Hospital Survival Gift (plus Sea Salt Caramel Corn)

My cousin Stephanie is having her second baby today! Joel should arrive sometime today. Paige, Laura, Stephanie and I grew up together so the girls and I put together this care package for Stephanie's hospital stay.

We included... an outfit and two onesies for Joel; a book, snack and "big sister" badge for Grace; a magazine and chocolates for Stephanie; and homemade sea salt caramel popcorn for Stephanie and her husband Shane.



I made the badge for Grace as well as the caramel popcorn. Get the recipe here. I didn't add the M&Ms this time but I am thinking of doing red & green ones and giving it away with Christmas gifts during the holidays.

Queso Blanco

We had a little "Mexican Thanksgiving" with Nick and Erica over 4th of July weekend... aka we again made too much food for the 4 of us in the form of beef and chicken fajitas and way too much queso.

I tried making queso blanco for the first time. The recipe was really straightforward but I think it really needs more kick. It also got REALLY thick after just a few minutes off the stove/no stirring so I think it needed more milk or something but its a nice recipe to start from...



Since I'm not in love with the original recipe... here are a few others along with it for other options:

recipe 1
recipe 2
recipe 3
recipe 4

White Chocolate & Cranberry Granola

I experimented with this recipe as a possible favor for our wedding guests. (It was good but we ended up going with s'mores.) My best friend was a taste tester and requested more granola for part of her birthday gift. I made a batch and packed it in cute mason jars to bring to her when Mike and I went to Houston last weekend.

The granola makes the house smell so good... warm vanilla and cinnamon. I make the recipe as is and add in a large handful of dried cranberries and another large handful of white chocolate chips. (I didn't have them on hand but I think throwing in dark chocolate chips in place of half of the white ones might be good too!)

7th Dish of Christmas 2010 - Soft Pretzel Sticks

For another fondue party goodie, I made these soft pretzel sticks using this Bobby Flay recipe for soft pretzels. They are made using a pretty basic dough that you let rise for only an hour. After cutting or shaping your dough, they are boiled for a short period of time then baked with plenty of salt on top. They are great dipped in the cheese fondue or in the mustard (also in the recipe) that I brought along!

active yeast

dough after rise

cut dough

after bake

Twelfth Dish of Christmas - Pretzel Bites

Last dish! I made these pretzel bites to bring for a snack before Christmas lunch. It turned out to be pretty easy and really tasty! I omitted the ham. I had some leftover dough and made a few without cheese (I think I like those more than the ones with cheese). The dipping sauce was good too! If you need it spicier, add more jalapeno to the dip of you could add some diced jalapeno to the batter itself. (Note, my pretzels baked much faster than the recipe... mine might have been cut smaller). See the recipe here.
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Happy holidays everyone!