Happy New Year's Eve!

It's New Year's Eve and we're having a party in 6 1/2 hours! Every year (minus the year we went to Tahoe for my brother's 21st birthday) we have my sisters and brother and friend (and whomever else wants to come) come over and eat, drink, and play games like Rock Band and the Great DalMoodi (that's totally not how you spell it but hey! I never claimed to be able to spell....) It's way fun and kick back.

So as of right now, my baby is not sleeping... just chattering away in her crib... and I have done nothing other than go to the store and peel ten hundred potatoes! Okay, okay... not ten hundred.... just 15.... but still! For someone who hates to peel potatoes (which should be EVERYONE!) it felt like way more than 15...

I could not for the life of me decide what to make for our party this year. In previous years we've done mac&cheese, fondue, quesedillas, spaghetti.... but I didn't want to have to do any elaborate shopping...

sooooooo....

I had a 10lb bag of potatoes that I got a safeway not long ago when they were on sale for $0.99. Yes, you read that right - 10lbs of potatoes for $0.99! And then last week I found bacon for $0.99 so potato soup it is!

We'll see how it turns out... I'll be sure to write down what I put in so if it's good, I can post the recipe :)

Off to clean, cook, and bake and here's to a New Year filled with all kinds of fabulous!!!

Item of the Week - New Year's Special

So I gave myself the week off... how nice of me! .... but I couldn't stay away :)

Just a few things....

1) Happy 23rd Birthday to my baby brother!

2) I made him a lovely iPod Touch Cozy (but in black)

3) We had a length conversation on whether it should be "Cozy" or "Kozy"

(we are accepting outside opinions! let us know!)

4) An iPhone/iPod Cozy is a great way to keep your iPod warm!

5) In honor of my brother's birthday, and New Year's of course, you can get your very own Cozy for 15% off AND free shipping! Let me do the math for you (since I just went through all of the work to do the math in my head!) iPod/iPhone Cozy $15 at a 15% discount comes to the grand total of $12.75! All orders can be emailed to sweet_ps07@yahoo.com. Don't forget to include what color you want!

Happy New Year!

STOP!

3 days 'til Christmas and I can honestly say I have never felt so rushed! Usually I would think, "3 days? No problem!" But we leave tomorrow to stay with out of town family so not only do I have to finish Christmas gifts, wrapping, shopping, laundry, house cleaning, packing, cooking, baking... I have to do it all by tomorrow! I sat down in my chair (formerly my husband's chair that I have taken over as my sewing chair) and expected to just sit and have a good cry. But as I leaned back to breath I looked right at my daughter's little nativity play set. All the little pieces had been removed and lined up in a perfect line on the floor pre-nap and all that was left on my coffee table was the stable with baby Jesus inside. Nothing else. And isn't that how it should be? With all the hustle and bustle and rushing around to find the perfect gifts, how often we lose sight of the one perfect Gift! So forget the stress, the rush, and the worry and remember that we have the perfect Gift which this whole season is about!

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" — which means, "God with us."

Merry Christmas!

Fudge for the Fudge Challenged

I absolutely love baking Christmas goodies! Usually I stick to the Italian cookies that my Noni taught me how to make when I was a little girl - Chocolate Balls, Dead Bones, Biscotti, cannoli.... I'm a big fan of her recipes because, like me, she rarely measured ingredients! A pinch of salt, a sprinkle of cinnamon. Oh, I don't mind measure flour and sugar (kind of....) but other things... not so much... I know I have measuring spoons somewhere but pretty sure the last time we got them out it was so my Izzy would have drum sticks for her pots... not for measuring things like vanilla and salt....

So if you are a baker you can imagine how much trouble fudge making would be for a non-measurer like me! I love fudge and I've tried to make it for the last few years and surprise, surprise... epic fail! I admitted defeat and continued with my normal fare this year. And then I saw it - Nestle Toll House Famous Fudge recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag! No, it's not the same as old fashion fudge made by a someone with measuring talents (like Pam Eves! Her fudge is divine!) but if you are fudge-challenged like I am, this recipe is for you! There is no candy thermometer involved... and the most measuring I had to do was two cups of marshmallows (which I will admit to NOT measuring.... two handfuls for me.... see! you can't mess this thing up!) Super easy and super tasty! Enjoy!

Toll House Famous Fudge

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups (9-ounces) NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.
2. Combine sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into pieces.

Makes 49 pieces.

For Milk Chocolate Fudge: Substitute 1 3/4 cups (11.5-ounce package.)NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Morsels.

For Butterscotch Fudge: Substitute 1 2/3 cups (11-ounce package) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels for Semi-Sweet Morsels.

For Peanutty Chocolate Fudge: Substitute 1 2/3 cups (11-ounce package) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Peanut Butter & Milk Chocolate Morsels for Semi-Sweet Morsels and 1/2 cup chopped peanuts for pecans or walnuts.

Sweet P's Last Minute Shopping Open House

Sweet P's Last Minute Christmas Shopping Open House

Thursday, December 16 from 6:00pm-8:00pm

3488 Vistamont Drive

San Jose 95118

Come join us for our 2nd annual Christmas Open House. We'll have lots for you to buy and order for all your last minute Christmas gifts! You'll also be entered in our Sweet P's gift card giveaway.

Hope to see you all there!

Sweet P's on Etsy

So I broke down and reactivated our Etsy shop. I set up our shop last year but just didn't have a very good experience with it.... There are just so many people listing that within an hour, you can't even find our listing... But I decided to give it a second chance. You can check it out here! I only listed three things for now and I'll add more soon!

Ready To Ship Items

We made TONS of things for our holiday boutique and sadly.... no one showed up.... On the up side! That means we have TONS of things available for you!!! Everything is made and ready to be delivered which means if you are looking for a last minute Christmas gift, you've found one. I'm not sure if this album is available if you are not a member of Facebook but I thought I'd give it a try. I will be posting all picture here either tonight or tomorrow. If you see something you like, send your order to sweet_ps07@yahoo.com

Don't wait too long or someone else might get what you want!