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

3 Brownie Pecan Pie

This is a WONDERFUL recipe from Bakerella that would be a great addition to your Thanksgiving table!

Brownie Pecan Pie
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon self-rising flour
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups pecans (use pecan halves)
1 package brownie mix and ingredients listed on the box
2 frozen regular pie shells (mine were just refrigerated)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place brown sugar in a large bowl and work out lumps. Add flour and stir together until the flour disappears.
Add corn syrup and vanilla. Stir until thoroughly until combined.
Add melted butter. Fold into mixture until it disappears.
Loosely beat two eggs in a separate bowl and fold into mixture until the eggs disappear.
Stir in pecans and set aside.
Prepare brownie batter as instructed on package.
Remove two frozen pies shells from freezer and divide brownie batter evenly between the two. (I just used refrigerated pie shells)
Spoon pecan pie mixture evenly between the two pie shells.
Bake for about 35 minutes. (cover with foil after 20 min so pie shells don't get to brown)
Remove from oven and cool.