I tasted these nuts at a friend's house while we were having book club. They are delicious and easy to make. I love to set them out in a dish or give them a rough chop and add them to a salad. De-lish!

Cinnamon Roasted Nuts

*LouAnne R.

4 cups whole almonds, pecans, walnuts or a combo

1 egg white

1 tsp. cold water

½ cup white sugar

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Method:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Lightly grease a 10x15 jellyroll pan. Mix together sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a separate bowl, beat egg white and water until frothy but not stiff. Add nuts to egg white and mix to coat thoroughly. Sprinkle sugar and spice mixture over nuts and mix to distribute evenly over nuts. Spread nuts evenly over prepared jellyroll pan. Bake for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Allow to cool then store nuts in an airtight container.

Please note: I double the recipe. They store for a few weeks. Printable recipe

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My daughter, Morgan just had her birthday. She wanted a "stay late" which meant 5 of her girlfriends met at our house at 6:00pm and stayed until 10:00 pm. Morgan is getting to be quite the party planner. (stay tuned for the surprise anniversary party she threw for her parents) She knew exactly what she wanted to do with her darling friends. We started by making individual pizzas. The girls all got to choose what they wanted on their pie...fresh basil anyone? She also wanted a drink bar. Lots of ingredients for the girls to make a specialized drink. The hit was Italian sodas. The girls loved making them and drinking them. They are so yummy! Here is a recipe for you to use at your next party or stay late. divertirsi! (enjoy!)


Icy Italian Soda

Carbonated water

¼ cup half and half

7 tablespoons flavored syrup (raspberry is our favorite)

ice

whipped cream

Measure syrup into a 20 oz cup. Add Ice.

Pour in half and half. Add carbonated water.

Stir well. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

I also made a (non-alcoholic) drink bar for my Christmas party. Creating drinks always seems to be everyone's favorite thing to do.



I came up with a list of recipes that my guests could use if they wanted. For my Christmas party, I made the drink recipes more holiday-ish. You can change the names of the drinks to anything that works for your party...Shirley Temple, Roy Rogers, Oscar Gold. I think you get the idea. These were my recipes.

Delicious Holiday Drinks

Raspberry Lime Rudolph

1 lime, quartered

8 oz carbonated water

1.5 oz raspberry syrup

Fill glass with ice. Squeeze each of

the lime wedges into glass and drop in.

Fill glass nearly to the top with carbonated

water, and top with raspberry syrup. Mazeltov!

Icy Italian Soda

Carbonated water

¼ cup half and half

7 tablespoons flavored syrup

ice

whipped cream

Measure syrup into a 20 oz cup. Add Ice.

Pour in half and half. Add carbonated water.

Stir well. Top with whipped cream if desired.

Enjoy!

Mrs. Claus

6 oz Sierra Mist

1 dash grenadine syrup

1 maraschino cherry

Into a tall glass, pour soda and grenadine over ice.

Add cherry and straw. Prepare to be delighted.

Cranberry Twist

12 oz cranberry juice

12 oz Sierra Mist

¼ lemon wedge

Mix cranberry juice with Sierra Mist. Pour over ice.

Squeeze lemon wedge on top and drop in glass.

Bottoms up!

North Pole Fire Bolt

1 tbs grenadine

1 tbs lime juice

12 oz Diet Coke

1 lemon wedge for garnish

Pour the grenadine and lime juice into a tall glass.

Pour in the Coke to mix. Float the lemon wedge on

top to garnish. Cheers!

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Mom and dad on their wedding day. Don't you love the dinner jacket my dad is wearing?



For my parent's 50th anniversary (happy anniversary mom and dad) we wanted to come up with an original gift to give them that helps them remember their day. I was reminded of a very cool wedding that I went to that had a Thumbprint Tree as a guest book. The bride and groom had everyone "stamp" their tree with their thumbprint and write their name under it. Then they framed their tree and hung it in their new home. I thought that would be a perfect memento for mom and dad. Fortunately, my sister's kids are very talented artists so her son Carson drew this tree. We chose to use autumn colors for the stamps because my parents were married in November. I thought it turned out great and now they have it framed in their home.

How cute would this be for a baby shower, a baptism, birthday, wedding retirement or milestone birthday. If you don't have a talented nephew you can order it on Etsy.


In the process of stamping the tree. Notice the different fall colors and the names underneath each thumbprint. I wish I had a picture of the finished tree. Magnifique'

Posted in anniversary , cool idea , gifts , 1 Comment

Have you ever thought, "I don't like spinach. Yuck. It really has no taste and it sticks between your teeth. I know it is good for you but I'll take my iceberg lettuce thank you." Not so fast. Try this salad and spinach will be your new salad favorite. The dressing is de-lish and it really makes all of the salad parts a cohesive whole. mmmmm. Plus it has Iceberg lettuce and bacon and mushrooms and red onion......Phil, you may even enjoy this spinach salad.

Spinach Salad

1 large bag spinach

1 head iceburg lettuce washed and torn into bite sized pieces

½ lb mushrooms sliced

¾ lb swiss cheese grated

1 large container cottage cheese

1 lb bacon cooked and crumbled (I cut it into bite sized pieces before cooking)

1 red onion sliced thinly

Combine all ingredients and toss with dressing right before serving (dressing recipe makes more than you need)

Dressing

1½ T poppy seeds

¾ t. dry mustard

¾ C white vinegar

¾ C sugar

1½ C oil (I use a vegetable and olive oil combo)

1½ t. dry onion

1 t. salt

combine and chill overnight so the flavors can combine. Printable recipe

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