I love cheese (oh, sigh)! I’m under the fantastic illusion that cheese really does please! So, this New Year’s Eve, while you’re partying in the New Year with all your favorite people, treat your guests to the perfect cheese ball - I promise, they’ll love it! Happy New Year!

~ Miss K

UTENSILS: 10″ Saute pan, Medium Mixing Bowl

INGREDIENTS:

2, 8 oz pkg Cream Cheese (softened)

1 Cup Finely Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 pkg Ranch Dressing Mix (careful - Dressing NOT Dip - the Dip Mix is too salty)

3 Cups Shaved Almonds, toasted

Assorted Crackers

INSTRUCTIONS

In the 10″ Saute pan, sauté the almond slivers on Medium heat until aromatic. Set aside. Blend the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, ranch dressing and 1 cup of toasted almonds (I use my hands - it’s much more festive!).

Now, you have two options here to make the balls. You can form your mixture into one big ball and roll it in the remaining almonds. But for fun, and ease of eating, I make many, many bite size balls and roll them individually in almonds - 1 ball per cracker and it makes the buffet line so much easier to maneuver with one hand to gather your loot and the other to hold your plate.

I love to entertain and decorate for any occasion or holiday! Well, really, I don’t need a reason to decorate…I just love to do it. It is my therapy…my stress relief! Tablescapes are a great way to add a whole new look and style to any table; they beautify and enhance the room they are set in. They can be simple and homey or sophisticated and elegant. Your design style and personal preferences will determine the look and feel of your tablescape creation.

The inspiration to create a tablescape can come from a variety of spots: magazines, napkins or tablecloths, stores, pictures, a favorite memory, floral design stores, home décor stores or even as simple as a favorite candle holder or place mat. Look around your home for items of inspiration that you want to give center stage to. Try to incorporate some items you already have on hand. I am a big repurposer. I take accent elements from around the house and repurpose them to another shelve, counter, room or tablescape.

A tablescape is a collection of items put together on a table to create a cohesive design statement beyond the tradition centerpiece. Tablescapes may or may not include dishes. Often these are used in place of a center piece on a buffet table. You may create your center design for a buffet and after the event, just leave it up for a special meal where you would use your dishes.

Before you can begin your design, you have a few key design elements to consider; these design elements will greatly influence your end results: color, size of items, height of items, shape, texture and quantity of items on hand. Including a wide range of design elements will ensure a uniquely gorgeous tablescape that you can stand back and admire!

The #1 consideration, and the place to begin, is color. Decide what color or color combinations you would like to use and begin to look for those colors in items you already have around your house. Think about your color scheme, there are many to choose from. For example, you could choose to go monochromatic, meaning one color. With this tablescape, it is important to include a variety of varying textures and shapes. Be sure to include an accent color for the pop factor and visual appeal with the monochromatic color scheme. You can go to www.worqx.com/color/color_wheel.htm and learn more about color combinations if you are not comfortable matching colors.

Another one of my favorite things to do during the holidays is create theme Christmas trees. You follow the same design considerations as for tablescapes. With theme trees, another design element that adds a lot of flair and interest is feathers and ribbons. Start by deciding if you want a green tree, flocked tree, or the new tinsel trees. Again you need to consider a variety of texture elements. Add your lights and you are off to designing a theme tree. Enjoy and have fun this holiday season!!

Thank You Simplicity Gourmet! My fiance and I bought some of the best cookware ever designed. Before our investment, Jamie used to be the only one that cooked in the house. We also were forced to eat fast food at least twice a week because of our hectic schedules. Now that we have our new Pots and Pans, I’m the one that does most of the cooking. I love how easy it is. A little water, chicken, veggies, wait for the whistle, and Voila! A meal that used to cost me $15.00 a plate now costs $6.85 for two. These pots are saving me time, money, and they look great after 8 months worth of cooking. My mom told me that “Pots and Pans don’t matter, it’s the cook that makes the meal.” I say, look OUT Mom, there’s a new cook in town. After watching me cook for my family, my mom noticed how great everything tasted and how quickly it cooked. It’s incredible! Overnight, I go from the guy that used to burn hotdogs to a gourmet chef. Cooking is fun because it really is so simple. My secret is to cook some of our favorite meals early in the week, then store them in our “vacuum seal” storage containers. Now, I only cook Mondays and Thursdays. The rest of the week, we just pick any of our already home cooked meal out of the fridge. Is sooo easy. Your cookbook has become my daily reader and is absolutely delicious. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for making our life that much easier.
-Tim

Merry Christmas, Ladies!  My next post will not be until after Christmas, so, I thought I would leave you with a sweet treat idea and a sweet message before signing off until after Christmas.

I read this profound article this week called, “Finding Joy in the Journey.”  I was so touched by the simplicity of its words, that I’ve come to realize that, sometimes, “Simple and Sweet,” are some of the best advice you can give someone.

For instance, take the time to say a simple phrase to a stranger like, “Merry Christmas,” or “Have a Nice Day,” and see what joy that brings to their face.  You may never know how much that truly meant to someone or how it even affected their day.  On the other hand, take “Sweet.” Do a sweet, random act of kindness for someone, like, help the elderly load their groceries in the rain or hold a door open for a mom and her kids.  Trust me ladies, I could kiss ya if you hold the door open for me as I wrestle my two into the store and that’s the honest truth! lol

I really feel that we would be better people if we would do Simple and Sweet things throughout our day and through that, I know that all of us can truly find Joy in our Journey’s which is this life we are so blessed to be a part of.

Below is my Husband’s Favorite Christmas Treat and, ladies, it is both SIMPLE and SWEET! Enjoy!

Golden Graham Drops

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Chocolate Chips, 1 Bag of Butterscotch Chips, 1 Bag of Peanut Butter Chips, 1 Box of Golden Graham Cereal

Directions:

Put the box of Golden Grahams in a large bowl. Melt all the chips together in the microwave. Stir the chips together until smooth. Then, pour the chocolate mix on top of the Golden Grahams and stir it all together. “Caution” this can be a little messy but it is soooo fun! After it is all mix together, line cookie sheets with wax paper and drop a spoonful of the mixture on to the pan and then put into the fridge to harden. Ta-dah! Yummy, Simple and Sweet treats for you to enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Peanut Blossom Cookies

I have been making these delightful treats for years!! They are an extremely easy crowd pleaser. When I need a quick treat to take to a party and I want my treat to have pizzazz these guys are on my top 5 list to choose from. I love Sandra lee from Semi Homemade on the Food Network. Her style I like to roll, little time to do anything but yet I want it to look and taste fabulous.

Use any packaged peanut butter cookie mix and make according to instructions. Roll the dough into small balls and then coat (roll) in granulated sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake according to package instructions.

While the cookies are in the oven unwrap your chocolate kisses.

As soon as the cookies come out of the oven place a kiss on top of cookie and slightly press down.

Let them cool and enjoy!!

Day 4:

The facing is going on the cabinets the island has the lazy Susans in. We are beginning to see our kitchen take form. Oh and we just picked up the new convection oven….!

Day 3:

We have a countertop, back splash decision….OMG it is going to be gorgeous!!!! Really can you believe it? We all agreed on the back splash right away! We really do have great taste! Next thing you know we will all become kitchen consultants….not.

I love, love, love all forms of Chex Mix…plus it’s super easy and quick to make! It’s a holiday staple to have a heaping bowl of it out for your family and guests to much on at all times. I hope you enjoy both versions I have here for you - I’m giving you my sweet & sinful version and my salty & savory Darn Good version!

Simplicity Gourmet’s “White Trash” Chex Mix

UTENSILS: 2 qt w/ 2 qt Double Boiler, 1 Large Mixing Bowl, 1 Trash Bag

INGREDIENTS:

CHEX MIX:1 Regular Box Honey Graham Cereal, ½ Box Rice Chex, ½ Box Corn Chex, 4 Cups Cherrios, ½ Bag of Pretzel Stix or Mini Pretzels, 1 ½ Cups of Christmas M & M’s, 2 Cups of Peanuts, 2 Cups of Pecans, 1 cup Golden Raisins (optional)

SAUCE:1 ½ sticks butter, 14 oz milk chocolate chips (1 & ¾ cup), 14 oz white chocolate chips (1 & ¾ cup), 14 oz peanut butter (1 & ¾ cup), 2 tsp. vanilla, 1 Large Bag of Confectioner’s Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:
Place 2″ of water in the 2 qt and pop the double boiler insert into the pan. Add the butter, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and vanilla to the double boiler. Cover, whistle open and cook on medium heat. When the whistle sounds (will take longer than normal in the double boiler), uncover, and stir. Reduce the temperature to Medium Low and recover, whistle closed. Cook for 5-7 minutes and stir again. Keep uncovered and stir until all ingredients are melted together. Remove the double boiler from the 2 qt and set aside to cool for 7-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in the large mixing bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients until well blended. When the sauce has cooled, stir, and pour over the top of the chex mix and mix well. Add the ingredients to the trash bag and pour in the bag of confectioner’s sugar. Shake the bag up until all the contents are well seasoned with confectioner’s sugar.

Serve and enjoy!

Simplicity Gourmet’s Darn Good Chex Mix

UTENSILS: Large Mixing Bowl, Large Cookie Sheet

INGREDIENTS: 1 Small Box Rice Chex, 1 Small Box Corn Chex, 1 Small Box Wheat Chex, 1 Bag of Pretzel Rods or Mini Pretzels, 1 Box of Regular Cheez Its, ½ Box of Cheddar Jack Cheez Its, ½ Box of White Cheddar Cheez Its, 2 Cups Sesame Stixs, 4 Cups of Mixed Nuts, ½ cup of Olive Oil, ¼ cup Worcestershire Sauce, 6-8 tsp Darn Good Seasoning (Available exclusively through Simplicity Gourmet - on sale for 2 for $5 plus tax and shipping - call me at 866-897-7676 to order!)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix all ingredients until well blended. Bake in batches at 350, stirring occasionally, until toasted through (about 15-20 minutes). Store in a jumbo air tight container to keep it fresh.

Cabinets continue to be built. We have to decide on countertops… Corian… Granite… laminate… Silestone… Tile? Well, we have several women in the office and, of course we all have an opinion about why we think we should or shouldn’t use this material or that material. Granite is heat resistant and the hottest trend in show kitchens…. Corian, you can sand out light stains and burns, but holds bacteria…. Laminate isn’t deserving of our test kitchen and is sooo boring (snore, snore) but comes in boat loads of colors…. Silestone is limited and doesn’t have a good color to go with our kitchen and it can’t be repaired if you break it but it is very heat resistance…. Good gracious girls let’s just decide!

We are so excited here at Simplicity Gourmet!!! This week started the building of our gourmet test kitchen (FINALLY!!!) and let me tell ya, it will rival any gourmet kitchen out there. This has been a longtime goal of SGI and to see it come to pass has the entire staff so excited!!! We all feel as if we are getting a giant Christmas present.

We had an extremely small kitchen before that was not designed for show at all. We taught cooking classes once a month. We were very limited in space. Our new kitchen will provide us the opportunity to develop new recipes and a whole slew of new classes that will range from beginner to advanced and we will be able to hold several a month.

We thought it would be fun for you to see the step by step progress and walk down this path with us. So, each day, we will give you a play by play of how we are progressing and our bloopers. Enjoy the process and check back often to see the test kitchen unfold

Day 1:

All the cabinets arrived and had to be built. We used IKEA for our cabinets and Nashville Cabinet Company to build and install them. W LOVE Andy the owner of Nashville Cabinet! He has had several ideas that have made the IKEA cabinets stronger and through installation sturdier.