Episode 79 - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree!

Hello Internet!  I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  We celebrated our butts off over here...and by celebrated our butts off, I really mean ate until we thought we might burst and then had to go out and buy bigger pants to accommodate our new butts.  Hee hee!
But no, I didn't really go out and buy new pants.  In actual fact, I've just sworn off wearing pants all together until the holidays are over and done with.  Leggings, legwarmers and Lulus!  All day, every day!

Hunting for the perfect tree!

Besides eating, there was wine, gift giving, gingerbread house  train making, and a whole lot of Wii videogaming involving dance moves that should only ever be attempted in front of family who love you unconditionally.

Ginger Train!  

After the festivities, Dawson and I went home, put on our comfiest pjs and played with all of our new toys while enjoying a delicious and festive eggnog latte.  Mmmm...perfect!

Perfect fit!

1 mug full of eggnog
1 tsp instant coffee
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Microwave the eggnog for 2 minutes on high, dissolve the coffee granules and sprinkle with the spices.  How easy is that?!

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Episode 71 - This is Halloween!

I adore Halloween.  A. Dore.  Cute costumes, jack-o-lanterns, little individually wrapped Reese's Cups, it's pretty much impossible not to have fun with a holiday like that!  We carved our pumpkins yesterday afternoon, and by that I mean Dawson carves the pumpkins while I "instruct".  It's a great system, really.

That pumpkin is a scaredy cat.

While Dawson carved I made myself useful and whipped these up.  Cheaper than Starbucks!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

1 mug full of milk warmed in the microwave (about 2 1/2 minutes)
1 tsp instant coffee mix
2 tsp brown sugar (or more if you like it sweet)
1 pinch cinnamon
1 dash of each ginger, nutmeg and cloves

Mix in a mug and enjoy!  Make one for someone cute so you can drink them while cuddling in front of the fire. If you can make espresso, by all means, use that instead of the instant coffee.  We're not fancy.

Ps.  Dawson is a pretty great pumpkin carver.  These were his creations this year!

Pure Evil!

In case you're dying to know what our costumes were, I was a lion!  Grrrrr!

Friendly lion.

Dawson was an old prospector, complete with a red-onesie with a butt-flap!

We look like ketchup and mustard...

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Episode 2 - Ode to the Mango

Sweet and Spicy Mango Salad

2 cups baby spinach
2 garlic scapes, chopped
1/4 cup dried mango
1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp pickled jalepeno peppers, finely chopped

Mix together in a salad bowl with dressing (recipe follows).

Dressing

2.5 tbsp spicy oil from the bottom of a jar of pickled eggplant...or just some dried chili pepper flakes in regular old oil...if you're boring.
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
pinch of salt
fresh ground pepper


BBQ Mango Chicken Sandwiches

2 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 cup of a delicious BBQ sauce**
1 small, ripe mango, peeled and sliced
1 chipotle pepper in adobo, finely chopped
2 tbsp mayo
2 ciabatta buns
spinach and tomato as toppings

Stab the chicken thighs with a fork then put in a bowl with the BBQ sauce. Let them marinate for a few hours. Then BBQ them outside until they're cooked through. While they're cooking add the mango slices to the grill and let them get a little charred. Toast the buns.

Mix the chipotle pepper and the mayo together, spread it on one side of the ciabatta bun. Top with 1 piece of chicken, a slice of mango and some spinach and tomato.

**We used a homemade one but we have no idea what we put in it anymore so I can't tell you how to recreate it...its tragic...really. Just use a tasty one - preferably more spicy than sweet.


Mango Sangria

1 lemon
1 navel orange
2 limes
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
2 cans sparkling mango juice
2 cups orange juice
1/2 bottle of red wine


Juice 1/2 the lemon, 1/2 the orange and both of the limes into a large pitcher. Pour the rest of the ingredients in and stir! Slice up the other half of the lemon and orange for the side of the glass!

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