Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Nut Mix ...

I'm back with another great snack mix to share this holiday season.  Sometimes it is nice to get a break from all the sweets, and nice nut mix is always a good option!  It's filling, full of protein, and this mix is a little sweet and a little spicy.

I love the mix of sweet and spicy flavors.  And, the addition of just a little bit of orange zest and fresh juice give the perfect amount of citrusy flavor!

Sweet and Spicy Nut Mix

makes 4 cups

3 cups (12 oz) Raw unsalted Pecans

1 cup raw unsalted cashews

Place the nuts on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 350 degrees for 5 minutes.  Toss and mix around, and bake another 5 minutes.

Let them cool as you mix together the following in a medium bowl:

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

3 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

1 tsp fresh orange zest

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (less if you don't like spicy)

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

Toss the warm nuts into the mixture until evenly coated.  Then, roast on a parchment lined baking sheet for 12-18 minutes to get them perfectly toasted.  Be sure to stir the nuts every 4 minutes to prevent burning and clumping together.

Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Mix around the nuts as they cool to avoid any clumping.

Package up and share some with your friends and family who enjoy a nice little kick to their nut mix!

Enoy!

If you'd like to see a video of when I made this recipe on an ABC4 segment, be sure to check it out here.

{all photos by me}

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Bark with Pistachios, Cranberries, and Sea Salt ...

Holiday baking and goodies are so fun to make, but often times with the hustle and bustle of the season, it can be hard to find the time.  I love a good go-to simple recipe that looks more complicated than it really is.  My favorite thing about Chocolate bark is that if you can melt chocolate, then you can make it.  It really is that simple.

I like this simple chocolate bark recipe, because it combines a little sweet and salty.  Sweet with the Chocolate and Craisins, and salt with the pistachios and Fleur de Sel sea salt, a favorite finishing salt of mine!  The flavors all together are unique and mouth pleasing!

Dark Chocolate Bark with Pistachios, Cranberries, and Sea Salt

8 ounces dark chocolate (70 percent cacao)

1/4 cup shelled pistachios, chopped

1/4 cup dried cranberries (craisins)

1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel sea salt

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Break the dark chocolate into pieces.  Place in a medium glass bowl over a medium saucepan with simmering water.  Melt the chocolate.

When the chocolate is melted, spread onto parchment paper, and sprinkle with pistachios, crasins, and sea salt (just a teeny sprinkle).

Chill in the fridge until it is completely set up, about 30 minutes.  Break into pieces and serve.

Package it up for your friends and family, and don't forget to keep a little for yourself too!

If you'd like to see a video of when I made this recipe on an ABC4 segment, be sure to check it out here.

{all photos by me}

Christmas Cards 2015 + A Minted Giveaway ...

It's Christmas card season again, and I am excited to partner with Minted again on our Christmas cards this year! (see our cards from the past few years, here and here)  When it comes to quality, Minted Holiday Photo Cards can't be beat!  Their holiday cards are always my favorite!  Their unique mix of Independent Designers offer a great selection of beautifully designed unique cards.  I always love browsing through all of them while making my selection for the year.

This year I went with the Gold Foil pressed cards designed my Alethea and Ruth.  Coincidentally, I didn't even realize until now that I chose one of their designs last year as well!  I'm not surprised, their designs are beautiful, and the Gold Foil Cards from Minted is always so beautiful and luxurious.

Another thing I really love about Minted Holiday Cards is that if you use their Address Assistant to upload your address book into their system, they have the option of addressing each of your cards for you with the theme and design from your card.  I can't tell you how much time this saves me each year of having to hand address each card.  I also had them print our return address on the back of the envelope which really adds another level of quality and adds to the customized look!

Sending out Christmas cards is one of my favorite holiday traditions, and going out and getting the mail in December is always my favorite time of year to get the mail!  

GIVEAWAY TIME!

I'm excited to give away not one, not two, but three Minted $100 gift cards to three lucky readers!  I hope that you can use it to order your Holiday cards and spread Christmas cheer!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

To enter the Giveaway for THREE chances to win a $100 Gift Card to Minted, be sure to fill out the form below!  There are several ways to enter and gain extra entries, but to enter you are required to put your name and email so I can get in touch with a winner, and follow me: @armelle_blog on Instagram, enter below! (for extra entries, head over to my Instagram for more chances to get some extra entries!)

The giveaway will end Sunday, December 3rd 2015 at 9 pm Mountain Time!  

Be sure to enter to below!  Good Luck!!

Family Photos taken by the talented Samantha Broderick Photography.

How To: Hang Christmas Wreaths on Outdoor Windows ...

This post contains Affiliate Links 

I always knew that our home would look amazing with Christmas wreaths in the windows.  But, last year being my first year to hang them, I was left scratching my head wondering exactly how I was going to securely hang them.

After asking around, and googling "How to Hang Wreaths on Outdoor Windows."  I found some ideas, but none of them seemed like simple ideas that actually worked.  When I was wondering around the Home Depot, I found these Command Brand Strips that are made especially for the outdoors, and especially for windows.  Finally, an easy solution that isn't permanent and really worked!

This is what you will need to hang Christmas wreaths on your windows: (affiliate links used)

• Faux Pine 18 inch Holiday Wreaths from Michaels Craft you can also find them online here.
• Red Holiday Bows or you can make your own out of Red Ribbon from Michaels Craft
• Command Stripe Outdoor Window Hooks
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Paper Towels

Step One

Clean your windows well.  Take the Rubbing alcohol and put some on a cloth or paper towel.  Rub around the entire area where you will hang your hook.

Step Two 

Remove the black and white liner side that says window or wall side and apply it to the window where you would like your hook to hang.  Press the entire strip for a full 30 seconds pressing up and down on the strip. (be sure to place the hook in the same area on each window so they are uniform) 

Step Three

Remove the blue liner.  Press the hook to the wall stripe and hold firmly for 30 seconds.

Step Four 

Wait at least one hour before hanging anything on the hook.  This is a very important step.  The adhesive needs time to bond or it will not hold the weight of the wreaths.

Step Five

After at least one hour, hang the wreaths on the hooks.

Step Six

When you would like to remove the hook, stretch the strip slowly against the window at least 12 inches to release it.  Always pull straight down not towards you or it will break!

Pretty simple, and it doesn't damage your windows.  They hold up very nicely in the wind as well.  With the kind of wreaths I had they have wire as the base and were able to hook on nicely.  They stayed put really well.  I think one may have fallen off in some really high winds, but that was it!

The command strips are very easy to remove and made it really easy to make my home festive for the holidays.

I loved how it looked on Christmas morning in the snow! My family during our magical snow storm on Christmas morning 2014!

I hope this helps if you are looking to hang holiday wreaths on your windows this year!  

Can you believe Christmas is just around the corner?!

{all photos by me}

christmas morning ...

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!! There is something so magical about Christmas morning when you have little kids.  Everything just become so much more fun to celebrate!

We tried to keep the gifts simple this year, and only get a few things for each of the children.  They were so thrilled to see that Santa Clause had arrived with their gifts!  In our house, Santa doesn't wrap the gifts he brings them, but mom and dad wrap the gifts we get our children.

I really enjoy putting in some extra touches to make the holidays that much more special for my children!  I think it's just as fun for me as it is for them to have some extra festive extras.

I have so many party items that I just keep around (cough, hoarder) so, pretty much all of this came from my stash I had!  

I love these tiny little gingerbread houses that I found at Tai Pan Trading.  Aren't they darling!

Caravan Shoppe has some really cute printables for a great price, that I printed out and put around the table for the kids to color and fill out their favorite traditions, and favorite Christmases to share with each other!

For Christmas morning breakfast, I make the same thing every year.  I love traditions!  I can't believe I haven't shared these recipes with you before!

We make German Pancakes with a homemade vanilla bean syrup, fresh fruit, and a breakfast casserole every Christmas morning!  I like it because I can usually make most of it ahead, then throw it in the oven Christmas morning, and it will bake while we open presents.

So funny story.  This year the breakfast casserole got a little crispy on top.  It doesn't normally look this browned.  My husband majorly surprised me this year for Christmas.  He told me my present was out in the garage, and it was too heavy for him to carry in alone.  So, we went out in the garage, and he surprised me with a new car for Christmas!  I was in total shock!! Then we proceeded to jump right in and take a test drive around the neighborhood, forgetting about the breakfast casserole.  Hence the crispy casserole.  Luckily, it still tasted great!

Breakfast Casserole

32 (2lbs) ounces frozen hashbrowns (thawed)

1/2 lb diced deli ham

1/2 cup diced green onions

4 tablespoons melted butter

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup milk 

2 cups colby jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together eggs, cheese, milk, and sour cream.  

Spread out hash browns, ham, green onions, and mushrooms in a 9x13 inch casserole pan.  Pour melted butter over the top.  Then pour egg, cheese and milk mixture over the top.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Or until eggs are set.  Serve with salsa or hot sauce like tabasco.

German Pancakes

6-7 eggs

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 shakes cinnamon sugar

Place all ingredients in a blender.  Blend well.

Melt 2-3 tablespoons butter.  Place in a 9x13 inch casserole pan, and grease the pan.

Pour batter into pan, and top with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for 17-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Vanilla Bean Syrup

1 stick butter

Melt in a medium saucepan over low heat.  When just melted add,

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cup cream or half and half

Simmer over medium heat.  When it starts to bubble up, turn down to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  

When cool, add 1 teaspoon of Vanilla bean paste.  Keep in refrigerator.  Great on waffles and pancakes too!

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

I hope you all had the best Holiday Season! I'm looking forward to the New Year!  Thanks so much for reading! XOXO!

{all photos by me}

felt ball ornaments ...

I'm excited to share with you this fun felt ball ornament tutorial.

I was able to teach a class this month over at Albion Fit.  We had a fun evening of crafting and amazing cuisine by Food by Tom.  It was the perfect combination! (My outfit is from Tai Pan Trading)

We had some amazing people attend the event, it was so fun to chat and get to know some amazing ladies!  I met so many creative ladies, and even a professional mountain biker, and even Melissa who wrote the book Whole 30!

To get started you'll need to gather a few supplies.

Materials needed:

Felt Balls- I get mine from Hello Maypole

Embroidery Needle with a sharp needle.  Make sure you don't get one with a dull end, it needs to be sharp but with the larger eye for the twine to go through.  I find them in the embroidery isle. I like the size 18.

Twine- I like to use bakers twine.

Step by Step instructions on how to make felt ball ornaments

Step One:

Thread the Twine through the needle eye.  I like to cut a piece about 36 inches long.

Push the threaded needle down the middle of the felt ball and string the twine through until about 4-5 inches remain. 

Step Two:

Bring the needle back around and up through the felt ball close to where the twine came out the first time.

Step Three:

Trim the twine to the size of the other twine.

Step Four:

Tie a loop knot at the end to secure the loop and complete the ornament! Repeat for more ornaments!

Dress up your tree, or they would even make cute gift toppers for your packaging!

{all photos be me}