I really enjoy preparing salads that will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.  This Santa Fe Salad is perfect for exactly that, it will stay fresh for 2-3 days.  I love to top chili with this recipe or scrambled eggs, tacos or it is yummy as a side.   I find that 1 tsp. of cumin is not enough flavour so I add about 1/2 tsp. more for a little kick.   Enjoy!

Santa Fe Salad

Cilantro Lime Dressing 
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 2 limes
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp. cumin 
salt and pepper


Salad
19 oz can black beans, rinsed, drained
1 red bell pepper, diced
12 oz can kernel corn, drained ( I use frozen, thawed, rinsed)
1/3 cup chopped red onion
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded,minced


In a medium bow whisk together oil and lime juice.  Add cilantro, cumin, salt and pepper and mix well.  Stir in salad ingredients and seasonings.  Serve at room temp.  Serves 6.


recipe source:  The Best Of Bridge

Faith's 12th Candy Birthday Party

Kernels popcorn, Superkid!  The popcorn containers are from Home Outfitters and looked adorable at each place setting.

This candy cake was so much fun to make and I think it looks so sweet!  I bought a round cake at Co-op, several packages of Kit Kat chocolate bars, and a large bag of M & Ms.  All you need to do to create this cute cake is to break the Kit Kat bars into twos and gently press them into the icing on the side of the cake.  My cake took 9.5 Kit Kat bars to cover the whole cake.   Then carefully pour the whole bag of M & Ms to fill the top of the cake up to the sides of the candy bars.  If you like you can wrap a sweet ribbon around the candy bars and tie it into a big bow in the front. That is it your cake is decorated.

I found this pink mesh in a roll at the $ store for $2.00 so I thought what a perfect table runner!  The tissue flowers are from the Martha Stewart's party line.

I also ran around the house and found every clear glass vase or container that I owned to display all of the candy assortments. I arranged the vases down the center of the table and  keep the vases on the pink runner.  In the end the table looked bright and along the theme of  Dylan's Candy Bar.

Faith and I had so much fun setting up the nail station.  I bought the Girls lots of nail polish in both bold and light colors, it is a good idea to have soft colors for the girls that don't wear the bright colors.  I put a ton of cotton pads, nails files and nail stickers in a bowl so that every girl had their own to use.  At Walmart I picked up a couple of hand and nail lotions and a nail air dryer for $14.00 which was the hit of the night!!!

Loads of magazines, the girls just loved the Teen Prom magazine!  I found Style Me Up!  craft kits at Walmart to make key necklaces, Sweet Key Charms and washable sparkle tattoos, Butterfly Kiss.  The nice thing about these kits were they had eveything in them!  The key necklaces were the favourites, every girl made one and proudly wore it all night.  

The girls had so much fun with the Wii Just Dance 2 and Karaoke Revolution.

Be prepared for your home to smell like a nail salon and have lots of nail polish remover and Q-tips.  I found that because the girls don't paint their nails very often they needed to use the Q-tips to remove the polish from their skin, especially when using their left hand.

To give the snacks and dinner a restaurant feel I went to the $ Store and bought some plastic pop jugs so that the girls could help themselves with refills and metal pizza pans to put the pizza slices on.  I also found curly and colorful tooth picks to top the fruit and veggie platters. 

I wanted to create loots bags that were kind of grown up so I  got each girl a $5.00 Starbucks card and made each girl a cup cozy.  Oh course I added candy too.   I did not want to be left with all the leftover candy from the table so at the end of the birthday I filled candy boxes for each girl and gave these along side the loot bags.

Super Spoiled and lovin it!!!!

twelve

"A daughter is a miracle that never ceases to be miraculous... full of beauty and forever beautiful... loving and caring and truly amazing." - - Deanna Beisser

 I seems like yesterday that you were born, not twelve years ago!  You were born at 2:44 am, 7 lbs, 6 oz, 19 inches long and now look at you.   You have grown as tall as Mom, your feet are a size 7, you can work a computer device better than Dad and I, you have a dog walking business, you play the piano, you love ballet, you have grades that make us so proud, and best of all you are the most thoughtful Girl we know.  

"A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart." --Author Unknown

Happy Birthday Faith, we love you.

Happy Valentine's Day xoxo

"Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart, and the joy in a heart." 

Author Unknown

Special Delivery!

Homemade Magic Cookie Squares for the people in our lives we cherish. 

i heart valentine's day xoxo

Magic Cookie Squares

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups graham wafer crumbs

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup chocolate chunks

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

1 cup flaked coconut

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9x13 inch baking pan melt butter in oven.  Sprinkle crumbs over butter; mix together and press into pan.  Pour condensed milk evenly over crumbs.  Sprinkle with chips, then coconut and nuts; press down firmly.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool well before cutting.  

Makes 24 squares.

Crushing on American Girl 

Faith with her doll Julie Albright, the 70's Girl

Grace with her doll Lanie Holland, 2010 Girl of the year 

Lanie getting ready for Yoga class

Julie getting ready to roller skate

They even make Heelys!

FRESH FARM EGGS

This is such an easy way to make hardboiled eggs that are perfect everytime. You will never have an egg with a dark yolk again!

How to boil an egg

1. Place eggs in a sauce pan cover with cold water.
2. Bring to a rapid boil.  Immediately place the lid on the pan.
3. Leave the pan on the burner, but turn the burner off.  Let set for 15 minutes.
4. Drain off hot water.  Cover cooked eggs again with cold water.  Let set 2 minutes.
5. Drain off cold water.  Leaving eggs in the pan, shake pan back and forth several times, so that the eggs bump up against each other and crack.  The shell should slide off easily now.  Rinse under cool water and store in a covered container or plastic bag until use.  Use within 3 days.

recipe source:  Just a Matter Of Thyme, Among Friends Collection

So when you have 180 fresh farm eggs make scrambled eggs, sunny-side up, poached, deviled eggs, egg salad, omelettes, frittatas, souffles, quiche...

The perfect after school snack! Easy too!

Pumpkin Loaf

3 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking soda, 1 tsp. salt, 3 tsp. cinnamon,

 2 cups pumpkins, canned, 2 cups white sugar

4 eggs, 1 1/4 cups oil

Mix dry ingredients in bowl.  Make a well in centre. 

 Add the remaining ingredients and stir just enough to mix.  

( I use my handy dandy  mixmaster to make the job quick and everything goes into the dishwasher)

Pour into two 9" x 5" loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Your kiddos will love you and your house will smell amazing too!

recipe source:  ENJOY!  The Best of Bridge