Happy Holidays!

We had a great Christmas in both Asheville and Cincinnati! Now it's back to the grind. Fortunately, this is a short work week and my sister is coming to Charleston to celebrate New Year's!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Technology Woes

So, I was looking forward to posting some pictures from the weekend. But they're all gone?! I have no idea where they went. Sometimes technology drives me crazy.

We had a great Saturday and Sunday filled with Christmas shopping, relaxation, and our friends annual holiday party with lots of delicious food! Mark and I made a cheesy potato casserole, which is a dish I grew up eating at nearly all of our family gatherings (yes, people LOVE it that much).

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Here's the recipe (thanks, Dad!):

2lbs. frozen shredded hash browns
1pt. sour cream
8oz. cheddar cheese – shredded
1 cup chopped onions
1 can cream of chicken soup
1tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
½ cup margarine
1 cup crushed cornflakes

Mix everything except cornflakes – place in greased 
9 x 13 dish. Top dish with cornflakes. Pour over ¼ cup
Melted margarine. Bake at 350 for one hour.

 I always use low fat or fat free sour cream and reduced fat cream of chicken soup. I suppose you could use reduced fat cheese too, but I don't like to take all the fun out of it ;) I promise you that this dish does not disappoint. You will definitely go back for seconds (...or more)!

Andes Mint Cookies

On my day off this week, I decided to bake some festive holiday cookies. If you like mint and chocolate, these are for you! I saw several versions of this recipe online and kind of manipulated it to fit my own preferences.

Your eyes are not deceiving you- they definitely have a green tint!

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Here's what you need:

1 package of sugar cookie mix (I used Betty Crocker)

1 stick of butter, softened

1 egg

3 drops green food coloring

1/4 tsp. mint extract

1 cup (approx.) of Andes mint candies chopped

Pre-heat oven to 375. Mix first 5 ingredients, then add in mints. Place spoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes.

These were ready sooner than I expected. So, watch them or they will burn ;) 

And voila!

I ended up eating way too many straight out of the oven and made Mark take the rest to work. The recipe made several dozen small cookies.

Recipe from Betty Crocker found here.

Enjoy!