Happy new year everyone!  I hope you all had a nice kick-start to 2012!

I am taking a brief blogging break to spend some quality time with my family on the West Coast.  Sometimes there is nothing better than disconnecting from the internet and reconnecting with family!

Once things settle down here I will be back to work in the apple orchard and back to my old shenanigans! Please don’t leave me!

Cheers to a happy and healthy 2012!

This is my absolute favorite picture of Henry.  It pretty much sums up how I want to feel all year long.  What a dog!

See you all very soon!

Our family is growing!

No, we are not getting another dog.  But, Taylor and I are about to be an aunt and uncle for the very first time!

I am heading out first thing in the morning to Portland, OR to be with my family.  I can’t wait!

Blogging will be a bit erratic for a few days.  But I will be cooking with my mom and preparing meals for my sister and brother-in-law so recipes will still come!

Hopping for an uneventful flight and I will see you all from the West Coast!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend.

We enjoyed a nice weekend with family and friends.  It was wonderful.

Of course we all feel a little bit like this now:

Too much food and wine can take it out of us all.  We are pooped.

Even Henry had a great holiday.  New toys all over the place!

Thanks for the package Lizzie!

Now we are all resting up for the next big event.  New Years!

Alright, lets be honest. I am not much of a New Years girl.  But I am a champagne and appetizer girl so I can usually rally and go to a party.

And with the easy appetizer I have shown below, it is worth staying up till midnight for.  Trust me.

Bacon wrapped stuffed dates!!!

These puppies scream holiday party appetizer and are worth getting dressed up and leaving the house for.

Heck, they are even worth taking a night off of being a vegetarian.  They are that good!

The best part about the recipe below is that you can make as many or as little of these guys as you want.  It doesn’t matter!  But you should probably make a lot.  They disappear quickly.

All you do is this:

Preheat oven to 375.

Slice whole pieces of bacon into thirds. Set aside.

Slice pitted dates in half and stuff with cheese.  We used gruyere but you could use goat, blue, or whatever you fancy.

Once dates are stuffed put them back together and wrap a piece of the bacon around them.  Secure with a tooth pick.

Place on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes.  Take out of the oven and flipped.  Bake for another 5-10 minutes checking to make sure it isn’t burning.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Hope you enjoy the appetizer.

Now I have to get back to my boys.  Movie night.

I learned something very valuable last night.

Did you know that if you start with a can of chickpeas your meal will be amazing?!

It will.  Trust me.

We are busy trying to eat everything in our pantry/refrigerator because we are not going to be eating many meals at home over the holiday.

So in an effort to avoid the grocery store and use everything we have I have been forced to be creative.  And guess what, being creative in the kitchen is really fun.

This lovely photo is a picture of our last meal.  Chickpeas with broccoli, cauliflower, and bacon.  Yep, bacon made an appearance and almost stole the show.  But to be honest, the real highlight was the chickpeas.  Amazing.

This is a great meal to make using everything you’ve got at home.  You can substitute any of the veggies or bacon for whatever you have.  The lesson here is that a can of chickpeas can go a long way.

Here is what I did:

Chopped up some broccolie

Chopped up some cauliflower,

diced up some bacon

diced up a yellow onion

diced up 6 cloves of garlic

Pinch of dried oregano

a few pinches of crushed red pepper

salt and pepper

1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

I first cooked up my chopped bacon.  While that was cooking I steamed my broccoli and cauliflower for a few minutes.  Just until they were crisp tender. Then I removed my bacon from the pan. I added the onion to the bacon fat and Sauteed for a few minutes.  Add the garlic.  Add the oregano and crushed red pepper. Stir.  Add the chickpeas and veggies.  Stir in the bacon.  Remove from heat when everything is heated through.

Serve with some parmesan cheese and a glass of wine.  Delicious.

I am heading out the door to grab a Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks.  Call me crazy, but I love those things. It’s almost Christmas after all, so I feel it is necessary to treat myself.  If you haven’t tried one get ready for a sugar rush.  They are great!

Happy Friday!