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Sunday, November 27th, 2011

Guide to Gifting 2011

Hi all! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. We stuffed ourselves with everything but turkey {you know, being a vegetarian can be tough but stuffing and mashed potatoes help me get through it}. I made a pumpkin cheesecake and a delicious spinach casserole {thanks Aunt Roz for the best recipe ever}. R + M enjoyed their first Turkey Day and even joined in sharing some sweet potatoes {having no teeth really puts some other thanksgiving foods off limits}.

And alas, Thanksgiving is over. And suddenly we find ourselves in the throes of holiday season!!! Hooray! Did I mention I was a closet holiday junkie? Oh yes. Although I vowed to avoid all Black Friday chaos, I found myself at Michaels. I admit it. I have a weakness. I cannot resist Michaels. Yes, I was that creepy girl {achem, who does not celebrate X-Mas}, who was pushing her cart back and forth for close to an hour… in the Santa aisle. It was sad and yet so so so holiday happy.

I digress.

I was so honored this HOLIDAY season to be asked to participate in a gift guide for my friend and the incredible blogger/mommy/entrepreneur Kim from TomKat Studios. I picked my favorite things for pet lovers. {Ray helped. A lot}.

I hope that you hop over to the guide and check out all of the awesome pics from bloggers like Hostess with the Mostess, Amy Atlas and Kim herself. It’s really spectacular and I’m incredibly humbled and honored to be a part of it.

Lots of gift ideas to come in the upcoming weeks! Happy kickoff to the holidays!

xoxo,

Niki

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Thursday, November 24th, 2011

Cakery Friday: Pumpkin Bread Pudding

It’s the morning after Thanksgiving and if you are anything like me you are still in a food-induced coma. You happen to notice that not only do you have loafs of bread leftover but you also have tons of leftover pumpkin pie filling {well you might not, but it’s really simple to whip up!}. This pumpkin bread pudding would be fabulous anytime of year, but it’s perfect to make with your leftovers from last night!

{this was attacked before I had a chance to photograph, it’s just that good!}

Gather all of the ingredients.

Tear an 8 ounce French baguette into small pieces. Cover the torn bread with 2 cups of half and half {or 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of whole milk} set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together 3 large eggs, 2/3 cup white sugar, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1 15 ounce can of pumpkin puree, 1 cup dried cranberries, 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of ginger and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.