Capturing Joy with Kristen Duke
Capturing the Joy in Life
It’s that gift giving time of year again!!! If you stress over your list of loved ones, and struggle to find the perfect gift for birthdays or the holidays, fret no more. 25 creative bloggers have gathered together to share THEIR favorite things in a gift giving guide, and nearly all of the items are under $25! This list can offer a long lasting gift guide to refer back to when you need that special… Continue Reading
My kids literally cheer out loud when they hear we ar having homemade Macaroni and Ccheese with Link Sausage. It’s one of their favorite meals. I mentioned it a few weeks ago when we had our Back to School dinner. I was introduced to this meal 7 years ago when a dear friend, Heidi, brought our family dinner just after my oldest daughter was born. I won’t go into too much detail about the importance… Continue Reading
Cooking shrimp is easier than making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. That’s what my neighbor told me when I mentioned I was very intimidated by the process. I LOVE shrimp, but I had never in my life attempted to make it because I didn’t know how. Besides not knowing how to cook it, I didn’t know what to buy: already cooked and frozen, not cooked and frozen with tail, without tail, de-veined, fresh over… Continue Reading
I decided I want to start hosting some dinner parties at my home. I like to socialize, and it just doesn’t seem to happen enough that my hubby and I get together with other couples, but when we do, it is SO much fun! So I decided to take matters into my own hands, and invite some couples over, and hope to be able to have different groups over each month. I assigned out certain… Continue Reading
I wanted to share some recipes that I’ve tried recently, that I found on Pinterest. I feel like that is what I have actually done the most from my pinterest organization–recipes. Whenever I want to try something new baking or cooking, I go to my pinterest saved recipes and pick from there. Carmelita’s Carmelita’s from Lulu the Baker. I made them for the teen girls at church, and they can’t stop talking about them. Definitely, YUM!… Continue Reading
I just heard my daughter say, “6 days until Christmas” while hearing my boys practice their Jingle Bells duet on the piano for their recital this morning. Ahh, the joys of Christmas. Our elf J.J., has been very mysterious and colored on our large family portrait with a dry erase marker making marks on our faces (It’s ok, it wipes off on glass). Last night, he got into my handmade gumdrop Christmas treat. (taken with… Continue Reading
Oh yes, you read that right. A year ago, I went to a holiday cookie exchange and had some delicious cookies that I kept daydreaming about. I love myself some craisins, and they were inside this delectable cookie. I remembered the cookies had a really odd name, that had the word “hooty” in them. I just called them hooty cookies. I lost the recipe, got it again from a friend, forgot about it, kept daydreaming,… Continue Reading
Seriously loving this quick and easy treat lately! I am now keeping these wilton wafers on hand along with popcorn and its all ready in 10 minutes. It’s as easy at 1.2.3! Step 1: Pop a bag of popcorn. Step 2: Melt some chocolate. Its fun to have colorful (Wilton wafers) but chips or almond bark work as well. DO NOT OVERCOOK chocolate….melting a little and stirring inbetween helps loosen the big chunks of chocolate.… Continue Reading
Ok, before I share my big birthday post, I thoughts I’d share the cutest idea from my friend Debra, and it needs its own post. She brought me this delightful array of colorful cookies for my birthday. She knows I love treats. She knows I like bright and colorful. Did she know how much I LOVE sugar cookies? Would she realize how much I would adore the presentation? Making a gift cute really goes the extra… Continue Reading
Ok, so these don’t actually have a watermelon flavor, but they are a fun summer dish that LOOKS like slices of watermelon! I saw this online here, and just added some food coloring to my waffle batter and cooked them with chocolate chips in the middle. It does help to have a circle waffle iron. My kids thought it was pretty fun. P.S. I’m teaching a workshop in Dallas today;)
Most of this is “on hand” ingredients. Devils food cake mix and 2 bags of semi sweet chips/baking chocolate are the only items you may not have. I have made this every year for Valentine’s Day for the past 5 years or so. Just YUM! I noticed it at the check out stand in a little Betty Crocker cookbook (full recipe at the end of this post). It’s really easy, you just have to plan… Continue Reading
I served these at my first beginners workshop, and some have asked for the recipe. I thought for sure I had posted this before, but can’t seem to find it. I cannot take credit for this, as it was shared by a friend (Marianne Lloyd) a few years ago, but I make them often because they are very easy, no fail, and super delish! I made this little card for a recipe exchange: As for the… Continue Reading
Rolo Turtles 1 package of rolo’s bunch of pretzels (I found holiday shapes) 1 package whole pecans Place rolo’s on pretzels and bake on 350 for 3-4 minutes. Slightly melt the chocolate. Take out and press pecan to smash rolo. Zucchini Soup This soup is a big crowd pleaser. Very hearty! 3 Tbsp. olive oil 1 Tbsp. margarine Melt in pot Add: 1 medium clove garlic (1/2 tsp.) 2 medium onions, chopped (I leave this… Continue Reading
My son turned 8 last weekend, and he wanted a silly band party because of his recent obsession (along with half of the American children). I was having a hard time trying to figure out how to incorporate these silly bands into a theme cake, since I delight in cake making for their birthdays. When I went to a baby shower and saw a kit kat cake (after I’d already seen them online) I knew… Continue Reading
I made these with my kids a while back, thanks to Bakerella! It was so much fun to try and trick their daddy that we were eating the real deal for dinner.
