DIY Napkin Rings

These adorable napkin rings were SO easy to make.  I needed to make 31 of them for a bridal shower, so they did end up taking a LONG time to complete, but I feel like the finished product was well worth the time.  They did not go unnoticed.  A few people even asked if they could take a set home.  Seeing as I have no need for 31 napkin rings I was more than happy to let them go, as long as I got to keep a set for myself!!! :)

You only need three things to make these little cuties:

1.) Rope/Jute

2.) Toilet paper or paper towel rolls

3.) A loaded hot glue gun and plenty of ammo

They ended up costing me about $5 which was the price of the rope/jute material.  I had been saving toilet paper rolls for a while with visions of a completely different, unrelated craft in mind.

Cut your cardboard rolls in to desired width rings.  (I made the first one pretty wide & while it looked fine, it took too much time.  I quickly realised that smaller rings ended up looking just as nice.)

Begin gluing & wrapping around your ring. 

Once you reach the end, just spiral it down to the next row.

And tada!  You've got hand made adorable napkin rings that end up costing pennies!  How adorable would these look on your Thanksgiving table!!

Don't Forget the Cranberry Sauce!

My favorite holiday recipes wouldn't do you much good this year if i waited until after T-day to post them right??  So here's another blast from my holiday past...
I've been making homemade cranberry sauce for our holiday meals for as long as I can remember.  I was given a traditional family recipe to make when I was around 10.  Over the years I've switched it up a little here and there.  In the past I would add fresh raspberries (which I still think is great) but last year I tried adding some fresh chopped pear.  The fresh pears complement the cranberries so well!  I absolutly enjoyed the different texture.  I was so pleased that I will be doing it again this year.

If you've never had homemade cranberry sauce you should give it a try.  It doesn't take long to make and it is so much better than the stuff from the can! You can even make it a few days in advance.  (Dontcha just love make in advance recipes!)  Give it a try, you're family will be so impressed by your fancy skills!  Enjoy!

Pear Honey Cranberry Sauce
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup +/- water
1/2 cup white sugar
2 pears, peeled, cored and diced
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

In a medium saucepan, add together OJ, sugar, pears, cranberries and enough water to just come to the top of the fruit. Cook over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently for 3 minutes, add honey and cinnamon. Continue to cook until cranberries pop and the mixture thickens slightly, about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Cool to room temperature, then store covered in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Holiday Mashed Potatoes

The countdown to turkey day is on!  Are you ready to get your aprons on?  I don't know about you, but in my holiday meal experience those final minutes in the kitchen tend to be a bit on the hectic side.  Chances are you've got ten thousand people in the kitchen, there's a giant bird to be carved, gravy to be made, rolls to be burned warmed... you know all those last minute things that can't be done in advance.  One of the things we scratched of the list years ago in our family was mashing the potatoes.  This recipe is SUPER basic, and WAY too delicious!  The greatest part, all the time consuming stuff can be done the day before.  All you have to do the day of the big meal is throw it in the oven and enjoy!  Do this, you'll thank me!

Holiday Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs Potatoes, peeled & cut
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 Cup Half & Half
½ Cup Butter, + more for top
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Season Salt
1 tsp Regular Salt
1 tsp White Pepper

Boil & drain potatoes.

Mix Cream Cheese and half & half until creamy, add hot potatoes & beat. Add melted butter & seasonings; beat well.

Spread in 9” x 13” baking dish. (Can be done the night before up to this point.)
Top with melted butter & paprika. Bake 35 - 45 min @ 350 degrees.

BBQ Chicken Sliders

These little buggers were so tasty, we had them two nights in a row.  Typically it is near impossible for me to get Mr. B to agree to leftovers.  He'd usually rather have a PB & Pickle Sandwich (ick) than what ever tasty dish we ate the night before.  This time however, I told him I was in the mood to reheat & eat & he said, "sounds good."  - What??? did I hear that correctly?  Sure did, so two nights in a row it was!

First of all, this pulled pork style BBQ Chicken couldn't get much easier.  I threw a few ingredients in the crockpot in the am, 8 hours on low, left for work, and came home to dinner practically done.  I had some tasty dinner rolls to make them "sliders" and I threw together a quick batch of the bestie's delicious recipe for Bleu Cheese Coleslaw & dinner was on the table.

BBQ Chicken Sliders
The recipe made enough chicken for at least 12 sliders, you can change amount to suit your needs

4-6 Chicken Breasts

1/2 chopped onion (Update: I made this again without the onion and I actually preferred it.  It was a bit too sweet with the onion added.)

1/2 bottle of BBQ sauce

1 beer

a few shakes of hot sauce +/-

ground pepper

dinner rolls or buns

cheese (optional)

Combine first 6 ingredients in your crockpot.  Set on low for 8 hours.

Remove chicken from crockpot & shred.  See THIS post for my easy chicken shredding method.  Once shredded, you can add back in as much or as little of the sauce as you desire.

Assemble your sliders, serve with this yummy coleslaw, and ENJOY!

Smothered Chile Colorado Burritos

When I saw this recipe from Chef-in-Training on Pinterest I may have drooled all over my keyboard.  It looked SO good, I knew I had to taste it.  When I made it yesterday & got to actually taste it, I couldn't have been more pleased!  It was probably one of the best things I've ever made.  Yeah I really just said that.  ONE OF THE BEST THINGS... and I've made A LOT of things.  Maybe it was how simple they were to make that added to the their AMAZING taste to put them on my top ten list.  Maybe they were just so delicious that they caused me to forget every tasty thing I've ever made before.  Either way, they were DELISH!!!  I would love to eat these again and again and again!  No really, they were that good.  Honestly better than anything like this I've had from a restaurant.

Oh and can I take a minute to talk about how easy they were to make.  Hello, the crock pot!  I love crock pot cooking.  Toss it all in and come home after work & it smells like someone has been in your kitchen slaving away all day.  I've been using my crock pot quite a bit lately.  It may be my favorite kitchen gadget.

Do yourself a favor, make these.  Trust me, it's way to simple to be so darn good!

Smothered Chile Colorado Burritos

1 1/2 lbs stew meat
1lg can or 2 small cans red enchilada sauce (I used 1 of can of El Paso Mild)

2 beef bullion cubes, crushed
1 beer* (any kind will do, I used a bottle of Coors Light)
refried beans
burrito size tortillas
1 cup shredded cheese

Put beef into crock pot. Top with crushed bouillon cubes, enchilada sauce, & beer*. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until meat is very tender.


When beef is done it will start to break apart.  I wanted mine less chunky & more shredded so I used the handy dandy kitchen aid mixer method I use for chicken.  Beautifully shredded!  If you want more "chunks" to your meat, you can skip this step.
Heat the refried beans separately. You can use canned refried beans or homemade if you prefer.  Whole beans would be tasty too if that is what you are in the mood for.

Desired amount of beans on to the center of each tortilla. Add about 1/2 cup of beef (give or take) a little cheese, and roll into a burrito.  (Shout out to Mr. Casa de Soria for teaching me how to roll burrito perfection!)

Place burritos into a baking pan. Pour some of extra sauce over the top of the burritos to smother them and sprinkle with cheese on top.

Broil until cheese becomes bubbly, approx. 2-4 minutes.

This recipe makes about 5-7 burritos depending on how big you make them.
*They use of the beer is optional. I love the addition of beer to most marinades and crock pot dishes.  I highly suggest you give it a try.  Don't worry, the alcohol cooks off, so you wont get drunk! ;)

Pinterest Fail: Coke Toilet Cleaner

You may have seen the Pin claiming that a simple soak with Coke will take away all your toilet ring blues.  Well, I decided to give the beverage a shot and glug, glug, glug, into the bowl it went.  After a few hours of soaking, some scrubbing with a toilet brush, and a couple of flushes, I am sad to report that the ring (which was not too bad to begin with) got WORSE!  Argh!  The brown color of the soda seemed to make the ring darker. 

I wouldn't give this one a shot if I were you.  I'd consider this myth busted.  Back to bleach for my toilet cleaning needs.

Cute as a Button: How to Make Fondant Buttons

A friend of mine requested cupcakes for a baby shower with pink & black buttons.  Now i know you could go and purchase fondant molds that would turn out perfect little buttons, but why bother when you can make them with items you probably already have if you do any kind of cupcake decorating.  I went through my various piping tips and found 3 different sizes that would be perfect for my needs.

First I tinted my fondant to the desired colors (I did some pink & some black) and rolled it out to the desired thickness.  Then, using the wide ind of a piping tip, I cut out circles. 

Next, using a smaller sized tip gently press in the inner circle.  Be careful not to go all the way through. 

Finally, using the smallest tip you have make for small holes in the center.

Use them to decorate how ever you need and your cupcakes will be cute as a button.

*Please note:  I recommend making these at least one or more day(s) in advance, so that your fondant had time to dry.