Mod Podge Virgin

So I had never used Mod Podge before, but I had a special job that only it could handle. I think I have mentioned before that I am helping a friend decorate her entire new house. That now includes making two message boards, one for each of her girls to hang in their rooms. (Reveals to come soooon!!)

For one of the message boards, I bought cute little buttons to hide the tacks but I didn't have enough. Mod Podge, glitter, and clear round stones to the rescue!

Step One: Apply Mod Podge to flat back side of stones.

Step Two: Dust with glitter. Let dry overnight. (I don't know if it needs to be this long but I did mine late at night, so the overnight dry time just worked out that way!)

Step Three: Attach to whatever you wish! These would make super cute fridge magnets if you glued a tiny magnet to the back of each one!

Fresh Guacamole

Guacamole is one of my most favourite things ever! So easy, so fast, soooo good for you! Did you know that avocadoes are good for "women's health"? Yes, they promote a healthy reproductive system. And it is kinda cool, too, because an avocado supposedly takes 9 months from start to finish just like a baby! At least, that's what I've heard. I haven't wikipedia'ed it or anything. Ha!



INGREDIENTS

handful cherry tomatoes (thank you, garden!)

handful cilantro leaves

1 French shallot (I didn't have a regular onion)

3 avocadoes

squirt or 3 of lime juice



DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut the avocadoes in half. Remove the pits. Use a fork to mash up the avocado while the flesh is still in the skin. Using a spoon, scoop out the mashed flesh. (Sorry, forgot the pic for this one.)



2. Chop tomatoes finely. I used a mini food processor for the tomatoes.





3. Chop the onion and the cilantro. Put everything into a mixing bowl and add some lime juice.



4. This is cheating and not authentic at all, but I like to throw in some sour cream - maybe a half cup or so - for some extra creamy goodness.



5. Mix everything together and add more lime juice if necessary. You want to be able to taste the brightness of the lime!



This is where I usually stop unless my hubby is hankering for some heat. In that case, I will also add cumin, jalapeno, hot pepper powder, spices, etc. The fresh, non-heat version is my favourite though.

Hot Sweet Onion Dip

I got the base of this recipe off a bag of sweet onions (who knew?) and absolutely adore it! Hot, cheesy, oniony goodness! The smell of the dip baking in the oven is perfectly fall; it pairs perfectly with sweaters, coloured leaves, and the smell of bonfires in the crisp night air. It just makes you smile! I also love to serve this dip at our Christmas parties.

I amend my recipe depending on what I have in the pantry, so here is my most recent version. Feel free to vary the cheese amounts as well!

INGREDIENTS
2 large onions (I only had 1 large onion, so I substituted 5 French shallots for the other onion)
2 cups Miracle Whip
1 package Philly cream cheese, at room temp
1 cup shredded parm cheese

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Chop onions (penny size pieces or smaller).
3. Blend Miracle Whip, Philly, and parm together. Add onions.
4. Place into 8x8 glass baking dish and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until top is lightly browned and bubbling gently around the edges.
5. Best served hot! Use French bread or sourdough to dip (crackers will work too).

Two Eggs and a Penny

So sorry for the lack of posts recently. My laptop (which is was where I did all my work and blog posts) got stolen and I have been in mourning for the last two weeks. I loved my laptop sooo much. It was a MacBook Pro, and until I got it, I was an Apple virgin. Now I can't imagine using anything else. (No, Apple is not paying me to say this!)

So needless to say, I have felt completely backwards without it. Right now I am typing this on our old dinosaur computer whose main function is to play opera all night long for the kids. (We particularly like Andrea Boccelli, Sarah Brightman, and Josh Groban. Anyway.)

I was so excited to get my Little Pretties Luxe etsy shop up and running, but my laptop had all my pictures on it. So now I have to reshoot all 100+ items. Big fat bummer. Plus I had a ton of DIYs almost ready to go, so I feel like I am starting from scratch. Blah.

And onto happier subjects... I was making scrambled eggs the other morning and just had to so you all a picture of the giant eggs I had. I know someone who works on a chicken farm (egg farm?) and they give me a bunch of the eggs that are too big for general sale. Almost all of the giant eggs are double-yolkers. Macho eggs.

So here we are from left to right:

the giant egg a store bought egg in "large" a penny for comparison