Baaah can you beeelieeeeeve how fast this year has flown?? It sure has for me, I can’t believe tomorrow is Christmas eve! I’ve just finished prepping for tomorrows big breakfast with my side of the family and I cannot wait for the morning and enjoying the fruits of my labors. We have a simple but delicious menu for tomorrow, and I am excited to share it with you soon! Until then, these cookies will have to suffice.

This recipe also comes from Heidi Swanson’s X-mas Cookie list(can you tell I’m obsessed?)  I only slightly tweaked them by adding a little extra rosemary, a little less pine nuts and orange zest in place of lemon. These cookies are not too sweet and incredibly tasty. Like always, I am loving the addition of rosemary!:)

I hope you all have an absolutely lovely Christmas!

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There’s nothing like a hearty vegetable stew to comfort us during this chilly season…and I think this one hits the spot. I didn’t worry about peeling my carrots or potatoes, just gave them a good scrub clean and roughly chopped them up. I think this gave my stew a more rustic feel. But…If you are like my sister Lauren and anything resembling a peel gives you the heebie-jeebies, feel free to peel ‘em.

For the past 2 Christmases since Clif and I have been married we’ve stuck around in South Carolina due to Clif’s work schedule, but this year we’ll be heading up North! We’ll stick around here for Christmas-Eve festivities with my fam and then drive up late that night to be in Maryland for Christmas morn. So very excited about seeing how this side of the celebrates, and maybe even having snow for Christmas! Woohooo!

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I’m finally back! Feeling a whole lot better and ready to cook and eat real food again right in time for Christmas.:) I am a little bummed that the timing has kept me from trying out more recipes before the holidays are up, but oh well. I’m cramming now! As you may have noticed in the past, I’m completely in love with 101 Cookbooks. My current obsession has been her X-mas Cookie Recipe post. I’ve already tried out a few of them and I have yet to be disappointed. Yesterday I made these sparkling ginger chip cookies, and they were absolutely amazing. Unfortunately I ran out of turbinado sugar, so I used fine grain sugar, so mine weren’t quite so sparkly. I also used crystalized ginger in place of fresh. I wrapped some of these cuties up in parchment paper tied them with ribbon for gifts, and they are just adorable.

Madhava kindly sent me a great selection of their agave nectars to try out in some of my recipes and since my pantry lacked molassas, I substituted it with Madhava’s amber agave nectar. They came out great and the flavor was wonderful! (I also think I’ve officially found the perfect substitute for corn syrup… more on that later.) I can’t wait to try out more recipes with their agave!

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Yesterday I had my wisdom teeth removed. I’m currently spending most of my time drugged up, resting and eating mashed things. Unfortunately this means my time in the kitchen is mainly limited to yogurt/applesauce trips. Please excuse my brief time out from blogging, I’m excited to get better and return soon!

Love, Amanda

Well folks, I think that Christmastime is officially upon us. The weather here is freeeezing, the fire is on, the christmas tree is lit and Bing Crosby seems to be playing everywhere I go. Isn’t it wonderful? You know what’s also wonderful? This popcorn. Natalie showed me the recipe a few days ago (she is the BEST at finding amazing recipes!) and we could hardly wait to try it out. It comes from a lovely food blog called Healthy Green Kitchen, and the best part is the wholesome ingredients she has used! The original recipe called for corn syrup which she replaced with maple syrup, vegetable oil she replaced with coconut oil and double the amount of butter. I must also say that the kernals popping in the coconut oil fills the house will the most amazing aroma. We made a batch last night, and it had to be the best dang popcorn ever! This stuff surpasses bagged caramel corn all day long. And the addition of rosemary? Perfection.

Hope you all are loving the season as much as I am. I’m off to decorate the tree!

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