Valentine's Day Gift Guide

Sometimes it can be so hard to find the perftect gift for that special man in your life.  I came across a great gift guide on Perry Ellis that finds gifts based on your love's personality.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Sweet Sophisticate



Charming Creative




Rugged Romantic



Ladies, does your guy fall into any of these categories? For the men, do any of these best describe you?

Easy Holiday Cupcakes

Easy Holiday Cupcakes

Is there anyone reading this blog who doesn’t want the kitchen to smell like honey, cinnamon, cloves, and all the to-die-for scents everyone drools for during the holidays?   That’s basically how I ended up with this recipe last weekend: dreaming about all the things I wanted to smell and taste that I then decided to throw—devil-may-care—into a big mixing bowl.  What came out of the oven was a batch of about 18 decadent cupcakes that not even the meanest Grinch could turn aside.

For cupcakes (makes about 18 medium-sized cupcakes):

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground clove

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

¼ cup butter, room-temperature

1 cup honey

¾ cup lukewarm coffee

For icing:

8 oz cream cheese

½ stick (1/4 cup) butter, room temperature

½ cup powdered sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350 F and butter the cupcake pan or insert liners.

For the cupcakes, whisk the dry ingredients (except for sugar) in a big bowl and set aside.  In another bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, butter, honey, and coffee.  Pour the contents of the second bowl into the first in increments and mix until there are no visible chunks.  Spoon into the cupcake pan or liners and bake for about 20-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Let the cupcakes cool and remove from pan.

While the cupcakes are baking, use an electric beater so mix the cream cheese and butter until smooth.  Add the remaining ingredients and spread onto cupcakes when cooled.  Add a final sprinkle of cinnamon for flair.

About the Author:

Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor's degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on grants for adults returning to college and pennsylvania education grants.

Gingerbread Cookies

What's better than baking when you're stuck inside in the winter? It's so much fun to put all the ingredients together then you get to smell the mouthwatering smells, finally you're rewarded for your hard work with a delicious treat!

Ingredients

• 6 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup shortening
• melted and cooled slightly
• 1 cup molasses
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the shortening, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed. Divide dough into 3 pieces, pat down to 1 1/2 inch thickness, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. When the cookies are done, they will look dry, but still be soft to the touch. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. When cool, the cookies can be frosted with the icing of your choice.

Ways to Stay Active During the Holiday Season

It’s that time again! The time of year we all struggle with. There’s tons of great food that leaves us exhausted and not wanting to move. We know in our heads we shouldn’t have that extra helping of mashed potatoes or that extra piece of pie but we give into temptation. Then as if we were stuffed turkeys ourselves we go and do the worst thing when you’ve overeaten: we lie there with our pants unbuttoned in a state of exhaustion. According to the New England Journal of Medicine the average person gains one pound over the holidays and never loses it. I know, I know, what’s one pound? Well it’s a lot over the course of years. One pound eventually becomes twenty if we’re not careful.

Now I’m not against all those delicious foods and I’m just as guilty as anyone of indulging on Thanksgiving BUT I do try to keep myself and my family as healthy as possible and I want my family to develop healthy habits as well. So indulge in your favorite foods but try one or two of these activities so you can keep some of the holiday weight off this year:

1.      Help out-I noticed many of the women in my family are very fit while a lot of the men tend to pack on weight. I decided to observe to see why this was. One huge difference I noticed was that after a meal the women begin busily cleaning up after dinner while the men go sit on the couch and watch television. Preparing a Thanksgiving meal is a lot of work so make sure everyone in the family has on chore before the meal and one chore after. This will keep them busy and away from the appetizer table before the meal and the dessert table after the meal. Plus staying them their feet will help them burn some extra calories. You’re helping you family stay fit as well as teaching your kids the importance of helping out. Not only will this benefit everyone by keeping them moving but whoever is hosting Thanksgiving will be grateful as well.

2.      Take a walk-You can take a walk right outside your house or plan a beautiful trail nearby to walk on. Plan a scavenger hunt or play a few games to keep kids occupied during the walk. Another fun idea is to have an imagination walk.

Walking game idea: Everyone tries to find five things that begin with the same letter as their first name. If you have several people with the same first letter you can use middle names.

3.      Dance-This is a fun and easy way to burn a few calories. Just put on some music and let everyone get moving. Make sure you have a wide variety of music for everyone and I would recommend having it on CD’s so you’re not looking through the radio to find something.

4.      Plan a family game-Split the family up into a few teams and have a tournament or just kick the ball around. Either way playing a game of soccer, kickball, or softball is a fun way to get the family working together and keep them off the couch. TIP: Have everything set up before the meal because you probably won’t feel like dragging soccer goals out after eating a big dinner. If it’s already set up it’ll be much easier to motivate yourself and everyone else out to the game.

5.      Try some of these activities geared toward kids.

6.      Schedule some fitness into your own schedule. It’s best to schedule this with someone else so that you won’t skip it when you’re feeling full and tired after celebrating the day before. My gym has a turkey buster class the morning after Thanksgiving that I attend every year. You can do something like that or plan a session with a personal trainer or make a date to play tennis or go for a run. Thanksgiving should be just one day and this will help you get back on track if you’ve over eaten. The best way to teach your family to be fit is to model the behavior yourself.

Paper Plate Spider

As all my crafts are, this is easy to make and a child should be able to do it by themselves.  My son loves to make a whole spider family and hang them all over.  It actually ends up looking pretty cool if you hang them and at different lengths.

Supplies:

Paper plates

Black paint

Black construction paper

White paper

Black marker

Blue marker

Step 1: Paint the paper plates black on both sides

Step 2: Let dry

Step 3: Cut black construction paper into eight even strips and fold like an accordion

Step 4: Cut out two ovals for the spider’s eyes

Step 5: Use the black marker to draw the spider’s pupil on the white circle.

Step 6: Use the blue marker to give the spider blue eyes

Step 7: Glue the eyes onto the top of the black paper plate

Step 8: Glue 4 legs on the bottom each side of the black paper plate

Little Black Dress

"Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman."

~Coco Chanel 

With Valentine's Day coming up we all need something we can wear to wow that special someone in our lives.  A black dress is the easiest, most flattering way to look great for a special night out!   Once kids come into the picture it's harder to spend time looking our best.  Here are a few dresses that are perfect for those times when you have nothing to wear! 

Date Night/Party Dresses

Tadashi Rushed Matte Jersey Dress-$298

Ralph Lauren "Sheila" Empire Dress-SALE $107 

Aiden Mattox 'Cold Shoulder' Sequin Dress-$295

Wedding/Special Event

JS Boutique Strapless Ruched Satin Dress-$98

Suzi Chin Maggy Boutique Ruched Jersey Dress-$108

Ralph Lauren "Aurelia" Cap-Sleeve Dress-SALE $112

Tweet

Heart Cake

This is a quick and easy recipe to make with your kids.  It's always a hit at Valentine's Day parties too.

Step 1: Bake a square cake and a round cake

Step 2: Cut round cake in half

Step 3: Add each half to the square using frosting to attach to make a heart shape

Step 4: Frost with pink frosting

Step 5: Enjoy!

VD2H3PVU6P7N

Christmas Traditions

It came without ribbons. It came without tags.

It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore.

 Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store?

What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

~Dr. Seuss

Photography by Danielle Lamoureaux

                One of my son’s favorite traditions is opening a Christmas present on Christmas Eve.  I always give him a beautifully wrapped box with a new set of pajamas, a new Christmas book, and a new Christmas movie inside.  The pajamas are for mostly selfish reasons.  I love that I know he’ll look good in Christmas photos but he actually loves wearing new warm pajamas to bed on a cold winter night.  After he changes into his pajamas we snuggle up on the couch, drink hot chocolate, and watch his Christmas movie.  Finally, when he goes to bed I lie down with him and read him the Christmas story.  I’ve always loved reading him stories but now that he’s ten years old Christmas Eve is one of the few times out of the year that he actually wants me to read to him.  This has become such a bittersweet, beautiful tradition because, as he gets older, I know it will fade.  There’s only so much longer he’ll want to cuddle with me or have me read him stories and someday he won’t even be waking up in my home on Christmas morning.  Although this makes me sad I hope that he’ll pass this along to his children and hopefully we’ll have new traditions of our own.

What are some of your cherished family traditions?