Mexican Salsa and Bread

• 1 loaf French bread, sliced in half
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 (16 oz.) jar mild salsa
• 1 1/2 cup Mexican blend cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 2 avocados, diced
• 1 1/2 tsp. fresh limejuice
• 2 tsp. fresh cilantro, finely snipped
• 2 tsp. scallions, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. celery salt
• Salt 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Lay sliced French bread cut side up onto a baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl combine oil, cumin, and garlic powder and stir.
4. Brush the seasoned oil mixture onto the cut side of both bread halves with a pastry brush. Spread salsa evenly on top of bread halves. Sprinkle the halves with the Mexican cheese and top with crumbled Parmesan cheese. Place into 425 degrees oven.
5. Bake 8 to 12 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bread is good and crusty.
6. While the bread is baking, prepare the relish.
7. In a medium size bowl, mix avocados, limejuice, cilantro, scallions, garlic, celery salt, and salt to taste and set aside.
8. Remove the bread from the oven. Allow cooling a few minutes.
9. Using a serrated knife, slice bread halves across into 2-inch strips.
10. To serve put salsa bread strips on a nice plate or platter with avocado relish in a separate bowl.

recipe source : My Daily Moments

Burger King whopper b1g1 free this weekend December 9-11 only

BURGER KING® wants to give you a special gift this holiday – the WHOPPER® Sandwich - America’s Favorite Burger. For one weekend only, buy one WHOPPER® Sandwich and get one FREE. That's a 1/4lb of flame-broiled beef piled with ripe tomatoes, crisp lettuce, creamy mayo, ke...tchup, crunchy pickles and onions on a toasted sesame seed bun. So come share the gift of the WHOPPER® Sandwich with family and friends this holiday season. Head into a BURGER KING®, and don’t miss out on this one weekend only offer

Sale at Littlle Miss Matched

Have fun and do some shopping at Little Miss Matched use the code Gifts4All to save 20% but only today

Happy Green Bee 1/2 off sale

Happy Green Bee has some super cute clothing items for our little ones and the best thing is they are organic. I will be hosting a giveaway here on Annies Home soon sponsored by Happy Green Bee so be sure to watch for that. Right now though you can get some awesome deals at Happy Green Bee right now you can take advantage of their 1/2 price holiday sale. When you shop use the coupon code Holiday2011. This will give you 1/2 off everything excluding clearance items.

Christmas Time Charms

Looking for some holiday cheer to share as gifts or keep for yourself? Then be sure to check out all the great christmas charms at Charm Factory There is also a giveaway going on right here on Annies Home where a lucky winner will win a beautiful bead bracelet Check it out here

Peace sign earrings giveaway

It seems that one great fashionable piece that is going around is the peace sign. My friends and my family seem to have many items that are covered with peace signs. If you like peace signs as well you may want to enter the same giveaway I did where the winner will get the above piece of jewelry. Pretty pink peace sign earrings Enter the giveaway at Gretas Day blog before giveaway ends December 8, 2011

Raspberry Sandwich Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cups cold butter

2 tablespoons cold water

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon Spice Islands® pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam

Confectioners' sugar

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water and extracts until mixture forms a ball.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutters. From the center of half the cookies, cut out a 1-1/2 in. shape. Place 1 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
• Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
• Spread 1/2 teaspoon jam over the bottoms of the solid cookies. Sprinkle cutout cookies with confectioners' sugar; place over cookies with jam. Yield: about 2 dozen.

recipe source Taste of Home

PopChips Giveaway

 If you have never had PopChips then you must gather a new way of thinking. You see you need to start thinking popped. Our family loves PopChipped and we are loving on PopChips Chicago on twitter right now. The massive box of popchips that we recieved has definetly pleased all my teens and their friends. I have even taken a few to my friends at work who some had never tried popchips. After trying them though they are now thinking popped as well. When I shared with them that PopChips are better for them than regular potato chips they were very surprised and delighted. PopChips allows them to snack within limits without worrying about the fat.

                             I also wanted you all to know about the awesome giveaway that
is hosting an awesome giveaway where 30 individuals will win a prize pack to help celebrate the movie New Years Eve

The prize pack will consist of  the official movie poster, soundtrack & one month’s supply of popchips, just follow @popchips and retweet them So get out there enter the giveaway on twitter and try some delicious PopChips

win a Step2 Extreme Coaster

I can only imagine what my grand-kids would think about if nana was to win this for them. The amount of fun that would be had is limitless. I am always looking to make my kids and grandchildrens life just a bit brighter. If you want your chance to win the Step 2 Extreme Coaster then you will have to head over to the blog Minnesota Mamas Must Haves before December 7, 2011

Kidorable Firemen Hanger Set Review

I just love the fun spirited products available at Kidorable. Kidorable has long been famous for their colorful rainy weather products. With umbrella, rain coats and rubber boots in stylish designs such as

the lady bug and frog motiff but there are many other characters and fictional and realistic characters available that you may be interested in. So very fun to be able to dress up to keep dry but to also look great showing off your new rain gear. Kidorable has many other great products in their line up as well. Kidorable carries cute backpacks, knit hats and scarves, bookends, umbrellas and coat hangers.

We were able to review the firemen hanger set. My son in law is a firefighter and their family is very involved with the fire department. My grandbabies have seen the firetrucks and fire station numerous times before they will ever see their first school day. So it seemed only right to get these super cute clothes hangers for them. I think they are perfect and while my son is in 12 months clothes and my grand-daughter is wearing a 4T the hangers work perfectly for both. Likewise the hangers I believe will work for clothes throughout their childhood. I liked the fact that they are painted on both sides and the flames and detail of the fire engine holds so much detail. The wooden hangers are constructed well and while we all know that hangers are not play toys are think are sturdy enough for children to take their clothers off the hanger easily.

Buy: you can purchase the firemen hanger set at Kidorable

You can find Kidorable on twitter and like Kidorable on facebook as well.

Pillsbury Peppermint Blossoms

1 roll (30 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated peppermint cookies

6 tablespoons sugar

72 Hershey®’s Kisses® Brand candy cane flavored candies, unwrapped

 

 Heat oven to 350°F. In bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in 1/2 cup all-purpose flour until well blended. Shape dough into 72 (1-inch) balls. Roll balls in sugar in shallow bowl. On ungreased cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until edges are golden brown.   After removing from oven, immediately top each cookie with 1 candy, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely before storing.

 

recipe source : Pillsbury

Orange Zest Cookies with Icing

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http://beautyandbedlam.com/baking-christmas-cookies/

also shared on Delicious Dishes

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons orange zest
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 egg

In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl mix together sugar and orange zest. Mix together the zest and sugar until well incorporated. the sugar should be moist from the oils released. Using a mixer, cream together butter, orange zested sugar add egg and orange juice. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until well incorporated. I recommend chilling for an hour or overnight you can bake right away. Using a cookie scoop or your hand roll into balls. Bake at 350 for 10-12 min or until very light brown on the bottoms. Here is the recipe for the glaze:) 1 (3-oz.) package cream cheese, softened 1 tablespoon orange juice 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add orange juice and vanilla; beat until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Strawberry Pop Cake

While looking for another recipe I found this delicious recipe and thought you all may enjoy it. The blog Mommys Kitchen has an awesome step by step for making this cake and you should check it out.

Strawberry Soda Pop Cake1 - 18 oz package Strawberry Cake mix (any brand)
1 1/3 - cups Strawberry Soda
(strawberry soda is substituted for the amount of water on the cake mix)
2 - 3 Eggs (if you want it lighter and fluffier use three eggs)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 - 8 oz tubs Plain or Strawberry Flavored Cool Whip
1 – 2 lbs Fresh Strawberries (Sliced)

Add cake mix to a large mixing bowl. Add egg, oil and strawberry soda. Beat until smooth. Pour into two round cake pans that have been greased and floured. Bake as directed on cake mix or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. When cake is done remove from oven and cool in pans for 15 minutes.

Then remove to a wire rack and completely cool. Frost first layer with cool whip and arrange sliced strawberries on top. Add the second cake layer and frost top and sides with more cool whip and top with more sliced strawberries. Save one whole strawberry for the middle of the cake. Gently slice and fan the whole strawberry, Place on top in the middle of the cake.

Notes: Measurements vary depending on what brand of cake mix you use. Follow the directions on the back of the box substituting strawberry soda for the amount of water listed. Also add the amount of eggs and oil stated on the mix, I use Duncan Hines.

Also if you want you can make a strawberry cool whip frosting in place of regular or strawberry cool whip. Follow the directions below; this is optional if you are watching your weight just frost the cake with Light Cool Whip.

Strawberry Cool Whip Frosting (optional)
1 - 4 ounce box instant strawberry pudding mix, dry
1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 cup milk
8 ounces Regular Cool Whip

Add pudding mix, powdered sugar and milk to a mixing bowl. Mix on low speed until blended. Let mixture stand 3 minutes. Fold in defrosted Cool Whip and frost cake. Refrigerate frosted cake.

 Crafty Sassy Wednesday

Book Review Benny's Angel

Title: Benny's Angel
Author: Laura Allen Nonemaker
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Release Date: November 8, 2011
Paperback, 24 pages
ISBN 10: 1613460090
ISBN 13: 9781613460092
The Book Depository / Amazon
Benny's angel is the type of book that everyone needs to read at least once. It is the type of feel good book that shares the message about the importance of prayer. The story shares a beautiful scene of nature and animals. My grandchildren love animals and so does my teenage daughter the great thing is that the story is simple enough and written well enough all will love it.

About the Author:
Laura Allen Nonemaker’s desire to write took root as a child in Bermuda. Since then, Laura has written in a variety of genres and her work has appeared in Essence Treasury: Celebrating the Season, Alive! and Kentucky Monthly Magazine. Laura has been involved in short-term missions, including trips to Russia, Poland, and the University of the Nations in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. Three years ago, her interest in the arts motivated her to join the planning team for Artful Missions, which conducts juried art shows and donates to outreaches in the U.S. and India to rescue women and children from human trafficking.

 

you can purchase the book Benny's Angel from Amazon, The Book Depository, through the publisher's website 

 

 

2/3 cup of all-purpose flour 

16 1/2-oz. roll of refrigerated sugar-cookie dough

Snowflake sprinkles

M&M's Minis buttons

Hershey's Kisses

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Knead 2/3 cup of all-purpose flour into a 16 1/2-oz. roll of refrigerated sugar-cookie dough.
• Tear off a piece of dough and roll it in your palms to form a 3/4 -inch ball. Roll a slightly larger piece into a 1-inch ball, and a still slightly larger piece into a 1 1/4-inch ball. Repeat with remaining dough. Place 1 of each size ball close together on parchment lined baking sheets; flatten balls slightly.
• Bake cookies for 12 minutes. Cool on rack. Pipe frosting for scarves and to attach M&M's Minis buttons, mini-chocolate chip eyes, snowflake sprinkles and Hershey's Kisses for hats. Makes 8.
• Note: In the photograph shown, we covered the cookies in white frosting and piped red frosting for the scarves. We also added mini-chocolate chips to make the snowmen smile.

All You
DECEMBER 2008

In The Kitchen Mondays

Blog Hopping week of November 21-28

Thank you for stopping by for a visit so glad that you found me Please leave me a comment so I can come visit you as well.

Blog hop Week Starting November 28

Whether it be facebook ,
twitter or blog I love to find friends to follow and love followers of my own as well.

Kroger gc giveaway

Where I live there are only two places to shop for groceries. One of them is the grocery store Kroger. One of my favorite places to save money as well. When they have sales they really have sales. I just entered a giveaway for a $25 Kroger gc on the blog The Adventures of Paul and Natalie.  This giveaway ends 12/5/11

Wonder who this good looking couple is

My Prince and Princess