Halloween is Almost Here

In our house that means no tricks...

just lots of treats!

Happy soon to be Halloween from the Jansson Family!

Fall Scarf Swap Update

I recently participated in a fall scarf swap hosted by Miss Sweet Tea over at Sweet Tea Diaries. After entering, I was paired up with Dixie Gator Girl and the two of us started emailing to learn a little bit more about each other. (i.e. What color is your winter coat? Would you prefer a pattern or plain scarf?) I had so much fun shopping for someone else! (Here's to hoping that Dixie Gator Girl likes what I sent her.)

I received my scarf (beautifully wrapped and accompanied by a handwritten card - two things I didn't do - sorry!) this afternoon. It is just beautiful and will look lovely with my black, wool winter coat. As you can see (ignore the rest of my closet please), it's got various shades of purple - from a light mauve to deep eggplant. So pretty! A big thank you to Dixie Gator Girl for the scarf and to Miss Sweet Tea for her fun idea!

Friday: Food with Friends

Mr. Jansson has never really been a marinara man. Instead, he prefers alfredo - particularly fettuccine alfredo! Each year for his family birthday party, he asks his step-mom to make her delicious fettuccine alfredo. This year was no exception. I captured a photo and the recipe to share with you. 

The Food: Fettuccine Alfredo

The Friend: Lorene

Ingredients

8oz dried fettuccine (or 12oz fresh)
2 Tbs butter
3/4 cup heavy cream (or half & half)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Freshly ground nutmeg

Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

While the pasta is cooking, melt your butter in a large skillet. Add cream and 1/4 cup cheese. Simmer on very low heat for 4-5 minutes until sauce starts to thicken. Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet. Lift and stir to combine all ingredients and coat the pasta. Add the remaining cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

I hope you enjoy the recipe - our family sure does! A big thank you to Lorene for giving me this recipe and a big thank you from Mr. Jansson for making it year after year.

Mexico con Amigos

Hola! Mr. Jansson and I are back from our six night trip down to Cozumel, Mexico. This was my first trip to Mexico and Mr. Jansson's first trip to Cozumel. We stayed at an all inclusive resort, Fiesta Americana, with three other couple friends of ours.

View from our balcony on day 1 (while it was still nice and sunny)

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us (thanks to a tropical depression). We had 2 days of sunshine and 4 days of rain. The rain came down in sheets and was accompanied with lots of wind and lightning - not ideal beach weather.

Here comes the rain.....

That said, we did have some great times with some great friends. Here are a few pictures from a some of my favorite activities we did on our trip (lots of photos sorry)!

Mayan ruins at San Gervasio

On the scooter - we rode this around the island exploring.

In town having a few drinks before our shopping excursion 

The whole group at Margaritaville! 

Me giving Rachel the dolphin a kiss during our hour long dolphin swim.

Mr. Jansson being pulled through the water by Rachel.

We had a great time but I must say, I'm happy to be back home where the sun is shining! (Ironic since I live in Seattle, huh?) Later in the year, I'd love to take another trip, maybe a long weekend. I was thinking that New York City or San Francisco would be fun. Have any of y'all been to one of those locations? I'd love to know your thoughts!!!
Adios,

Sensational Salad

Mr. Jansson's aunt made an amazing salad for his birthday supper the other week. It was extremely delicious! After my first few bites, I knew that I was going to write this post and whipped out my camera phone and took this picture. 

Ingredients

Salad:

1 head bibb lettuce

1 head red leaf lettuce

1 cup watercress leaves

2 red delicious apples

3/4 cup glazed pecans, chopped

3/4 cup blue cheese, crumbles

Dressing:

1/2 cup walnut oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 TBS shallot, minced

2 TBS lemon juice

1 TBS maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Tear lettuce into bite sized pieces in a large bowl and add in the watercress. Cut apples into thin wedges and add to the greens. Sprinkle blue cheese crumbles and glazed pecans on the top. For the dressing, put the oil, vinegar, shallot, lemon juice, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a small jar with a tight lid. Shake until combined. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, toss and serve right away!

A Classy Touch That Couldn't Be Easier

The main dish at our last small group potluck was soup. Everyone brought in sides or toppings to share. My first thought was to bring in cheese - who doesn't love cheese?! That said, I never feel right about bringing a store bought item to a get together unless I'm able to doctor it up a little.

Since a bag of shredded cheese wasn't going to work for me, I decided to try my hand at making parmesan crisps. I keep seeing these as garnish everywhere and wanted to try my hand at making them. They are SO easy and the perfect size to top a bowl of soup!

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and broke out my new silicone baking mat. Next, I took a heaping tablespoon of shredded parmesan, placed it on the mat, and then flattened out the pile. I was sure to leave space between each pile and was able to fit 6 piles per cookie sheet. Just pop them in the oven for 5 minutes and then let them cool on a wire rack. Couldn't be easier!

These were great as a topper on soup but would also be a fun garnish on grilled fish or a caesar salad. Hope you enjoy!

Hearty Northern Bean Soup

A few nights ago I felt like making soup - something hearty to combat the fall chill in the air. I stumbled upon a healthy recipe that called for northern beans and thought it looked delish. I made a few small tweaks and really ended up enjoying it (so did Mr. Jansson).

I've decided this soup doesn't look all the appetizing but it is filling, low calorie, cost effective, and most of all yummy!

Ingredients:
Butter flavored cooking spray
1 cup of baby carrots, halved
1 cup diced onion
3 diced ribs of celery
14 ounces of turkey kielbasa, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 cups of fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 15oz cans of great northern beans, drained and rinsed
12oz fresh baby spinach leaves


Directions:
Heat a large saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium high heat. Add in your onions, carrots, celery, and kielbasa. Saute for 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Reduce the heat to medium and add in the chicken broth, italian seasoning, pepper, and beans. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle about 2 cups of the soup into a food processor and pulse until smooth. (This will thicken the soup without adding any additional calories.) Return the pureed mixture to your pot and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add in your spinach and stir until the leaves are wilted. Then, serve and enjoy!

Winning!

A week or so ago I was reading one of my favorite foodie blogs Cinnamon Girl, when I came across this post. Cinnamon Girl had me at "feta cheese" and "giveaway". I entered. I won!

This past weekend my prize arrived and I am one lucky girl! As you can see the prize was a big one featuring: an Athenos serving platter, utensils from Crate and Barrel, 5 coupons for free Athenos products, and a $50 amazon gift card!


A big thank you to Cinnamon Girl (and Kraft Foods) for this prize! 

A Quick Tip

I'm sure you're familiar with WD-40 and its ability to keep doors from squeaking and removing rusty nuts and bolts but I found another good use for it just the other day....

I wanted to use a silver plated picture frame but it had an adhesive price tag stuck in the dead center of the glass. (Who puts sticky price tags in the middle of a picture frame!?) I tried to remove the sticker using glass cleaner and soap/water but nothing worked - that is until I tried WD-40. With one squirt of WD-40, and a swipe with a paper towel, all the sticky residue was gone! I was so excited that I had to share.