We had a very Merry Christmas!

It was a very busy holiday season filled with Christmas parties, baking cookies, eating cookies and other treats, visiting family and friends, laughing shopping, resting, traveling and much more.

The day before Christmas Eve Mark and I traveled to my parents to spend Christmas Eve with them. We had some last minute shopping to do on Christmas Eve then we spent the day with mom, dad, Bradley, Casey and Drew. We had such a fun visit, I can only imagine how much fun Drew will be next year. Of course, everyone did way too much, we are so thankful to be so blessed. We then made the drive back to Nashville to spend Christmas Day with Mark's family. Santa came so the kids were super excited to see what he brought. Rachel was such a delight. I would have loved her gifts when I was her age, she got a kitchen with groceries and pots and pans, lots of Barbies and clothes, a new baby and a Barbie Jeep. We changed those Barbie's clothes a dozen times, we cooked in her kitchen and she drove circles in her jeep. When she was driving her jeep, she had THE biggest grin on her face and she was just laughing, it was so cute! The boys enjoyed new XBOX 360's, so they were just as happy!

I'm so thankful we get to share the holidays and these special moments with our families.

And we of course made some memories.............here are just a few.

Drew playing with his new basketball game.

The cooks - aprons handmade by Casey!

Thank you! I just love it and it's the first thing

with my new monogram!

Me and Casey in our new hats and yes, I wore

my apron practically all night.

Dad and his new right hand man!


The boys and their toys - what fun gifts!

Look at those grins!

Cookie decorating - they may not have been

pretty but they sure were yummy!

Me and my candycane, Drew bug.

Me and Rachel taking care of the baby.

Grinning from ear to ear in her new Barbie Jeep

And now she is cooking in her new kitchen.

This makes me sad.....

and happy. Sad that it's continuing to rain and I'm tired of flat hair, walking through mud and puddles to get inside my office and I hate my windshield wippers, they just smear! But happy because Christmas looks like it's going to beautiful, not white but at least sunny!

Just call me Katie Chang

wife.... or something to P.F. Chang. I have now mastered the recipe of PF Chang's Spicy Chicken (this is comparable to General Tso's Chicken). Mmmm, it is so good. Mark and I love this dish and I just wanted to learn how to make it at home so I went searching online at different recipes and actually found one from PF Changs. We took a trip to the Asian grocery store and got to cookin. It tastes just like it, I just can't get enough of it. I too have tried the crab wontons, haven't mastered but I sure am getting there!

PF Chang's Spicy Chicken

10 ounces chicken breast

Potato Starch

Canola Oil

3 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon garlic

1/4 cup green onions

1 teaspoon chili paste

1 ounce house white sauce (chicken stock with a touch of oyster sauce)

1 ounce Chang's sauce (sugar and vinegar combined)

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Dice chicken breast and lightly coat with potato starch.

Fill frying pan with enough Canola oil to fry chicken. Fry chicken for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Drain chicken. Rinse out frying pan.

Add oil back into pan. Add garlic, green onions, chili paste, house white sauce, Chang's sauce, sesame oil and cornstarch. Mix in fried chicken. Sauce shoudl bind to the chicken. Serve with rice or noodles.

I haven't tackled the lo mien yet, I'm sure it's easy but we just go take-out.

From 85 to 35....

degrees. Whew, what a change coming from 85 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze to 35 degrees, windy and snowy. Brrrr.....where is my blanket and hot chocolate?!?!?! I wish work was called off tomorrow.

All I Want For Christmas Is A Real Good Tan

But I ain't gonna get it! Earlier this week I was in Los Cabos, Mexico on a site visit for an incentive trip I'm planning for March. It was so very nice, as you can imagine. There's nothing like wearing flip flops and sunglasses for 3 days in December. I didn't get the tan but did have a great time. I have to say it was very weird seeing Christmas trees and poinsettias at the beach. The property is spectacular and the weather was perfect. Mostly we ate but we did tour the hotel, ride ATVs in the desert and on the beach, went inside the famous Cabo Wabo, visited Cabo San Lucas and enjoyed the nice breeze. We can't wait to go back in March. The attendees should be very pleased.

Par-tay

Saturday night we had our company Christmas Party. It was held at aVenue on 3rd Avenue in Nashville. The venue was great, however the band was a bit too loud. You could barely hear your conversations. And......there were so many food stations, I didn't even get to try them all.

:( We did have a great time but somehow I managed to only get these two pictures.

Cookie Marathon

Yesterday I baked cookies ALL afternoon, trying to decide which to take to the cookie exchange Mary Leigh is having next week. I had several recipes that I wanted to try so I bought up all the goodies and went to work. Wouldn't you know that every recipe I chose, you had to freeze or chill for like 30 minutes after making the dough. But it all worked out and I couldn't choose between the two best so I think I will make both of them. :) I did test them but no I didn't eat all of them, I sent them to work with Mark today. I just love this time of year. I seem to bake goodies more in December than ever. I can't wait to have all the other cookies this weekend! Happy Baking! (Sorry there are no pictures, for some reason they won't load)

Marshmallow Sandwich Cookies
2/3 cup butter
1 ¼ cups sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Sugar for rolling
24 large marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat butter and 1 ¼ cups sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in corn syrup, egg and vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; add to butter mixture. Beat until well blended. Cover and refrigerate dough 15 minutes or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Place sugar in shallow dish. Roll tablespoonfuls of dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar to coat. Place cookies 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until set. Remove cookies to wire rack; cool completely.

To assemble sandwiches, place one marshmallow on flat side of one cookie on paper plate. Microwave on HIGH 12 seconds or until marshmallow just begins to melt. Immediately place another cookie, flat side down, on top of hot marshmallow; press together slightly.

Makes about 2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Cocoa Kiss Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 bag (9 ounces) Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Kisses
Powdered sugar

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl until creamy. Stir together flour and cocoa; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Add pecans; beat until blended. Refrigerate dough about 1 hour or until firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 375F. Remove wrapper from chocolate pieces. Mold scant tablespoon of dough around each chocolate piece, covering completely. Shape into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until set. Cool slightly, about 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Roll in powdered sugar. Roll in sugar again just before serving, if desired.

Makes about 4 ½ dozen cookies.