Christmas Candy - Orange Sticks

These went over pretty well. They are really simple and pretty impressive. Cut off the ends and score the peel of the oranges so that the peels come off in sort of quarter sized chunks. Slice them up into matchsticks. Boil in water for 3 minutes, drain, rinse, repeat for a total of 3 boil sessions. Then boil peels in simple syrup (1 part water to 1 part sugar) for 1 hour. Drain and let cool. Dip in melted bittersweet chocolate chips (I threw in a bit of butter to ensure a shiny finish) and there you have it...homemade orange sticks. Enjoy!

In the Christmas Spirit!

A browse through target.com and this DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte got me totally in the holiday spirit...even though it's only November 12th! I need to find some room for these cute little trees and one of these and one of these cozy homeade feeling stockings! The bf isn't big on Christmas decorating since we both spend the time right around the holidays at our parents' houses, but this might be the year I force the Christmas spirit upon him!


and a recap from my birthday!

He also made this delicious pizza

and bought some wonderful gluten free (more on that later) cupcakes (470 calories a piece!) from Whole Foods, and tonight I polished off the last one!

Also working on some blog updates that I hope to be excited to share...there was one final birthday surprise!