Valentine's 2016 - More Manicotti!

Today we're finally sharing our Valentine's meal! True to our tradition [2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010] we made manicotti. Not only do we have manicotti on Valentine's day but we have a new recipe. There's been spinach manicotti, traditional meat manicotti, manicotti with crepes, and a lasagna roll up (we were a tad bit liberal on manicotti that year). This year we're back to a vegetarian manicotti as it featured roasted vegetables.

Originally our Valentine's day was going to include hosting some dear friends but there was some snowy winter weather that changed their plans and they weren't with us for Valentine's supper. Because of our initial plans of having friends stay with us over the weekend I made the manicotti at the end of the week and froze it until Valentine's day. I actually doubled the recipe and froze an extra casserole too! Enough chatter about the manicotti please enjoy the recipe. You can access my google doc here that contains the full Valentine's menu.

Roasted Vegetable Manicotti inspiration from oh my veggie
   Serves 6
Ingredients
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
1 small eggplant, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt + pepper to taste
1 package manicotti shells
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese, divided
1 c. mozzarella cheese, divided
2 c. marinara sauce

Directions
   Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
   Combine vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Transfer to baking sheet and roast for 30 min, stirring after 15 min, or until vegetables are softened and just starting to brown. Set aside.
   Cook manicotti shells to al dente. Drain and run under cold water until shells are cool enough to handle.
   Meanwhile, stir together ricotta, egg, salt and pepper. Fold in roasted vegetables, 1/4 c. parmesan cheese, and 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese.
   Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Using a spoon, fill each manicotti shell with vegetable mixture. Place finished manicotti in dish and top with remaining sauce and cheese.
   If you're planning on eating the manicotti the same day you make it, reduce oven temperature to 350F and cook right away. Cover casserole dish with foil and bake manicotti for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes more.
   To freeze: Place plastic wrap directly on top of manicotti, then cover casserole dish with lid. Freeze for up to 1 month. To bake, preheat oven to 350F; remove lid and plastic wrap and cover with foil. Heat for an hour, then remove foil and bake about 15 minutes more or until manicotti is heated through and cheese has melted.

Do you have a favorite manicotti?!

2015 Holiday Beer Tasting

We had a lot of fun sharing our craft beer interest with Whitney's parents last year during a 2014 Holiday Beer Tasting. So much fun that we thought it would be a fun annual tradition to start! And thus the 2nd Annual Holiday Beer Tasting commenced.

The Holiday Beer Tasting is a sampling of 6 different beers presented with tasting notes and enjoyed at some point over the holidays. This year we did the tasting during the Duke football bowl game which seemed appropriate. As this was our 2nd Annual Holiday Beer Tasting I had some past experience to guide me in curating this year's selection. What I learned last year was that my parents aren't quite as adventurous beer drinkers as we were expecting and some of my predictions were wrong. For example, last year we had a chocolate stout and a java stout since they love chocolate and coffee but they weren't big hits. Curious to know what we tasted?!

Foothills Carolina Strawberry | Carolina Brewery Sky Blue Golden Ale | Goose Island 312 Urban Wheat Ale | Bell's Winter White Ale | Tap Room No. 21 Copper Lager | Duck Rabbit Milk Stout

I prepared us some tasting notes that contained the type of beer, information about the beer and brewery, and a general description of the style of beer. If you'd like to read over it for this set of beers you can view the google doc here.

Here are Patrick's thoughts on the tasting:
Even for us seasoned beer drinkers, last year's tasting was pretty adventurous with mostly dark and flavor-heavy beers. Considering the general feedback last year it seems like Whitney went for a lighter, more likely to please assortment of beers. Even so, for me it was nice to try a range of beers outside my normal stouts, IPAs, and occasional lagers. My favorite was the Bell's Winter White Ale, which was a slight surprise for the style, but not for the brewery, with Bell's having several of my favorite beers including their Java Stout and Two Hearted Ale. What an awesome Christmas.

I can't wait to see what we'll try next year!

Christmas Eve: Chicken Marsala & Chocolate Mousse

Did you know that Patrick proposed almost four years ago?! If you need a reminder, or you're a new blog reader, we took a spring trip to Asheville in 2012. He proposed at the Biltmore House and Gardens and after the proposal we visited the winery and purchased a few bottles of wine.

Now you're probably thinking I'm getting my holidays mixed up and that a proposal has nothing to do with a Christmas Eve dinner (as the post title has promised a Christmas Eve dinner featuring chicken marsala and chocolate mousse).

Well one of those purchased bottles of wine after the proposal was a Merlot and we saved it to drink at Christmas. Christmas 2012 was half way between our engagement weekend and our wedding (August 2013). It seemed fitting to have the wine then and I thought it fitting to have a bottle of Biltmore Merlot every Christmas thereafter. This Christmas we toasted our seventh Christmas together and drank our fourth bottle of Merlot (first bottle, second bottle, third bottle) on Christmas Eve.

Our menu featured chicken marsala served with rice and sauteed kale and instant chocolate mousse for dessert. Here's a printable google doc for everything. This was our first time making chicken marsala and we really liked it! Enjoy!

Martha Stewart's Chicken marsala
Serves 4
Ingredients 
3/4 cup flour
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, butterflied, pounded thin
5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
10 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 C dry Marsala wine
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon (3 tbsp)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp chopped oregano
Directions
   Combine flour, salt, and pepper in a large, shallow dish; set aside. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Dredge chicken in flour, tapping off excess; set aside. Add 3 tbsp oil to skillet. When oil is shimmering, add chicken, and cook until lightly browned, about 3 min. Turn over, and cook 3 min more. Remove chicken to a plate; set aside and keep warm. Wipe skillet clean, if necessary.
   Heat remaining 2 tbsp oil in skillet. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are dark golden brown and the liquid has evaporated, 5-7 min.
   Remove skillet from heat, and add wine. Return skillet to heat, scraping up any brown bits. Add garlic, lemon juice, butter, and oregano. Cook for 10 min until reduced and slightly thickened. Taste and adjust for seasoning. Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with oregano.

Sauteed kale
Ingredients
2 slices bacon
2 tbsp evoo
1 small onion, diced
Salt and pepper
Dash of red pepper flakes
2 handfuls of kale, chopped
Apple cider vinegar
Directions
   Add bacon to a skillet set over medium heat. Once fat has rendered, add a little olive oil and cook onions until soft. Add salt and pepper and red pepper flakes. Then add kale. Cook until just barely wilted (and still bright green) and add to a serving bowl. Drizzle with a little cider vinegar (or red wine vinegar) to taste. Garnish with chopped bacon.

Nigella's Instant Chocolate Mousse
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 ½ cups marshmallows
½ stick soft butter
9 oz good bittersweet
  chocolate, chopped
¼ cup hot water
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
   Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a saucepan. Use low heat to melt the contents, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
   Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture.
   Pour into 4 glasses (about ¾ cup each) and chill.
   Serve with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

Gifts for the kitchen

Hello! Checking in today with a new installment of gifts for the kitchen. We like sharing these posts so you can see how we're updating our kitchen gadgets to assist us with all of our meal planning and cooking. We've shared quite a few over the years: this one in spring 2015, this one for 2014, this one for 2013, and this one in 2010 (a long time ago!). I can happily report that most everything in those posts is still being used and loved in our kitchen. Patrick wrote in one of those posts that "It probably won't surprise you that one of the most frequent categories of gifts that Whitney and I give to each other is kitchen tools". Well I think our kitchen is just about fully stocked so maybe next year there won't be quite as many kitchen gifts.

Santa managed to stuff our stockings with a few gadgets we needed in the kitchen and Patrick gifted me a "want" and a surprise. Read on to see what they were...

Santa brought Patrick a pie weight chain
   Santa knew Patrick was getting pretty frustrated with using dried beans as a pie weight. Pie weights are used when you are blind baking a homemade crust before placing the filling in it. The pie weights prevent the dough from rising and bubbling on the base. Dried beans or ceramic / stainless steel beads are commonly used as pie weights. Dried beans or ceramic beads pose a problem for quickly removing them and a pie weight chain solves that problem! Here's a visual for how it works:

We'll be using this pie weight chain when we make our go to pie crust recipe.
[The one Santa purchased from Crate & Barrel isn't available anymore but this is similar]

Santa brought Whitney some soft gel paste 
   Santa knew that one of Whitney's new favorite kitchen hobbies is making royal icing so she can creatively decorate sugar cookies. Unfortunately her pumpkin cookies and Christmas cookies were more pastel than vibrant. Santa did some research and saw that the Bake at 350 blog recommended AmeriColor soft gel paste so he brought her a starter kit. Once she masters these 4 colors she can move up to the 41 color kit!

[purchased this set]

Patrick gifted Whitney a new canner!
   Whitney had been using an old canner that her dad had been keeping in his barn and gave to her. Over the years it had become quite rusty and even though it held water it needed an upgrade. Since Whitney proved she was serious about canning Patrick researched a super awesome canner for her to have. Come check out tomorrow's post and see what all she canned in the fall. She can't wait to test it out!

[purchased this one]

Patrick surprised Whitney with a tea infuser and a variety of loose leaf tea
   Patrick knew one of Whitney's favorite parts of their Californian vacation was their tea tasting in San Francisco's Chinatown. He surprised her with an over-the-cup tea infuser and a variety of loose leaf teas. Though we haven't been tea drinkers before now we look forward to including more tea and less coffee in our life. We learned a lot of about the benefits of tea during the tasting and can't wait to explore the different varieties. They also had some tea gifted to them over Christmas so there is a lot to try!

[purchased this tea infuser and tea from here]

Parent Santa also gifted Patrick and Whitney some fun kitchen gadgets that included a tomato corer, oven rack puller/pusher, cat bag clips, a small funnel, baggy ties, and a Polish pottery tart pan. One can never go wrong gifting Whitney some pottery (I'm sure Patrick doesn't approve of that though)!

We also replaced a nonstick pan with a Le Creuset saute pan at the beginning of December. It was a Christmas gift to each other. Patrick shared the details in this post.

Want a more in depth look at what we're using in the kitchen? Here are linkbacks to our registry post where we detailed what upgrades we made in the kitchen after our wedding: cutlery, electrics, cookware, formal table setting, and our casual table setting.

Cheers to a yummy 2016 in the kitchen! Hope Santa brought you something to use in the kitchen.

Merry Christmas!

May peace, joy, and love fill your holiday season and last throughout the New Year.

We'll be taking next week off from the blog so come check us back out in the New Year! We'll start with our regularly scheduled programming on Monday, January 4th with Meal Plan Monday! And maybe there'll be some new things in store for the blog in 2016.

Cheers - from our furry friends to yours!

Holiday Home Tour 2015

Welcome to our Holiday Home Tour: 2015 edition! I had so much fun decorating this year. Even though it was our second holiday in our home, since we are a bit more settled this year than last, I felt like decorating was much more impactful. I can envision decorating our mantle for years to come and look forward to creating many happy holiday memories here. This year's decorations weren't too different from last year but I did switch things up a little bit. The mantle decorations are a new addition (with a DIY piece - did you see it yesterday??) and of course the buffet required some new pieces because it's a new furniture piece I haven't decorated before!

Without anymore chatter please enjoy our holiday home tour!

WELCOME

ENTRY

LIVING ROOM

DINING ROOM

KITCHEN

Happy Holidays!

Past Holiday Home Tours: 2014 | 2013 | 2012

DIY Christmas Craft Roundup

Before coming out with our Holiday Home Tour post tomorrow I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the DIY Christmas crafts I've done in years past (and always meant to share on the blog but never did). Each year I seem to add some sort of DIY Christmas craft to our assortment. I typically don't set out to find the perfect DIY craft but there always seems to be something specific I want to add to the decor and can't find in stores. So I set off to make it!

Here are the crafts, a bit about why we made them, and a brief "how" for making them! If you'd like to make one and don't feel like there's adequate information please let me know. I did my best to give a general sum of the project where you can make it yourself but didn't outline every single detail. All of them are definitely on the beginner scale of crafting but they can be time consuming (and require patience).

2010 - Felt Ornaments

Why? We needed some ornaments for our tree. These DIY felt ornaments were our first DIY Christmas craft. In 2010 we were just out of college (and recently dating) and needed to deck out our tree on the inexpensive side. What was a crafting date night to produce colorful, personalized cheap ornaments turned into a wonderful holiday memory that we cherish and reminisce on each year when we pull out these ornaments. The felt ornaments are also unique and really make our tree stand out.

How? I decided that felt ornaments would be the most effective way to produce enough ornaments to decorate a whole tree. I found a template online for holiday shapes that would make good ornaments (here are the ones I used). The template was traced onto both cardstock paper and the felt. The felt shape was then glued onto the cardstock which provided the felt with a sturdy base. We then decorated the felt shapes however we wanted - our creativity and personality (and skill) really shine here! To decorate the shapes we would make cut outs in other colors of felt and glue it onto the felt base. To finish the ornament we used threaded an embroidery thread loop for hanging.

Materials: Cardstock, felt, tacky glue, embroidery thread. Scissors, needle.
Here's a close up of a few of them:

2012 - Yarn Christmas Trees

Why? I don't have a distinct memory of why I wanted these trees. I think I thought they would just be a fun project and they were! I love the way they turned out and have such fun putting them out each year. They seem to find their way into a different place each season. Out of all the craft projects I'm sharing in this post these are the easiest. I also used leftover felt from the ornaments (I bought lots of felt for that project).

How? Begin by hot gluing the end of the green yarn to the base of the styrofoam cone. Wrap the yarn around the cone and keeping each wrap of yarn as close to the one before it as you can. Place a dot of hot glue intermittently to secure the yarn to the cone. Continuing wrapping the yarn until it is coiled on the top and finish with hot glue. After the yarn has been wrapped around the cone, cut a base for the tree from brown felt that is slightly larger than the base diameter of the cone. Hot glue the felt to the cone. Next is adding the ornaments. I chose burgundy and white dots of varying sizes. Glue the ornaments to the yarn tree. Finally cut two diamonds for the star; lay one diamond on the table, place hot glue for the toothpick and glue the toothpick, add a bit more hot glue and add the other diamond onto the first. Now stick the toothpick into the top of the cone and you have a star on your tree! Repeat until desired amount of trees in your felt tree forest has been crafted!

Materials: Styrofoam cones (various sizes), green yarn, felt (for ornaments, star, base), toothpick, hot glue sticks. Scissors, hot glue gun.

2013 - Christmas Tree Skirt

Why? Well we decked our tree in ornaments and then we needed a tree skirt! It seemed fitting to make a tree skirt to coordinate with our ornaments. Off I set to figure out how! This project has the potential to be really "easy" but I chose to hand sew each individual sequin on so it was quite time consuming. Anyone can cut a yard of felt into a circle - the difficulty will lie in how you choose to adorn the tree skirt. I'm really opposed to tree skirts with large images on them because eventually the presents will cover them up. Therefore I planned some pops of traditional Christmas color for my skirt.

How? I followed this tutorial for preparing the skirt. It gives a standard measurement for how big the tree skirt should be and easy instructions for executing an even circle. Then you cut down the radius and cut a smaller circle for the base of the tree. I then cut an abundant number of 2" round green and white felt pieces. I alternated these around the base. I would place the green and white circles around the base (probably worked with about five at a time) and pin them down. Then I used needle and thread to sew the sequins onto the circles and the base. With one piece of thread I would sew the sequins and the edge of the circle down. This was in case a piece of thread ever breaks the tree skirt will not lose all of the sequins and border. Every now and then instead of sequins I would sew on a jingle bell. I'd be happy to share more details for the method to my madness but I doubt I'm going to inspire too many folks to DIY a tree skirt in this manner. Finally I added closure snaps to skirt in the back.

Materials: Felt, sequins, small jingle bells, thread, closure snaps. Scissors, needle.

2015 - Canvas Art 

with Reindeer Names

Why? We needed new seasonal decor for our mantle. We've learned over the past year that if anything goes on the mantle it needs to be unbreakable or not sentimental if it gets knocked off (because - cats). Last year's mantle decor didn't pass our new requirements. I started by stringing some lights onto a previous green garland we had. As I was out and about I began looking for decor pieces that had height and found two reindeer to flank both sides of the mantle. Then I decided canvas reindeer art would be the perfect finishing touch to the mantle. Well after much searching on Etsy and in craft shops I came to the conclusion that I was the only person with this vision. So off I set to execute this canvas reindeer name art.

How? To begin you'll need to do some planning and math. I sketched out the orientation of how I wanted the reindeer names in Paint and moved the letters around until I liked them. Next up is the math. Measure your canvas and decide how tall your rows will need to be to fill the space. I think my canvas was about 18" tall and I planned a 1" border, 6 - 2" rows, and 1 - 3" row (for Rudolph) with 1/4" between the rows. Then the width of the letters was set according to how much space needed to be taken up. All very precise... not really; I freehanded everything but you could be more precise! I would use a ruler and pencil to make general guidelines though. I fashioned the letters from crafting tape and lots of cutting. This is time consuming. After the letters were all taped I painted over the entire pieces with green acrylic paint. Once it dried I peeled off the tape and was left with white letters and reindeer names! Finally I outlined the letters in fabric paint - clear glitter for the reindeer names and red for Rudolph. Some green paint leaked under the tape and if I feel up for it I may use some white paint as touch up but it's only noticeable up close. I tell myself it gives it character!

Materials: Canvas, tape, acrylic paint, fabric paint. Ruler, pencil, scissors, foam brush.

Tune in tomorrow for our holiday home tour.

Dinner club cocktail party

Last weekend was the weekend of parties for us! We hosted the dinner club on Friday night for a casual holiday cocktail get together, attended a wedding on Saturday, and then hosted a holiday open house on Sunday. We're featuring a roundup of the dinner cocktail party today and then the holiday open house tomorrow! If you've still got some holiday hosting to do hopefully this will give you some ideas.

We co-hosted the cocktail party with another couple in the dinner club. And you know what that means?! We only had to do half what we usually do for a party. Love co-hosting! Patrick and I were responsible for a few savory dishes, the desserts, and the wine. Our wonderful co-hosts provided the majority of the savory dishes including cheese fondue and the other drinks. They brought over a festive holiday punch that really set the mood for the party. Check it out...

Doesn't it look wonderful?! We had holiday music playing in the background and enjoyed everyone's company. Knowing we had a party just two days after this one I made sure I was super organized going into the weekend. I tried to do as much prep beforehand as I could. I made a google doc with all the recipes that I would need to be making for the cocktail party and the holiday open house. Then I had a to-do list broken out into each day beginning with Thursday for what I could make ahead and when to do it. Check out the document here (link) if you'd like to check out any of the recipes.

Here's a brief rundown of what we prepared for this party:

Veggies and dip - Mix equal parts of yogurt and sour cream; combine with ranch seasoning packet. I doubled the dip so I could have it for both parties. We served with broccoli florets, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and celery.

Chicken salad and crackers - Always good to have some protein offerings at any party! For this chicken salad I took the meat off a rotisserie chicken and shredded it. Then I added a dollop of mayo, spoonful of dijon mustard, handful of almonds, some diced pickles, and salt and pepper.

The brownies were a box mix. You really can't go wrong with a box mix for brownies in my opinion.

Red velvet trifle - I googled quite a bit and ended up following the recipe from Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen which puts a white chocolate spin on it. Check out the Red Velvet White Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle recipe here (link).

And finally there were some blackberry cheesecake bites - This was my favorite dessert! I followed Pioneer Woman's recipe (link)t and it couldn't have been easier.

Cheers!

Cookies and Wine Pairing Party

Did you know that December 4th was National Cookie Day?? Yeah, I didn't either. But I think my subconscious did! I unknowingly planned a cookie and wine pairing party for last Friday evening which just happened to be National Cookie Day. I hosted the pairing party for the new members of the Junior League as a social.

I spent quite a bit of time researching what pairings to feature at the party. It wasn't the easiest thing to find information on. If, however, you'd like to have specifically a Girl Scout cookie and wine pairing then there is a plethora of information for that! This "Baking Bites" website gives a good rundown on pairing wines and dessert. The majority of my information and pairings came from this "Swirl Savvy" blog post and then a bit of additional information from this "Vine Pair" graphic.

I landed on 7 pairings: Sugar Cookies & Prosecco, White chocolate-based Cookies & Moscato, Gingerbread Cookies & Riesling, Snowball Cookies & Pinot Grigio, Chocolate peppermint Cookies & Cabernet, Dark chocolate-based Cookies & Red Zinfandel, and finally Chocolate chip Cookies & Cabernet. Before the party I sent out a sign up to everyone coming and had the ladies choose which cookie or wine they wanted to bring. This worked out perfectly!

The pairings were all placed around the dining room table and the tasting happened at everyone's leisure. I was really proud of myself for using our Christmas dishes (the salad plate) and stemless wine glasses - no paper products! I had paper napkins but I actually forgot to put them out so this was really a zero waste party! Well, I guess technically I need to retract that statement. I cut out wrapping paper to place as a border around the table. Since there would be lots of small amounts of wine being poured I didn't want anyone to have to worry about dripping on the tablecloth so this was a good (and festive) way to protect against wine drips. The wrapping paper was later recycled though!

Now here are the tasting notes for the different pairings and I'm sharing the recipes for the cookies if they were homemade. The pairings are presented from light intensity to strong. The sugar cookies and prosecco are light on the palette and therefore were our first pairing while we end with the richness of chocolate chip cookies and cabernet. The tasting notes were printed onto the red card tents with a gingerbread man sticker on it!

Sugar Cookies & Prosecco
   The quintessential Christmas cookie, Prosecco’s hint of sweetness and bubbles go perfectly with the delicate flavors of the cookie. The bubbles in this sparkling wine go wonderfully with the crunchy sugar coating on the cookies as well.

White Chocolate-based Cookies & Moscato
   White chocolate tends to be more mellow and buttery in flavor, making it an ideal candidate for Moscato. This dessert wine will pick up the creaminess of the white chocolate. Moscato fabulously accompanies any fruit-filled cookie as well.

Red Velvet Cookies with White Chocolate Chips adapted from Inside BruCrew Life blog
   Prep Time: 45 minutes Cook Time: 9 minutes Yield: 36 cookies

Ingredients
1 red velvet cake mix (18 oz.)
1 stick butter, melted
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Directions
   In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix and butter, Add the egg, vanilla, and cream cheese and beat until mixed thoroughly. Stir in the chips by hand. Chill the dough at least 30 minutes.
   Roll the dough into 1 -1 1/2 inch balls. Bake on a nonstick surface at 350F for 9 minutes. Let rest on pan for 2 minutes before removing to parchment lined counters. Cool completely before storing in a sealed container for up to 5 days. Makes 36 cookies.

Gingerbread Cookies & Riesling
   The slightly sweet flavors of the Riesling make it an ideal pair for the spicy flavors of ginger. The wine will be a perfect match, showing delicious honey, vanilla & fruit flavors and is sure to be a holiday hit.

Snowball Cookies & Pinot Grigio
   Also often called Italian Wedding Cookies, these crumbly goodies are perfect with Italy’s most popular white wine.

Wedding Cookies
Ingredients
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup nuts (I used pecans)
1 cup chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)
3/4 cup butter (I used room temp butter)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp rum
2 tsp cold water
confectioners sugar for rolling

Directions
   Mix butter and flour, then salt, rum, water, nuts, and chocolate chips.  Form into small balls.  Bake at 325 for 15-20 minutes.  Roll two times in confectioners sugar.

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies & Cabernet 
   A holiday favorite! Cabernets are a great match for any variation of mint and chocolate because they have pronounced minty nuances of their own. They offer a cornucopia of rich raspberry, blackberry and cherry, with hints of clove and mint that explode on the palate.

Chocolate Peppermint Crackle Cookies from Southern Living
Ingredients
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate baking bars, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions
   Microwave first 3 ingredients in a medium-size microwave-safe bowl at HIGH 1 to 2 minutes or until butter and chocolate are melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir in granulated sugar and next 2 ingredients until blended. Stir together flour, cocoa, and baking powder in a small bowl. Stir flour mixture into chocolate mixture until well blended. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and chill 1 hour to 5 days.
   Preheat oven to 350°. Carefully drop dough by level spoonfuls into powdered sugar, using a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, and roll to coat. Place coated cookies 1 inch apart on 2 parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
   Bake, in batches, at 350° for 10 minutes or until cookies are crackled. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 20 minutes).

Dark Chocolate-based Cookies & Red Zinfandel
   Dark or bittersweet chocolate needs a stronger wine with concentrated fruit notes, and perhaps a hint of its own chocolate notes. Zinfandels have a history of perfecting the dark chocolate match, resulting in an unparalleled tasting combination.

Chocolate Biscotti from David Lebovitz
   Yields 50 to 60 cookies

Ingredients 
   For the biscotti
2 cups (280g) flour
3/4 cups (75g) top-quality cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (200g) sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup (125g) almonds, toasted and very coarsely-chopped
3/4 cups (120g) chocolate chips
   For the glaze
1 large egg
2 tablespoons coarse or crystal sugar

Directions
   Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
   In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
   In a large bowl, beat together the 3 eggs, sugar, and vanilla & almond extracts. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, then mix in the nuts and the chocolate chips until the dough holds together.
   Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Divide the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into two logs the length of the baking sheet. Transfer the logs onto the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.
   Gently flatten the tops of the logs. Beat the remaining egg and brush the tops of the logs liberally with the egg. (You won’t use it all). Sprinkle the tops with the coarse or crystal sugar and bake for 25 minutes, until the dough feels firm to the touch.
   Remove the cookie dough from the oven and cool 15 minutes. On a cutting board, use a serrated bread knife to diagonally cut the cookies into 1/2-inches slices. Lay the cookies cut side down on baking sheets and return to the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet midway during baking, until the cookies feel mostly firm.
   Once baked, cool the cookies completely then store in an airtight container for up to two weeks. If you wish, the cookies can be half-dipped in melted chocolate, then cooled until the chocolate hardens.

Chocolate Chip Cookies & Cabernet
   America’s favorite red with America’s favorite cookie. Chocolate goes great with Cabernet, especially if the chips are of the dark variety. The fruit and acidity of the Cabernet will compliment the richness of the chocolate without either obscuring any detail of the other.

Tips / Notes 
-Set a knife next to each plate so that the cookies can be cut into smaller portions! This is a lot of sweet stuff! Also make sure to have a water pitcher on the table.
-The Gingerbread & Riesling as well as the Chocolate peppermint & Cabernet were our favorites.
-Have some goody bags on hand to divide the leftover cookies with folks.
-Make sure to have a small savory spread as well so if someone wants something heavier after all the cookies and wine they'll have it.

Patrick had an orchestra rehearsal on this particular night but I saved him a cookie from each pairing and there was plenty of wine leftover for him to have a personal cookie and wine pairing.

Here's the savory spread - chips with spinach artichoke dip, antipasti platter - olives, assortment of goat cheese, salami and crackers, and grapes.

And that's how you have a cookie and wine pairing party!

Fall House Tour

With Halloween just around the corner I thought it would be appropriate to share our fall decorations! It's so much fun to decorate a space that is yours and you know the decorated spaces will be the base for many happy memories. There are distinct pieces that I remember my mom decorating with in my childhood home that I always looked forward to her putting out every year. That's what I'm hoping to put together here. Each year I try to pick up a few new pieces to add to the collection so that it gets more and more fall-y. Enjoy!

Entry

Leaves on the stair railing and "welcome friends" seen upon entry. Watercolor art with the pumpkin and "happy fall yall" are hung down the entry hall. The bench next to the door has pumpkin wind chimes and a spider with web on the mirror.

Living Room

Happy Fall pumpkin on the side table. Seasonal place mat in the tray on the ottoman with a rustic pumpkin basket to hold the remotes.

Mantle

Fall banner hung on the mantle; wheat flanking both ends. Trio of pumpkins on the left and trio of Halloween figurines on the right. Canvas art of apple, pumpkin, and leaf was a craft project for me at the beginning of the season - love how it turned it out!

Couldn't resist these figurines to add to the decor this year!

Dining Room
Red candles in the sconces with miniature pumpkin fillers. Halloween collection on the buffet - pumpkin serving platter, spider candy dish, trio of orange lanterns, and ghost and pumpkin votives. Dining room table has a new runner and place mats. Centerpiece is a bread basket with miniature gourds and pumpkins with mums in the vases.

Front Door
"E" fall wreath and mums. "Beware of Monsters" says the cat!

We're ready for the trick or treaters!