adios!

Good bye 2010!

Hello 2011, you look amazing & full of promise!

I hope everyone has a blast bidding adieu to 2010, and ringing in 2011.

Party... party... party!

31 days until...

photo courtesy a-ztours.com

I can't wait.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Christmas holiday and long weekend (for those of us lucky enough to get long weekends!) :)

Here's to wrapping paper crumpled up all over the floor, hot cocoa, sugar comas, tummys stuffed with delicious holiday dinners, and time with the ones we love.

I heart Giada

There are so many reasons I love Giada De Laurentiis. Just one reason is that she always helps me cook up some yummy & easy Italian dishes. This is one of my favorite dishes I make, speaking of which - I really need to make it again. It's warm, comforting, & yummy. Anyways... last night Giada helped me out, again! Yay!

This recipe is going to be hard to link you all to because it's on the Target website, in this section. Just click on "recipes" and you'll find it.

Last night I made her Baked Gnocchi. It was sooo delicious. Even my hubby who didn't think he liked gnocchi, loved it. Here's the recipe:

Baked Gnocchi (courtesy Giada De Laurentiis & Target)

• 1 - 17 oz. package potato gnocchi
• 1.5 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbls. a-p flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
• 6 oz. baby spinach (I used fresh)
• 1.5 oz. goat cheese (I used a 5 oz. package of crumbled goat cheese & used all of it. We love cheese.)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook gnocchi according to package direction, drain. Place gnocchi in lightly greased baking dish. (I used the square 8" dish.)

In a medium sauce pan whisk together cream, broth/stock, & flour over medium heat. Continue to whisk for 5 minutes or until the sauce is simmering and thickened. Stir in the salt, pepper & nutmeg. Add the spinach and stir until it's all coated in the sauce. Pour the mixture over gnocchi making sure it's evenly spread out and the gnocchi is covered. Crumble the goat cheese over top, and then finish with the Parmesan cheese. Bake until the top is golden brown & bubbly, or 10 minutes. (I actually cooked ours for 15 minutes to get the desired brownness.)

This dish was nothing short of delicious. Surprisingly it really does have a mac & cheese feel to it, but better. Way better.

it's Christmas! (almost)

Christmas is right around the corner. I'm pretty excited. We set a budget for gifts and I actually stuck to it. Ted's gift is another story, but all the gifts for our families are awesome & in the budget I was aiming for. That made this time of year much less stressful for me. Now it's on to wrapping said gifts - not my favorite activity ever.

This year we're doing a small Christmas dinner with just Ted & me, and my parents. It should be pretty fun and I'm darn excited to cook some yummy food. Here's our menu:

• mushrooms stuffed with brie
• spinach salad with warm bacon dressing
• potatoes au gratin
• roasted asparagus 
• boeuf en croute (aka beef wellington)

And for dessert we'll be enjoying:

• cracked earth

I'm going to be making the beef wellingtons individually instead of one big one because everyone likes their steak done differently. I hope it comes out as yummy as I'm imagining. If all else fails I'm sure the stuffed mushrooms and cracked earth will be awesome.

jumping on that bandwagon

I recently read all three books in the Gretchen Lowell series by Chelsea Cain. I really liked them, obviously, since I read all three in about a week. I just love a good series with just a touch of cheese. I would recommend them if you like a good mystery / suspense. The fourth book doesn't come out until March. I'm dying.

I'm also jumping on the Hunger Games bandwagon. I know so many people who have read the books and love them, including my hubby, so I finally decided to give them a try.

I'm also part way through Jenny McCathy's newest book, Love, Lust & Faking It. I like it, it's humorous. I don't find it nearly as funny as Belly Laughs, but it's still good. I'll update when I actually finish it.