Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

In the meantime, spend time with the ones you love and remember the real reason why we celebrate Christmas!

Appetizer Idea - Pine Cone Cheese Ball

A few years ago, when Jeff and I decided to have our first Christmas party at our old house, I was obsessed with making unique tastiness. Well, I fell in love with cheese balls. There are so many options you can do to make a fantastic one. I even made one once that was a snowman and coated them in grated Parmesan cheese to make it look like snow and peppercorns for eyeballs and a smile.

Anyway, one that I do love to make that is very festive and not too time consuming is a Pine Cone Cheese Ball. With only 4 ingredients - it's a great make ahead option. Here's what you need:

• 1 8 oz tub of Garden Veggie Cream Cheese
• 1 8 oz tub of Chive & Onion
• 1 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese ( I use sharp cheddar)
• 1/2 cup of slivered almonds 

Combine together in a bowl. I'd let the cream cheese sit out for maybe a half hour to soften.

Once well mixed, this is where it gets messy. I couldn't really take a photo of it. Anyway, scoop everything in your hand and you want to form the ball into a pine cone shape. I tried to make the top a little cone shaped with a wider base. Then pop it in the fridge for a couple of hours. 

Once chilled, take your cone and inset the slivered almonds in angled to look like a pine cone. 

Serve with crackers. I like the Ritz snowflake crackers to make them festive. 

Merry Christmas!

From my family to yours, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Cash Cowan will be picking back up in 2011 with more amazing deals, giveaways and great ways to save money. Stay tuned! 

In the meantime, spend time with the ones you love and remember the real reason why we celebrate Christmas!

Birthday Dinner - The Melting Pot!

I love the Melting Pot. Jeff, not so much. I guess he doesn't see the point in paying so much to cook your own food. I say, you're paying for the experience and ambiance. So, once a year I get my way and we get to go. This year it was my birthday. With it being on a Sunday and I didn't know of some of my downtown favorites would be open, so we just went to Lamp & Lantern. We usually get the Big Night Out which is a 4 course menu.

We started with a Cheddar Cheese/Beer Fondue - it was yummy. Then they had breads, cauliflower, broccoli and green apples to dip. Yum. Then we had their classic Melting Pot House salad. They have a wonderful mustard vinaigrette - I highly recommended it.

Then we moved onto the meats. Jeff decided our cooking liquid would be Mojo - it's a Caribbean/citrus blend, which is just fine with me. Then out came the plate.

Chicken, Shrimp, Lobster, Citrus marinated pork, filet mignon,  and Teriyaki steak. I think my favorite was the pork, which is funny because it's not one of my favorite proteins. Jeff enjoyed all the seafood, it's a texture thing for me. We also had veggies - potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms and they had a Green Goddess sauce and a Gorgonzola Cheese sauce perfect of the filet. YUM! Luckily Jeff hates stinky cheese, so it was all for me!

Then we moved onto the last round, dessert. 

We decided on what we always get the Oreo Dream something. It's Dark Chocolate, Marshmallow whip that is flambed with 151. It smelled so yummy! Then after the alcohol burns off they add oreo bits. 

Then we had all kinds of things to dip. My favorite was the chocolate covered marshmallows. I also got a birthday cheesecake. It was a wonderful evening.

As much of a foodie that I am. I'm really considering starting a St. Louis Food Blog. I bought the FoodieSTL deck of cards, and I'm really tempted to try every place and blog about each location - thoughts?

A Fabulous Birthday!

So today I turn 29. 29! It's the end of the 20's. But as I look back on this decade, boy have I grown and learned a lot. I went to college, met a man, fell in love, got married, bought 2 houses, 2 cars, got my first dog, got a job that I love and will probably do for a very long time. Jeff and I have goals and dreams that now in my last year in my 20's and beyond we will work towards.

But, I may have lost a few brain cells last night to aid in that effort because we had our annual Gin & Juice for Jen & Jesus party. My mom thinks the name is offensive. I disagree. We're just celebrating 2 birthdays with a celebratory drink.

Last night was fantastic. I had my favorite friends and family members around me. We goofed off. Enjoyed each others company. I wore my favorite shirt backwards. Had a very competitive round of Friends Scene It - I still don't know who won. And some how a Progresso Soup Can Phone was the star of the show! Here are a few of my favorite photos from the evening.

A party is not complete w/o Gin & Jen meeting!

Me & Mel

Hello - can you hear me??

Don't ask...it was late

Marcy & Joey looking lovely then bombed by Ryan

My lovely ladies Melissa, Elena and Chelsea

Melissa

Ryan

Jeff and Joey using it the phone correctly.

Overall fantstic evening! Today, I woke up around 9 watched some Food Network and then took a nap till 4:30. I'm off to get ready now to go to dinner at the Melting Pot - I love that place! Riley Sue got me a cute Hoops & YoYo card and some Bingo Lottery Tickets - my vice. Best $3 you can spend. Hopefully this is the beginning of a great start to 29! Thanks to everyone who helped make last night a success!