Show and Tell Friday!

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Welcome to Show and Tell Friday and Happy New Year!  Today I'm breaking my own rules and sharing a recipe this week.  My son made this for me when he was here visiting this week.  It's an appetizer made with cannellini beans and spinach.  It's not an exact recipe but here is how he made it.

1 can cannellini beans

1-2 cloves of minced garlic (or to taste)

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

a splash of olive oil

red pepper flakes to taste

Mix all those together in a food processor. (We used a mini processor and it worked great).  Toast a slice of french bread and spread the puree on top and then top with cooked fresh spinach and sprinkle with some red pepper flakes if you like!  It tastes so much better than it looks! It's packed with so much flavor!  Lauren really loved this as did some of her friends that were over that night.  

Vince says he likes it better with sauteed kale on top rather than spinach but I love spinach so that's what we used!

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

2010 - The year I kept all my New Year's Resolutions!

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Last year about this time I shared my New Year's Resolutions here on my blog!  I thought about these early in the year and then, like most of us, never gave them another thought until today when I started thinking about my New Year's Resolutions for 2011.  I went back to that post from last year and was amazed that I actually kept all 3 of them!  Here they are (in italics): 

1. Lose weight! That's always #1...but I've got a head start this year, I joined Weight Watchers at the end of October and I've lost over 12 lbs so far. Between Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas that wasn't very easy! 

(I'm very pleased that I was able to keep that one by doing Weight Watchers! I lost 40 lbs so far and plan to continue losing in 2011)

Before

After

2. Get out and have more fun! I'm going to do more things with my girlfriends this year!

(I took this one to an extreme! I really had some great times with all my girlfriends this year and I must say that those were some of the best moments in 2010)

3. Go on a date! (Wow...I can't believe I'm actually writing this on my blog!) I put dating on the back burner since I've been a full time single mom because it was too hard to juggle both. Now that Lauren's 17 I'm starting to think about it more. Talk about scary...the truth is, I haven't been on a date in 5 years (oh boy, was that hard to confess). I think I'm ready to give it a try again...at the very least it should make for some interesting blog posts (or not)!

(I not only went on a date, I've gone on many! I joined an online dating site and went on so many first dates that I lost track but I know it was over 10. I've now been dating "Mr. C." for over 3 months. For those of you that are single out there and haven't dated in awhile it wasn't as scary as it seems. I've had a lot of fun!)

Mr C. wants to remain anonymous

My New Year's Resolutions for this year are going to be almost the same.  I plan on losing more weight but I also want to work out more in 2011.  I want to continue to do things with my girlfriends because we have so much fun!  Not sure where things will be a year from now with Mr. C. and I....I just want to live in the moment and not think about things like that!  

I hope all of you were able to keep your New Year's Resolutions too but if not there is always next year! 

The Best Chicken I've ever made!

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Photo courtesy Cooking Light

I just had to share this recipe I made for dinner tonight because it was so good!  It's Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Artichoke Hearts and Goat Cheese!  My kids loved it and the best part is that it's from Cooking Light!  I served it with spinach and Yukon Gold potatoes that I roasted with shallots, olive oil and kosher salt and then tossed with chives when they came out of the oven.  My son made an amazing appetizer but that recipe deserves a post of it's own so I'll make it again soon and share it then.

Click here for the Chicken with Artichoke Hearts and Goat Cheese recipe.

Edited to add:  The goat cheese is not really strong in this recipe so even if you don't like goat cheese you may like this.  It calls for goat cheese or feta...I used the goat cheese (Chevre) but I may try it with feta next time.

Merry Christmas!!!

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I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!

Show and Tell Friday!

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 I can't believe Christmas is almost here! It just snuck up on me this year! I put my 2nd tree up in my dining room and I never decorated it with the plates and teacups as I have done the last 2 years! It's too late now! 

I did add a few things to my birdhouse table that my dad made for me back in the early 90s so that's what I'm sharing for Show and Tell today....

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

Are you ready yet?

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I'm still not ready for Christmas!  I'll be back tonight with my Show and Tell post but for now I thought share this old video I made back in 2008!  I hope you don't mind reruns!

Happy Birthday Vince!

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24 years ago today an amazing person was born!  I'm very proud to say that he has far exceeded any expectations I had for him!!!  Happy birthday Vince!  

Happy Birthday Mr. C.!

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I blurred his face to respect his privacy

It's been a great 3 months (although it feels like I've known you so much longer)!

We'll be enjoying this chocolate birthday cake I made after dinner tonight!

Show and Tell Friday!

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Welcome to Show and Tell Friday! I'm sharing some things from Christmas past...

and I'm also sharing my personalized license plates. I've shared these before but now they are on the Jag!  I actually thought about sharing this again the other morning while on my way to work.  I looked through my rear-view mirror and saw the driver in the car behind me taking a picture of my license plate!  I bet he was a blogger too!  I get so many people pointing, smiling and staring. It took me awhile to get used to it!

In California we can get some symbols such as hearts, stars, hand, etc. on our plates.  It makes it fun!

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

Oh Christmas Tree!

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Oh finally!  Last weekend I finally started decorating for Christmas! I think this is the latest I've decorated in about twenty years! I usually have my tree up Thanksgiving weekend! 

I usually buy a Noble Fir because I like the space in between the branches to hang my ornaments but this year I bought a Douglas Fir because it was so much less expensive! I'm really surprised at how much I like it!  I didn't think I would be able to fit all my ornaments but it worked out perfectly!

Am I the last one to get my tree up?  I still haven't even begun Christmas shopping yet! Oh my!

Show and Tell Friday!

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Is it really the end of the week already? Time seems to fly by so quickly this time of the year!  Mr. C and I have been to one party after another since last weekend! I'm not complaining...I'm having so much fun!  I could never be with a man that doesn't like to go out and have fun! As much as I love being at home I really enjoy a night out on the town! Last Saturday night we were at one of his client's parties in San Francisco and we had so much fun but we didn't get to sleep until 4:30 in morning! I thought those days of partying all night were gone but I guess you get a second wind at 50! haha!  It's really amazing when I think of all the fun things we've done together in the short time we've been dating (2 months and 2 weeks)!

Anyway...on to Show and Tell! This week I'm sharing trays! I love trays because there are so many different things you can do with them! Take a look....

and they aren't just for displaying things, you can also turn them into a chalkboard!

If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. Please read the Show and Tell Guidelines for step-by-step instructions on how to participate. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog. If your link has been removed, please re-read over the guidelines before re-posting, or e-mail me with any questions.

Thank to all of you that join in every week!

Getting in the Spirit!

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Christmas 2009

Here we are in the second week of December and I still have not started decorating for Christmas yet! I usually have everything up by the Sunday after Thanksgiving!  This photo above is from last year! I thought if I looked through some old christmas photos I would feel more inspired and it worked...I finally bought my Christmas tree last night, although it's sitting outside in the rain today but I plan to have it up by this weekend! As soon as I get my little place decorated I'll be sharing it with all of  you!

Happy Birthday to my Baby!

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Lauren, where has the time gone? I cannot believe you are 18 today! You have become a beautiful young woman, both inside and out!!! I am so proud of you and I love you so much baby girl!

H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y !

I'm doing the happy dance!!!

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My friend Linda sent me an email last night to let me know that my Christmas table from last year is featured on HGTV.com's 20 Gorgeous Holiday Table Settings! I was shocked to see it was the first photo! As I went through the photos I was surprised to see that I had another photo in there too! This gift on a plate...  

What's inside of this little gift? A Christmas ornament!

I hope I don't sound too braggy but I'm just so excited that I had to share!  There are some beautiful tables featured and I'm so honored to be included!!!  You can see them all, just click here.