so long 2013

2013 had many great times and some not so good times. I hope 2014 is just as good if not better! Happy New Year!

 

Christmas 2013

Unfortunately, Trey and I did not get to spend Christmas together. He sent me this picture of his cat, Whiskey. He looks very enthused with his Christmas collar.  

Mom came over and spent the night with me and Lucy on Christmas Eve. Christmas day we went to my Aunt and Uncle's for dinner. It was good to get to spend time with some of my cousins that I don't get to see often. Dinner was delicious, as always. I hope everyone had a great Christmas!   

T-Town Cafe | Tuscaloosa, AL

T-Town Cafe is located off 15th Street. The atmosphere is very welcoming when you walk in. I was told it looked the same as the previous restaurant that was there but I never went to that one. They bring out cornbread and cheese biscuits to your table before your meal. I ordered a vegetable plate with cole slaw, au gratin potatoes, black eye peas and fried okra. The black eye peas and fried okra were my favorites. The coleslaw tasted like it was made with honey mustard. It wasn't bad but I don't think I would order it again. The prices are very reasonable and the service is great. I will be going again and trying out some of their other dishes. 

Cookies!

These are the cookies I received from The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. They were all so good. 

Almond Tartlettes from Simply So Good

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cookies from Southern Sweets and Eats

Oatmeal Caramel Creams from The Life Album

Christmas Sweater Party

Last Saturday I went to Mobile for a Christmas party at the Miller's. It was a night full of games, presents and karaoke. It was so much fun I didn't take any pictures except the last one. I stole the rest from Kylie. 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

- Isaiah 9:6

photo

Homemade Milanos

I participated in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again. Here is the cookies from 2011 and 2012. Click here if you want to get on the email list to get notified about next year's cookie swap! I made Milano cookies this year. I am saving the amazing cookies I received for another post so check back to see which ones I got! 

Homemade Milano Cookies

by Brittany Ray

Keywords: bake dessert chocolate cookie

Ingredients

For the Cookie

• 12 tbs butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 6 egg whites
• 2 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the Ganache

• (You may want to half this recipe)
• 18 oz chocolate chips
• 1 stick butter, cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Instructions

For the Cookie

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and mix until combined.

Slowly add the egg whites on low speed, then mix in the vanilla. Add flour and mix until combined. Do not over mix.

Using a piping bag or a large plastic storage bag with a corner cut off, pipe batter onto the prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet before removing to a cooling rack.

For the Ganache

Place the chocolate, butter, and sugar in a heat safe bowl.

In a medium saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then whisk slowly until chocolate and butter are melted and the ganache is smooth. This smelled heavenly...

Cover and refrigerate until the ganache has thickened about 30 minutes.

Place ganache in a piping bag or a large plastic storage bag with a corner cut off and pipe a thin strip of ganache down the middle of the bottom of one cookie. Top with another cookie and press together lightly to fill the cookies to the edges.

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Weekend Snapshots | Nov. 29-Dec. 1, 2013

Trey was in town this weekend for Thanksgiving. We cooked, cleaned, watched football and decorated for Christmas. It was a great weekend! 

Thanksgiving 2013

I made appetizers to take to my Aunt's. We had bacon cheeseburger bites, cream cheese sausage spirals and stuffed jalapeños. 

Me, Dad, Mom and Trey

My Aunt Julie made these amazing rolls. She said they are semi-homemade. I need to find out the recipe or brand they were amazing. Just look at them. 

For the main meal we had sweet potato casserole, ham, chicken and dressing, lima beans, corn casserole, deviled eggs and two different hash brown casseroles. 

 

I had a ton of potatoes I needed to cook so I decided to make hash brown casseroles to bring. I made one traditional one and added tomatoes and bacon to one. 

This Thanksgiving was the first Thanksgiving Trey got to spend with my family. I was so excited after almost 4.5 years Trey got to come! I loved getting to spend time with my family and missed the ones that were not able to come.