Miami Wedding

Saturday night we went to the most beautiful wedding! It was at the Loews in Miami. The wedding started at 7pm in a ballroom with the most beautiful winter scene. The chuppa had beautiful flowers and the lightening made it feel as though you were in a winter forest. The bride walked down the aisle to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and it really took your breath away. After the groom stepped on the glass and everyone yelled "Mazel Tov", they had fake snow come falling from the ceiling with the song "Let it Snow" playing the in the background. We then moved to a cocktail hour that lasted more like 2 hours with about 12 different food stations and 3 open bars. The party then took us into a new ballroom where it was decorated galore with an ice bar, 10ft. tall centerpieces and tables covered with swarovski crystals. The party went from a wedding to an after party with a band going to a D.J. and fresh doughnuts for everyone. It was an unforgettable wedding!

One of the Centerpieces



The gorgeous table



My partner in crime

The happy couple with their cake

Cousins

The sun was out and the temperature was in the 70"s. It was a perfect winter day in South Florida. I hadn't seen my second cousin Lisa in over 5 years and we were both in Miami for the weekend. It was fabulous to reunite over brunch and have our significant others meet for the first time. I met her boyfriend Richard and she met Dave. We enjoyed a delicious brunch on Lincoln Road in Miami called Balans. Check out the website http://www.balans.co.uk/ They have restaurants all over Miami and London. I had the most flavorful drink called the lychee grapefruit fizz it had champagne, lychee liqueur, and grapefruit juice. For breakfast (my second breakfast of the day after a chocolate croissant and egg white omelet at the hotel) I had granola with cranberries, raisins and orange honey yogurt. We then strolled through all the markets and we all enjoyed people watching. It was a great day of catching up!

Brunch

Cousins

Gingerbread Houses

A fun thing to do during the holidays is making gingerbread houses! Yes- I know I am Jewish but making a gingerbread house doesn't have to be religious. They are fun and are so easy! I had no idea until this year.

 If you don't want to make a gingerbread house because you don't want to have to buy all the candy and goodies, I found the most perfect kit at K-Mart. It is a gingerbread cookie kit. It is a no bake project. It comes with already baked and packaged cookies. It also comes with the candy decorations. The only thing you need to do is make the icing. If you're not up for that challenge, you can buy icing from the grocery store. I did it with my Junior Kindergarten class and they loved it! Some of them didn't want to eat them, but only decorate them because it was so much fun. Here is what the kit looks like, but please excuse my gingerbread's broken leg. I dropped him in the package on the kitchen floor.

Okay, so if you're ready for making gingerbread houses here is an easy way to do it:

1. Buy a regular box of Graham Crackers

2. Get some candy. The best candy for making gingerbread houses are: m&m's, gum drops, Hershey kisses, marshmallows, candy canes, Hershey's bars, etc.

3. Regular icing not whipped.

4. Take a milk or juice carton and cut off the top and wash it out.

The first thing to do is cover the top of the carton with a thin layer of icing. If you are doing it with a bunch of kids or students, give them each their own bowl of icing with a plastic knife. Kids tend to lick the icing and double dip! :) After the first layer of icing is on, break apart the graham crackers and stick them to the milk carton. Then carefully put another layer of icing and start decorating with candy. If you put two small candy canes together they make a heart! The Hershey's chocolate bars look great as doors and windows. The marshmallows look spectacular as snow. The gingerbread house is a great table decoration for the holidays! Enjoy!

Holiday Cookies for Alex's Cookie Exchange Party

Every year Alex has a Cookie Exchange Party around the holidays at her house. This year was a great turn out and we had 13 girls attend. I wanted to make something delish and I found a great recipe in a cook book that was giving to me by my Dad and Step-Mom. Last year I made Oreo balls and I felt I had to keep up my good reputation. Sooooooo (drum roll please) I decided to make "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" bars. They were so good! I got raving reviews. I took pictures of every step and I also have the recipe below so that you too can make them!

Here is the recipe:

Below after I baked the chocolate chip cookies I added peanut butter and marshmellow fluff

After baking for a minute I carefully mixed the peanut butter and marshmallow fluff together

I added the corn cereal, I used Kix

I added red/green m&m's to make it festive for the holidays, you can use any candy

Baking in the oven

Ooooey Gooey fun!

Ready to go...

Supper Club

Supper Club started when a few couples decided that we love to cook and love to spend time together. So, every first Sunday of the month we get together at one person's house to have dinner and drinks. The rules are as follows: the couple decides what to make, it has to be homemade and they have to serve limoncello as a dessert drink. As we progress forward the bar continues to rise and many couples have gone with themes such as "Asian" or "Southern Comfort". As a host, you definitely feel the pressure because you do want everyone to enjoy each dish. It seems as though the supper clubs have become a good excuse to get together and let lose. Recently, the men in the group enjoyed a good cigar and got over served. Here is a photo from out most recent supper club gathering at the Plumb's house!

Menu:

Appetizer: Shrimp Cocktail

Main Course: Ribs, Mac&Cheese, Corn Bread, Baked Beans

Dessert: Limoncello and Cookies

Drinks: Beer and Wine

A Dog World

Entering the "Bark"

Mom and Mimi

Relaxing in the Park

After her Bath

We took Mimi to the dog park today! Oh, what a beautiful South Florida day. We went to Mizner Bark and enjoyed a wonderful day in the park. Mimi ran around playing with the other dogs, rolling around in the dirt and drinking from the little "doggy" drinking fountain. She came home from the park and I immediately gave her a bath. Mimi was in dog heaven!

Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving Crew!

The Spread!

This year will be my first time in 27 years of life that I will be celebrating Thanksgiving away from a cold climate. I will hold my first Thanksgiving as a married woman in Florida. My husband and I will have my father-in-law, my mother, and another couple over for Thanksgiving. I am half cheating by buying a turkey and a few other things from Publix. I decided that I didn't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen slaving over the oven, so instead I will cook a few items and buy the rest. I am planning on going to the dog park in the morning to relish in the sunny Florida weather and then spend the rest of the day watching football and eating good food. I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with people that you are thankful for as well.