Gourmet Marshmallow Giveaway!

This is not my giveaway but it is my friend Staci's over at Luker Family Tales.  Free marshmallows for my hot cocoa while gathered with my family and friend around the Christmas tree sounds amazing.  And I'm entering.  You can too. 

But just so you know, I'm rooting for myself.

Enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Product Review: Ricola Extra Strength with Natural Menthol



Compare the size of the box to a 3 month old baby.

I came home to what looked like the biggest box of Ricola I had ever seen.  I could only hope it was just one big block of the herby cough drop that I could chip and gnaw at during the cold flu ridden months of winter.  I would know that spring had come when the brick was completely consumed.

Sadly, when I picked up the box, it was so light there's no way I could have been a Ricola brick.

But when I opened it, I was greeted with the Ricola yodel, a big Ricola wrapped candy and my nosy cat trying to get all up in the box.  You can see the video on instagram. (Follow me while you're there.)




Could it be the Ricola brick of my dreams?

When I unwrapped the box, there was two bags of Ricola.  The Original and the new Extra Strength with Natural Menthol. 




That blue makes it look extra mentholy.

I should preface this whole review by saying that my husband gets sick a few times a year and inevitably he asks me to get him cough drops.  Except what he really means in to get him Ricola, the Original flavor.

Early in our relationship, he asked me for cough drops and I foolishly brought home Halls and was met with a deeply disappointed sick boyfriend. Lesson learned.



Wait, that's not Ricola brown.

Naturally, when he saw the blue bag, he immediately said, "I don't think I'm going to like this.  I like the mild menthol flavor of the original."

That packaging really makes the Extra Strength Menthol point.  And the candy is not Ricola's characteristic brown color.  This did not bode well.

But the Hosh is nothing if not an adventurer.  He was willing to try anyway.

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Birchbox, Sample Society and IPSY Bag Review

Ipsy Bag - December

Last Christmas, I gave the gift of Birchbox and Sample Society to my cousins and an Ipsy subscription for myself.  We were all very excited.

Then, as the items started to arrive, I found myself extremely happy with my Ipsy bag while being somewhat embarassed about the less than stellar offerings from Birchbox and Sample Society.

Let me explain.

Birchbox - $10/month.

Birchbox offers a combination of high end and low end products, mainly samples of high end products and full size items of lower end products. And the samples are usually of the in a paper package that could be in a magazine fold variety. 

Sample products include face masks, chapstick, glosses, skin toner, etc.

Unfortunately, the Birchbox often comes with more samples than full size products making the box seem more like a goodie bag you can get for free during a fruitful trip through the beauty aisle at the local department store.  Not something I would like to give as a gift.

Subscribers can expect a value of about 1-3 times the cost of the box.  

Ipsy Bag - November

Sample Society - $15/month.

Sample Society offers a mix of high end to mid size sample products.  The sample packaging is a step up from Birchbox's in that more of their products come in smaller versions of their full size bottles.  The products, however, are not as well matched.  They might send something pigmented that doesn't match the end user's skin tone. 

The resulting gift is ok as a gift.  It's a combination of products that seems a little higher end that Birchbox's offerings but aren't always as usable. Each month is curated with a theme. So one month might be skincare and another month Fall Favorites.

Subscribers can expect a value of 2-9 times the cost of each bag.

Ipsy - $11/month

Every  month, I am more and more thrilled with the Ipsy bag offerings.  Not only do the products come in an adorable cosmetics bag every month (which I usually pass on to my little sister or use to hold gift cards), most of the products are full sized! I rarely get an item that's in a paper sample pack.

The bag contains a mix of middle and lower end products but they're typically very usable.  For instance, in my never ending quest for the best mascara, I've been able to try 3 different types.  Currently, I really like em. by Michelle Phan (who is also a partner at Ipsy).

A particular plus of Ipsy is that it often comes with nail polish so I get to try brands I colors I might not usually even give a second thought.

Subscribers can expect to get a value of 2-5 times the cost of each bag most reliably on the 5 times end.

My favorite box is Ipsy followed by Sample Society and then Birchbox.

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DIY Chevron Chinese Zodiac Nursery Decor

When we were designing the nursery, I wanted a grey chevron striped wall to which the Hosh said "I'm not doing that." Normally, I would have said, well I'll do it myself but I was pregnant and you know how that goes.

I remembered that I had a roll of chevron wrapping paper from TPT Home (great store if you're ever in Costa Mesa, CA) and decided instead, I would make my own chevron artwork with a nod to my Chinese roots.

The color theme in our nursery is red, yellow, green and grey chevron stripes.  Here's my mood board: Unisex Nursery Decor.  I decided that adding wall decor with the Chinese zodiac animals of Baby Buckshot's grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles would be a nice way to incorporate family into the space.

Here's a rundown of the process, if it weren't already obvious from the pictures.



Supplies:

A NYTTJA frame from IKEA. (They are plastic fronted instead of glass making them better in a nursery.)

A sheet of chevron striped paper large enough to fit the frame. (Available here.)


A sheet of paper in the color of choice.

A print out of the animal or shape of choice. (Here is a website to look up Chinese zodiac signs. Google images is full of usable art.)

Resticking Adhesive. (This is useful so for reusing the frames for another purpose as baby grows up.)

Scissors



Directions:

1. Adhere the print out of the animal or shape to the colored sheet of paper.

2. Cut the image out of the two sheets of paper that are glued together.

3. Use the cardboard backing of the picture frame to cut the chevron paper to size.

4. Adhere the cut chevron paper to the cardboard backing of the frame.

5. Adhere the cut image to the center of the chevron covered backing of the frame.

6. Place the backing back on the frame.

7. Place on the wall.

This definitely looks better as a triptych.  We have two sets of these with 6 different animals represented.

Baby Buckshot loves these pictures as they are sitting above the feeding area and changing table in the nursery.  They were the first thing on the walls of the house that he was obviously focusing on. Now, he even looks at them, smiles and laughs.


But even better, BB's grandparents and aunts loved that they were represented in his room.

It's like having them look over him and that makes me feel good too. 

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Solvang in November

Ranch and Reata Roadhouse

DH and I go to Solvang a few times a year because his mom and stepdad have a part time residence in the area. Usually, we hang out at the house, go for a walk in the neighborhood and watch the deer as they stroll through the backyard.  Maybe stop at a cute store or restaurant they've found and just enjoy life. 

This past weekend, we were lucky enough to be in town during the Santa Ynez Vaquero Days and Sherry Musgrove's Holiday boutique. We also found a cute little wine lounge called Viking Garden Cellars.

Santa Ynez, CA

Ranch & Reata Roadhouse
3569 Sagunto St.
Santa Ynez, CA 93460
(805) 691-9663

This adorable little restaurant was home to the first full service restaurant the Hosh (DH, a new nickname I'm trying out) and I have been to since Baby Buckshot was born. They were pretty busy because of the Vaquero Show but they got the food out pretty quickly.  The restaurant was loud enough that a crying baby that was quickly removed from the dining room wouldn't bother too many people.

The restaurant is updated Western, obviously made for the nightlife.  There's a stage setup for musical performances.  I was also told that a radio show used to be broadcasted out of a recording room in the corner of the space. 

Gorgeous Tiled and Hided Ceiling at R&R

Our table ordered pulled pork nachos, burgers and I had a Wyoming elk burger.  It is the only restaurant I've ever been to that perfectly cooked elk so that it was better than beef!  The nachos were big enough for 3 people and the pulled pork was delicious. They also make a mean truffled french fry with Figueroa Danish Red on the draft menu.  


Santa Ynez Vaquero Days
3596 Sagunto St.
Santa Ynez, CA 93460
(805) 688-7889

We didn't actually see the Vaquero show but I felt the need to mention it because it's a big deal in Santa Ynez which is basically set up to look like a Western town.  

Thanksgiving Goods at the Holiday Boutique

It lasts the whole weekend and includes a sale of cowboy goods, a Gala dinner with live auction to raise funds for the Historical Museum, lots of demonstrations and live musical entertainment. They've been presenting Vaquero Days for 29 years! 

The perfect weekend for cowboy fanatics. 


Sherry Musgrove's Holiday Boutique

3992 Roblar Ave. 
Santa Ynez, CA 93460

Christmas Goodies at Sherry's

This Holiday is one of the main reasons we came to Solvang this weekend.  Located in Santa Ynez, Sherry Musgrove opens her home to the public to showcase handmade crafts, culinary delights, ranch style wares and a variety of Thanksgiving and Holiday crafts.  Some items are made by Sherry herself, while other items are made by local crafters and vendors.

The real star of the show is Sherry Musgrove's amazing house.  It's what you would imagine Walt Disney creating if he wanted a California Ranch Home.  From the adobe clay style kitchen made for entertaining to the native California themed architecture, this property is simply amazing.

We picked up a boot spur door knocker for the Hosh's parents and had some delicious homemade gingersnaps.  Great pricing for a craft fair.

Viking Garden Cellars (VGC)

Viking Garden Cellars

448 Alisal Rd.Ste E
Solvang, CA 93463
(805) 688-2670

The Hosh and I passed at sign on the way from Vinhus to our car that said "Wine Lounge" in front of a path that led to a well hidden storefront.   High off the first outing sans Baby Buckshot since his birth, I said "Let's stop in and see if we can pick up some Christmas gifts."

This space is fairly large with indoor and outdoor seating.  The bar has both beer and wine offerings.  It's important to note that they flush their beer lines regularly, something most bars and restaurants do not do, according to Brad the resident Wine Guy.  The Hosh had a red wine flight while I ordered a pint of the Figueroa Danish Red.  I keep mentioning this beer because it is SO good. I had it for the first time at Ranch & Reata and couldn't pass it up when I saw it at VGC.  Review is coming.

Beer List includes Figueroa Danish Red

They work in collaboration with local restaurants to do beer paired dinners.  They host local entertainment nights that include BBQ dinners.  Seemingly part of the local night scene which was previously on the quiet side.

The wine flights are $12, a deal comparable to the tasting rooms along the same street.  The highlight was a 2009 Prodigal Close Pepe Pinot Noir at the phenomenal bottle price. Christmas gifts were purchased.

Brad, the eccentric barkeep, was also extremely entertaining and has an obvious love of the crushed grape.  This place is a great laid back lounge spot with a more modern feel amongst a street of more stuffy and traditional taste-and-go wine rooms.

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#ItsChristmas Baker’s Edition: Kitchenaid Mixer Giveaway

Teri over at Mom to Bed by 8 has opened her Kitchenaid Mixer Giveaway. Now you can have a Duncan of your very own.  Details below:

It’s Christmas Baker’s Edition Giveaway Event

Organized by: Mom Powered Media. Co-hosted by: Shannon’s View from Here, My Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Life, Joans 5 Star Reviews, Sweetphi, Mommy Kat and Kids and Naturally Frugalicious.

The tilt-head feature and generous 4-1/2-quart capacity make the KitchenAid Stand Mixer the ultimate in user-friendly design. Features 10 speeds and KitchenAid’s unique planetary mixing action, driven by a powerful 275-watt motor. Rugged all-metal construction ensures long life and quiet operation, and rubber feet anchor it securely while in use. This mixer has a 4-1/2-quart stainless steel bowl.

KitchenAid Classic Plus Tilt-Head 4-1/2-Quart Stand Mixer features:

275-watt 10-speed stand mixer with 4-1/2-quart stainless-steel bowl
Locking tilt-head design; 8-cup flour power; rugged all-metal construction; rubber feet
Multipurpose attachment hub accommodates all KitchenAid stand-mixer attachments
Includes flat beater, wire whip, and dough hook
Measures approximately 14 by 8-2/3 by 13-8/9 inches; 1-year warranty

MPM Network Bloggers are gearing up for an amazing holiday season. Make sure you stop by and checkout all the tasty recipes below. Surely you will find something that makes your holiday even yummier!

To enter, go to http://www.momtobedby8.com/kitchenaid-mixer-giveaway/

Good luck ya'll!

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2009 Clos Pepe Vineyard Prodigal Pinot Noir

Did you ever watch the movie Sideways?  One of the women describes how she enjoys wine by thinking about what was happening when the wine was made from the picking of the grapes to the lives of the people making it.

Me?  When I find a wine I love, I remember the first place I had it.  In the case of this 2009 Clos Pepe Vineyard Prodigal Pinot Noir, I was on the first outing with my husband, sans baby, since we became parents.  It was meant to be a quick trip to Vinhus, my favorite cheese shop in Solvang where we were weekending a few days ago with our family, that turned into a short tasting at a nearby wine lounge with a decidedly date like feel.  I felt like myself again!

But if you are interested in what was happening when this particular bottle was made, Wes Hagen the winemaker, actually made a blog post about it on Winemaker.  It includes a recipe for Pinot Noir the Clos Pepe way.

"Growing perfect pinot noir is the real challenge, and then the focus in the winery is to allow that perfect fruit to express itself." -- Wes Hagan  

On to the tasting notes!  This Pinot has a ripe strawberry, cherry and honey nose, the embodiment of the Central Coast farmland, with perfectly balanced spice and acidity with just the right amount of complexity and silky texture to make this infinitely drinkable.  We liked it so much we bought 4 bottles to gift to the enophiles in our lives.

The Prodigal line of wines, interestingly, is dedicated to making amazing Pinot Noirs.  In fact, the slogan is "a wine fifty years in the making." Prodigal is named for the prodigal son, Stephen Russell, who studied Enology in the 60s only to leave the industry to pursue cancer research and return in 2001 to found Quinta Santa Rosa Vineyard and Prodigal Wines where he pursued his love of Pinot from the vines to the barrel.

The wine lounge serving this flight, Viking Garden Cellars, put the Prodigal up front in the tasting which could be either dumb or brilliant.  Dumb because all the other offerings in the flight paled in comparison.  Brilliant because a tipsy palate would likely not be able to appreciate the perfect little nuances of this fantastic Pinot Noir.

Bottles can be purchased at Viking Garden Cellars in Solvang, CA or Inside The Cellar in Santa Fe Springs, CA. 

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Christmas KitchenAid Mixer Giveaway

There are few things I love in my kitchen more than my KitchenAid Mixer.  I use it all the time!  I named him Duncan. After Duncan McCloud of the clan McCloud (what's up Highlander fans!), not Duncan Hines. I can see how that would be confusing. 

Here's a chance for you to either win or giveaway a KitchenAid Mixer of your very own. 

It’s Christmas Baker’s Edition Event

Organized by: Mom Powered Media

Grand Prize: KitchenAid Tilt-head Stand Mixer + accessories

Event dates: 11/18 - 12/9

Open to US + Canada

Referral prize: $25 Amazon E-Code or Paypal Cash

Bloggers: Sign Up HERE

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Restaurant Review: Thailicious in Artesia, CA

Fried Wontons - $4.95

Among the many things that changed in our lives when Baby Buckshot came into our lives was our eating habits.  Gone are those leisurely meals in those places called restaurants.

On our way back from a trip to Solvang, we were thinking about stopping in at a Ramen place with baby in tow.  By the time we were done with the 3 hour drive, we decided on delivery.

Sadly, there are only 3 kinds of foods that get delivered in Cerritos: Pizza, Thai and Mediterranean.  Since I was craving Asian flavors after a Danish weekend, we picked Thai.  I headed to the Yelp app where there's a new feature just in time for our new dine-at-home lifestyle: Eat24 and Yelp allow users to place orders directly from the Yelp app.

Thai Boat Noodles (sm) - $3.95

Thailicious was the closest restaurant that delivered using the Eat24 system and before we even got home, we had perused the whole menu, ordered and paid (including tip) all through the app!  I cannot express how excited I am about this convenience.  But if you've ever tried to order something over the phone with a screaming baby in the background, I think you can relate.

Anyway, we ordered Fried Wontons, a small order of Tom Kha Gai, Pad Thai, Boat Noodles, Red Curry and got 2 cups of Thai Iced Tea for free!

The Fried Wontons were perfectly fried and filled with a little bit of pork.  They were ok on their own but phenomenal with the sweet and spicy dipping sauce.

Thai Iced Tea - Free!

The Tom Kha Gai was the best I had ever had.  A good balance of creamy coconut milk, spice and sour flavors.  The fragrant lemongrass and galangal was just perfect.  There were also lots of chicken and mushroom bits, which I like. Hubs, who doesn't like mushrooms, said it was the best dish we ordered.

The Pad Thai was well packaged separating the bean sprouts and carrot shreds so that they could be mixed immediately before eaten keeping that fresh veggie crunch.  I'm not a huge fan of Pad Thai but the flavors were well balanced and Hubs really loved it.  He ate the whole order even after having some of everything else we ordered.

Pad Thai

Now, I'm a big fan of Boat Noodles but have only had one place do it well.  I'm constantly on the search for a good Boat Noodle restaurant and unfortunately, Thailicious doesn't deliver in this area.  They offer a small size of the dish which is ridiculously cheap at $3.95 but it just didn't hit the spot despite having all the right offal meats.  For the record, they did have the liver, tripe and I believe tendon.  This dish paled in comparison to the Tom Kha Gai.  No lie.

Tom Kha Gai - $7.95

The Red Curry was also phenomenal.  Full of bamboo shoots and chicken with a perfect red curry sauce.  Oddly, their rice had a weird texture.  It was on the soggy side and resulted in a lot of the grains sticking together instead of maintaining their individual grains.  It detracted from an otherwise perfect curry.

The Thai iced tea was also very good good and obviously made fresh.  I've been to Thai restaurants that use the bottles, which is really confusing to me because if there's one thing a Thai restaurant should be able to make, shouldn't it be the tea?

Red Curry - $7.95

The delivery was extremely quick, about 30 minutes, though they say the delivery could take 45-60 minutes to arrive. The delivery guy was also very nice.

Thailicious ranks among the top 2 Thai restaurants in the area, only topped by Sweetee Thai who doesn't offer Eat24 Yelp app ordering.

Thalicious

Address: 18902 Norwalk Blvd, Artesia, CA 90701

Phone:(562) 860-8843

Hours:

 

Monday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday	11:00 am – 9:00 pm

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Disney's California Adventure: Ghiradelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop and Corndog Castle

Somehow, every time I plan on going to Disneyland, I end up going to Disney's California Adventure instead.  DCA doesn't have the same magical ambiance or soul soothing nostalgia that Disneyland does but it does have cocktails, wine, hotlink corn dogs and now, a Ghiradelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop.

If you haven't been to DCA in the past year, you are missing an amazing renovation that converted the previous ho-hum entrance to a time machine directly to Burbank in the 1920s. The recreation of Buena Vista street is done in a Spanish Colonial Revival style that does actually does evoke a sense of Disney history previously lacking from the former named Sunshine Plaza.

But my focus during this DCA trip was to enjoy a treat from Ghiradelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop and a hotlink corn dog at Corndog Castle.  I'm pregnant, don't judge me.


Ghiradelli Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop

Now, I've been to Ghiradelli shops twice in my life.  Once in San Francisco and once in Las Vegas.  In neither place was I given a free sample of Ghiradelli just for entering the store so I automatically put this Anaheim based shop at the top of Ghiradelli establishments.

Can I just say that this is also a great upgrade from the original Mission Tortilla Factory that occupied this space.  Chocolate sample > Tortilla sample, in my opinion.  Even if you got a full free package of tortillas on your birthday, I still think Ghiradelli is superior and more San Francisco Wharf appropriate.

The menu at this little shop consists mainly of various sundaes, malts, shakes, floats, chocolate baked goods, chocolate treats, chocolate drinks and specialty coffees.

I was hoping that there would be chocolate sodas, egg creams and other old school soda fountain beverages as the name would imply they had, but no.  At least, not on the menu I read.

I settled on a Lemon Fizz (lemon sorbet, club soda and sliced strawberries) which is basically a strawberry lemonade slurpee.  DH picked out the Sea Salt Caramel Banana Shake, a superior drink to my own choice, and enjoyed every second of it.

While we were in line, the man behind us told his children, "This is an occasional thing.  That's why it's called a treat.  And not like that Dairy Queen crap." If it didn't reek so much of a spiteful tirade against a possible ex wife squabble I would say, "Exactly."

No offense Dairy Queen. 

It seemed like the hot item at the shop was actually the sundaes, especially since they looked like cups of ice creamy joy, but I just had Coldstone's a couple of nights before and wasn't in the mood ice cream overload.

I'm pregnant, not cruising for diabetes.  Though I don't know that the Lemon Fizz was a better anti-diabetes choice in the end.




Corn Dog Castle

DCA underwent a massive remodel around the World of Color area over the past few years adding things like the Little Mermaid ride and a new plaza for food. During that remodel, I tried multiple times to come to DCA for a hotlink corn dog only to be disappointed because it was closed during construction.  I was devastated by the idea that Corn Dog Castle might be no more. 

Because honestly, who cares about a stupid mermaid who would give up her greatest strength, her voice, for a chance at some guy she had never actually met before.  How would that be more important than a corn dog with a hot link in the center instead of a boring old beef frank? 

Lucky for me and for the Disney planners, Corn Dog Castle reopened with the same great joy on a stick.

The regular corn dog is just as good as the ones you can find on Disneyland's Main Street at the Red Wagon.  Even the Cheddar Cheese stick is quite good since it's both bigger and tastier than anything offered at Hot Dog on a Stick.  But the real star of the show, to which many of my Instagram friends confirm, is the hotlink option.  I don't know of anywhere else that makes this culinary wonder.

Every corn dog is offered with a bag of Lay's potato chips or a bag of apple slices. Personally, I assuage my deep fried guilt with the apples.  I don't usually eat the apples by the time I'm full of corn dog but at least I didn't eat the oily potato chips right?

If you've never had one of these, please don't judge them by their appearance or by their non-Disney counterparts.  This is a taste sensation that is unrivaled.

Grab 3-4 packets of mustard (avoid the ketchup), douse liberally and enjoy every sinful bite.

I dropped my last bite of corn dog on the floor and I can't tell you how sad faced it made me.  Like a kid who dropped an entire ice cream cone round side down on the dirtiest of concrete.

But here's a picture of my first bite in all it's beautifully lumpy glory.

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A Fig, a Pig and a Moo

Growing up having only had figs in Newton form, and not being particularly fond of any kind of Newton, I was pleasantly surprised when I had fresh figs for the first time.  They were not too sweet with pretty speckled insides and a tender but not mushy texture.  Why are they not served like this all the time?  What is this crazy Newton business?

As a cheese lover, there's just no fruit that goes quite as well with different types of cheese as figs. (That's right grapes, you heard me.)

My go to potluck offering is always some kind of cheese and fruit plate but this time, for a multiple summer birthday dinner party, I thought I'd switch it up and actually assemble an appetizer.

My friends affectionately named this A Fig, a Pig and a Moo.  As brilliant as my friends are, this is a play off a named flatbread pizza at a restaurant in Huntington Beach called A Fig and a Pig, using figs and prosciutto, mozarella and wild rocket.

So, much as I'd like to take credit for the flavor sensation that is figs and prosciutto, it seems this combination is a no brainer.  I will take full credit for the addition of Danish blue cheese though.

This is a perfect appetizer for the summer as it doesn't require any actual cooking.  If I were a more ambitious woman, I would have grilled the figs first to carmelize the sugar.  Or wrapped the blue cheese on top of the fig and popped the whole thing in the broiler until the prosciutto was crispy and the blue cheese was melted.  Or I could have made a blue cheese spread to put on toast points and top with prosciutto and a slice of figs.

I did none of these things.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh black figs
4 oz prosciutto in the flat package
4 oz Danish blue cheese

Directions:
1. Rinse, dry and trim the stems off the figs.

2. Slice the figs in half. Slice the stack of prosciutto into 3 strips. Separate the strips. Cut the blue cheese into 1/8 oz pieces

4. Wrap a fig half with one strip of prosciutto.  Repeat until all the figs are wrapped.

5. Top each prosciutto wrapped fig with a piece of blue cheese.

6. Optional: Place under broiler until blue cheese is melted.

7. Serve to friends and listen to all the comments about how wonderful the combination of flavors are and how it hits every part of the palate in a deeply satisfying way.

Or just enjoy with a glass of wine.

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Daily Makeup Routine

I've found that when I start getting lazy about doing my makeup, buying a new product to spice up the routine reinvigorates my energy to get dolled up everyday.  Not that you can call my minimalist routine dolled up. More like, bare basics flaw hiding.

Aside from my Ipsy subscription, I don't get new cosmetics very often, nor am I very product loyal.  There's always something new coming out!  When I buy a product, however, as long as it's acceptable, I tend to use it until the end before switching to something new. I just relish in the joy of when something I don't absolutely love runs out.

Currently, here are my daily use products and what I think of them:

Lancome Star Bronzer.  I went to ULTA and asked what kind of powder would be good with my sensitive skin for contouring.  This was the suggestion and I love how long wearing and natural it looks on the skin.  And after a couple of weeks of daily use, no skin irritation problems! $35.

Too Faced Lash Injection.   My eyes are easily irritated by mascara lately, probably because the pregnancy is causing dry eye issues. As a result, I'm not using mascara very much and I can't tell if the eye irritation is actually from the pregnancy or from the mascara.  $21.

Benefit Coralista Blush.  My friend invited me to a Benefit event years ago where we experienced free Benefit Beauty Bar treatments.  I picked up this blush because of the pretty color and nice scent.  The powder has lasted me over 2 years of near daily use!  I have a Michael Mina blush to replace this with when the last of it runs out in the next day or so but I think I might end up going to pick up a new container of Coralista instead. $21.

Garnier BB Cream. When BBs first came out, Garnier had the best reviews and at such a great price, I picked up a tube immediately.  Though I like the light coverage and that it's easier on the skin than foundation or even light powder, I don't love the finish as much now as when I first started using it.  I guess you get what you pay for because I'll be trying out some CC creams when this tube runs out. $12.99.

Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist.  I received this as an Ipsy sample just as my Murad toner ran out. It is fine as a toner but the smell leaves a little to be desired.  I'll be switching from this to Clinique Clarifying Lotion this week because I like witch hazel. $22.

Elta MD UV Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 45. After the Cetaphil moisturizer and sunscreen  ran out, I looked for paraben free sunscreen that would be lightweight, moisturizing, oil free and play well with make-up.  This sunscreen is highly reviewed and meets all the requirements.  So far, it's been great.  Sadly, my puppy got a hold of the tube and squeezed some out (without eating any of it) so I can't tell if this is truly a good value in terms of quantity per cost.  $27.

Benefit Moonbeam Complexion Enhancer.  This Benefit highlighter is the warm skin tone version of their ever popular Highbeam highlighter.  It gives everything it touches a warm, eye catching glow that isn't at all glittery.  This is one of my must haves that I will rebuy after it runs out. $26.

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner.  This eyeliner has the sharpness of a liquid eyeliner with the forgiving nature of a power or pencil eyeliner.  I absolutely love how easily it goes on and how long it lasts.  I don't know if it's the nature of gel liners or just this brand but I am a gel liner convert.   $9.99.

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