Christmas Memories and Happy New Year!

Well, I am back from a wonderful Christmas vacation in Baltimore with family. Needless to say, Christmas went much better than Thanksgiving. Andrew and I came away with minor colds and Ben was unscathed! I managed to snap a few good pictures. Of course, none of me.....I have to make an effort to do that next time.

Here is a picture of my hubby fixing a cocktail before Christmas Eve Dinner. Isn't he cute?



This is my BIL, Matt, with my MIL. He got her a beautiful dish from a fair trade boutique. Just beautiful.



One of Ben's favorite toys from Santa-Nana. The Saxoflute rocks!!!



Oh...and Santa-Matt did not forget Sam this year! Sonny-X...eat your heart out!



Phil and Ben after dinner. So sweet.



Isn't this the most adorable photo. This is my best friend's daughter, Nicole. She is 5 years old and such a sweet little girl. She spent her entire visit watching after Ben. Here, they are holding hands while watching Elmo. I could just squeeze them both.



We had a lovely vacation and are looking forward to ringing in the New Year tonight. I wish everyone a peaceful New Year. Look for a special New Year's Sale at the Kitchen soon!

Peace,
Chef

Santa came early this year!!!

Well, Santa was very generous this year in our house. We replaced the dishwasher that came with the house when we bought it a couple years ago. It was really old and yucky inside and the dishes started to not get as clean as they should. I was soooo shocked when my husband agreed to get the dishwasher I wanted!



We got a Kitchenaid and it is sooooo quiet and wonderful. It is stainless inside and out and I just love it. It has hi-temp scrub and sanitize rinse. It is amazing how excited I can get over appliances.

I also got another unexpected present. We had a crappy Krups panini grill that kept breaking....I literally returned it 3 times to Williams Sonoma and then found out that the manufacturer had re-designed the product due to so many problems with it. Anyway, I had already bought a Cuisinart Griddler so I used the credit at WS to get this:



Yes, that is a wonderful Keurig coffee machine. My hubby was skeptical at first because he usually drinks more that one cup in his travel mug and the Keurig is really a single serve machine. But once he made a couple cups in literally 20 seconds, he was hooked! It even comes with a re-useable filter, so you can use your own coffee (meaning, you don't have to buy the K-cups).

I really love this machine...I can have a cup of coffee in seconds. It totally rocks.

Anyway, we are officially on vacation tomorrow. I probably won't be online much. So, I wish everyone a happy holiday!

~Chef 

Samson

 

Just came across this picture of my dog taken at Thanksgiving. He was outside on a leash at my inlaws. He managed to find the largest stick in the yard to chew. He looks so cute in this picture. I love this dog.

~Chef
 

J'ai trouve "TROUVE"

I just got the coolest containers! They are called Trouve and they are made by a fellow scrapper. Hi Jos! She sent me a sample of her containers and I have to say they rock! I have microwaved them, washed them in the dishwasher and stacked them in my cupboard and I am sooooo ready to throw out my mismatched plastic containers. The lids attach to the bottom of the containers making storage so much easier. I always have an avalanche of plastic containers coming down on me whenever I open my cupboard, but these babies fit neatly into each other with the lid attached! Anyway, just wanted to say thanks to Jos. Check out her products at Save The Lids.

~Chef 

Holidays are here!

We are all finally healthy and back on track. Seems like this nasty stomach bug is making its rounds. Hope you all dodge it. We finished decorating tonight. Lights are up inside and out. Here is a picture of our mantel. Got the wreath last year on sale from Martha Stewart when she shut down her online store. I love it.

 

I hate our green striped wall paper in our living room....but during the holidays, it actually works with the decorations.

I have not even started ANY Christmas shopping yet. I am an idiot. Every year I say that I won't last minute shop.....but what happens? Where did November go?

Well...we are just hoping that our Christmas goes better than our Thanksgiving went. We are going to try to visit home again. Fingers crossed.

Susan