Cookie Day

For our Christmas Cookies this year we used this recipe from Glorious Treats and we loved it!

Rolled Sugar Cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon good quality vanilla extract

Parchment paper

Directions:

-In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder and set aside.

-In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  This should take about 3 minutes.

-Add the egg and vanilla and beat another minute or so.

-Add the flour mixture slowly.

-Take the dough out of the bowl and place it on a piece of parchment paper.

-Using your hands, knead the dough a few times.

-Place the dough in a large plastic (ziplock type) bag and refrigerate for about 2 hours.  If you want to speed up the chilling process, place the bag of dough in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Just don’t forget it in the freezer, or it will become to firm to work with (and then you’ll have to wait for it to thaw).

-When it’s almost time to remove the dough from the refrigerator (or freezer), preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).

-When the dough has chilled and is firm, take out about half of the dough, leaving the rest in the refrigerator (until your ready to work with it).

- bake cookies 8-10 minutes

For more detailed instructions you can visit the original link HERE.

Holiday Inspiration

{ Images Via Pinterest }
I have really been enjoying pinning holiday inspiration this season and not just pinning it but also actually putting my pins to use ! This season I'm all about staying inside and cozying up with some hot chocolate, good company, baking and crafting ! Im looking forward to sharing some cute holiday ideas with you all and getting back to blogging regularly !

Lytle Creek

Beautiful Lytle Creek, We found out about this place from some of my favorite local instagrammers (houseinhabit and denisebovee) . After seeing they're photos from Lytle Creek we just knew we had to check it out and we were not disappointed ! What i love so much about this place it that it reminds me of the east coast, back home in PA we always loved picnicking by the creek and Lytle creek is the perfect place to do so ! I highly recommend paying a visit here (to any locals who read my blog) , its the perfect place to escape and enjoy nature.

Chicken Avocado Soup

Ingredients

Rotisserie chicken (or two 2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded )

3 teaspoons olive oil, divided

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups green onions, finely chopped, divided

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tomato, diced

3 - 14.5oz cans chicken broth

1/8 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

2 avocados, diced

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

lime wedges

Instructions

Shred rotisserie chicken and set meat aside 
In a dutch oven or equivalent, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat until hot.
Add the 1 cup chopped green onions and minced garlic to pot; Sauté about 2 minutes.
Add diced tomato; Sauté 1 minute, until soft.
Add chicken broth, cumin, and salt to pot.
Stir well and bring to a boil.
Cover pot and simmer on low for 15 to 20 minutes.
Layering in separate bowls; Fill each bowl with shredded chicken, diced avocado, chopped green onions (from the remaining 1/2 cup), and cilantro. Next, ladle the chicken broth onto the layered chicken in each bowl. Serve each bowl with a lime wedge.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, it is not my recipe. I just copied and pasted from mamamiss.com, the only thing i changed was using a rotisserie chicken for the meat instead of cooking the chicken breasts. This recipe is my new favorite it so delicious i didn't need to change a thing! I had to share it with my readers, i hope you all enjoy this soup as much as i do ! 

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This weeks photos …

Exploring around the  San Diego Harbor

Seaport Village

Some photos from a fun day spent in seaport village with some dear friends.  On another note I have been wanting to buy some VSCO film presets for so long and finally got around to getting some this past weekend and I am in LOVE ! I edit all my iPhone photos with vsco and when I found out they also have them for Lightroom 4 I was more than excited! I've been having some fun playing around with the different presets in the photos above, it saves me so so much time editing and gives such a clean and sharp look to all photos. I highly recommend these presets to anyone who uses Lightroom ! I purchased packages 1 and 5 and am looking forward to getting some more in the future!

Little Italy Farmers Market + Kobey's Swap Meet

Last weekend I was finally able to knock two things off my bucket list that have been on there forever : The Kobey's Swap Meet and Little Italy's farmers market.  If you live locally i highly recommend going to this farmers market ! They have it every saturday in Little Italy, San Diego. While you are there i recommend heading over to Napizza for lunch, they have delicious lunch specials which are very affordable ! Napizza is our new favorite eating spot for sure.