Christmas Sock of the Day... Day 5!

Hey Y'all!

Here is today's sock! While it is not your typical "Holiday" colors.. It is pink and brown... It does have snowflakes! I wore brown today so I had to go with these socks. I just love pink and brown together!
Tootles!
:) JKP
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Christmas Sock of the Day... Day 4

Hey Y'all!

Today's sock is one of my favorites! Doggies in Santa hats and snowflakes! The Santa hats have a sparkle to them and makes the sock all Christmas-y!
I hope y'all had a great day today! I have a yucky headache and I am heading to bed shortly. Hopefully I can at least make it through some of Rizzoli and Isles tonight!

Tootles!
:) JKP
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Christmas Sock of the Day.. 3! Turkey in a Crockpot and Corn Puddin' too!

Hey Y'all!

Wow. If you follow the Twilight series and you haven't seen Breaking Dawn 2 yet, Oh My. You need to. I had a lot to ponder after the movie yesterday so I didn't get back to post. Wow. It was good!

Any hoo... here's today's Christmas Sock of the Day... From now on I think I will call it.. CSOD..
This sock is an oldie but goodie. I technically wear them past Christmas because I think gingerbread is great year round! I love this sock because it has all of the baking ingredients for Gingerbread Men!

AND! Speaking of cooking... hee, hee... Did you like my segway?
Here are the Thanksgiving recipes I have been promising for DAYS. Oh. They are worth it. You can use them for Christmas!

As I told you in my last post, I, JKP have never, ever, ever, baked a turkey before. I know. GASP. But. I decided this was the year and my crockpot was going to do all of the work. :)

For Crockpot Turkey you will need...

A SLOW COOKER LINER (Do not skimp on this. You will be a very sad monkey if you do.)
1 packet of onion soup mix
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 can of WHOLE BERRY cranberry sauce
1 turkey breast (anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds. Mine was a 4 and a half pounder. I bought mine fresh not frozen. With all of my digestive issues, I don't need a 20% solution of who knows what in a frozen turkey sending me to the hospital!) ALSO take into account the size of your crockpot. That will really determine what size of turkey breast you can get.

Now. Line your crockpot with the crockpot liner. You can find these on the aisle with the aluminum foil and plastic wrap.
Take your turkey out of it's packaging. Check inside to make sure there are not any bits or pieces. Just in case. Place your turkey in your crockpot and WASH YOUR HANDS!

Now in a bowl, combine the orange juice, onion soup mix, and the  whole berry cranberry sauce. Mix well. Pour over the turkey. Put on the crockpot lid. Cook on low for 6 and 1/2 hours or until your meat thermometer measures 170 degrees.

 

Warning. Your house will smell so yummy!

I am also SAD to say.. we ate this so fast, that I did not get a final picture. But. It. Was. Oh. So. YUMMY!

 

Now every turkey needs a sidekick... right? I present you with Crockpot Corn Puddin'.

 

For Crockpot Corn Puddin' you will need....

 

 

 

2 cans (10 ozs) of whole kernel corn ( DO NOT DRAIN)

2 cans (14 ozs) of creamed corn

2 boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 stick of butter

1 8 oz container of sour cream

 

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix.

 

Then pour into a lined crockpot. Cook on low for 3 hours or high for 2 hours.

 

It is the perfect sidekick to your turkey! And, again, I was slack with the final pics!

 

I hope you enjoy these recipes. They are so easy and they taste like you went to a lot of effort. I will say, the turkey sammies we made from the left over turkey were just divine. The crockpot will make your turkey very juicy and moist. :)

 

And, one last thought...  I think the reason I never attempted a turkey before was because of the movie Christmas Vacation. You know the scene. The one where they cut the turkey.. AND it basically decompresses in front of the family? OH LAWD. I did not want that kind of failure. :)

 

Now. Guess who has been nominated to cook Christmas Dinner at my Mom's this year? I better start looking for recipes!

 

Tootles!

:) JKP





Christmas Sock Of the Day.. Day 2

Hey Y'all!
Here is today's sock! I like that it has all of the elements of Christmas.. Gingerbread men, snowmen, stockings and candy canes!

I'll be back in a bit! I am heading out the door to go to the movies with the girls.. We are finally going to see Breaking Dawn 2! I post my Thanksgiving recipes when I get back!
Tootles!
:) JKP
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Christmas Sock of the Day!

Hey Y'all!

While organizing my sock drawer a few days ago I realized that I own eleventy hundred eighty two pairs of Christmas socks! Here's today's pair... Along with a pic of my new Orthaheel mules! I am on my way out the door to support my favorite small businesses today! I hope you will do the same! :)

Tootles!
:) JKP
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Happy, Happy Thanksgving/Black Friday!

Hey Y'all!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I did! Do you know what? I technically cooked my first turkey on Wednesday! Granted it was in the crockpot and it was just a turkey breast, BUT I DID IT! And, it was yummy!

I have a recipe for the turkey and corn pudding that I made on Wednesday, but I will post about that later on. As you know, my family eats out on Thanksgiving, so I wanted to make sure I had leftovers to munch on over this busy weekend. And munch we have!

Here's a quick recap of our Turkey Day Meal....

Family Pics..

Me and Mom!

The Fam!

 



We always eat at The Boundary House in Calabash. The meal was yummy and we had leftovers from this meal too!

After our yummy meal, we went and checked out the movie Lincoln. Y'all, this movie is so good,  you must go see it. It is so interesting and the cast of characters is very enjoyable. Go, you won't be disappointed especially if you are a history buff!

Now, I am not like most folks. I likey a good shopping deal, BUT  I do not like to get out in the wee hours of Black Friday. But, I don't mind going out during the day. However, if I walk in a store and it is mass chaos I will walk back out! Mom and I hit a few stores today. Our main goal was to hit Belk. I had heard a wee bit of a rumor that the Belk up in North Myrtle Beach carried Orthaheels. And. Y'all know the sad shape my left foot is in. It has really been bothering me lately because the weather has turned cold and most of my Orthaheels are for warmer weather. Mom and Pitty Pat gave me a new pair for my birthday, but I can't wear them everyday because they are black.So off we went. 5 minutes in the store and I thought I was going to lose my mind! But WE FOUND the shoes AND WE GOT TO USE A COUPON! So, I have two new pairs of shoes to wear! Both of these are brown and they are so cute. So, now my feet can be happy again.. EVERYDAY!  I still may have to make a trip back to the podiatrist sometime soon. I am hoping these few days of rest will help it though! :)

Tomorrow we are planning to take it easy and maybe hit a few consignment stores. I don't really need anything, but the weather is really turning cold... well, beach cold here, and it wouldn't hurt to have a few more sweaters. I'll do a post soon on the latest finds I have found in consignment stores.

Before I go... I do want to tell you guys about a few favorite things I have discovered this week....

Bookbub! If you have a Kindle or a Nook you need to visit this site daily or sign up for emails. Everyday they send you an email with 3 or 4 books that are free to download to your Nook or Kindle. To see the daily deals and not have them emailed to you visit www.bookbub.com/deals/
I have put 6 new free books on my Kindle Fire as of today. And. Yes you read that right! I now have a Kindle Fire! We originally ordered it for my Granny's Christmas present, but once we got it, we realized it would be very hard for Granny to manage. I do have an ipad, but it is not mine and it is only mine as long as I am employed by my school district in a primary grade. I didn't feel very comfortable downloading books on something that really didn't belong to me. This way I can download away and continue reading the e books that I have come to love reading! :)

As if I am not enough of a medical mess these days, I have had the worst eczema breakout I have ever had over these past two weeks. I have fought with this since I was a baby and winter is really the worst for me. On top of that, my Crohn's can cause terrible skin rashes, so the past few weeks have been very uncomfortable to shower and put on clothes. After dealing with Aveeno and failed results, I picked up some Cetaphil and finally started to use it this week. I have now added the Cetaphil lotion to the mix... and y'all... it is a Christmas miracle! My skin has calmed down so much and I can actually take a shower and not be in pain! Every day the rash gets smaller and less irritated. Thank goodness! So. Cetaphil is awesome if you are having eczema issues or just crazy dry skin. I swear, I will never be without this stuff again! It is terrible to go to bed one night and wake up the next morning covered in an eczema rash. I am sure stress is playing a part in it too! So run, don't walk if you need this product!

Well, that is what I have been up to. I want to leave you with one more pic... I think "someone" is very happy I am home for a few days!

Tootles!
:) JKP

It's Almost That Time of Year....

Hey Y'all!

I have had a very busy weekend! I did some shopping, errands and a bunch of cleaning yesterday. I hit some consignment shops and found some cute things too! I will share those tomorrow! But mostly,  I have spent the weekend getting my house ready for the great Christmas Decorating of 2012 and fighting a nasty cold. The next week is going to be busy... AND just in case they Mayans are right... I wanted to get my decorations up so I could really enjoy them!

So at last count I put up three 4ft trees today and 4 mini trees in various rooms. I am not getting a "real" tree this year, so I decided to go ahead and decorate. I have to go to a wedding at the end of December and I didn't want to have to worry about leaving a live tree up in the house. This way I can enjoy my decorations for a LONG time! I am going to get a tiny live tree for my dining room table and a live wreath for the front door. That way I can still have the Christmas smell!

Check out our decorations this year....

I am really happy to have this tree up this year. The last time I put it up was two years ago. I thought that the tree was dead. It is a fiber optic tree and the fiber optic part stopped working. I finally had an epiphany that the Halogen lightbulb was probably the problem. One trip to Lowes later... and my favorite tree is BACK! I also got a new tree skirt this year... I have a thing for snowmen. Thanks Dollar General!

Our fireplace....

Our entertainment center.....

And, last, but not least... THE CUPCAKE TREE. I made this last year!

The other thing we have been battling this weekend is static cling. Poor Pitty Pat's tail is HUGE!!!!

Alrighty.. my battery is running low on juice and I am too lazy to go and get my charger! I will be back tomorrow with  my consignment finds!

Tootles!
:) JKP

It's Baking Time! Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies

Hey Y'all!

I bet you didn't think that I would be back soooo soon! I have a yummy recipe for some delightful cookies that I wanted to share.

This past weekend my best girlfriends helped me celebrate my 40th birthday. They kindly rented a beach house for the night so we could have a slumber party! You can see a few pics of our celebration in yesterday's post. We decided that instead of going out, we would all bring a dish to share. I spied these cookies in a Red Plum coupon circular a few weeks ago and I had been dying to try them out. This presented the perfect opportunity! The Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies were a hit!

I love this time of year because you can find the best baking and cooking recipes in the most unusual places. I am a magazine hog and usually by a ton this time of year. Some of my favorite holiday and everyday dishes come from things I have found around this time of year. My big purchase last year was The Fix It and Forget It Best Recipes of 2011. Boy. That has provided plenty of yummy dishes for this year!

To make these budget friendly and yummy cookies you will need:

1 package of Pillsbury Chocolate Cookie Mix with Crushed Peppermint Candy. (I found mine at the evil empire.)
1/2 cup of butter softened
1 large egg
1 16oz container of Pillsbury Peppermint Frosting (Again, the evil empire)
*This made a batch of 32 cookies for me. I always like to know what to expect!

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Open the box of cookie mix and remove the peppermint candy pouch to use later. Combine the cookie mix, butter and egg in a bowl. Mix with a spoon until the dough is soft. Drop by rounded teaspoons on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the edges are set. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 2 minutes. Then place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Once the cookies have cooled completely, microwave the container of frosting for 20 seconds and stir. Make sure the lid is off. DUH. Then microwave for 10 more seconds. Dip the cooled cookies about halfway into the frosting. You can scrape the excess off if needed. Place the cookie back on the wire rack.
*(See NOTE!) Then immediately add the peppermint pieces from the candy pouch ASAP so they will stick as the frosting cools. Continue to dip until all the cookies are coated and sprinkled. I let the cookies sit out for a few hours until I knew the frosting was set.

 

*I placed some plastic wrap underneath the wire racks as I was adding the frosting and and peppermint pieces. It helps with clean up!

That's it! Very easy with pretty AND yummy results. :) So bake up a batch, turn on the Hallmark Channel's Countdown to Christmas Movie Marathon and enjoy!

This weekend I am thinking about putting up my Christmas Tree(s). My girls and I are also going to see Breaking Dawn Part 2. Thank goodness next week is only a two day school week, I am so tired!

I hope you have baking in your plans this weekend too! I do! Look what landed in my grocery cart yesterday....

SQUEE!! More baking for me too!

Also, stay tuned. I have big cooking plans for Turkey Day.. and it involves my Crockpot!

Tootles!
:) JKP

So I Once Took a Sabbatical From Blogging....

Hey Y'all!

I am alive and I am somewhat kicking. But I know I have been gone for TWO LONG MONTHS! Right after my last post on Sept. 2... I got really, really, really sick.

This kind of sick.

Then, the next weekend, I got this kind of sick.

Morphine people. The pain and exhaustion that I had been having really did a number on me. And for me to end up in an ER TWICE. Ugh. It was not fun. I was put on a week of bed rest, which finally helped. I am still having some pain, but if I can sit during the day I feel better. My pain is abdominal and there are 1,000 causes for it, but the sneaking cause of mine is my Crohn's. So. I hope you will forgive the absence. I just didn't want to moan and groan about how sucky I have been feeling. Besides, you go to a blog to get away from your life, not be bored with mine! :)

While I took my blogging sabbatical lots of things happened. There has been some knitting!

I finally finished my Crescent Moon Shawlette! So pretty! Pitty Pat thinks so too!!

I made a ladybug hat for my University of South Carolina roommate Jill. She has a new daughter named Caroline. This hat was so fun to make!

This is a sweet pea hat for my friend Marie. She had a daughter too.... Miss Ellie!

The weather has turned chilly here at the beach, so I needed a new pair of Orthaheels to keep my toes warm! Mom and Pitty Pat gave these to me for my BIG Birthday!

This past weekend I TURNED 40!!! My best friends rented a house at the beach for me for the night. We had a big slumber party and had lots of fun!



Of course, before the fun, I had to get my fingers and toes done! This is OPI Kennebunk-Port!

One of the highlights of the past few weeks has been FINDING MY FAVORITE COFFEE IN THE WORLD!! It is in different packaging this year, but still so YUMMY! I also found a cute mug too!

And, there has been a wee bit of cooking. Not a lot. But I did do some baking this past weekend. I plan on posting this recipe tomorrow. It was a big hit at my slumber party and they are so easy to make!

Peppermint Dipped Chocolate Cookies

Anyhoo, that is what has been going on with me! I am so sorry if you have been faithfully checking the blog for an update and there wasn't one. I hope you will come back soon! I have some big Turkey Day plans for my crockpot that I can't wait to share!

Tootles!

:) JKP