Sweet Sisters

I adore my sweet sisters. All 3 of them.  There's Jan, Pam and Stephanie.  I am the last in my family. My mom and dad had 5 children, 4 girls and 1 boy!  My brother, Chris, was stuck inbetween 4 girls!! Poor thing.  However, in my opinion, he is a very wonderful brother, husband  and father because of it!  A week ago my sister, Stephanie (the beautiful one in pink), who I am the closest to in age came to Southern California from Utah to visit with her adorable family.  It was good seeing her and the entire Nielsen brood.  But, just one thing. The visit was simply too short. The really good part~3 out of 4 sisters were fortunate enough to spend some quality time together.  Chatting away.  What sisters do best. We had so much fun!  I just wish my oldest sister, Jan could have been with us. Then this sweet photo, which I cherish,  of me with two of my sisters, would be complete.  

Sweet Shoe Confession....

Alright.  Confession time.  I am obsessed with shoes.  I L-O-V-E shoes. Love. Love. Love them!  But what female doesn't? Somehow I know I am not alone.  We all know shoes make THE outfit.  And for me, since I'm not tall and statuesque, I need shoes with a good heel on them to give me the extra height I need to fit into my clothes, PLUS it makes kissing my six foot two husband easier.  Today my favorite sale started.  The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  It's the one department store sale I trek to yearly.  We all know that Nordstrom has a killer woman's shoe section.  (I have to add that this is the sale I take my kids to, to let them pick out a few things to add to their Fall wardrobe for the coming school year~such great deals!!  So really I don't go JUST for the shoes).  I find shoes completely irresistible.  Just like a good dessert.  Shoes finish the outfit like a good dessert finishes a delicious meal.

Here are some of my favorites....

#1 Favorite~Nordsrom Here I Come...

Love the Flowers~Cute Casual!

Guess What?  I ADORE flip flops too.  I love how you can just slip them on so fast and run out the door to where ever it is you're going.  Target has some I like, for 2.99 which remind me of my childhood.  Funny thing, despite how inexpensive they are, they are also VERY comfortable! And an added benefit of these Target flip flops, I can just hose them down if I get something on them.  However, it's nice to have fancier ones too!  I like these:

Aren't these sweet? 

Then again, I love animal prints!

I could have pages and pages of shoes pictured here on my blog.   Of course, they are all on my sweet shoe wish list.  But I will be good and exercise some self control.  I think you get the idea. Once, while walking through Nordstrom, my sweet husband said to me, "I think if I gave you $10,000 to spend, you could spend it all easily on shoes!"  You know what?  I think he was right.  

Sweet Vintage Guitars...

Music. Guitars. Amps. Eric Clapton.  Stevie Ray Vaughn.  My husband feels very passionately about these things!  I have come to love and appreciate them too, but of course I would venture to say, not to the same degree he does!  Eric Clapton is HUGE at our house.  He inspires my husband musically.  When I first met Gary in college, his guitar was always with him. The two never separated.When we started dating, he always serenaded me with many of Eric's songs.  Tears in Heaven. Layla.  And the list goes on. I was sold.  I would marry this man that brought a smile to my face every time he played his guitar just for me~singing every song from his heart.  After Gary and I married, three years later we decided to start our family.  During our much anticipated first ultrasound, with our first born, we were told that it'd be a BOY!  What would his name be, you ask? Why Eric, after Eric Clapton!  And if you're wondering what his middle name is, it's Taylor, after Taylor guitars.  So Eric Taylor, my 10 year old son's name, is entirely musical.  And one more thing...Gary's band, Woodshed, covered many of Eric Clapton's greatest songs during many of their shows.  So with that, now you all have a pretty good idea of just how important it was for us to go to this Vintage Guitar Show...we've seen Clapton in concert twice.  Now to get up close to Blackie, for Gary (and me), was a priceless experience.  

Recently, Guitar Center in Hollywood had a Vintage Guitar Road Show featuring two of Eric Clapton's most famous guitars--Blackie and his Gibson ES 335.  Both of which were purchased for close to a million each by Guitar Center at an Auction for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Rehab Center.  One of Stevie Ray Vaughn's Guitars was also on display~"Lenny".  Although these were the ONLY vintage guitars on display...they were the sweetest guitars to see up close.  This was a sweet exhibit which we made a very special trip up to Hollywood to experience together as a family. 

Before I go, I would like to add that Guitar Center Hollywood is one sweet place for music lovers and musicians alike.  They have an amazing Vintage Room anyone would drool in....

Music is a powerful force in our home.  I love it when Gary brings out his guitar.  He is one sweet musician.  

Sweet Tasting Ribs....

Once again I let the craziness of life get ahead of me and the result: No blog posts since last year before Christmas! So I'm back...and have a lot to catch up on and share with you all. Today I will start off by sharing one of my favorite recipes. Before I do, let me just say, I love good BBQ ribs! Eating is so much fun when you can pick it up with your hands and get all dirty! It is even better when you are eating flavorful, tender meat that is falling off the bone! It's worth the mess!

I would love to have pictures of my ribs for you to see so that you know what they look like when they are finished cooking and are ready to eat. However, my family had to put up with the delicious smell of ribs cooking all day yesterday. So when it came time to eat, there was no time to pull out the camera and do a "rib photo shoot". This is where your imaginations come in handy. Imagine the smell. Imagine how they looked when I took them out of the oven...all caramelized with sweet tasting BBQ sauce clinging to the meat.

This is my own recipe. And it's good. Oh. So. Good.

Are you ready?

It's really quite simple. And that is what I love about this recipe. It not only tastes amazing, preparation time is short.

Ready?

Oh. I asked that question.

Recipe
5-6 Pounds Pork Ribs (that is just what I buy for my family of 5--two adults and 3 kids)

Worcestershire Sauce
Olive Oil
Liquid Smoke
Smoky Barbecue Rub (I use Pampered Chef because it's the best I have found!)
Barbecue Sauce (I use Bulls Eye Brown Sugar and Hickory)

How To:
1. Take the ribs out of their packaging (really that's a given--just thought I'd remind you!)
2. Cut them in half (I do this so they are easier to manage and fit in my crockpot)
3. Pour olive oil, Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke all over ribs to coat
(I do not measure-sorry)
4. Generously sprinkle Smoky Barbecue Rub all over ribs--back and front
5. Rub the spice into the meat-mixing the liquids and spice all together--Give it a good massage!
6. Place inside your crockpot
7. Cook on High for 4-6 hours (minimum 4)
Please Note: DO NOT ADD ANY LIQUID TO THE CROCKPOT (the ribs will produce their own juices and keep the meat moist, tender and flavorful)
8. Once the ribs are done cooking (I like to see that they are almost falling off the bone-look loose), I take them out of the crockpot and place them on a foil-lined cookie sheet
9. Baste the ribs with BBQ sauce (your choice)
10. Fire up your grill outside or heat up your broiler. Broil ribs until they are nicely caramelized (keep an eye on them--this goes very fast!)
11. Remove from oven/grill
12. Eat. Get Messy. Enjoy.

When my husband cooks these ribs, he heads outside and cooks them entirely on the grill. He has some mad barbecuing skills. He cooks them at a low temperature for several hours. They are mouth wateringly (that's not a word) good!

I encourage you all to give this sweet recipe a try. I promise you will love them! We have these on Superbowl Sunday, Fourth of July, etc. They are a favorite at the Bluemel house. Even my somewhat picky eater kids devour them!

I love ribs.

But who doesn't?

This was my secret recipe, until now.

Too good not to share. Enjoy.

Sweet Scented Playdough...

Whew! Christmas is next week! I can't believe how fast time goes! This week is Christmas shopping crunch time! Because next week is reserved for baking! I can hardly wait for that! All our favorite sweet recipes will get brought out! The kitchen is going to be the hot spot! Mmm....and the best part the house will always smell sweet and yummy.

In preparation for the coming school class parties, tonight I made up a batch of sweet smelling peppermint playdough. I plan on packaging it in a cute little storage container and then tying it together with a pretty red bow and a cute Christmas cookie cutter. Then Katie can take them to all the kids in her Kindergarten class. I thought it would be fun for Katie to give her friends and classmates a unique little gift. Something other than candy or sweet treats--as I know they will be getting plenty of that over the coming week!

I decided to dye the playdough red and add peppermint extract so that it would smell like a candy cane....and you know what....it does! Hopefully the kids won't eat it!

Sweet Peppermint Scented Playdough

For those of you wanting to make some of this for your little ones during the holidays, here is the recipe...it is very easy and the kids love it!

Ingredients
3 Cups Flour
1 1/2 Cups Salt
6 Teaspoons Cream of Tarter
3 Cups Water
3 Tablespoons Oil
Peppermint Extract

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients together in a saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat until mixture pulls away from side of pan.
3. Be sure to stir constantly.
4. Knead, add color and extract if desired. Be sure when kneading the playdough, that you flour your surface generously and work it into the playdough until you reach the desired consistency and it is no longer sticky.

This playdough will last up to three months in the refrigerator, if kept in an airtight container.
Please note, the cream of tarter is not necessary. It does two things. First, it keeps the playdough from becoming moldy if you decide to keep it for a long time. Second, it does make the playdough a little smoother. On a final note, I added the dye while I was cooking the playdough because it is easier to blend together.

I love recipes like this one, because it truly gets the kids involved in the kitchen. The best part is watching them playing with it for hours!! I will say that the sweetest thing about homemade playdough, is that it is far better than that stuff you buy at the store. It's more smooth and pliable! Plus, you get to personalize it and no matter what the kids have a sweet time!

Let the "SWEET" Baking Begin....

My favorite time of year has arrived!!! At last! It's Fall! For me it is not only when the weather cools down--giving us that much needed relief from all the summer heat, but it means that all the fun holidays are on their way. Holiday season means many things for me. However, there is one thing in particular I love to do during this time of year, and it is to BAKE! It's when I get to pull out all my favorite recipes that are saved for special times and special times only. It usually generates an amazing amount of excitement in our home--Katie and Megan put on their adorable aprons and help mommy measure, sift and stir. Everyone fights over the beaters and everyone loves to help frost the holiday sugar cookies. One thing is for sure--the house always smells soooooooo.....good. MMMM.....In fact, as I write this, my stomach is growling since the house smells like Sunday cinnamon rolls. A little sweet morning treat for the family!

This past week, I kicked off Baking Season with a new recipe I wanted to try. So many people have made these in the past and so I wanted to give it a go....and it was a HUGE success. The Famous Peanut Butter Blossoms. I figured if I made something with peanut butter and chocolate, I couldn't fail, as it is truly a favorite combination for my little family...who are all addicted to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I have to say it was quite cute. When I pulled out all my equipment to start baking, Katie came running into the kitchen, grabbed her personalized pink princess apron, pushed a chair across the kitchen floor and pulled it up right next to me. Like always, she helped me create these tasty little morsels. Her favorite part is to test the cookie dough and in this case, we enjoyed a few Hershey's Kisses too. Once the cookies were done baking, we had so much fun pressing Kisses into the cookies and watching them crack. The sweetest moment for us though, is when we get to taste test the finished product. A warm peanut butter cookie with melty chocolate is so very delicious! I just love homemade cookies! But who doesn't! I love how baking brings the family together and creates memorable moments for us to share. This sweet season creates sweet times making sweet things. And as a mother, I truly cherish that!

I will share many of the sweet things I make here! So stay tuned....come back often to see what it is I've tried! I will be sharing them with you....well you won't be able to eat them so I'll just have to post the yummy recipe so you can bake these sweet treats for your friends and family! I would love to have you all share your favorite recipes with me! Feel free to leave comments for me with your family favorites.

HAPPY HOLIDAY BAKING!

LET THE SWEET HOLIDAY BAKING BEGIN...

MAY YOU ALL ENJOY THE SWEET AROMAS OF THE SEASON

AS THEY FILL YOUR HOMES!

Make Your Weekends Even Sweeter...

Gosh, I let time slip away. I haven't blogged in a very long time. Summer was truly fun and every minute spent doing something with the kids. Then school started and over the last month we've been getting back into that routine. The kids are loving being back in school and each one has amazing teachers! All three in school now! Wow! It is great!

Now that the kids are back in school, we really look forward to the weekend and the time we get to spend together. Breakfast has always been a favorite meal in our home. I try to make a special meal for the kids on Saturdays and Sundays as my way of thanking them for all their hard work during the week.

I recently joined a group online that tries out new products released by some famous brands we all know and love. This week I will be getting a package in the mail with some Pillsbury Flaky Twists in it. After we gobble them all up, I will have the chance to critique this new breakfast pastry. So something SWEET is on its way and I am oh so excited to start this program. Free products! Can't beat that! Plus, the kids will love having something sweet to enjoy on their day off! Hmmm....when is that package going to arrive?? I can't wait....

I will keep you all posted with what I am testing and how good it really is! That way I'll be the guinea pig. I love trying out new things--especially these new Pillsbury® Flaky Twists with Chocolate Icing (I've been checking them out every time I'm at the store--now they are coming straight to my doorstep)! I think they conveniently help us moms make mornings even sweeter--I'm all about keeping things easy in the kitchen. Maybe you should all go grab some of these at the store so that you too can treat your families to a special breakfast this weekend! And while you do, enjoy those deliciously sweet family moments together!





For those of you interested, I will forward coupons for each item I am critiquing to you via e-mail. That way you can try it too and see what you and your families think. Consider it a "sweet experiment"!