Gorilla Bread

I know Christmas is not for another seven months, but Jeremy posted this on his blog and I wanted to share the recipe with everyone.  I think I first started making this our first Christmas as a married couple, in 2008.  I was searching on the Food Network's website and found this.  It's a Paula Deen recipe and yes, the recipe calls for butter and sugar. 

So I decided to try out the recipe.  It's a little time consuming because you have cut up biscuit dough and cream cheese and wrap the dough around the little bits of cream cheese.  But it's definitely worth it!  I've made it now every Christmas morning since 2008.  I think it's a great little tradition.  But I also think I need to make it more than once a year! 

You will need a bundt pan for this recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 12-ounce cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count) (Note: I usually can only find packs of 8, so I just cut two in half to make 10)
1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

• Spray a pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a saucepan on low heat, melt the butter and brown sugar, stirring well and set aside.
• Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon.  Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes.  Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar.  Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. 
• Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan (optional). 
• Place 10 prepared biscuits in the pan.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts, if using. 
• Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts, if using. 
• Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes.  Place a plate on top of the bundt pan and flip over.
• Enjoy!

Let me know if you try this recipe.  If you look on Paula Deen's website, she has different variations that look just as amazing!

O Christmas Tree!

Last Saturday, Jeremy and I went to Giordano's Tree Farm in Freedon, NJ.  This was our first time here.  They had a nice selection of trees and we were able to find a tree that would fit in our apartment.  And you can't beat the price...$40 a tree, any size, any type!  That's pretty cheap for cute your own in New Jersey. 

Giordano Tree Farm

Jeremy with our tree!

All decorated!

Craftaholics Gift Swap!

Back in November, I signed up for a gift swap over at Craftaholics Anonymous.  My partner Natalie and I exchanged emails and she was excited to see that I was from New Jersey.  She grew up in Sussex County, which is the same county I grew up in!  Such a small world!  She told me her fabric stash has lots of bright colors and polka dots.  So this is what I came up with!

I sewed a cute little zipper pouch with a detachable handle/key chain and made a snowman ornament (with glitter of course!).  I really hope she liked everything!

Christmas Cards

I'm really slacking with this blog lately.  I guess that's what happens with Christmas right around the corner!  This year, like most years, I made our Christmas cards.  I tried using what I had since I have tons of paper and envelopes.  The only thing I did buy was the base for the card.  I didn't have enough of one color and wanted them to all look the same.

For the tree, I stamped the image using black StazOn ink.  I used StazOn because I was going to color in the image with Stampin' Up watercolor pencils and then use a blender pen to give the tree a watercolor look.  I colored the entire tree, stump, and star.  Then went over with the blender pens.  I used markers to color in the ornaments and garland.  And of course, the tree needed some sparkle!  So I used Dazzling Diamonds for the star and ornaments.

After I finished coloring and blending, I corner punched each tree and then glued them on to red card stock.  By the way, I love the Martha Stewart Adhesive Tape Roller!  And I love the fact you can buy it at Michael's and use a 40% coupon.  Once the cards were assembled, I added more sparkle with these little stick-on gems I found.  I'm really happy with how the cards turned out.  And I realized I never took a picture of the inside!  I printed off a little saying, backed it on card stock, and signed the cards.  Here is a picture of the finished product!

Yummy Treats!

I wanted to get something for each person in my office, but didn't want to spend a lot of money.  So this year, I dipped pretzel rods in chocolate and then decorated with crushed candy canes, sprinkles, and white chocolate.  I also made some rice krispy treats, but they didn't come out so great.  I decorated these with chocolate and sprinkles.  I then put them in cute little bags and handed them.  Everyone loved them!

And here is Jeremy making sure the chocolate was just right...

 

Christmas Gifts

As promised, here are better pictures of some of the gifts I made for Christmas gifts...from scarves for my aunts to a quiet book for my nephew.  I really put my sewing machine to work!

Jeremy and I have three nieces who absolutely love to play dress up.  As I previously posted, I made tutus for them, using elastic and pieces of tulle to make the skirt.  I then took some eyeshadow and blush compacts, removed the makeup, and replaced the makeup with pieces of color foam.  I made them little bags to put the makeup in, along with some jewelry that I found at the dollar store.  Here is a picture of the play makeup.





I will post pictures of the finished tutus soon!

For our nephew, I made a quiet book.  I was inspired by this blog, and used a lot of her tips and templates to help me create one for Noah.  I'm really happy without it turned out.













This is the second year where my cousins picked names for a secret Santa.  This year, I got my cousin Lena.  I bought her a little bag from Vera Bradley and made her a scarf using some great flannel fabric that I got on sale at Joann Fabrics.  Here is a picture of Lena showing off her new scarf!



For my sisters-in-law, I made them primitive-style bowl fillers.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of them.  For my mother-in-law, I made her a table runner and six placemats for her dining room table.  Again, I didn't get a picture of the final product because I was working on this up to the very last minute!  I made the runner and placemats like a rag quilt, very similar to the set I made for a benefit, which I previously posted pictures.

For my mom and sister, I did not make them anything; however, I will be making some special for my sister who will be getting married in September.  And I plan on making my mom somethings for her newly renovated dining and living rooms.  Stay tuned!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a great New Year.  I'm hoping 2010 will be a much better one for me and my family!