Hello everyone,

I hope that your Christmas was as memorable and happy as mine.  Did you get what you wanted for Christmas?  Did “Santa” do a good job this year?  Christmas was a joyous event in our household.  Kristian happily received everything she wanted from “Santa” with the exception of the “Dippin’ Dots” maker.  Stan and I looked at the Dippin’ Dots maker, but didn’t feel the need to purchase it because she has an Easy Bake Oven and a Dairy Queen Blizzard Maker and I believe she has another food maker, but I can’t be sure.  She doesn’t use the ones that she has so why purchase another that was currently ~$50.  So no Dippin Dots maker for Kristian.

As for me…I got my camera!!!!  A few months ago I wrote a post about my desire for a new camera that would allow me to take awesome pictures of my baked goods for my website and blog as well as give me the ability to take great photos of Kristians performances when I’m unable to get front row seats (which is typically always).  I had been using a Canon PowerShot point and shoot, without much success and determined that I would most likely have to get a DSLR.  I was hesitant to get one because of the complexity of using a DSLR and the price can be kind of daunting.  But Oh Joy of Joys…cause Stan got me a Nikon D3000!  It’s a DSLR that will definitely take up a lot of my time and brain cells as I try to cypher the complexity of its functions (I have no idea about aperture, shutter speed, or any of the fancy photography lingo.) 

 But look at how beautiful it is… the heart is full of joy over the soon-to-be taken photos I’ll be taking soon. 

But wait folks, Stan didn’t stop there; he also got me a Jimmy Choo bag!  

As I’ve stated before, I really do love shoes.  With an inseam of 35 inches it’s a little difficult to find pants that don’t flood and my arm reach is just as long, so shirts/blouses/sweaters/etc are just as hard to find.  Add to that, after Kristian was born, the hips and backside that come along with being African-American finally caught up to me (I now naturally have the ‘brazilian butt” that everyone is buying pads to achieve) and I’m not top-heavy to go along with those hips and backside.  Luckily my shoe size is 7.5 / 8; so when I become frustrated and exhausted from trying to find something that fits my small top and bigger bottom, I turn to something that I never have trouble finding…SHOES!  I especially love heels.  I know…I know…I’m 5’10 1/2″ tall and why would I want to add another 3-5″ with heels?  I just do…when I put on a pair of heels, my posture gets straighter, my walk is different (a little more sultry), I just feel more womanly in heels.  Now along with that love of shoes, I refuse to spend a dime on a pair of shoes that I can’t wear all day.  There are certain designers that make such a shoe….Jimmy Choo is one of them.  As much as I gravitate towards the beautiful designs of those shoes, I can’t allow myself to spend that amount of money on a shoe that will have me crying by 10 am.  This is where the purse comes in…I can’t have the shoes, but the purse won’t have my crying…well yeah I shed a few tears but they’re tears of joy. 🙂 

Folks I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what we had for Christmas dinner, so here I go.  My family got together on Christmas Eve for dinner and gift exchange, leaving everyone to stay in their homes on Christmas day.  My sister hosted and prepared dinner for everyone, and as a result Christmas dinner was something that I would have to prepare.  No problem…I love to cook.  Stan and I decided on a menu of smoked turkey, ham, homemade rolls, greens, mac & cheese, and homemade dressing.  For dessert I was making a small cheesecake (6″), sweet potato pie tarts (I forgot to the mix at my place so that didn’t happen), a cake of some sort (I decided on Key Lime, more to come on that later), and a small apple pie.  That seems like a lot to some, but my brother lives with me, the desserts won’t last long.

My mother makes the best dressing in the world…I know I know everyone says that; but seriously she does.  Her dressing and biscuits are the stuff good memories are made of.  I usually beg her to make some dressing for the holidays and she gives in.  I attempt to make my own version throughout the year with some close calls but never the same as my moms.  BUT this year after an extensive conversation with my mother and meticulous notes I HAVE HAD SUCCESS!  Please send out a pray for me that I can duplicate it the next time, but right now I GOT IT RIGHT.  

Stan got a fresh turkey that he placed in the smoker and it came out awesome!  That man sure can smoke some meat.  🙂  As a result, I’ll be eating turkey and dressing until I run out.  When it’s good, it’s addictive and I need to go to meetings cause I’m addicted. 

Another highlight was the Key Lime Cake.  It didn’t really taste as Key Limey as I wanted, the recipe called for 1/4 cup of Key Lime Juice and my baking instincts kept telling me to use more (like 1/3 or 1/2 cup) but I followed the recipe.  It taste more like a white cake.  The icing was supposed to be a white chocolate icing, but due to my suspension that there wasn’t enough key lime flavor; I decided to add key lime juice and zest.  Thankfully this provided the key lime flavor that I needed to make my Key Lime cake a Key Lime cake.  I’ll give out the recipe once I’ve determined the actual amount of key lime juice to use in the cake.  Until then, I’ll just provide you with a picture.

What was your Christmas highlight?