The Year of the Epic Birthdays! ♕

"God gave us the gift of life; 

it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well."

~ Voltaire

I agree. So let's talk about birthdays. What do we know about them? Well, for starters: you only get one a year. But then, I'm hoping you already knew that. ;) The fact is this, a person's birthday is the best day of the year! It is the one day that is or should be all about you! 


I know what you're probably thinking, "No, your wedding day is the day that should be all about you." False. I absolutely adored my wedding day, but if I had thought the day was all mine I probably would have be so much more selfish about all the things that didn't happen the way I had always dreamed. No. My wedding day was very much a day for both me AND my husband. A day to celebrate with our friends, family, and loved ones. A day to be unselfish, happy, and very very much in love. ♥ 웃❤유 ♥


::ahem::  


Where were we. Ah, yes. Birthdays. So anyways, birthdays are a glorious occasion for everyone!! Yay for you! Most people celebrate them, but everybody has one! (sorry grouchy meanie-faces, whoever you are...you have a happy birthday too!) Some birthdays are more awesome than others too! These are called "Epic Birthdays." For instance, Jewish children celebrate their Bar mitzvah (for girls it's bat mitzvah) at the age of 13 and ⊱ka-boom!⊰ they're adults. The ripe old age of 15 is the magic number for Hispanic girls. And for us USA peeps - 18 means you can drive a car, and 21? Well, I never really understood why that one was such a crazy awesome age. I never have (and Lord-willing never will) drink alcohol, so that one doesn't matter. Anyhoos, this is the big year for me.

This is the year of the dragon, the year that marks the end of the Mayan calendar, the year of the iPad 3, hopefully the year of the iPhone 5, and most definitely the year of epic birthdays. This year marks the 25th birthday of the "Fantastic Four." Be afraid, my friends. Be very afraid. The four of us are now old enough to rent cars! XD We're gonna be a whole quarter of a century! Oh my stars, I feel so old. But it's gonna be awesome! My sis-in-law and I sat down the other day and figured out the themes for a couple of the other birthdays this year and I'm so excited to give my friends happy day surprises for the best year ever! XD I would tell you what my plans are, but then they would no longer be a surprise! Which is boring. -.- So I will take many pictures and post them later! :D

"Important birthdays 

should be celebrated all year long." 

~ Julie Shaver

I'm determined to abide by the rules. I. Will. Celebrate. All. Year. Long. You may join me if you wish. It's going to be amazing. 


Have a Happy Day, everybody! And make certain this year that you have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
~ Juli

Christmas Treats! ❅

Well I meant to post these recipes last month, buuuuut....I didn't. ;) Hubs was home a lot and I was having so much fun having happy days with him and the rest of the family there was just no time for blogging. He bought me a MacBookPro for Christmas though, so I've been having bunches of fun playing (and working of course) with my new buddy!! :D

So late November I got my Food Network Magazine (which I loooooove so much!) and in every issue there's a little booklet with 50 recipes/tips/etc based on an article. The last booklet was "50 Edible Gifts" and immediately inspired me to do as many as I could for Christmas gift boxes for all our friends! In the end, most of them turned out ok, but I'm definitely going to try again next year for better results.

1.) Chocolate Peppermint Fudge: Melt 1/2 stick butter, 4 cups marshmallows, 1 cup cream, 2 cups sugar, and 1 tsp peppermint extract, and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan. Simmer, stirring, 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in 3 cups chocolate chips until smooth. Spread in a foil-lined 9-by-13-inch pan. Sprinkle crushed candy-canes over soft fudge. Let cool and cut into squares.

2.) Candied Orange Peels: Peel 3 oranges. Cut the rind into strips and boil in water 15 minutes, then drain and rinse. Simmer 3 cups each sugar and water. Add the peel and cook until soft, 45 minutes. Drain and toss in sugar. Transfer to a rack to dry, 8 hours. (For double-yum, dip in melted bittersweet chocolate and let harden.) Crazy awesomeness and SO easy!

3.) Rolo Turtles: Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and place Butter Snap Pretzels in even rows over the entire baking sheet. Place one Rolo on each pretzel. Pop it in the oven for about 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and press a pecan half on each one. This is by far the best candy I've ever made. I absolutely LOVE these! Hubs doesn't care for them as much because he's not a huge carmel fan, so I made a variation of this for him using mini-Reese's PeanutButter Cups and a peanut on top. He was in heaven!

4.) Andes Brownies: Betty Crocker Brownie Mix. Follow directions on the box and as soon as the brownies come out of the oven, sprinkle Andes Mint Chips (find them in the baking isle at Target) over the entire pan. Note: If you get the peppermint chips don't spread them around cuz it looks weird. The regular Andes Creme de Menthe chips will melt after a minute sitting on the hot brownies and you can spread them to make a nice chocolatey minty top on each brownie!

5.) Fleur de Sel Caramels: Follow the link to Ina Garten's recipe! A lot of work, but super yummy! Mine turned out a lot lighter in color so I used her pic to show what they're supposed to look like. ;)



At that is it, my friends! And just because it's not the holidays anymore doesn't mean you shouldn't be in the kitchen! -.- So get in there and make something delish for your buddies! Happy food = Happy people! :D
Have a Happy Day, everybody!
~Juli