Weekend fun!

It was a very busy weekend. John and I finished several Christmas projects and had the “favorite appetizer” party with our friends.

The first project I finished was the infused vodka. I strained out all the goodies used to infuse the vodka, filtered the vodka through a coffee filter several times, then bottled it up. Here is the finished product. I think they turned out pretty cute. 

For the appetizer party, I decided to go with spicy queso dip and chips, Brazilian Cheese bread (oh man were these ever good…you can find the recipe here http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_brazilian_cheese_bread/), lil’ smokies in bbq sauce, and last but not least a variety of pizza bites with marinara sauce. John stuck to his bacon plan and I am pretty sure that was the favorite appetizer at the party--everyone loved it and it was the first appetizer to be eaten. Friends brought several yummy appetizers including bacon wrapped scallops, seven layer bean dip, hummus, meatballs, chocolate covered pretzels, and several others. Here are a few pictures from the party including a few with the awesome white elephant gifts:

 Christian with his funny "What's my pee telling me book."

Monica with her "undercap" and Eric with his sweeeeeet jacket!

Mark and Whit with their awesome mustache mugs...yes, I made those. I found a similar idea on Pinterest.

 John laughing at the pee book. It was pretty funny!

Sunday was also super busy.  We woke up, made breakfast pizza pockets, then made about eight batches of Chex Mix to give to my coworkers for Christmas (if you don't know how to make Chex Mix, just look at the back of any Chex box...it gives you step by step directions). John is great at performing quality checks when it comes to me making treats. He assured that every single batch met his standards.  Here are some pictures of the pizza pockets and the Chex mix:

Before they went in the oven. 

 After. YUM!

 

The pizza pockets are super easy to make…and I recommend that everyone try them! They were so yummy.  Basically, you take a pre-made Pillsbury pizza crust (you know, the one in the can), roll it out and cut in two. Fill it up with your favorite breakfast items, seal and bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. We had sausage (pre-cook this if you go that route), hash browns (also pre-cook a little bit - not all the way), onions, green peppers, jalapenos, cheese, and eggs. You can either scramble the eggs until they are soft or crack and egg right in the center of your pocket (yes, it will cook but it will have a runny center). I chose to scramble my eggs because I am not a fan of over easy eggs, but John chose to just crack it right in the center.

Well, I am looking forward to this week - we work three days then are off until January 3^rd! I am going to be excited to have some time to relax, but knowing John and I we will find some sort of project to work on :)