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Thanksgiving Decorations, Food, & Party Ideas!

Published on Friday, 16 November 2012 04:12

Written by Allie

There are so many fun things to do for Thanksgiving with your kids and also for your family!

Here is a peek at my faves!

-Written by Allie Darr-

((Click each pic for a link to original sites and directions for each!))

Use your child's hand and feet for this cute turkey!

I also thought it would be cute to add what they are thankful for on the hand parts!

It would be cool to see how their list changes each year!

How easy and great do these leaves look for the table decor! Love it!

These are way too easy! Fudge stripe cookies, reese's and icing! How cute!

I love this! You could even use it as a center piece!

Grab a stick from your yard and cut our leaves on construction paper.

Add a list of things you and your children are thankful for.

You could even use this as a talking point on Thanksgiving Day, guessing who each leaf is from!

Okay these are genius! Cheesy crescent roll leaves!

There is a super easy tutorial....I want to eat my computer screen NOW!

The oreo turkeys! I made these one year! They were somewhat of a pain!

I added them to a cupcake as a topper which was cute BUT the icing from the cupcake

softened the bottom cookie, and I didn't care for a soft oreo! haha!

They were the cutest treat though, so I guess it was worth the work!

This is one on my list! Cranberry Spread! Only 3 ingredients!

You can serve with ginger snaps or graham crackers, or whatever you fancy!

YUM! This looks way too good! Pumpkin Dip!

VERY easy to make and you can dip ginger snaps or even those little graham cracker sticks!

What have you guys found on Pinterest for Thanksgiving??

I am excited because we are doing Thankgiving twice! Once at Jordan's grandparents then again at our house on Saturday!

We even got a free range organic turkey from our farmer!

I cannot wait to eat! Is it NEXT Thursday yet!?

-Allie

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Traveling With Kids

Published on Wednesday, 14 November 2012 09:42

Written by Allie

(By: Allie Darr)

Before Jordan and I had kids, traveling was a whole different ball game.

We could skip from one family function to the next without hesitation.

We could drive as long and as far as we wanted at whatever hour of the day.

Well here we are 3 kids later and I think we might have this holiday headache travel down to an art.

Here are my personal tips for keeping the holidays, HAPPY!

Make a list and check it twice! (This goes for bags too)

If you are just going for one night this is a little easier. But if you are flying or traveling for a few days, make a list of EVERYTHING you might need. Clothing is obvious, but think about the unforeseen circumstances like the kids getting sick (medicine, thermometer), your camera running out of batteries (chargers, extras) and just things to keep you and the kids sane along the way (food, drinks, toys). I cannot tell you how many times I have forgot the pack n play for the baby! Before you leave the driveway make sure all the bags are in the car, once I left my suitcase with all of mine and the kids stuff. It made for an unhappy husband when I had to go buy all new clothing for the 3 day trip! (it was a bonus for me, but I think this is only a once every few years mistake!!)

Be Realistic.

If you have divorced families and 4 events in one day it may not be possible to make them all. This is where you need to be up front and honest. After our second child it was way too much to fit all of our families in on each holiday. Our plan of route was to do my husband's family every Christmas and mine on Thanksgiving, then we host Easter. If I could host every holiday I truly would! We try our best to stick to this schedule but we give wiggle room to it. It is not possible for us to make it to every house on every holiday so we chose the easiest, most fair plan that worked for us. If our families lived in the same town it might be a different story but just be honest if it is too tough for you to make the function happen. You want your kids to be happy and comfortable because let's face it, if they aren't you will not able to enjoy the holidays and relax.

Leave EXTRA time for travel.

Whether you are driving or flying leave EXTRA time. I am a huge procrastinator when it comes to getting everything and everyone out the door. My husband has started putting a buffer time on our schedule to allow for my lateness. Also with the traffic and madness of the holidays you do not want to be stuck in traffic and be late. So just leave earlier so you are not rushing around and mostly so you are not stressed.

Choose a different day to celebrate.

Sure, I know everyone wants to celebrate on the actual day of the holiday, but sometimes that just cannot happen and that is okay! As long as you are together for the holiday as a family it should not matter what date the calendar is showing. For instance, since we do not celebrate Christmas day with my family we will do it the following weekend. It is just as special as Christmas day because we are together as a family and spending quality time with one another. Also choosing a different day to celebrate might be easier for travel! Less traffic, cheaper flights, you get my point!:)

Keep Calm & Drink a glass of wine!

Nothing ruins the holidays quite like a bad attitude. I understand we all have the picture perfect idea of what the holiday should be like but sometimes that does not happen. Just roll with the punches, don't be upset if your sister is late or the rolls burn in the oven. What matters is that you are with your loved ones. Share stories, laugh about life and create new memories. Give hugs and let your family know how much they mean to you! Tomorrow you will not remember the burnt rolls, you will remember the time you shared.

I hope you guys enjoy your holiday and even if the travel does not go as expected keep in mind that the holidays are not about togetherness! Leave the small stuff behind and enjoy each moment you get with your family!

Do you have any tips or tricks for making the holiday's easier??? I am sure I missed some!

PS. I cannot wait to eat all the goodies this holiday!!

The best part besides seeing our family, is the FOOD!:)

I can already taste my mother in law's cheesy potatoes! (yum yum)

xoxo - Allie

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Chocolate Bowls & White Chocolate Mousse

Published on Monday, 05 November 2012 02:43

Written by Moms In Heels

So I decided to try my hand at a new dessert. I wanted to make White Chocolate Mousse, which I had never made, and put it inside chocolate bowls... That meant I had not only had to make the mousse but also make the bowls.

I bought the smallest size balloons at the store (I think the package said 7") I blew them up roughly the same small size. Note: Some people are grossed out by "rubber" touching their food... I'm not one of those people. I mean just rinse the balloons (before you blow them up) under some water or something, you'll be fine.

So yeah, I blew up the little balloons and set them aside. Then I melted a bunch of chocolate in a double boiler on the stove. Once it was completely melted I turned off the heat and started dipping the balloons. I should have sprayed the cookie sheet with non stick spray, but I didn't- so you should. I dipped the balloons down about half way, holding on the the little knot at the top. I then placed them on a cookie sheet and into the fridge.

You have to let them cool till you can pick them up off the cookie sheet (this is where the cooking spray would have come in handy for me). Once they are cool, you should dip them again. You can dip them as many times as you want to make them stronger. I only dipped mine twice. You can also tilt and tip the balloon to make a fancier shape, but that was just too much work for me ;)

Once you've re-dipped them, put them back in the fridge till you're ready to use them. Make sure they are cooled enough so you can just pick them right up.

I was tempted to eat one right then and there, but I waited, did I mention I love chocolate?! Next I had to make the mousse. It was literally only 3 ingredients. 6 oz Egg whites, 6 oz White Chocolate, and 6oz Heavy Cream. First I chopped up all the white chocolate into small pieces and set it aside. Then I heated the heavy cream till simmering and poured it into the bowl of white chocolate on the counter. Stir it all together till it's creamy. The heat from the cream will melt all the chocolate.

Set that creamy chocolate mixture aside and get out your egg whites. Select a bowl large enough to hold the fluffy white creation these liquid whites are about to make. Pour the whites in the bowl and get your mixer. You have to be very patient here because you can't stop mixing till the egg whites are at "hard peak" which means when you pull out the mixer the egg whites stand upright. Or as my Grandma says, "you know it's good when you can tip the bowl upside down and nothing moves". So listen to Gram on that one and start mixing. It will take a little while before they get this solid.

Oh and don't just go off that picture because those weren't even solid enough. Once you get them to the right consistency, fold them into your creamy white chocolate mixture and waa lahhh :) White Chocolate Mousse!

If only it were actually that easy. That above picture was my first attempt at the egg whites. Everything was going so well. Until I started folding it into the chocolate, it was going flat. Ughhh I realized I didn't mix them long enough so I thought I would try to save them. I started to mix them again but since they were already mixed in with the chocolate stuff it just turned into one giant bowl of soup. Thin as water. I was so annoyed.

I threw it down the drain and ran off to the store. I bought the egg whites, white chocolate and heavy cream again. I went back home and tried again. Little did I know that while I thought I was being efficient and buying the pre-packaged egg whites instead of just regular eggs, I bought Egg Beater egg whites. Well- take it from me, those don't puff up into foam. I was mixing my life away and getting no where when I realized I shouldn't have tried to cut corners and just bought regular eggs (which is why I'm not such a great baker... I have a hard time following directions because I always think I can do it a better way. I have learned I can't).

Well this time I didn't even mix it into the chocolate because I didn't want to waste that too. So I threw out the Egg Beaters and asked Jeff to run up to the store and just get me the regular eggs. He was in disbelief that I wouldn't just go buy some ice cream and call it a night. I was determined to figure this out. He got back with the eggs, and again I didn't beat them long enough but I knew better than to try to re-mix them once I started combining the chocolate so I just went with it... I added some Cool Whip to make up the difference and they were still delicious. Just not as thick and "moussey" as I wanted. Oh-well, whatever... now I know for next time ;)

Here was the finished product:

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These were for my mom's birthday, and I didn't want to have all white chocolate incase someone didn't like it, so I quickly threw a little chocolate pudding/ Oreo dessert in the extra bowls for some variety:

I am glad I made them though because now that I had to do it 3 times, I feel very confident that the next time I will do it perfectly right the first time. Just keep mixing those egg whites....

Happy Baking.

- Lisa