A Birthday, A Recipe and Family for Biscocho Day!

This was a super busy weekend for being the last shopping weekend before Christmas. We also saw record rainfall here in Kern County. We broke the record last set in 1931!! Unbelievable! Unfortunately we aren't prepared for that much rain and right now we have a lot of flooding and fear of the Lake Isabella Dam bursting...so everyone is really very concerned. We hope the rain ceases soon even though the weather reporters predict it will last through Wednesday.

On Saturday my cousin David's family threw him a surprise birthday party. He was really surprised and we all had a really great time. We cousins all grew up together and it's not often we all get together, so it was so special to be able to see each other again.

Here's a picture of Cousin David and his family. David is the one with the ball cap on. His brother Steve is to the left of David, his sister Elpedia is beside him in yellow. His mom, Casi (my mom's sister) is in the long blue trench coat, then his other sister Mary Helen. Behind Mary Helen his brother Art (the oldest) and then the baby of the family, Hector. Isn't it wonderful that all his brothers and sisters were there to help him celebrate? I love you all so much!

The next day was my own dear mom's birthday. We had already planned to make Biscochos that day. Biscochos are a small, crispy cookie that we all grew up with. Our Tia Nico, my mom's sister would spend days and days before all holiday's making these cookies. She would then store them in empty coffee cans and no one left with empty hands, each family took home a coffee can filled with these delicious cookies. These probably aren't as wonderful as hers or maybe the memories of childhood can never match the present, but these are biscochos.

That's 20 cups of flour and 4 cups of sugar and 6 cups of shortening and 6 eggs plus lots of other spices and cooking ingredients. I'll share the recipe with everyone in a separate post tomorrow.

Since it was my mom's birthday we had a full house to help with the making of the Biscochos, so I'd like to share some pictures.

My job was to cream the shortening and the sugar. Last year my poor sister Lisa and I did it by hand. I forgot I had this beautiful pink Kitchen-Aid Mixer in the closet because my generous daughter April had given it to me for Mothers Day and I had never unpacked it! This mixer is the greatest! I just stood there watching everyone else work while the mixer did it all for me.

The harder job went to my sister Lisa and her youngest son Isaac (my Godson). Their job was to sift the dry ingredients and then blend the dry and wet ingredients by hand.

Here they are sifting. Isaac refused to wear an Apron! I think next year I'm going to get him a Bobby Flay manly apron!

Here Lisa and Isaac are blending dry and wet ingredients. My brother Fred is in the background, he was admiring my Kitchen-Aid Mixer.

Here Isaac is doing what we in spanish call "Amasando" (in English kneading). With 20 pounds of flour this is very labor intensive!

Isaac did a really good job, and before you knew it, it was time to start rolling out the dough! Everyone got a chance to come and roll out some dough and cut some cookies with a giant pizza cutter. They then placed them on the cookie sheets and my sister Lisa was in charge of baking them in the oven until they were that perfect golden brown. (A few batches were that perfect golden burnt color, but several members of our family love the burned ones, go figure!)

First up...Isaac under the watchful eyes of his Nana (grandmother).

 Then he and his mom made some together. See the little rolling pin? I scoffed at it when I saw it because it was such a tiny little one while the other one in the picture is mine. It turned out that everyone preferred the little one which belongs to my sister Lisa. Kudo's to you Sis!

 I didn't want to be left out, so of course I had to come and get in on the act. Don't we look like real cooks with Aprons and everything? Mine was a gift from my sister-in-law Connie and I love it! The one my sister is wearing was sewn by my mom, many, many years ago. She gave one to each of us girls for Christmas one year. The boys I believe received hand-made bathrobes that year.

Here I am again...I'm a Biscocho making machine!

 And since it's my blog...I'll post just one more picture of me :-D  As you can tell, I was pretty happy. This was a great day!

And here's my brother Fred again, popping in to check on how things are progressing. Don't worry Fred, the first batch will be ready soon!

Next up to make a batch of biscochos? Looks like it's my other brother Jaime and his daughters. The baby, Clarissa and the oldest Sarena.

Here's Jaime showing Clarissa and Lisa his technique. Jaime and his kids actually cook together quite a bit. Last year he and Clarissa made homemade scented soaps for everyone as Christmas presents. They were heavenly!

My sister Lisa and her nieces Clarissa and Sarena. I think Sarena's already sampling the first batch...she looks happy so they must be good!

Next up...my baby girl April had to make her batch too. Now April, that's a rolling pin...not a baton!

Ok, now she's down to business! Now she's got the hang of that rolling pin. She's a natural!

Biscocho making wasn't the only thing going on. We had lots of other activities happening. People would just float from one to the other.

We had some game playing going on in the living room, on the coffee table, under the Christmas Tree. That precious puppy Chorizo loved all the attention she was getting from everyone! I don't know who was winning this game of Sorry but here's Clarissa, April, my sister-in-law Connie (the gifter of the apron mentioned earlier) and my nephew, Clarissa's brother Gabriel.

The birthday girl, my mom also had some gifts to open! Here she is with my brother Jaime and Clarissa.

So what did you get mom? Let us see. Ohhhhh, how pretty, an Angel! Good job in picking this one out Jaime, Connie, Sarena, Gabriel and Clarissa!

There was also some visiting with Cousin David who had to come by to wish his Tia Tome (his Aunt Tome, my mom) Happy Birthday! Thanks for coming David! (His mom, pictured in the first picture on this post in the blue trench coat is my mom's sister.)

We also did a lot of picture taking so we could have the memory of this day forever! Here's my mom and her son's; my very handsome brothers, Fred and Jaime. Love you Bros!

My mom and her beautiful daughters :-D   My sister Lisa.and me!

My mom with her daughters and her sons.

My mom with some of her grandchildren. Missing were my brother Fred's children who came over later and my son who was AWOL for the day and my sister's son Sean who came over later and will be in a picture a little later in the post. Pictured from left to right, Gabriel, Isaac, April, Sarena, Clarissa and their Nana!

They insisted on taking a silly picture as well. . .they are kids after all :-D

My sister Lisa had purchased some miniature chocolate bottles filled with various liqueurs. I had one with Orange flavored Russian Vodka. Oh my gosh these are so good, but so rich you can only eat/drink one so no danger of getting drunk on these! If you compare the bottle to the little crystal twinkle light you can see how really miniature they are.

Here's Jaime and April both enjoying a chocolate liqueur. Don't worry, even though he's my baby brother and she's my baby girl, they're both way over 21!

My sister's son Sean was working but came by during his lunch hour to wish his Nana a Happy Birthday.

We ended the day by singing Happy Birthday to my mom and taking a group picture with her. We had to do this one is two shots. I'm in this one sitting in the chair.

And my sister Lisa is in this one sitting in the chair. I really need a tripod! Santa...if you're listening?

I can't imagine Christmas Day topping this day. What? Oh yeah, well yeah...true, there will be presents. But c'mon...this was the bestest day ever! Thank you all for making it so special!

Thank you Ale, Bebe, Little Fred and Adrianna for coming by later and spending time with Nana and for bringing that precious little Melissa to give her Nana a birthday hug before the day was over. I love you all so much!

And the Winner is . . .

Thanks to all of you that entered my Giveaway for a $65.00 gift certificate from CSN Stores! I wish I could have given one to each of you. But alas...there can only be one winner and that winner would be suburban prep!

I'll be getting in touch with you via email suburban prep. Ya'll have a great.weekend and remember it's the last shopping weekend before Christmas. Are you ready?

Giveaway and Lemon Blossoms

This has been a really hectic week! I have been busy since I got home from work today baking Lemon Blossoms for my daughters employees Christmas Party tomorrow.

Lemon Blossoms are so good and lemony. They're time consuming to make only because you bake them in miniature muffin pans so they're practically bite-size. But other than that they are easy-peasy to make.

And they're fun. I've never been much of a baker but this Christmas Season I've been doing a little more than I ever have and I'm finding it really therapuetic. It's just me, my thoughts and a lot of sugar :-D

Before I post the recipe for these delicious little nuggets of lemony goodness I want to remind everyone to go and enter my giveaway for the $65.00 gift certificate to CSN Stores. Just click HERE to get the details on how to enter.

Well, I'm off to brush my little teethies and read a little bit more of my Apolo Ohno book before I head off to dreamland. (I know...teethies is not a real word, humor me please!)

Lemon Blossoms

18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix (Because of what I had on hand, I used a lemon cake mix instead of a yellow one. Still very good!)
3 1/2-ounce package instant lemon pudding mix
4 large eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Glaze: 4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 lemon, zested
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray miniature muffin tins with vegetable oil cooking spray. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin tin half way. Bake for 8 minutes, or until edges are golden brown. Turn out onto a tea towel.

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil, and 3 tablespoons water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

With fingers, dip the cupcakes into the glaze while they're still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly, about 1 hour, before storing in containers with tight-fitting lids.

Linking up to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum. Go check out lots of other great recipes and holiday ideas! 

Iwanna Wednesday, Toys for Tots, and a Giveaway!

Happy Iwanna Wednesday. Welcome to the day I get to want almost anything in the world. Before we get started Iwanna tell you about two things.

1. My Giveaway - Giving away a $65.00 gift certificate to CSN Stores. Ton's of great stuff at their 200+ stores so you have to go and enter. Click HERE to get the details and enter. Go on...go enter, I'll wait for ya!

Hi, welcome back...ok so next Iwanna tell you this:

2. Toys for Tot via Pier 1 Imports - Pier 1 Imports will donate $1 to Toys for Tots for every new fan on facebook...so go and become a fan of Pier 1 Imports, just click HERE to get there. And I got nothing to do right now, so go and become a fan...again, I'll wait for ya!

All done? Now don't you feel good? Now you have a chance to win a $65.00 gift certificate and you helped a Tot to get a Toy...wow, even if you don't win you're still a winner cause you helped the Toys for Tots Program!

So.....today I was checking out a few of the blogs on my blog list and I ran into one that told me about the Toys for Tots on Pier 1 Imports (I don't remember which one it was, but if it was yours but you inspired me). I went over to Pier 1 Imports and became a fan and did a quick look-see of what they had and I was amazed at how many cool things they had at such great prices.

I saw so many things I wanted that I thought I would share them with all of you. The first things I saw that I thought were cool and that made me think "Oh yeah...Iwanna one of these" were these cute little eyelash curlers.

These are Gemmed Zebra and Cheetah inspired eyelash curlers. I don't know if any of you are big lovers of makeup, especially eye makeup but I am...always have been and always will be. I curl my lashes everyday! Believe it or not...these are only $15.00 each! Iwanna the Cheetah one!

Next I found this gorgeous Brocade Business Card Holder. I don't know about you, but I can't ever find my business cards in my purse so Iwanna one of these so I can find them easily. Plus wouldn't I look ever so classy and successful pulling a business card out one of these holders? $10.00 each people! I know...it's such a steal. They come in fuchsia, lime, purple and teal. Iwanna the fuchsia one please although I wouldn't say no to the lime one either.

And I have a confession to make, "Hi, I'm Alicia and I'm a mug addict." Truly I am. I love unique and different coffee mugs and cups. This is one of the cutest I've come across in a long time and it's only $6.00. Iwanna one of these for my morning coffee and since I can't wear heels due to this darn Sciatica, then at least I can have them on my coffee cup right? Love the Polka Dots at the bottom and the shape of the handle.

And speaking of pretty cups how about these assorted color French Cups? Can you believe these are just $6.00 each? I love the pretty pastel colors. Drinking from these cups you would almost think you're having a delicious latte from one of your favorite coffee houses! Seriously...Iwanna these! I may have to make a trip to Pier 1 Imports on the way home from work tomorrow.

So see...Christmas doesn't have to be expensive. I would love any one of these items. So do you have all your shopping done? I haven't bought even one present yet. Hmmm, I better get on that don't you think? Happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

Giveaway! Come one, come all!

CSN Stores has offered me the chance to host another giveaway and give one of my readers a gift certificate for $65.00!!! Yep...you read that right, $65.00.

You could take that sweet little gift certificate and apply it towards this gorgeous tv stand! I love the country french look of this one, don't you?

This is the perfect opportunity to pick up a last minute gift for someone special. CSN Stores has over 200+ stores to shop in. So how do you get in on all the giving?

1. Leave me a comment that you are a follower or just became a follower. You must be a follower to be eligible.

That's it. Does anything in life get easier than that? I think not! So ok, don't stand around here just looking at me, go leave a comment. Entries close at 8:00 pm (PST), Friday, December 17th and I'll announce the winner on Saturday morning. I'll also notify the winner by email so be sure to leave your email if it isn't automatically generated in your comment.

For Unto Us a Child is Born

My mom made the Nativity Scene in the following pictures for me in 1983 when she was taking ceramic classes at our local high school. My set is pearlized. It's a little hard to tell in the photos but it looks like Mother of Pearl with little hints of pink, purple, blue, lavender and other colors.

My mom has made one for each of the females in our family, mine goes to my daughter . . . someday! And that is the key word April...someday, lol.

I believe mine is the only pearlized one, the others are all hand painted in detail by my mom's own two hands. I hope you enjoy these photos. It was really hard to take the pictures because my living room is pretty dark.

I've placed the Nativity Scene on my Fireplace Mantle. The mirror behind has some stick-on decals, an angel and some snowflakes. My mom decorated the mirror and I think it looks perfect as a backdrop for the Nativity Scene.

For to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even to Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told to them.

Joining in on Mosaic Monday at Mary's Little Red House. Please head over and take a look at all the other beautiful mosaics and I hope you enjoyed my little Nativity Scene.

Iwanna Wednesday - Nesting Dolls

It's Iwanna Wednesday. The day I get to Iwanna anything in the world. Iwanna is kinda a nick name given to me by my mom and sister who say that I WANT everything. We can walk into any kind of store and I will see something and say, "I want one of those"...that's why they call me Iwanna.

But since I've not won the lottery yet, I can't make all my Iwanna wishes come true, but I can make them come true on Iwanna Wednesday because I can blog about anything Iwanna. That's why it's not call Igotta Wednesday, cause I don't gotta most of the things Iwanna...understand now? Nevermind...it's perfectly clear to me.

So I was randomly looking for unique dolls the other day online for my niece Melissa for Christmas. And now that I remember I haven't posted a picture of Melissa in ages! I took a super cute one at Thanksgiving. She was wearing the most gorgeous flowery purple dress. Purple is her favorite color. Isn't she cute? She really loves whipped cream. She takes after me like that :-D

Anyway....I saw lots of dolls that she would love, but I also saw some really unique ones that Iwanna. The dolls I saw are Nesting Dolls. They are known as Matryoshka Dolls, Babushka Dolls, Stacking Dolls, and Russian Nesting Dolls.

I bought these Nesting Dolls for my daughter for her birthday in April of 2009. She's always wanted Russian Nesting Dolls.

When I saw these next ones the first thing out of my mouth was, "Iwanna these dolls!" I just love the color. Don't get me wrong...I love the bright beautiful colors of the ones that are pictured above, but I just love the colors in these. You can find these ($59.95) and many, many more at tridenttreassures.com. Just check out the teeny-weenie little baby ones. Join me in saying, Awwwwwww...

 

And get ready to say Awwwwwww yet again cause check out these cute little penguin nesting dolls. Oh yeah...I hear ya! These are from bestgiftexpress.com and are $39.95. (I don't usually list prices, but seeing as how some of you may be looking for unique Christmas gift ideas I thought it might be nice to know how reasonably priced they are.)

The next ones are also from bestgiftexpress.com and they just make me smile. How sweet are these? Just $55.95...don't you love the baby chick, freshly hatched? And the Rooster...isn't he just so cocky! ;-D And the mother hen just gazing adoringly at her baby chick...sweet!!!!

I am in Iwanna Nesting Heaven! I keep thinking...ok, this is the last onem  this is the cutest one ever and then BOOM...there's another one! This one is called the Yellow Submarine, like the Beatles song. These are actually the Beatles. The Walrus is Paul...can you guess the other ones? Just check out the details! They all actually can fit inside the yellow submarine. I love the Seahorse with the microphone and the octopus with the pink guitar. Can you blame me if Iwanna these?

The rest of these I found on amazon.com and I wish I had more time so I could post pictures of the one million and one nesting dolls I found there! There just isn't enough time to show you all of them, so head over to find many more such as these. . .

Star Wars!

Lighthouses

Nesting Nurses! They also had Nesting Policy Officers!

And if you're super creative...as I know many of you are. How about a blank set so you can make your very own unique nesting doll?

So is your Christmas shopping done? Aren't some of these great as Christmas Gifts? I think I would love all of them thank you very much! Which is your favorite? Happy Iwanna Wednesday and may all your Iwanna wishes come true!

It's a Chorizo Christmas

By popular demand I give to you our "Christmas Puppy" (my daughter April says she's still a puppy even though she's now 1 year old)!

We had a really great time taking Chorizo to meet Santa. It was Pet Day at the Mall with Santa and there were other people there with their pets. There was this one beautiful Pit Bull right behind us and he so wanted to eat Chorizo!

Chorizo had the time of her life! She was sniffing everything and the kids in front of us kept dropping popcorn, which she loves and there were other dogs and puppies for her to socialize with! She definitely had her Christmas Joy last night!

It's amazing to me that this little ball of fluff has brought so much joy into my life. I've never been a dog person and never understood people who take their dogs everywhere with them and treat them like members of their family. Chorizo has changed all that! I love this little puppy.