holidays in tejas

i thought i'd share some of the holiday fun i've had here in tejas as well.
some out and about with friends, some with P. definite good times.

the first set is my holiday dinner at rise in dallas with some of my favorite dallas ladies. rise is a great bistro style restaurant that's specializes in amazing souffles. I was so glad we were able to get together and celebrate the holidays together. love my girlies, M, S and L. below are all of us with our souffles and the chocolate souffle we shared for delish dessert! (sorry for the crap iphone pics!)



Next up, my house. i love christmas. period the end. it's my favorite time of year, i love decorating and i can't get enough of celebrating Jesus' birth and giving to the people i love and care so much about.




Anyway, hopefully you all had a fantastic holiday and celebrated with the ones you love the most!

early christmas with my awesome family

P and I have just started to figure out the travel between both families for the holidays. Starting last year, we decided on switching every other holiday. so this year was thanksgiving in missouri and christmas in oklahoma. i'm an only child to my mother so needless to say that is a tough sell, but she did awesome for the first time in 34 years of not having her daughter home for christmas. (mostly because i came home a week earlier so we wouldn't be too sad) :)

It was a fun weekend of family and friends, the only sad part was that P was back in Texas with our pups. :( all that said - below is a few shots from both holidays with my family. My mom's nativity set up is always the biggest part of our holiday display. i love watching her put it all together. my mom's tree this year was perfectly round, but a teeny tiny bit crooked..eh, who cares..still beautiful. just like her. i'll keep adding photos to this as i continue uploading, but for now here is christmas at my mom and step dad's house.

early christmas in the lou

this is the first year in a long time that i won't be home for christmas. i'll be hanging out with my inlaws and enjoying beautiful oklahoma. it really is pretty - no sarcasm, promise. i went back to my st. louis this weekend to spend time with my family and friends for an early christmas.

my best friends, E, S, C and i have a secret santa exchange tradition that we've kept up for the last 5 years and there were no way i was missing it this year. my friend C and i are always doing some sort of cooking, a role that both of us love. E and S always bring extra goodies for snacking - this year's cheese tray was delicious! this year we changed it up from the usual white meat and potatoes and went for christmas pasta. I have a few photos below of our party. love my besties and miss them all the time. happy to have spent a little time with them.


my friend C sets a beautiful table - excellent style.


Dinner's cooking! Dessert from the Hill below and a yummy limoncello champagne cocktail.



2 of the 4 of my beautiful besties, E and C with sweet Rosie, C's pup.




Love you guys so much! Happy Christmas!!

My review of Kroger's The Truly Awesome™ Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies

Kroger Cookies

I am a bzz agent and recently joined the campaign for Kroger's The Truly Awesome™ Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies. I was super excited to join because who wouldn't love a yummy homestyle cookie. Warm, chewy and almost melting chocolate chips can't be beat - except that's not what we received. Although I think they are headed in the right direction, the cookies were far, far, far from chewy. Hard is a better word to describe them. I decided not to let my immediate reaction be the judge. I went ahead and followed the directions on the box, which said to microwave them before i would make a final decision. i will admit microwaved they are infinitely better. Warm and chewy for sure, but really just too salty for my taste (P couldn't stop complaining about the salt) and when you warm them up it changes the texture in a way that isn't pleasing to the palette.

I wish they would have started with a chewy cookie so when it was microwaved it almost melted in your mouth. again - this is just my opinion. I just felt like for homemade cookies i wanted more. I most likely won't be recommending these any time soon. :(

taking punches

so today - for the 2nd time - i've had to use boxing gloves that someone right before me has sweated in. it repulses me. i told my trainer today that under no circumstance would that happen again and that i would be purchasing my own.

i think i've found them - i think they are perfect. thoughts?

i think i'm going to order them first thing tomorrow from amazon for overnight shipping. speak now if you know a thing or two about boxing gloves and think i should consider something different. thank you and the end.

xox

csj

dark chocolate peppermint brownies

3/4 c. dark cocoa powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

2/3 c. butter, melted

1/2 c. boiling water

2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla

1 bag of small baking peppermint patties

preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease a 13x9 pan. mix cocoa powder and baking soda together with wood spoon and add 1/3c of melted butter. it will be super think and paste like. once you get there - add boiling water and mix until smoothish. next add sugar and eggs and the other 1/3c of butter. this is when i switch to a whisk. whisk the batter until it is very smooth. stir in the vanilla until it's combined and finally add the peppermints. i will say that you can truly add any candy or no candy at this point. the brownies alone are pretty good. sorry i didn't take pics of the actual process - i forgot that i wanted to post it until i was finished mixing the batter. because these are dark chocolate, they are very dark and so delicious.

sorry about the giant brownie missing from the photos, P was not waiting one more minute. annoying.

anyway - these turned out better than i'd anticipated. if dark chocolate isn't your thing, feel free to use standard dutch process cocoa powder. happy eating!

xox

csj

craftmania

it's been a couple of weeks since i've posted. not much new to report here. work has been especially busy. i'm so excited to head home to missouri for thanksgiving. i can't wait to see my friends and family. i'll miss the pups, but lucky for us we have a great dog sitter so i know they'll be in good hands.

three very exciting projects and one project purchase made in the last few weeks. 1st the projects.

1. I made a burlap wreath from pinterest with the help of a very crafty friend, bt. i completely envy her ability to be crafty. burlap is messy. it sheds like crazy, but i love the end result. it was super fun to finish something in an evening of hanging out with a friend.

2. I continued my craftiness by starting to upholster my dining room chairs. it's my first time and everyone said oh it's super simple - well it sort of was - i'm not excited to do the additional 7 chairs that remain. but i like it..

3. I started another wreath with bt (she's below) and i finished it today. i'm quite pleased with it (sorry for the not-so-good photo) - of course she already made one and hers is way better than mine.

4. my favorite favorite - i bought this china cabinet at a garage sale for super cheap! i'm so excited to fix it up. it really doesn't even need that much work, but you will be able to see what needs fixing up in the glass pane. i heart it mucho mucho! can't wait to get started.

ok. i think that's enough for one post. craft mania!

xox

csj

WORLD SERIES 2011

i'm so excited! i get to go to the world series! so much fun for this cardinals fan.
i cannot wait to cheer on my redbirds!

housekeeping notes

there have been complaints about me not using capitalization - i'm sorry, i'm not going to. if you no like-y - no need to read-y. i'm talking to you scones. kisses! csj

CARDS WIN!!

Congratulations to my favorite baseball team in the world on making it to the WORLD SERIES!
The National League CHAMPS ST. LOUIS CARDINALS!!!!!!

Can't wait for the series! Cards vs. the Rangers should be awesome baseball.
Living in Texas it should be pretty interesting!

pumpkin pancakes

I've been making these for years, but they are not my recipe. I must give credit to one of my faves, Martha Stewart. click here if you want to see the recipe (it's below) on her site. The only difference is that I add a teaspoon of vanilla to my pancakes. i just love vanilla.

Here's some photos for you. Hope you enjoy them!

For a spiced breakfast treat, whisk 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, ground ginger and salt. 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg; and a pinch of ground cloves. In a separate bowl, stir together 1 cup milk, 6 tablespoons canned pumpkin puree, 2 tablespoons of melted butter and 1 egg. Fold mixture into dry ingredients. Melt some butter in a skillet over medium hear, pour in 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Cook pancakes 3 minutes per side; serve with butter and syrup. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

individual apple galette on puff pastry

Let me start by saying - i love apple galette . i did not love (i liked it) apple galette on puff pastry, but in a pinch it is delicious. this was super duper easy. again - forgot about the pictures. now that i'm actually blogging a bit about recipes, i'll be sure to remember to take more.

forgive the wax paper mania - this was one of the final galettes.

a little closer look at the apples.

Individual Apple Galettes

1 sheet of puff pastry

2 large or 3 small apples

1 tsp melted butter

1 tbsp of sugar

2-3 tsp of cinnamon and sugar mixed together

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 lemon

1 tsp + extra wildflower honey

bench flour

preheat oven to 400 degrees.

take the sheet of defrosted puff pastry on a floured surface and roll it a bit to ensure 4 equally sized, individual galettes. cut into quarters. with a fork, perforate the pastry all over. this is to ensure the pastry doesn't rise too much under the apples. brush pastry with melted butter and top with a sprinkle of plain sugar. cover the wax paper lined jelly roll pan or other lipped pan with lightly damped (is this correct english?) dish towel.

core and then very thinly slice all apples. i put lemon on mine - if you don't want to, enjoy your brown apples. place all lemon covered apples in bowl. add 1 tsp of honey, vanilla and sprinkle with 2 tsp of cinnamon sugar. mix together so that all is coated. take pastry out of refrigerator and begin to lay out apples in a pretty, whatever-you-like pattern. please know the honey will run so again, make sure whatever wax paper lined pan you use has a lip. once all the apples are set, sprinkle the pastries with the last tsp of cinnamon sugar. bake for 40-45 minutes.

when the galettes come out, immediately drizzle with extra wildflower honey. these are delish right out of the oven. enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of caramel and you can't beat it.

roasted red pepper soup

this is the second soup i made last week. definitely a favorite in the scones household. i've handed this recipe out to many friends - hope you enjoy it as well! sorry about the pics - i completely forgot to photograph the entire straining, blending and finishing process!

1. First things first - we must roast the pepper. if you have a gas stove - do it this way. much faster. if not - there are directions in the recipe that follows.

2. here we have rough chopped onion, shallot, carrots and garlic. roasted peppers should have the roasted skin removed at this point and roughly chopped (or not we blend it all anyway).

3. after sauteing all of the veggies, onions and garlic, you add the peppers and eventually add the chicken broth.

4. there are many steps in between and this is a terrible photo, but i wanted you to see the final color, etc.

this is a great fall soup. i seriously love it and serve it with a tsp of creme fraiche. it's delish and my hubs really loves it..

ok - actual recipe below.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

1 red pepper
1 yellow or orange pepper (i like orange better)
1 medium sized shallot
4 cloves of garlic
3 large carrots
1 box of broth
1/4 cup of cream
2 tblsp of canola oil or olive - i prefer canola for this because it doesn't add another flavor
salt and pepper to taste

roast peppers on gas range directly over burner (no oil) or in oven with a light brush of canola oil - olive will burn too quickly - on sheet pan for an hour. while roasting, peel carrots, garlic and shallot and rough chop all. saute shallots and carrots in stock pot until shallots are opaque. peel roasted peppers and slice into smaller pieces. add garlic to mix saute for 2 to 3 minutes more and add peppers. saute for about 3 minutes and add stock. allow stock and veggies to simmer for 10-15 minutes. remove from heat and ladle veggies out of pot and into blender. i usually do this in about three batches - leaving each blended batch in the blender. take out the middle piece in the blender lid to allow steam to escape. blend on puree until you can see no more chunks. once all veggies are pureed add a ladle of broth and puree...continue to add broth until it gets to a consistency you are happy with. Pour remaining broth into tupperware and save for next soup making. then pour the blender of soup back into the stock pot. simmer soup and if it is looking too thick add another ladle of broth and add the cream. stir into soup and let simmer for 20 minutes.

hope you love it! enjoy!

xox

csj

chicken and hominy soup

As soon as it breaks 70 degrees in Texas i immediately start dreaming of new soup concoctions. about a week ago i made two soups. one was an old standby, my red pepper soup (in the next post) and a chicken and hominy soup. i fell in love with the chicken and hominy (the new one). i don't typically love the soups i make, i like them, but i don't crave them. this one i just loved.. here are a few photos from my preparations.

1. sorry i started a little late, but this is chopped yellow pepper, carrots, shallot, onion, garlic and a can of green chiles. saute in a about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and a tsp of butter.

2. obviously chicken broth and a 29 0.z. can of hominy

3. this has everything in the pot. i've added the spices, all veggies are in, broth, hominy and 3 or 12 oz. of boneless skinless chicken breasts (i weighed mine on my kitchen scale)

4. unfortunately i didn't take a single picture of this in a bowl. sorry about that. i'm just learning on this posting photos of my recipe stuff. i topped it with chopped italian parsley, but you could certainly use cilantro.

I really loved this soup and will for sure make it again. so delicious.

ok - full recipe below.

Chicken and Hominy Soup

2 tsp of olive oil

1 tsp of butter

1 medium yellow pepper, chopped to a size you like in soups

3 average sized carrots, chopped to a size you like in soups

1 medium shallot, minced

1/2 of a medium onion (white, yellow-whatever) chopped smallish

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 (4.5 oz.) can of chopped green chiles

1 (29 oz.) can of hominy

1 quart of chicken broth

3 (or 12oz.) of boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 tsp of paprika

1 tsp of oregano

salt and pepper to your liking

heat olive oil and butter in stock pot. saute all chopped veggies except garlic in stock pot for 3 to 4 minutes and then add the garlic, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper. continue to stir for 1 or 2 minutes and add broth and hominy. stir and taste for salt and pepper - add if necessary. add chicken breasts and bring to a boil. once at a boil - turn heat to low for a simmer. simmer for 25-30 minutes. remove chicken only and on a prep board, shred chicken with two forks or however you shred your chicky. add back to pot and enjoy a bowl topped with a fresh chopped herb - my choice is/was parsley. enjoy!

tell me if i left anything out!

xox

csj

my first words

i have always hoped to start a lifestyle blog, so i think this will be it. the name may change a few times before i land on something, but i'm excited to join the chatter world.

my husband and i are from oklahoma and missouri, respectively. we currently live in texas and although we enjoy the life we’ve built, i’m not sure this is our forever home. we have two pups, jack and katie, i’m sure you’ll see some of with my starter photography.

i'm pretty sure this blog will focus on food and photography with some things i love thrown in along the way. as a novice cooker and baker, i look forward to posting some of my favorite recipes here.

xox

csj