Football Sundays

With all this cold weather we have been subjected to, it has been nice to have some football to watch. Last weekend we spent the better part of the weekend watching the games on Saturday and Sunday. We had some friends over on Saturday and then Sunday went to another friends house. I loved every part of the weekend- spending the day in sweats, hanging out with good friends, watching the games, and eating good food. I have tried a couple new recipes over the last few weeks but I have been totally slacking in sharing them with you. I promise I will catch up one day.

But today there is a HUGE game on this afternoon. Steelers will decide their superbowl fate this afternoon. We are headed to a friends house to watch the game. But what would football be without sausage dip and amazing chocolate/peanut butter cookies. I decided to try 2 new recipes again this weekend (last weekend I tried 2 new ones as well) and wanted to share one of them with you. I had not baked in a while so along with the sausage dip I found a recipe for Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. The double in front of chocolate sold me on the cookies. I do like peanut butter but I wouldn't call myself a PB lover like most do. Mike does love PB so I thought these cookies would be perfect.

I put the recipe below and here are some pics of the cookies. Let me warn you these are HUGE cookies but so delicious!! How can you go wrong when you have chocolate chips, coco powder, PB, and peanuts?? The dough was so easy to work with and I loved every part of these cookies. I will let you know how the gang likes them later. Until then GO STEELERS!!!

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: 16 to 18 large cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 12 minutes

1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup peanuts
Coarse salt for sprinkling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. Beat together the butter, peanut butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Scrape the bowl. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips and peanuts.

4. Drop by two heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle a small pinch of coarse salt on top of each cookie. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the outside of the cookies are set but the middles are still a little soft. Cool cookies on the baking sheets. Store in an airtight container.

Happy 2011

HAPPY 2011!!

Wow….already January 11^th I can’t even believe it. The time flew by so fast. I am sure by now everyone has made all their new years resolutions to eat better, workout more, volunteer, be a better person….you know the usual. I personally don’t make resolutions because I think they are a bit silly. I usually try to eat well and work out and be a better person. This year I hope is just as great as last year (although 2010 was pretty fun). In 2010 Mike and I were able to take a bunch of trips and share some great experiences together. I am not sure we can live up to that this year but I am sure we will try. We already have plans to go on a tropical trip in March with some friends.

Christmas was very relaxing and festive. This year Mike and I stayed in our house in VA and we really enjoyed ourselves. It was nice to be in our house that we had worked so hard on all year. We were able to start some new traditions together and we look forward to many more Christmases in our house. Here are a couple pictures from our holiday. We ate, drank, watched lots of football, and relaxed all weekend. It was so fun to decorate and be around to enjoy everything. I can’t wait for next year.

So what are everyone’s big plans for 2011? I for one will count down the days until the beginning of March when I get to see my sister. I miss her so much and can’t wait to spend a few days with her. Then I will begin the countdown till July when she is home for good. It has been so hard not having her around for some of the big experiences….like sharing our birthdays and sharing holidays together. So although I didn’t make any resolutions for 2011, I am still looking forward to great things and who knows what will be in store for this year.

PS> Louie did not get a brother but there is always Valentines Day!

Louie Torture

Momma making the best cookies ever

Family :)

Tree with all the gifts. Think we had enough for 4 people??

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Wow am I slacking or what!!?? 3 days till Christmas and I still can’t believe it. I have been so busy with all the holiday activities the time has flown by. As much as I love Christmas I hate to see it go….so I will try to make the most out of the next three days.

Over the last 2 weeks I have been super busy….Mike and I hosted our 2^nd annual xmas party, I hosted my book clubs 3^rd annual cookie exchange, I had a visit from my bestest friend Aliza, attended Christmas parties, made cookies, wrapped more presents, and spent time with friends. I have totally been slacking on taking my own pictures so I will post a few that friends have put up. Everything was a great success and the last few weeks have been so much fun.

The Cookie Spread!!!

All the girls and Ry at my place

All the hotties at the Swains Christmas Party!

Mike in his sweet sweater at our party....you can see one of our trees in the background....

Birthday Surprise with my ladies!

Our stockings are hung, presents are wrapped and we are patiently waiting for Santa. Hope everyone has been good this year and you get everything you asked for.
Some people may want lots of cute things in their stocking....I just want one thing. A cute, loveable brother for Louie. This little girl is so cute....how can you not love her ears. So you think Mike has gotten the hint???

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Busy Bee

So this week has been a busy one for me. Mike and I got back from San Diego late Monday night and we had a full week ahead of us. On Saturday we are having our annual xmas party at our place and then Sunday I am having my book club girls over for a cookie exchange. So mike and I needed to get our house in order. We were finally able to put up and decorate our xmas tree. (the gifts that I had wrapped 3 weeks ago now have a home). So that was fun as usual. This year we actually bought a second tree. A artificial 5ft tree and we dedicated this tree to our love for PSU. So a blue and white tree. We just finished last night so I don't have any pics yet. (I will I promise). So the house is all in order, all the lights are on timers, and we are set for the party. All we have to do is buy the booze and make some muchies on Saturday. Tonight we are headed to a nice dinner with some friends for a late birthday celebration. We are stopping at my favorite wine bar for appetizers and I can't wait.

So speaking of SD we all had a great time. Mike and I have both been before but some of our friends had not. So it was fun playing tourist again since I had not been to a lot of the places in a long time. I put a few pics from our trip but have many more to share. We were very productive during our trip so we went a bunch of places and ate a lot of good food. The few pics below are from old town, SD, the charger game on Sunday, la jolla, coronado, and sea port village. The carousel picture is a tradition in my family. Every year when we used to go to SD for Thanksgiving we would always go to seaport village to ride the horses first. So we have pictures from many years ago. So the two times mike and I have been in SD we have carried on the tradition.

Today we saw some flurries in DC and it made me so happy. I am very excited for my festive weekend ahead. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and is enjoying the holiday season. Only 15 more days till Santa!!!










PS. I still haven't given up on Louies brother....

Let the fun Begin

Ok everyone it is safe to start celebrating Christmas and getting into the holiday spirt. Today is December 1 ! I for one have been in the spirt for a while but I am excited Christmas is just around the corner. Mike and I watched the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting last night so we are officially in the mood.

And let the fun begin. We are headed to San Diego tomorrow with some friends and I can't wait. So I am sure I will have some updates next week from our travels. But until then remember the best way to spread holiday cheer is singing loud for all to hear! Happy December

PS. wouldn't it be awesome if Santa brought Louie a brother :)

Old Lady

Well I am officially old. Or at least considered old in my book. I have joined the dirty thirty club. Yesterday was my birthday but I celebrated all weekend. After Thanksgiving Mike and I headed up to PSU for the last game of the season. My parents were fortunate enough to join us as well so I was very excited to share my PSU experience with both of them. But Boy oh boy was it a cold weekend. With a high of 30 we were freezing our tails off but as always it was still a great time. Friday afternoon we were able to walk around campus with my parents and of course the trip wouldn't have been complete without a picture with the lion. Friday night we all went out to dinner at The Tavern and enjoyed a great meal and good company.

Saturday it was rise and shine early for a 8:15 departure. The game was at noon so we had to get a few hours of tailgating in before we went into the stadium. It was cold, windy, and snowing but we all had a great time. You can see from our group picture we were all bundled up. The tailgating experience was a first for my parents and they had a blast. They both enjoyed tailgating before the game and we walked up to the stadium to see the team bus pull up and all the players come into the stadium, which is always cool. Then we took another touristy picture with the joe pa statue. As I have said before the Dunklebargers never disappoint so we had a great day. Although PSU couldn't pull out the win it was still fun. After the game we came back to the house to warm up, eat, and watch some of the other good football games. My mom surprised me with a cake so we were all able to enjoy that. ( I still can't believe I am 30!!)

On Sunday Mike and I kept up our Thanksgiving tradition of cutting down our xmas tree. We went to a local tree farm in State College and found a perfect tree for us. Louie was able to help as well. After we found our tree we headed back home to DC. All in all it was a great weekend and I am so thankful for all my friends and family who made it such a special weekend.

Something to look forward to---Mike and I are headed to San Diego this weekend with some friends. So I better start packing! :o)

Here are some pics from our weekend.

Giddy with Excitment

I can hardly contain myself right now. It really is the most wonderful time of the year! Where do I even begin……Fall flavors, pumpkin, holidays, wine, family, Christmas music, presents, holiday decorations, cookies, baking, sweatpants, fire, hot chocolate, Christmas anything! I am going crazy. So you all know by now how much I LOVE fall and pumpkin so I think it is time to introduce you to my next love CHRISTMAS!!! This is my favorite holiday by far. I love the lights, the decorations, the cookies, the holiday cheer, and presents. I am such a sucker for the holidays. I absolutely do not care that there is Christmas decorations up already. Heck, I have most of my Christmas presents bought already. I can’t wait to wrap them. I love to wrap presents (which I know most people hate)

I always have high hopes for Christmas baking and parties but most of the time the holidays slip away from me and before you know it we are into the new year. But THIS year will be the year. Mike and I have finished working on our house so we can finally enjoy it and fully decorate for the holidays. This will be the first Christmas in our new house so we are very excited. I already have plans to decorate around Thanksgiving so we have full enjoyment potential. We also have our holiday party scheduled so that is a plus.

I have a new goal this year. I want to be one of those awesome cookie bakers/decorators. Have you ever receive those amazing cookies that just look too good to eat? You know the perfect santa’s, snowmen, and xmas trees??



Well I want to start making those. I know this year won’t be perfect but I want to at least start to perfect my cookies and make a tradition out of it. So wish me luck.

I know this will be the first of many Christmas posts….so for all you scrooges out there you better get over it. 38 days till Santa Comes. Hope you are all on the nice list.