Monday, November 30, 2009

Holiday Treats!

So the T-Giving Holiday break escaped as fast as usual and I can't wait to be back home. This week I have to study my BUTT off for finals so I won't be posting...yikes. I have 2 finals--one Monday and one Tuesday and then I head home ASAP Wednesday since no flights corresponded with when my Tuesday exam ended. I came back today, tears included, even though I'm going back in 9 days. There are always tears involved since I'm so far away, just departing from the fam as usual!


Enough about school (I find that I tell myself a lot when I write posts, haha!) but back onto my holiday treats! We ended up making the M&M Pretzels, Onion dip, and P's in B's, and then I made some Funfetti cookies to round out Gameday. I didn't have too too much time Saturday so I decided not to cook the other goodies, but all the ingredients are still chilling in my refridge.


While we were shopping for all the ingredients, my mom found some cool breast cancer M&M's which were all pink. Some were dark pink and some were light pink so we decided to go with those instead of the traditional M&M's. Here's how they turned out:



The Funfetti cookies also were another hit! I am a HUGE gigantic cupcake fan, but if you're pressed for time, need a lot of cookies/gifts/etc, or just like cookies, these are a wonderful recipe! My mom even said that these were the best thing I ever made. Here's the recipe:
Ingredients:
1. 1 Box of Funfetti Cake Mix (buy the Pillsbury Funfetti)
2. 1/3 cup of oil (I use canola all the time)
3. 2 eggs
4. Frosting of choice (I use a whipped frosting from Pillsbury with the Vanilla flavor, its super duper light and not too sweet. I dyed 2 frostings, a pink one with 4 drops of neon pink coloring and a green one with 1 drop of green frosting and 5 drops of neon green coloring. You can buy a "neon" pack of food dye from McCormick and that's what I had.)


Preparation:
From the Pillsbury Website, but you can find this recipe on the side of every Funfetti Box
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine cake mix, oil and eggs; stir with spoon until thoroughly moistened. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. With bottom of glass dipped in flour, flatten to 1/4-inch thickness. For this I recommend using a melon baller, whatever size that is, and forming the dough into that small circle. That way they're all similar in shape and have a good size for decorating.
2. Bake at 375°F. for 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets
3. Spread frosting over warm cookies. Immediately sprinkle each with candy bits from frosting. Let frosting set before storing. Store in tightly covered container. I piped my frosting during this step. I made 24 cookies and that was only half of the dough. I had to throw the rest out because it was too late to keep cooking! I probably could have put it in the refridge, but I decided not to.


This is how they turned out:



Here are a few of my favorites zoomed in:






My house was quite the baking haven this weekend because I don't have a kitched readily available in my dorm, so I take advantage of cooking whenever I can!


Sorry about not posting for awhile, but look for a huge update Wednesday! Good luck to my fellow college bloggers taking exams!


xxKatie

Friday, November 27, 2009

Pink Friday

I hope everyone had fabulous PINK FRIDAYS! I did a little shopping today, but nothing major at all! I had to make today's post about how spoiled I am, considering that I had to wear a real winter coat for the first time this season today!! I couldn't believe it, but my Denali North Face fleece wouldn't cut it.


It was super windy today so I needed some protection from that especially. I can't believe how much I've seemingly taken the weather for granted! I know once I get back to school--for all of 9 days--I'll really appreciate how nice it is! Can you get over that, I mean I go back for a week and then I take 2 exams and come home. I also just realized that I'll be home for the Army/Navy game too! It's basically a holiday in my house!

We're BIG HUGE Navy fans in my house since it's my dad's alma mater. Plus, "Go A--Y" (you know what I'm trying to say) just doesn't roll off the tongue like "GO NAVY" does!

I hope everyone had wonderful holidays and that you managed to stay safe and sound! Now onto the Christmas music and decorating!

xxKatie

P.S. EVERYONE BETTER BE CHEERING THE COCKS ONTO VICTORY TOMORROW! U-S-C GOOOOO COCKS!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I'm thankful for my family and friends! I'm thankful that I'm home and that I love being home. I'm thankful for all my blog friends and how I feel like I even have blog friends. I'm thankful for all the food that we'll be able to eat and eat and eat. I'm thankful that my parents invested in my education and take it seriously. I'm thankful for everyone and everything in my life, and I hope everyone else is as thankful as we all are today. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!



xxKatie

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Clemson Game Menu

Hey everyone! Since I'm not the Thanksgiving maker (heck, I'll probably be in charge of desserts! ) I'm going to post all the things I'd like to make for Saturday. I'm gonna change it up and post the goodies that I'll be making for T-Giving tomorrow or so. My mom makes a DEEEEE-lish Turkey soup that I actually like more than the traditional T-Giving dinner, but that's ok. Saturday I was to make a big gameday menu so this is what I'm thinking:

1. Pigs in a Blanket


P's in B's are one of my all time FAVES! I absolutely love them and literally can eat about 20 at a time, I kid you not. My extended family even has served them at wedding receptions since we all like them so much. I love mine dunked in ketchup! I make them with regular refrigerated Cresent Roll dough and the "Lil' Franks" that Hillshire farms makes. I've tried making them with Boar's Head mini franks, but they're gross and don't make a good "roll" with the Cresent Roll dough.

2. Onion Dip and Spicy Nacho Doritos


It may sound gross, but I think its great! This is is a "recipe" that I stole from my aunt Megan. She serves hers with regular nacho Doritos, but I love the spicy nacho ones personally, so this is always a staple at parties. Just give it a try, I promise it's good!

3. M&M Pretzels I found a website called foodgawker.com and it has the most blogged about/most commented on/overall best online recipes and good ideas for cooking. This recipe I think looks so delish and so easy to make! I'll either make this OR a Chex Mix recipe called Muddy Buddies. That will be my sweet tooth fix!

4. Pizza Bites I mean they're even called party food on the website! I can't believe it! These are like those Totino's Pizza Rolls (which I happen to LOVE) but homemade. It doesn't get much better than pulling them apart? Am I right? Yet another recipe from foodgawker. Seriously one night, I just spent awhile adding them to a "FOOD" bookmark tab on my Safari!

5. Fried Mozzarella Balls I think this will be a little difficult, but so yummy! I've never really fried anything, so I'm not sure if I'll do this or just grab the ones from Friday's in the frozen food section. Again, I got this from foodgawker too. If you have time, check it out. There are literally 100's of chocolate chip cookie recipes as well as tons of homemade Chinese food recipes!

I'm sure this will end up being tougher than I imagine, but there are 2 fun games on that day. Carolina/Clemson and Navy/Hawaii! I can't wait to see how my teams do! What are you guys making for the Thanksgiving games? I'll do another post about my Thanksgiving desserts (Mom, I'm taking over dessert, FYI! Haha!)

What are your Gameday staples? Any snack that's specific to your family or has a cute tradition?

xxKatie

Monday, November 23, 2009

Faux Pas

Whether its a faux pas or just something I don't understand, I'm struggling with this concept:


I took the liberty of blurring out this celebrity's face. Her name might sound like Anna Alabama or something like that. Anyway, I really don't understand Ugg boots and Booty shorts. Clearly if the weather is applicable to one of the items, it is clearly not to the other. If its cold enough to be wearing Uggs, then its not warm enough to be wearing short shorts. This is yet another college look that people seem to enjoy. I could-maybe-potentially-begin to understand the combo (maybe...) if it was inclement weather and you had no other possible options, but not today. I mean even when the weather isn't nice, I still wear my junky Jack Rogers because I know nothing will happen to them except they'll be a little slippery (and I don't have rain boots here!) but they'll dry fine, retain their shape and not be discolored--like say, sneakers might be. Anyway, this is ALL over campus today! I don't understand!!

xxKatie

PS. I'm about to POP I want to go home so much! YAY!

Friday, November 20, 2009

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Today I've been super duper productive! The farther I get into college, the more I realize how much I like to plan things. Today alone, I've worked on planning two huge events! I'm organizing a big dinner for the class of 2009 since we're high school alumni! I'm trying to figure out a venue that will support a large group but no catering or things like that. Ideally, I'd like a restaurant that is semi-suffering from the economy so that they'll be happy to take a group of college kids between 30-50 in number. I have 3 spots in mind secretly. Facebook has been extremely useful since everyone checks it and it makes RSVP-ing super easy! I've also made my Facebook group for my Lilly collegiate representing and in 5 hours my membership is steadily increasing so I'm very proud! I got my official advertising package with order forms, personalizing forms, samples, etc, etc, etc. I couldn't be more excited to throw a Lemonade party next semester! I emailed the sorority presidents today hoping that they'd pass on my email to the sisters! YAY! I can't wait to see what happens with that! Not to mention, Emma came today and we had such a good visit! Her grandparents came too and made the day very interesting. She was surprised at how much she liked the University, so I was excited. From her high school and my high school, she knew of so many people who had applied to USC which is awesome! Its really becoming popular in MD! Here we are back in the summer:


Tomorrow I have a busy day studying for a test that I have on Monday as well as a party tomorrow night and an important meeting that will take most of Sunday I believe! Then, next thing I know, I'm flying home on Tuesday! I'm so excited!

The more busy I become, the less I think about being home which is definitely good because I am certainly ready for a break. I can't believe that I will be back home in 4 days!!! My closest girlfriends are meeting at a friend's house on Wednesday night to have a HUGE catch-up sesh since it will be the first time we've seen each other since we said our weepy goodbyes! I have so much to look forward to in the next few days that I know I can make it through to Tuesday and then to Thanksgiving and then to the CLEMSON game!!

xxKatie

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Feeling Crafty

I rarely ever make 2 posts in one day, but I just had to share this with you guys! Today while I was in line to pay for my breakfast, I saw a sorority girl with a recruitment shirt on that I loved! The slogan was "You can never have enough friends or dresses when they're the perfect fit!" I adapted it a little and made this:


Mine says, "You can never have enough friends or dresses, especially if you're lucky enough to find the perfect fit!" I found a photo of a Lilly shift and thought that it was simply perfect!

I got this fabulous frame as a gift from the Lilly store for a graduation gift. Its from PotteryBarn and I love the silver ball decals, not to mention its engraved with my name! You can see all the reflections around my room and my desk calendar so it looks a little funny in a photo but trust me, I love it on my desk. Usually my desk is super cluttered, so you can't see the photos, but since I'm most likely bringing guests back tomorrow I want things to look presentable! I have photos from my Senior year homecoming, a hand-drawn "Story People"-esque print, a photo of my dad and I from when I was like 5, a picture of me and my best friend Emily, a family photo that I adore from my Baccalaureate ceremony (we all look really nice and I'm in my favorite J. Crew jacquard dress), a picture from the summer before Senior year where 2 of my friends are stacked on top of me and we're all laughing (Its cute because it was very spur of the moment AND I'm in a Lilly seersucker swimsuit. Its not very flattering but it reminds me of SUCH a fun day) and then of course the photo I posted yesterday of my Pink Crab loves!

If you're feeling crafty, make a print like mine and post it! Its too cute!

xxKatie