Every time I get anything new for my kitchen, I get seriously excited. Some people may not understand my enthusiasm in the least bit, but kitchen gear to a foodie is like candy to a kid... Okay, I get excited in candy stores too, but you get what I'm trying to say. So you can only imagine how great it was when I walked into Bed Bath & Beyond after my bridal shower a bunch of years back with thousands of dollars in gift cards. My bridal shower was on the east coast, and since I live on the west coast, most people gave me a gift card instead of shipping tons of presents. I wish I had a photo of the awesome madness of that shopping excursion...though I did just find this lovely photo of my face when I walked into my grandma's house for what I thought was a lunch date, only to ... [Read More]
valentine's day
Love Yourself First
Happy Valentine's Day loves!! What better way to start my day than by eating heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries? :) While many people frown upon this holiday, I am a romantic person at heart, so I love a day devoted to love by nature. Sure, it's a Hallmark holiday where many people very stereotypically buy flowers and chocolate and go out to dinner, but I want to talk about what Valentine's Day is really and truly about: celebrating love and relationships. So let me ask you, what's the most important relationship in your life? If you thought of your partner, child, or mother, yes, I'm sure they mean the world to you. But what I'm getting at here is that the most important relationship you'll ever have in your life is the one you have with yourself. No matter ... [Read More]
Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Stuffed Strawberries
In honor of Valentine's Day taking place in a few days, I have a delicious dessert recipe to share with you all today. It all started when I heard about Davida's Valentine's Day Bake Off. Naturally, I wanted to participate, but there weren't any baking ideas immediately popping into my head....and then I thought of making a homemade version of Nutella. Since it's V-Day, the idea of strawberries were also on my brain. Technically there isn't any baking involved in this recipe, but I figure that there's no room to be a stickler for rules when chocolate is involved, right? ;-) I think many people would agree with me when I say that Nutella is heavenly tasting. I think it's slightly ridiculous that people see it as a "nutritious" thing to eat for breakfast, but I do not pass up the ... [Read More]
The Day of Love
Unless you're living under a rock, you've recently been bombarded with Valentine's Day chatter and advertising, and know that tomorrow is the so called day of love. While I do think it's a Hallmark holiday, I'm a lover of love and enjoy any excuse to celebrate it. Unfortunately, tomorrow will be like last year's Valentine's Day in that I won't be with my hubby. This marks the 3rd V-Day in a row that we're apart, but I'm celebrating a different kind of love right now.... loving my precious grandma, whose cancer surgery yesterday was successful!! She's in the ICU recovering and getting her lungs stronger from having pneumonia. My family and I are all obviously relieved and just helping her to take it one day at a time in getting better. I Googled Valentine's Day dog images before (guess ... [Read More]
Show Yourself Some Love
Happy Valentine's Day! Although I do agree that today is a Hallmark holiday, I can't lie... I just love love. And how could I not be happy for a day when I find these on my doorstep? My hubby obviously put a smile on my face with those! I was thinking about it, and out of the years we've been together, we've been with each other for 3 Valentine's Days and apart for 3 Valentine's Days... Hmm, 50/50 isn't too bad, right?! Though my hot date tonight was volunteering with the doggies at the Humane Society, I did have a theme of chocolate going on today in celebration of the holiday. First, I made pancakes for lunch. Not just plain pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes.. with pumpkin! I even attempted to make them in heart shapes, because I'm cool like that. They came out ... [Read More]