How Domestic!!

So you know how I love having fabulous dinner parties right? Well I've been trying to think of new fabulous foods to try out for said dinner parties plus I need to start eating better in general. So I got this amazing cookbook for Christmas. I've been eying it for awhile ever since I saw her on Oprah. And you know I have to do what Oprah says!



You NEED to get this book! There are so many great recipes in it & they're all healthy for you. She has you add some kind of bean or these vegetable purees to everything so you're getting your veggies & stuff without even knowing it. Genius!

So today I tried my 1st recipe...Pumpkin Ravioli. 1st you put a can of white beans (such as navy or the like), pumpkin puree (like you'd use for pie filling), ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese & garlic powder all in a food processor. I'm glad to have more uses for my food processor cuz I never use it.



Puree it all up & that's your filling. So easy & healthy!



Next line up some won ton wrappers


Add a tablespoon of the filling. Don't overfill them or it'll squish out the sides!


Wet the sides with an egg wash so they'll seal up & put another wrapper on top.


Drop 4 or 5 of them in boiling water for about 4 minutes. I found if you put too many in the pot all at once they tend to start sticking together.


The recipe calls for you to use a marinara sauce on top but I used just a traditional flavor spaghetti sauce cuz it's what I had in the cupboard. top with sauce & a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese (my own addition)& enjoy! It is delicious!!


I wanted to try this recipe out before I served it to people & since it's just me there were leftovers so I decided to see if they froze well to eat later. I placed the uncooked raviolis in Ziploc bags & threw them in the freezer.


If they freeze well then I'm going to make up a bunch more to have on hand. This is a great recipe & it was really easy!!! How domestic am I?! I'll report on further recipe experiments!

Biggest Resolution Ever!!

So as the year's winding down I'm starting to think of my new goals & resolutions for the new year. This could be my biggest challenge ever!

Ok it's truth time...on any given day this is what my bedroom looks like....



I know it's a disgrace so you don't need to tell me. It's ridiculous. I keep the rest of my house neat & tidy & hostessing ready & this is where I let loose. I can't keep my room clean for more than 1 day to save my life. Honestly I'm frustrated with my inability to get it together in there. So for 2011 I've decided one of my goals is to work on keeping my room clean. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to accomplish this but I'm gonna die trying!

I also decided it was high time for a new bed set. I've had this one for quite a few years & I'm over it. It's white so it's hard to keep clean & white & it's too big to fit in the washer so I have to get it dry cleaned & it costs more to do that than I paid for the stupid comforter. It's time for a change.

Out with the old



In with the new



Don't you love it! I love the way this set looks on my black bed. Good choice Melissa!

And after like 2 days of work I got my room all cleaned up. I'm exhausted!



How am I gonna keep this up all year?!?!

Holiday Dinner Part 3: The Table

Ok I've saved the best for last....the table!!! Pretty much I'm in love with this table setting! I've been needing to get some new plates, napkins & glasses (since I've broken so many lately!) and I found some really good deals & used this dinner party as the perfect excuse to finally purchase them.

1st I laid down this delicious red table cloth



Next I situated all the napkins



Rolled them up



Then added ribbons



Then the name tags that I cut out on my Cricut



Finally I slipped in a candy cane. How festive!



Here they are all done! Not gonna lie this took awhile! But they look so great!!



Next I set the table. I found these cute plates at the Dollar store. No Joke! And placed a napkin roll on each plate.



Then the glasses



Good thing My Grandmother taught me how to set a proper table. Don't worry I know which side the knife & fork go on!



Next up was the centerpiece & the little gift bags I made



Here's the festive centerpiece I put together. Sorry it's a blurry shot.



I love these place settings!!



The table looked just how I pictured it! I wish I could do this all the time!!

Holiday Dinner Part 2: The Food

I know everyone's been waiting anxiously for more pics & happenings from my holiday dinner. So we'll talk about the food & my next post will be the table setting...save the best for last! So I really wanted to be able to put on this whole dinner all by myself & pretty much I accomplished that! Go me!! I had everything so organized & planned out there was no way I could fail. what do people get so worked up over making Thanksgiving & Christmas dinners?! Yes it's a little stressful but if you're organized it's not a big deal. So the night before I decided to make the rolls so I could get that out of the way.

Really I made like 3 pans of these which was WAY too much but really can you have too many rolls!?




On the day of the dinner party I came home from church with a RANK headache. oh great I don't have time for this. I thought I could lay down for a bit before I had to start cooking but then my ever growing to-do list kept scrolling through my head so that didn't last long. First up I got the ham ready & put in the oven. I found a fabulous recipe from my cooking idol Paula Deen & knew I couldn't go wrong,

Cola basted ham! How festive does it look!? Every 1/2 hour you baste it with cola.





All Done! And it was tasty!!


Next I got the potatoes ready to be cooked at a later time. I was trying my hand at a sweet potato souffle. I've never cooked sweet potatoes before but after this amazing recipe I'll be using them more often!



Here it is all finished & it was SO tasty!!!



I had reminder after reminder on my phone of when to do everything so it was timed jsut perfectly....put potatoes on to cook.....put sweet potato souffle in the oven....assemble green bean casserole....get dressed.....put green bean casserole in the oven....touch up makeup...make stuffing....fill water pitchers....seriously it was that detailed. But it paid off cuz everything got done right on time!

The spread



Not to be all whatever but I pretty much ROCKED this dinner!!!!

Holiday Dinner Part 1

So one of my most favorite things to do is to host fabulous dinner parties so I decided to host one for my crew for Christmas. I've straight up lost my mind with this one! I want everything to be just so & for it to be really nice for my friends. Rule #1 everyone needs to be looking nice for dinner. Rule #2 Use your manners. When you're using real cloth napkins instead of paper ones you know it's serious business. My dinner is on Sunday but I'll share some of the things I've been working on for said party.

So I discovered I could make these cute little bags on my Cricut. Just fold & glue & they're good to go & SO cute!!



So I decided to use these little bags as party favors for everyone & to help decorate & fill the table. Next I filled them with holiday candies




Add a little tissue paper to jazz it up. Aren't they so cute & festive?!



I also made these cute little tags to use as place cards for everyone at the table. I told you this is a serious dinner party!!



I'm also working on a fabulously festive centerpiece but it's not ready for viewing yet. Don't worry I'll have pictures of everything soon!