Bites of My Life

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Merry Christmas my friends! I say this every year, but I hate how fast Christmas comes and goes. My family had a quaint little gathering of our immediate family, minus Claire :( It was simple, but so nice. We ate fabulous food, baked lots of treats, stayed in pjs all day and listened to Christmas music on repeat. There were shrieks and squeals over gifts received and some tears of joy over things like a purse-Kathleen, and me-new dishes. The things I get excited about...

-On a Siggi's kick last week.
-Chick-Fil-A hack turning my spicy chicken sandwich into a spicy chicken salad.
-The best salad in town! Get it here.
-A festive look through my lens at work. 
-Last minute Christmas treats made the blog in time for the big day. 
-New brekkie obsession, loaded sweet potato with berries, AB and granola.
-Phobulous pho with pops!
-Holiday's are a non-stop eating fest, so a counter of apps is needed. Cheese ball, olives and cranberry pomegranate salsa.
-Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters, White Christmas style.
-Pioneer Women cinnamon rolls took the cake on Christmas morning!
-Nothing beats a big holiday meal.
-An Ina inspired dessert. Scoops of ice cream with Christmas cookies.

Annie

Last Minute Holiday Treats

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I love my job, but if I could quit my job and just stay home and bake all day, I'd be the happiest. And probably the fattest. This time of year especially, all I want to do is bake.

I'm a little down to the wire, but I still had a few special people I wanted to gift with a little something. I made up a batch of my peppermint bark and cookie butter rice krispie treats, with festive sprinkles, of course. Packaged them up and I'm getting them delivered today. Below I have rounded up tasty holiday treats, some made by me, the rest inspired by others.  Co-workers, neighbors, classmates, instructors, yourself ;), anyone who is still left on your list would love one of these treats! Just click on any picture above for it to take you to the recipe. 

The first few recipes are pulled from the TAB archives, but these other gorgeous recipes are from the gals below! 

Baked by Rachel's Chocolate Eggnog Cupcakes with Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting

Sally's Baking Addiction's Peppermint Mocha Cookies

Cookie + Kate's Peppermint Bark Popcorn

Local Roots Dietitian's Healthy Holiday Peppermint Brownies

And Ina's Spicy Hermit Bars

And because it's the season of giving, I'm giving you a few more ideas that could easily be transformed Christmasy with a few sprinkles or red & green colored candies like my Signature Sugar Cookies (we make these for santa every year), Cookie Butter Rice Krispies, Cookie Butter Popcorn, M&M Cookie Pizza, Homemade Pop Tarts and Slutty Brownies.

I'm spicing my sugar cookies up a bit this year and adding crystallized ginger in them. Inspired by Ina of course. Because WWTBCD? Add crystallized ginger to her sugar cookies! I'll keep you posted on how they turn out. 

Annie

Bites of My Life

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Last week was a mix of busy activities, parties and birthday dinners as well as cozy nights in, movie marathons and early bedtimes. Kicked off the week with my company Christmas party. I work with such a fun group of people to celebrate with, including Santa. Ate and drank at a few new restaurants (OKC's best kept secret, for the moment). Welcomed the first snow of the season, a Thunder win, and a movie marathon on the couch while bitter cold temps hung out outside. 

Countdown to Christmas can officially begin. I can't believe I'm saying that. I'm looking forward to hopefully a busy week, then a slow weekend to really enjoy the holiday!

-Because it's not a holiday party without festive cookies. My fav.
-Santa Claus is coming to town, and company Christmas parties.
-Ditch the dishes, acorn squash becomes your bowl in last week's recipe post.
-Restaurant decor on point.
-The dreamiest european style cheese shop and bistro opened up in the neighborhood this week. Our experience had ups and downs, but if you are local please go visit En Croûte. Pronounced like this. 
-Breakfast for dinner because lazy and an effort to clean out the fridge. 
-Foodie friends are the best friends!
-Cozy tomato basil soup a la roomie was perfect for Sunday's high of 20 degrees...
-Trader Joe's Seafood Paella. YUP! (but I didn't eat the mussels, freaked me out too much sitting in a frozen bag for that long).

Annie

Acorn Squash Salad Bowl

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I love food out of a bowl. Back in college in the Kappa house, I would always forgo the large dinner plates and pile all of my food into 2 to 3 of our little cereal bowls. I'd be sitting in the dining room with bowls on bowls in front of me, strange but go with it. Salad in a bowl vs. a plate, so much better. Casserole, loaded sweet potato, pasta, meat and roasted veggies etc. in a bowl, it's just better.

When I was younger I hated my food to touch. But now I love getting bite of each part of the meal in one bite. And a bowl is the vessel to assist with that. 

With this recipe, acorn squash becomes your bowl. Save yourself from having to wash an extra dish. We are taking roasted acorn squash and filling it with salad full of wintery ingredients. This is great for lunch, a light dinner of could be great as a side dish with some protein. It's just pretty enough to be a side for your Christmas dinner!

Acorn Squash Salad Bowl
yields 2 servings

Ingredients:
1 medium size acorn squash
2 handfuls spring green mix
pecans, chopped
pomegranate arils
feta cheese
s&p

Balsamic Dressing:
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. dijon mustard
s&p to taste

Directions:
Cook your squash to your preference. If you are reading this ahead of time, use your crock-pot! First cut the pointy edge off each end so it has a flat surface to stand on. Then cut in half, scoop out seeds, wrap in foil and place in the crock-pot on low to cook for 6-8 hours (perfect way to cook sweet potatoes too). If you don't have that kind of time on your hand, cut edges off, cut in half, scoop out seeds, drizzle with olive oil, s&p, and roast skin side up at 425 for 20-25 minutes.

Combine your dressing ingredients in a small mason jar or bowl and shake/whisk to combine. In a mixing bowl, add two large handfuls of spring mix, chopped pecans, pomegranate arils and feta. Just eye ball your ingredients and add as more or less as you want. Sprinkle in a little extra salt and pepper. Toss everything with your dressing, starting light and add more as you please. (Sorry these measurements are haphazard, but that's the beauty of a salad).

Fill the cavity of your acorn squash with a serving of salad. Dig in by scraping up a bit of squash with each bite of salad mix.

Want more ways to use acorn squash? Take a bite here and here.

Annie

Bites of My Life

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All food for this week's installment of 'Bites of My Life.' This is pretty much how this time of year goes. Lot's of cooking, baking, eating and drinking. The highlight of the week was when I got to switch out cooking as a hobby to cooking for work! The new restaurant my company is opening had a catering and needed an extra hand. I happily put on my apron to take a break from behind the computer.

Last week also consisted of a couple Christmas parties, Christmas shopping and Christmas baking. More of the same on tap for this week. 

-Can't get enough of this greek salad concoction using Trader Joe's frozen falafel. 
-White Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Ginger Cookies, don't miss last week's recipe.
-This is what I call perfection.
-Festive avocado toast for a Christmas catering.
-A festive twist on a French 75 was the cocktail of the evening. 
-Got to step in as sous chef to help with a party my company was catering. On the menu was avocado toast, deviled eggs, mediterranean dips, and all the cheese, smoked salmon and charcuterie your heart can handle. It was way too fun.
-Sweet potato stuffed with roasted brussels, pomegranate perils and a dollop of hummus. 
-A london fog latte with homemade lavender marshmallow to keep me warm while shopping the holiday pop-ups.
-Pastrami with a side of joe at Kitchen No. 324.

Annie