Good Monday to you! Wanna play a game? Well I wasn’t sure if you would so I thought I would write a little intro about today’s picture post. These are going to be the only words in the entire post. We spent yesterday dressing up the house for the holiday season keeping in mind that we are in an electricity challenge for the month of December. With that said – There are not many lights up but it still looks pretty good.

Have a peek!

Well there you have the house so far….. I assume we will be going to cut down the Christmas tree very soon so stay tuned for that. Have a super Monday and I will see you all on Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Monday to you!  I had somewhat of a busy weekend in getting the house set up, eating multiple family dinners for Christmas as well as opening presents.  All in all it was an awesome weekend.  Almost back to the grind but one more day off.  This week is going to be super busy but I think I am ready for it.  Upcoming I would like to do a zesty house post, some baking and try to catch up on all the blog consulting work I am so far behind on (so sorry for this).

Zesty Does a Campbell Soup Project

I was selected by the great folks at goodbite.com to do a video for Campbell’s soup.  I will share some more details when I have more to share but as far as I know I will be doing a video recipe using a flavor of campbell’s soup as the feature ingredient.  You will be able to vote again for my recipe and hopefully I win this time!

Holiday Celebration

Well as you know – I love to eat.  This year was another great year of eating at the Christmas celebrations.  I took a few good shots that I will share with you.

Turkey and all the trimmings

Killer Sweet Potatoes w/ Brown Sugar and Butter

Not a great picture but these creamy whipped potatoes were truly a star

I love Dressing

Turkey and all the trimmings - another angle

On the plate in addition to the pictures above were some nice parsnips, buttered carrots, a yummy homemade cranberry sauce and some mustard pickles.

As you can imagine, we spent most of the weekend with family and visiting.   In our free time we have been setting up the house and playing my new addiction – sudoku.

Do you love sudoku?  If so let me know.  If not, tell me that too.  Have an awesome Monday and I will talk to you tomorrow.  Leftovers are on tap for tonight.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

What a weekend! Talk about running around like a chicken with their head cut off – that was zesty this past weekend.  Oh my, baking, cooking, shopping, wrapping, playing, eating and entertaining.  I feel like I could sleep for a week but where’s the fun in that?

Contest Winner

Lets get the day started with our contest winner! After a very strong response to my giveaway post for a $100 Amazon Gift Card we officially have a winner.  Between the comments, email subs and link backs, there were 556 entries.  The random number generator popped out 486 which corresponds to:

Sheri L. (mplum1128)

I just want to say Congratulations to Sheri and thank you to everyone who participated. It was a lot of fun seeing all the comments and link back as well as new subscribers. Stay tuned for another giveaway in January.

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 lb. butter
• 1/2 c. cornstarch
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 cups Flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Beat all ingredients except flour until fluffy.
3. Add 3 cups flour.
4. Mix well and drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. ( After dropping them from a spoon, I just put some batter in a piping bag and pushed out the little pattern on top).
5. Bake for 15 minutes.



6. ENJOY!

Zesty’s Holiday Decorations

So I thought I would share with you some photos of the house decorated.  We just got the tree on Thursday night and decorated on Friday.  The tree is ok but not one of our best.  Oh well – as long as it stands up and looks decent .. no one will notice.  I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Cards and Ornament on the WIndow Sill

Snowman in the Corner counting down the days!

Snowman on the wall.... just hanging there

Garland and red beads wrapped around the Staircase

Zesty's Tree - unlit!

One of four stockings and another trinket

Oh Yes! Another stocking

Snowman Stocking! My Fav

More Garland in the Kitchen

More Garland in the Kitchen II

WOW, That was a lot of pictures. I hope everyone enjoyed the pictures and the shortbread. It’s a must try as they melt in your mouth. Have a great Monday and enjoy the holiday season.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Thursday is here and it is another airport day!  Thanks so much for the overwhelming response to the giveaway yesterday.  I hope to get 500 entries before the deadline of next Friday.  This is so much fun!

Now that the holiday season is upon us, I want to share a new recipe I tried last week for Candy Cane Eggnog.

This is a very simple recipe and it turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for – the familiar flavor of candy cane with the creaminess of eggnog.  Let me know what you think!

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 Cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Pint whole milk
• 1 Cup heavy cream
• 3 ounces bourbon
• 1/4 Cup crushed candy cane
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
• 1 Tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 4 egg whites

Method

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, over high heat, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg and bring just to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and gradually temper the hot mixture into the egg and sugar mixture. Then return everything to the pot and cook until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F .
3. Remove from the heat, stir in the bourbon, pour into a medium mixing bowl.
4. Crush some candy cane into small fine pieces and stir into mixture.
5. Set in the refrigerator to chill.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. With the mixer running gradually add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Whisk the egg whites into the chilled mixture.
7. Top with ground cinnamon and some whipped cream.
8. Enjoy!

Zesty Tip: When working with eggs, always make sure you are dealing with a fresh egg.  A quick way to check is this; A fresh egg should sink to the bottom of a bowl of salted water and lie at the bottom; a bad egg will float.

Let me know if you had time to create this eggnog and if you loved it!  I think it is a must try for the holidays.

As I leave you for today, I think everyone should check out this amazing post over at thinksimplenow.com.  This post will leave you nodding your head up and down.  For me it was so easy to relate to.  I just had to share it.  Great job Tina.

Have a Happy Thursday and I will be back home at midnight tonight.  Can’t wait!

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty