It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of year; the trees, lights, music, snow, and movies.  This year is a little different since my parents moved away and it's Mike's and my first Christmas living together.  My Christmas spirit has been lacking this year, mostly because of my mom not being here this year, so I've been trying very hard to give it the push it needs to really enjoy the holidays this year.  

While baking, decorating and wrapping presents are always sure-fire ways to submerse myself into the Holiday ho-ho-ho's, nothing tends to get me in the spirit more than watching Christmas movies!  It's the only time I watch a movie, outside of a movie theater, where I just sit back and watch.  I don't go on Pinterest, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN, or do anything else while I watch, I simply sit there and enjoy. 

I thought I would share with you my favorite Christmas movies that always have at least one, if not two showings in our living room!

#1:

Laugh if you will, but this movie is one of the funniest and sweetest Christmas movies ever!  Mix the wacky comedy of Vince Vaugh, the star power of Kevin Spacey and Paul Giamatti and a great score and you've got a hit!  My favorite part?  When everyone gathers around the big globe to watch the children open presents on Christmas morning, tears well up every time I watch it.

#2:

I don't think a Christmas movie list is complete without this addition.  I sincerely don't understand how this movie was considered a failure when it first came out!  I have a small bell with angel wings on the tree with the quote "Every time a bell rings, a faithful angel gets his wings."  Who doesn't love hearing the twinkling of a bell during the holidays?  My favorite part of this epic classic?  When George Bailey is talking about lassoing the moon for his sweetheart. 

#3:

This is such a sweet and understated movie and the fact that it is one of my favorites is saying something because I usually don't care for Cameron Diaz or Jack Black...and Jude Law is often in really strange roles ("A.I. Artificial Intelligence" anyone???).  But the stories in this movie are so sweet and the characters so real and sincere.  Okay, so it's not the most Christmas-driven story ever, but it has the holiday spirit at heart, and thus makes it one of my favorites!  My favorite part?  When Jack Black's characters asks if Kate Winslet's characters has plans for New Years, so sweet!

#4:

And my absolute favorite holiday movie ever..."Love Actually."  This movie has so much going for it, I can't get enough of it!  It has so many elements that it feels as though it is several different movies in one!  It's witty, sincere, hilarious, a little blue, sad, and realistic.  And the cast is what I would imagine any film maker would call a "dream" cast.  There are too many favorite moments to put down, but a couple are, when Hugh Grants dances down the staircase, when Keira Knightley's new husband's best friend stands outside of her door, silently admitting his feelings, when Colin Farrel and his housekeeper are having their multiple bilingual conversations....Argh, there's too many to choose from!!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

I Love Paninis!!

Four months ago, the only panini I had ever eaten came out of a box from the frozen foods section of Wal Mart...and that experience was a one-time thing.  Then, in August, Mike and I were walking through Aldis (if you have one of these in your town and had never visited one, you must do so immediately!) and we saw a panini maker on sale for $12.99.  We were looking for a present for his mom and this jumped out immediately.  We bought one for her and with a prodding from me, Mike agreed to buy one for us.  I know it was $12.99 and that doesn't usually add up to a fantastic piece of merchandise, but this was the best $13 we have ever spent!

We make paninis at least once a week, if not more and every time we do, before we eat, I think, "this is the day this is going to suck..." and I am proved wrong every time!  

I mean, doesn't THIS look delicious?

 

Our paninis are pretty standard, I have yet to make anything beyond sandwich meat, cheese and mayo, but the way they are put together, and the ingredients used makes this my favorite sandwich ever!

These are the ingredients I start out with:

 

I usually use regular wheat bread, however today before work I put together a batch of white bread in the bread machine and I may never go back to store bought again!

First I spread each slice of bread with mustard for Mike and mayonnaise for myself.  He doesn't like mayo, I don't care for mustard!  On mine I also sprinkle basil onto the mayonnaise.  That is my secret weapon, lots of basil!!

 

Next comes the cheese.  We usually use a cheap brand of provolone, because it's yummy and melts really easy!  Then we found this provolone/mozzarella mixture by Sargento and we will never go back!  Tonight we ran out of the Sargento cheese so I tore a few slices of Colby.

 Then comes the meat!  I usually opt for thin sliced chicken or turkey, and Mike will do a mixture of salami and chicken or turkey.  

The other secret ingredient, aside from the basil mayo, is cooking spray.  I know it sounds weird, but it's an easy, calorie-free way to butter/grease the sides of the bread that go on to the panini maker.

 That's it!  Grill on the panini maker until your desired level of brown-ness!  I always like to grill on the bias so when I cut the sandwich it has those cool lines on it!  Eat and enjoy!

 

 

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak

I recently finished one of the most memorable and well written books I have ever read, and it was written for teens!

 I saw this book on one of the end caps of a Barnes and Noble shelves.  The label for all of the books on this end cap was "For Teens" and contained mostly books about vampires.  Then my eyes landed on this book at the bottom.  The tagline at the tops says "...It's the kind of book that can be LIFE CHANGING."  The New York Times has never been more accurate.  I finished this book and felt simultaneously fulfilled and empty.  The story: poignant; the writing: impeccable.  

The book follows the story of Liesel, a little orphan in Nazi Germany during World War II who is taken in by a husband and wife whose characteristics and personalities are portrayed so vividly it is as if these people could be in your family.  The little girl's life parallels with actual events in Germany that rip through her life and the lives of people around her including a precocious school friend, a reserved Mayor's wife and a Jew Liesel's caretakers take into hiding. 

The most amazing part of the book is not the intricate details, the beautiful descriptions or the addition of the most round characters I've ever had the pleasure of being introduced to, but rather that the entire story is narrated by....Death.  That's right, Death, in a personified form, narrates the story.  I don't think I can convey how beautiful and powerful this was.  In between telling the story of this poor little girl, he lets a bit of himself be accessible to the reader, revealing painful memories, witty recollections and somber perspectives of war and the human race.

This book was written for teens but anyone who enjoys literature would be smart to read a story that, as of right now, has been on the New York Time's Bestseller List for 230 consecutive weeks.

Breakfast yumminess!

I'm always trying to find new things to cook or bake, even if it's for breakfast.  Mike's palette is usually pretty simple, so I never like to drift too far out of his comfort zone, but I get sick of bowl after bowl of cereal or bacon and eggs (don't get me wrong though, bacon is one of life's gifts).  

So I was browsing Pinterest, an activity I do just about once or twice a day, and found a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast.  I was won over by one ingredient: cream cheese.  I believe that cream cheese makes everything better and whatever it is added to becomes something with much more depth and complexity.  

That all being said, this sandwich had five ingredients, bread (I prefer wheat to make myself believe I'm being healthier), cream cheese, confectioners sugar, blueberries, and butter.  That's it.  And it's a grilled cheese sandwich.  What person out there doesn't remember loving grilled cheese sandwiches when we were kids??!

I made one for myself one day and a few days later made a couple for Mike and I before I went to work.  He's not the biggest blue berry fan so I put raspberries in his as well.  In the end, he didn't jump up and down as I did when I first tried them, but I think he liked it so I count it as a win!!

I don't have actual measurements because it was really all by taste.  

Ingredients:
Bread
Confectioners Sugar
Cream Cheese
Blueberries
Butter or Margarine

Start with enough bread for as many sandwiches you are making.  In a small bowl mix enough cream cheese to generously spread on each slice of bread, with confectioners sugar.  I didn't want mine to be overwhelmingly sweet, so I added a bit of the sugar, mixed it, tasted it, and added a bit more to taste.  Butter one slice of bread and lay it in the pan.  Spread some of the cream cheese mixture on that slice of bread.  On the bread outside of the pan spread more of the cream cheese mixture (be sure not to butter that slice of bread yet as you'll need to hold onto the bread while spreading the cream cheese mixture.)  Sprinkle blueberries onto the bread in the pan (I put one layer, generously covering the slice of bread), and then top with the other piece of bread, cream cheese mix side down.  Now spread the top slice of bread with butter.  Grill to your preferred done-ness and enjoy!  

I couldn't wait to eat the sandwich and therefore forgot to take a picture!  So this picture is from the post I originally saw on Pinterest!

What I love about this sandwich is that you can add whatever ingredients you want, however much you want!