Pintertest Kitchen: Baking Day 2012 Edition

Every year, right before Christmas, I turn on my oven.

Lock my front door.

And go into hibernation for one full day.

 And I bake my heart out.

All year long, I pin recipes in anticipation for my big baking day.

It quite possibly is my favorite day of the year.

 This year, I made one special exception, and allowed my sweet friend Cari to join me for a few hours.

We spent countless hours baking in my kitchen when she was back in high school, and she was home for a quick visit during the Holidays. 

 My lovely Pink Kitchen Aid shines her brightest on Baking Day.

She was made for this.

I gave my first go at making Madelines after being given a pan by my sister.

I used this recipe, and they turned out picture perfect.

And I made my most favorite cookies of all time, Spumoni Cookies, which I blogged about before here. 

They look amazing, and taste incredible.

I ADORE these cookies.

I have been dreaming about making Kaylee's Pumpkin Molasses Cookies for over a month.

Her recipe is featured over at Katy's Place for Jolly Holiday!

They were a HUGE hit with my dad, who is a big molasses fan.

And these I have had pinned for a VERY long time.

Sea-Salted Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

They were divine.

And looked so pretty too.

I used to make Seven Layer Bars all the time out of my favorite cookbook,

Southern Living at Home.

They were long overdue.

And these Butterscotch Brownies were my personal fav.

I used real espresso instead of espresso powder, because I wasn't sure what it was.

Next time, I'd probably just omit it all together.

But the optional salted pecans - they will stay. 

They made this recipe shine.

And of course, Keri's Fudge, made a repeat appearance this year. 

Pure chocolate goodness right there.

These little boxes of goodies got passed out to a few local friends and family.

I love the color and variety in them.

Nothing like spreading Christmas Cheer in the form of sugar, butter, and chocolate.

This month I definitely BAKED IT.
Linking up with Jessica!

Work Hard, Play Hard: Adventures in Napa

My sister and I, and Ellen & Cindy have been on a few sisterly adventures over the last few years.
(And beyond).
This year, my sister found a really fun Groupon Deal for a Limo up to Wine Country. We parlayed that into an overnight in the City as well. And decided to do this adventure up real nice, and skip our annual ski trip this year.

Cindy booked us in an AWESOME hotel, the Union Square Marriott, with an incredible view.
We checked in and were in our room just in time to see the sun setting behind the buildings around us.

We settled in, and decided to make a reservation at a cute restaurant down the street for later that night.
In the mean time we had a little time to kill, so we headed out to the stores around Union Square.
Being that it was the day after Christmas, there were a ton of lines, and sales, and customers.
So many customers.
We ended up just doing window shopping - the lines inside the stores were too overwhelming to justify any casual shopping.

And then we freshened up for our dinner rezzie.
We ended up a cute little restaurant hidden down a pedestrian alley called Cafe Claude.
In fact, we walked right by the alley almost missing it on our way there.
It might have been because we were distracted doing this:

And we ate cheese.
And it was SO good.

And then we traipsed around a bit.
Exploring a few of the hot-spots and not-so-hot-spots around our hotel.
This place seemed promising, but ended up a dud.

Which left us with no choice but to hit up the Starlight Room.
The rotating sign is always calling my name, and after all these years, I had yet to visit.

The view was spectack.
That alone made it worth the adventure.

Well that and the top 100 billboard jams mixed with dated hits on the dance floor made for an awesome night.
Also, spying on the people in the hotel across the way.
Yes, your windows are open, and yes, people CAN see you walking around naked.

We finished the night sharing onion rings and a banana split at Lori's Diner - which seems to be where we always end up on our Union Square adventures.

In the morning, we woke up to the dinging of the cable car line below, and the promise of hot Starbucks coffee across the street.

The day was about to begin and new adventures (in a limo! with mimosas!) awaited us!

Believe it or not, I lived in wine country for three years, and never once went wine tasting.
Also, it was before I was 21, so I guess that is probably for the better.

Also for the better is the fact that at this point I started using my actual camera.

I haven't been in a limo in quite a while, and all I could say was "I feel like I'm filming a Real Housewives episode right now". Those fools hang out in limos a LOT.

The day was clear, the skies were bright, it was a recipe for a good one.

First stop, Beringer.
It was beautiful. Right out of a coffee table book.

And by this time, we were getting hungry. And I really wanted cheese.
So, we headed down the road to V. Sattui.
Where we loaded up on cheese, salami, grapes, and of course, wine.

The sun felt so good shining down on this crisp December day.
Napa just felt happy.
And it wasn't just the wine, I promise.

Our next stop was Grgich Hills Estates.
Which ended up being one of the best parts of the day - although the whole day was great, it's hard to say there was a true best.

But being unexpectedly escorted into the VIP room, given two extra tastings, including a fancy Cabernet, and extra special treatment was hard to beat.

And even though this was our last winery, the day wasn't completely over yet.
We still had one last limo-celebration to have.
Cupcakes for Cindy's Birthday! (Happy Birthday Cindy!!!)

I'm PRETTY sure by looking at these pictures she loved our serenading her with the birthday song.

And then we were DONE.
We put the nap in Napa.
Limo naps all around, while we were driven back to the City.
A good way to spend the day, with my Soul Sisters.
These girls rock.
So does wine.
And Napa.
And cupcakes.

Until the next one ladies...Cheers!

Thoughts on Reading the Bible in a Year

Happy New Year Friends!!!
I have a ton of adventures to catch up on over here, but being that it's the first and all, I want to share with you a little about reading through the Bible.

A year ago, I committed to reading the whole Bible in a year.
I had just finished reading through the entire Bible in 2011, but it had taken me TEN YEARS to do it (book by book, mostly a chapter or so a day).

But I had a friend who had done it.

And felt like, this is was an accomplishable task.

And by the grace of God it definitely was.
Really, only four chapters a day. (Once in a while five).
Two from the Old Testament, two from the New.

And 366 Days later, I completed it.

I love this reading plan.
Because you don't end up stuck in Leviticus and Chronicles for years and get discouraged and want to give up.
Instead, you only read one of those chapters each day, and probably something from the Gospels, and  Psalms and Proverbs, and another random book.

The plan itself is the M'Cheyne reading plan.
And you can do it rather simply.
At first I had little four little bookmarks I printed out from here, and placed them throughout my Bible, and checked off each day's reading.
When I got an iPad I downloaded the awesome Reading Plan App which you can start on any day, sync to your favorite Bible app, and will track your progress.

I'll be honest, and there were some days that I just didn't do it.
In fact, I did both December 30th and 31st yesterday.

And occasionally, I'd get more than a day behind.
I was really fearful of that, getting so behind that I'd be too discouraged to pick up and catch up.
But God is so good, and I was never that overwhelmed. If I was behind, I'd just take it a little chunk at a time.

Most days, it was part of my routine. Every morning, I'd wake up an hour early, make some coffee, and spend time in the Word. But weekends, vacations, and days where routine got interrupted made it harder for me.

Sometimes I'd have 16 chapters to catch up on. And all I could do was just read 4. So the next day, I'd have another 16 to read. So, I'd read 6.  And only have 14 the next day. I'd whittle away, and eventually, I was caught up.

I share this, because I want to be honest, and tell you that reading through the entire Bible is NOT hard.  It's a task, and a commitment, but at least in my head, it seemed ominous and intimidating.

So, I want to encourage you, pick up your Bible. Start somewhere, start anywhere. Even if it takes you 10 years, or one year. God loves the offering that you make, by taking the time out of your day to spend it with Him. And you will certainly grow to know and love Him more.

Which is ultimately what the end result will be. And probably the biggest motivator of all.

Go get 'em tigers, for His glory, and your good.