Fourth of July: Part II (the people)

Yesterday I posted photos of all the treats we enjoyed at our recent Fourth of July celebration, and today I'd like to share photos of the people!

July 4th isn't just the nation's birthday... in our family, we celebrate my grandma's half-birthday, too!

You see, my grandma was born too close to Christmas for her liking. So years ago, we started celebrating her half-birthday to ensure that she had a proper party... and the tradition continues today! So while most of our little get together was all about the red, white and blue, we also took some time to open presents and sing happy birthday.

Of course, we also had plenty of fun!

In fact, this little guy was having a ton of fun at one point!

My mom was playing hide-and-seek with him...

By crouching behind a chair and jumping out again...

He thought it was hysterical... which made all of us crack up, too!

As you can imagine, the day wasn't complete without a bunch of photographs...

From EMVR with her little cutie...

To BTV and SS...

My dad and I...

And BTV with my grandma, we all posed for a few shots.

My brother even indulged me by re-creating a photo I took a couple years ago...

I got a similar shot of him doing a jump with my grandpa, which I love it... and now I have a matching pair!

But before we all headed home, we stopped for a few portraits. Here's the whole group...

My uncle and his family...

My dad with our family...

And four generations (my grandma, her son, her granddaughter, and her great-grandson).

As I'm sure you've gleaned by now, our family likes to have a good time. As I was looking through our group photos trying to find one where everyone was looking at the camera, I came across these pics.

And I absolutely cracked up when I saw them. From my cousin goofing off in the background, my aunt trying to salvage a lovely photo, and my grandma looking a little annoyed, I feel like they say so much about our family: there's always a lot going on, and everyone is usually having a good time!

So happy half-birthday Grams! We sure had fun celebrating with you!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Fourth of July: Part I (the food)

My mom is super creative! (If you know her, you know exactly what I'm talking about!) She recently got into cookie decorating, and her creations are absolutely amazing. So before our family's Fourth of July get-together, she and I sat down to decorate some sugar cookies for the party.

I had so much fun "playing" with my mom! I live pretty far away from her, so we don't often have the opportunity to do creative things together.

So we had a grand ol' time "piping and flooding" to our hearts' content!

From patriotic stars...

To rockets and ice cream cones...

To hot dogs (didn't my mom do a great job on these?)...

We created a whole plate of thematic goodies!

Of course, we weren't the only ones who brought tasty treats to the party: my cousin and his girlfriend also brought some adorable desserts! From these Golden Eagles...

To a VW bug of fruit salad...

To Red, White and Blue chocolate covered strawberries... they were so creative!

Add to that the Red, White and Blue cupcakes-in-a-jar my mom baked...

An apple pie...

And berry buckle...

It was quite a dessert table!

As soon as we finished our lunch, we all enjoyed several helpings of the tasty treats- it was a great way to celebrate the holiday!

(I think BTV would agree!)

Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to visit tomorrow- I'll have even more pictures to share from our July 4th party!

Hippity, hoppity Easter's on its way!

When I was a kid, the Easter Bunny would bring me these little chocolate eggs.

But he didn't make it easy on me- he left the eggs all over the house: balanced on the top of the window moulding, placed inside the toe of my slipper, and even tucked between the keys on the piano. He was really good at hiding them, and it would take my brother and I all morning to find them! It was a lot of work (for an impatient kid like me), but it was worth it to see my Easter basket overflowing with chocolate treats!

Nowadays the Easter Bunny still gives me chocolate eggs, but they arrive via the USPS! I guess that's what happens when you grow up and move out... I get all of the chocolate for hardly any work- and I love it!

So however you get your chocolate fix from the bunny, I hope you have a wonderful Easter! Thanks for stopping by!

Holy, holy, holy!!

It's that time of year again...

It's Holy Week!

So while I'll be spending my days at my first job, I'll be spending my nights and weekend here:

And while that makes for a very busy week, I wouldn't have it any other way!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!!

Sláinte

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited about today...

 Because what other day of the year celebrates my love of Guinness more than today?

 So wherever you are, I hope you have a chance to enjoy one of these... or maybe a green beer!

Thanks for stopping by- and may the luck of the Irish be with you today!

Champagne Brownies

Most people will be celebrating this evening with a bottle of bubbly.
But I thought I'd take that one step further- how about celebrating with a pan full of Champagne Brownies?
You read that correctly- brownies made with champagne! When I first came across this recipe I couldn't wait to combine two of my favorite foods (champagne and chocolate)... and the outcome was pretty tasty! I started with the following ingredients:
First, I melted the butter and chocolate in a pan on the stove...
You're probably wondering why I chose to use my french oven just to melt the chocolate and butter. Well, this batter is all made in a single pot on the stove... isn't that cool?
But back to the brownies! While things were melting on the stove, I turned my attention to the rest of the ingredients like salt...
Sugar...
Powdered sugar...
And flour.
And then I got to pop the bubbly- the best part of my afternoon!
After pouring out a cup, I added a bit of vanilla and set to work combining the batter!
I added the sugar to the melted chocolate and butter...
Once it was combined, I added the eggs (one at a time).
After the eggs came the flour...
And finally the champagne/vanilla.
After a good stir, I poured the batter into a greased 9x13 pan and placed it into a pre-heated oven.
After about 45 minutes I pulled this yummy smelling pan from the oven.
I was so excited to try these new brownies that I sliced a bar and dove right in- talk about rich! (Sorry about the look of the brownie- I didn't wait until the pan had cooled and I totally mangled the piece as I attempted to extract it from the pan!) If you'd like to try these someday, here's the recipe:
Champagne Brownies

Ingredients:
1 pound Unsweetened Chocolate
12 Tablespoons Butter
½ teaspoon Salt
2 cups Sugar
½ cup Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
4 Eggs
¾ cups Flour
1 cup Champagne

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. In a large pot on low heat, melt together the chocolate and butter. Remove from heat. Add the salt, sugars and vanilla. Stir together to combine. Stir in 1 egg at a time until just combined. Add the flour, stirring until just combined. Add the champagne and stir until incorporated. Transfer to a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Bake about 40-45 minutes, cool before serving.

What better way to toast the New Year than with a glass of bubbly and a plate of chocolate deliciousness?!
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve and a very happy and healthy 2011!