Friday Favorites

   Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

WHAT. A. WEEK.  Y'all.  Busy is an understatement.  I always joke that the time between Thanksgiving Break and Christmas Break is just "hold on and try not to fall off" time and that rang true all week.  

That said, over the weekend we were able to head downtown for one of our very FAVORITE McKinney events - Home for the Holidays.  It doesn't look like face painting and snow hills and petting zoos anymore but we had a really fun time as a family.

Candied Pecans (for deviled eggs)

 On Thanksgiving I mentioned my favorite way to eat deviled eggs... with some fresh dill and a candied pecan and wanted to share how I make them so you can add these to your Christmas party menu.

What You'll Need...

- 6 tablespoons brown sugar

- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1 1/2 tablespoons water

- 2 cups pecan halves

What You'll Do...

Step 1) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Step 2) Put the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, vanilla, and water to a medium skillet.  Place the skillet over medium heat and cook, stirring often until the brown sugar melts until a bubbling sauce.

Step 3) Stir in the pecans so that the brown sugar sauce coats them.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the pecans start to smell nutty (3 minutes or so).  

Step 4) Transfer the coated pecans to the parchment-lined baking sheet and spread them into a single payer.  Allow the pecans to cool.

Step 5) Pop one pecan into each deviled eggs (find my favorite recipe HERE) and top each one with a piece of fresh dill.

JUST TRUST ME and give these a try.  For me, the more dill the better!

If you're not a big deviled egg fan the pecans are DELICIOUS on their own and would be a great addition to a holiday charcuterie board.  If you try them in a deviled egg I want to know what you think!  

HAPPY Thursday, friends!!!

What's Up Wednesday

                Today I'm linking up with  Shay and  Sheaffer to talk a little bit about what's been going on around here!

Mini pumpkin cream pies!!! I made a double batch this weekend and have been giving them to teachers, friends, etc. and enjoying them as well.  IF you've never made them they're a MUST!

North Pole Breakfast 2023

 Our elves showed up last weekend and brought a North Pole Breakfast with them ;) This has been happening at our house since before Griffin was born and is one of my most favorite mornings of the whole year.  

I've been mixing up decor over the years and look forward to the kids reactions but also the creativity and FUN this allows me as well.  It's just the best.  Last Christmas I found a roll of really fun "space Santa" wrapping paper and this idea was born.

Amazon Lately

Not to be dramatic, but this dog food container may be the best thing I've ever purchased on Amazon.  I love it SO SO SO MUCH!  We go through A LOT of dog food and storing 40 lbs at a time is no easy task and somehow this seems "small", yet it still holds the large amount of food we keep on hand and it's STURDY.  Our last container broke and I don't see this one ever breaking.  It's awesome!

Friday Favorites

    Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

I am SO SAD that I'm writing this post because it means Thanksgiving break is coming to an end BUT we've had the best week.  Griffin has been lookin' CUUUTE in some new Zara finds...

Grown Up Gift Guide

 Hey, friends! Keeping the gift guides coming today with the very general category of "adults" ;) hahaha  Moms, dads, husbands, wives, sisters, friends - pretty much anyone.  The end. 

If you've followed me for any length of time you know that my family loves sjoelbak.  It's a traditional Dutch game that's almost like a smaller version of shuffleboard 

Younger Kids Gift Guide

 EEEK! I am so excited about this post - gifts for younger kids are my absolute favorite to buy and while I don't have littles in my home anymore I definitely have some recommendations based on so many fun years of shopping for my own kids.

I love anything that encourages imaginative play and this doctor's kit couldn't be cuter.  One year we got G a doctors kit and a little set of scrubs and it was her FAVORITE!

Festive Fun Part II

Today I'm sharing a few more fun and festive spots to add to your list this holiday season.  I shared Part 1 last week and you can click HERE to read it.

First up - Christmas at the Gaylord Texan... 

Friday Favorites

   Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

Short and sweet today y'all because it's ALMOST THANKSGIVING BREAK! PRAISE JESUS! All my teacher friends know that the week before a break will just about do you in and this week was no exception ;) 

First up on my list of faves is driving time with this kid.  I still can't believe this is happening!

Twice Baked Potatoes

 

I wasn't going to share this recipe BUT after posting a picture of these twice baked potatoes on my instagram earlier this week it was pretty much required ;)

I don't really have a set-in-stone recipe BUT here's the basic idea for making one of my favorite sides of all time. 

Tween Girl Gift Guide

 Today I'm sharing my ultimate "tween girl" gift list.  I can't believe that we're moving away from Barbies and stuffed animals, but I'm embracing the tween stage.

First up is  this CD player - can you even believe it?  Griffin REALLY loves having music on her room and we don't do Alexa but I think she would LOVE this option!  I even found  a shop on etsy that will make mixed CDs.  I also love that it's super compact.