Whoo Hoo! It's National Margarita Day!

Who knew???  It’s National Margarita Day today!  I have been waiting and waiting for a day like this to come along because I wanted to share a little tutorial on how to salt or sugar rim a glass.  Unfortunately, I can’t actually make a margarita for myself because I gave up alcohol for Lent as a part of my 101 Goals for 2012.  So, it’s up to you to rim the glasses and make a toast to me for my brilliant idea!

How To Salt/Sugar Rim a Glass

First off you are going to need two bowls.  Fill the bottom of a bowl with margarita salt or some sugar.  (For the pictures I used sugar….mmmmm daiquiris.)  Fill the bottom of a second bowl with light Karo syrup.

Next, take your glass and lightly dip it into the syrup and then into the salt or sugar.

That’s it! Easy huh?  After just a bit, the rims will be dry to the touch.

The sweet and salty is a perfect mix for any margarita and of course the sugared rims are great with other fruity mixed drinks.

Need some margarita recipes?  Here’s just a few I found via Pinterest!!

My favorite….the Beergarita! Via Rachel Ray Everyday

Frozen Cherry Margarita via Girlfriend Getaways

Lime Sorbet Margaritas via RealSimple

Red Chile-Guave Margarita via Chow

Grapefruit Margarita via Red O Restaurant

Happy National Margarita Day!

 

Winter Holiday

This past weekend we took a trip up to Shiga Kogen, a ski area near Nagano, Japan.  I really really really was NOT looking forward to it.  Packing up tons of gear for the kids, loading up on snacks (because you never know what kind of Japanese food the kids will eat), leaving at 3am, sitting on a bus for 5 hours, just to drive into freezing temperatures and snow.  Sounds fun for any mom, right?  Well, I wasn’t convinced, especially when we get off the bus and are greeted by this….

But the girlies were excited and so along with some great friends, and their three boys, everyone bundled up and was ready to hit the slopes.

Brian took Abbey and Allie up first.

Amber just wanted to play in the snow.  It was the most snow any of the girls had ever seen in their lives. 

She played and played.  And played.

When everyone was exhausted we came in for ramen and beer. Mmmmmmm.

We skipped any food that was labeled, “fish paste”.

We bought silly neck warmers before we took on the next couple of days.

And now the girls are practically Olympic caliber skiers. (This is where the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics were held.

And Amber is still a goofball.

So our family ski trip turned out to be much more pleasant than the catastrophe I thought it would be.  I am still looking forward to our trip to Hawaii in April, but on the long bus ride home, we talked about doing this trip again next year.  And heck, maybe it would even be fun for mommy to try and ski.

Raspberry Almond Chicken Salad

I am not very good at coming up with my own recipes.  Almost all of my recipes come from a hand-me down from a friend or an auntie, or I skip around the internet and find them on other blogs.  Something I can figure out though, is how to improve a recipe.  I just add some bacon or double the chocolate.

Another thing I have a hard time with is coming up with “healthier” versions of the things I love.  My Twitter profile says, “I run so I can eat pie for breakfast”, and I am totally not kidding.

So lately, I have been trying to come up with my own recipes and have also been trying to be a bit healthier.  It’s rare, but this is a recipe I came up with myself.   It’s no bacon and double chocolate celebration for your taste buds, but it’s pretty good and good for you too.

Raspberry Almond Chicken Salad

Ingredients: 

·        Shredded chicken (I use the chicken in a can)

·        ½ cup fresh raspberries

·        Toasted sliced almonds that are lightly salted

Concentrate here.  This is hard.  Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir it together.  Fill up a whole wheat pita pocket or serve on lettuce or whole grain bread.    

Yes, this is it and no I don’t really have any measurements for you.  If you force me, I will say use one small can of chicken (maybe one shredded chicken breast), eye the ½ cup raspberries, and maybe about a Tablespoonish of the toasted almonds.

Here is my toasted almond recipe which you should always have on hand for salads and snacks. Toasted Almonds

Lastly, if you want people to take a bite, and exclaim with joy, “OMG, you have to give me this recipe!”…..just add some mayo and serve it on flakey  croissant. 

 

Pan Roasted Almonds

A kitchen really isn’t a kitchen without a little plastic tub of these hanging around.  Pan Roasted Almonds.  Sprinkle them over a salad.   Mix them with your chicken salad.  Munch on them as a little snack.  And oh yeah…..a can of green beans and these!  Suddenly, you are a chef!  You made Green Beans Almondine!  And this also makes you an expert in French cooking……I think?

Let me warn you though.  There is a fine line between French chef and filling your entire home with your personal Yankee Candle scent…..Burning Almond.  DON’T go folding your laundry while you have these babies on the stove.  Okay?

Pan Roasted Almonds

Ingredients:

• Sliced almonds
• Lawry’s seasoned salt (or any salt of your choice)
• Olive oil…about 2 tsps

Put one or 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a pan.  Add almonds.  How much oil you use is up to you, but remember…you can always add more if you need to.  

Turn heat to medium low.  Stir almonds until almost all are browned.  Remove almonds from heat and cool.  Store in an airtight container for up to two weeks.  (I HIGHLY doubt they will last that long.)

Here they are in my Raspberry Almond Chicken Salad.  Yummo!!!

Three Valentines 4 My Three Valentines

You know that half the mom’s in the elementary school this year will be sending their kids to school with fabulous creations they found via Pinterest.  I so badly wanted to come up with something fabulous of my own, but it is so hard when everyone already hogged up all the ideas!!!

Since the big day of love is almost here, I whipped these up with the girlies today.  Two new ideas and an old one with a little chocolate added to make it better.  Because showing up to the third grade with the same Valentines as someone else's is like going to the prom and someone has the same dress as you do.  Right?  

 SOURCE

Okay, maybe not quite the same, but still.....

Allie’s favorite color is green(but I made them purple???) and her best friend loves frogs.  I found some froggy clip-art, had some pink curling ribbon lying around, and put my youngest to work cutting out hearts.

Add a little treat and we made these cute Hoppy Valentines! (Print one HERE!)

Abbey has gotten all teenager on us all, and doesn’t want to be so cute.   My slogan is a bit cheesy, but we bought some cola gummies and designed a cool topper from a free screensaver website. (Print one HERE!)

We put some gummies in cello bags and left others in their original packages.  Japanese cola gummies are delish!

Finally, we made it to Amber’s Valentines.  She had her heart set on the glow sticks from Family Fun.  We decided to make them extra special and add the chocolate heart. 

She’s  simply excited about getting her own glow bracelet.

So there you go.  I will probably not win any Pinterest Valentines 2012 awards but now my kiddos can go to school fairly confident that they won’t have Valentines like anyone else.   My mom job for this holiday is now complete. 

Caramel Corn

Every year, my wonderful sister in law sends us a HUGE package of goodies for Christmas.  By goodies, I mean things like homemade toffee, gingerbread, and mini banana breads.  This may not sound like too big of a deal, but some years, depending on where we are living, she has to send the package half way around the world.  She lovingly wraps up the breads and cookies so they can make it to foreign lands….like Japan, Germany, and Mississippi. 

I should say we most look forward to this package because it is full of little pieces of love from home.  But if I be totally honest, the main reason that I want it is because it always always always contains Caramel Corn.

Inevitably I end up being all grinchy about this delicious stuff because there is simply not enough to stuff non-stop into my mouth, and still be able to share with the rest of my family.  So this year, I was forced to make my own.

This recipe is from Paula Dean, and not from my sister-in-law, but it tastes the same. (I don’t actually have the recipe from her.) I wouldn’t be surprised if my SIL was Paula’s personal recipe tester or something like that.  Carol….you are a baking/cooking superstar! 

Caramel Corn

Via Paula Deen www.foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.  Over medium heat, combine first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over 8 quarts popped corn. Stir to coat well. Bake in large roaster or pan(I used two cookie sheets) for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on waxed paper to dry.