Holiday Date Ideas

Between visiting Santa, trips the zoo to see the lights, decorating gingerbread houses and Christmas movie marathons it’s safe to say I’m officially in the holiday spirit. So I thought this brought the perfect opportunity for me to share my favorite holiday date ideas:

• Go for a horse drawn carriage rides
• Decorate a gingerbread house
• Check out some Christmas lights
• Go ice skating downtown
• Bake and decorate sugar cookies together
• Snuggle up and have a Christmas movie marathon
• Go see a play, musical or ballet (I want to see Wicked)
• Make ornaments together
• Take a winter wonderland walk

Cranberry Orange Cake

This weekend a friend invited me over for brunch. Instead of bringing one of my go-to dishes (overnight baked French toast) I decided to bring a holiday-themed dessert. I used my mum\’s cranberry orange cake recipe, but instead of using sour cream I used yogurt to give it more of a moist coffee cake texture instead of a cakey texture.


Cranberry Orange Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour 
2 teaspoons baking powder 
pinch of salt 
1 cup sour cream or yogurt 
1 cup sugar 
3 large eggs 
zest of one orange 
juice of an orange
1/2 cup butter 
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries    

For the Icing: 

1 cup powdered sugar
2 – 3 tablespoons milk or orange juice   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray.
3. Cream together butter and sugar for about 5 minutes.  
4. Add eggs one at a time and mix in until incorporated.
5. Add the orange juice and zest; mix to incorporate
6. Add the sour cream, mix to incorporate
7. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder.
8. When this is all mixed together stir in the cranberries
9. Bake for 40 – 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
10. Let pan sit for 5 minutes after you take the cake out of the oven.
11. Turn over cake onto a wire rack to cool.
12. Mix up your glaze ingredients and spread on top and sides of the cake.

11 Things To Do When You Have The Munchies

Welcome to the time of year when we all want to graze on goodies when we’re not hungry. Here’s 11 ideas to keep us entertained without stuffing our faces:

1. Drink more water
2. Give yourself a manicure
3. Go for a walk
4. Clean out your email
5. Attend a workout class
6. Clean out your purse or wallet
7. Go to the movies with friends
8. Learn how to knit or crochet
9. Organize your closet
10. Clean up photos on your phone
11. Play with your pet

Simple and Festive Last Minute Gift

Christmas is closer than you think, and you never know who might stop over that you need a gift for. Soap is a great last minute or friendship gift (I mean who doesn\’t need hand soap?) and no brand is more affordable than Softsoap ($1). However if you\’re giving it as a gift you want to jazz it up so simply remove the labels and add stickers (mine were $1 per sheet from Michaels and  Walmart), an inexpensive gift that looks adorable in a cello bag adorned with a bow.

 {remove the stickiness with GooGone}

Three Dog Bakery: Christmas Cookie Trio

The holiday season is in full swing, which means most of us will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen baking. Of course we will probably have a fur babies at our feet wondering when they\’ll get a treat, and that\’s where Three Dog Bakery comes in. Especially for Christmas they have created a line of Christmas Cookie Trio just for the pups in our lives. Featuring Sugrrr Cookie wafers, Ginger-Beg wafers (Jack\’s favorite) and \”No-Bake\” carob and oat wafers. Perfect for any dog big or small. Jack will be giving this trio to all his favorite furfriends this holiday season.