FOOD // MINT CHOCOLATE BLACK BOTTOM PIE

I love sweet treats - cookies, candies, cakes, pies, oh my! There's no hiding that I have a huge sweet tooth, that just loves to be filled. An with the holiday season up us I find myself making so many sweets I just couldn't help but share one. I thought I would share a recipe that I have made a few times again an again and just love! It's a bit rich for some but if you love chocolate this recipes perfect for you. Also if you're not a big mint fan, you can minus the mint by modifying the chocolate chips back to 8 oz. of regular chips. Enjoy and Happy Holidays! 


MINT CHOCOLATE BLACK BOTTOM PIE
Approx Time 4 Hours (due to chill times) // Serves 6-8

Ingredients
3 1/4 cups heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
2 ounces andies mint baking chips
1 teaspoon of mint extract
1 tablespoon of spiced rum (we used captain morgan)
1 chocolate cookie pie crust
1/2 cup toasted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons or confectioners' sugar

Directions
1.) In a medium microwave safe bowl, heat 1 1/4 cups of cream until hot, approx 3 minutes. Add chocolates and let stand until melted, approx 5-10 minutes. Whisk to combine, then whisk in rum. Pour chocolate mixture into pie crust and reserve a little for the topping later. If you don't care to decorate your pie just add all of the mix into your pie filling. Sprinkle nuts over top an refrigerate pie 3 hours // or up to 2 days.

2.) In a large bowl, use and electric mixer ( I used my food processor), beat 2 cups cream, mint extract and sugar on high until stiff peaks form, approx 2-3 minutes. Top pie with whipped cream. Used reserved chocolate mixture to decorate your pie. I also shaved some andies mints on top of the pie when I was done.

Modified recipe from Everyday Food // Issue No. 77 // November 2010 // Page 69 

LAST MINUTE HOLIDAY DECOR : 4 EASY DIY PROJECTS

Did you decorate your home for the holidays? Maybe you did, but even if you didn't (or even if you did) maybe you still need or want some last minute holiday decor before Christmas. I'm always excited about a good DIY project, an today I'm sharing 4 links that I found and love. All of these seasonal pieces seem simple enough that you could create in no time an you may even have a few of the supplies already on hand. All links are listed down below. Enjoy and happy decorating.

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TRENDING TUESDAYS : ADVENT CALENDARS

So occasionally, on Tuesdays, I thought I would take a stab at sharing a few things I have seen lately, an I enjoy. Be it a few different trendy DIY's or maybe something more holiday/seasonally appropriate, but needless to say, today's grouping is that of Advent Calendars. We have a few (3 lego advents + one candy advent) set up in our home this year but I love these takes on an advent. The handmade feel, an paper craft is just more personal to heart. After seeing such inspiration, I think next year I'll be rethinking ours a little calendar to make it a bit more special. Do you do a daily advent leading up to Christmas? What's it look like? If you have a photo of something creative you do or care to share link it below in the comments for us to see.  

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BLACK & WHITE / HOLIDAY GIFT WRAP

So I have a thing for Black & White. I love the clean bold contrast of the two colors. An lately, I see a ton of gift wraps out there in the market place and online this Holiday Season. Which makes me all excited! Here are a few black and white trendy looks that got me feeling really inspired to maybe create my own wrap (an personal tags) this year. Oh, an numbers 3,4, 5 & 6 are free (FREE!!! so awesome!) printable version too. Link on over below. Happy Friday!


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HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!

Hello sweet friends! It's St. Patrick's Day!!! Woohoo! I'm not to sure if you started of your morning with Lucky Charms, or maybe you've already ate a few green cookies, or maybe you'll hit up your local McDonalds for a yummy Shamrock (mint) shake, or maybe you're going to partake in some festivities and enjoy some green beer this evening... Whatever your day and/or night has in store for you, I hope it's enjoyable and you stay safe along the way. Sláinte :)
 
* Sláinte (SLAHN-chə) is a word literally translating as "good health" and is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland and Scotland.

VALENTINES WEEKEND

I hope you had a wonderful Valentines weekend. I know mine was perfectly relaxing which was much needed and appreciated, since weekends lately have been jammed packed and keeping us on the go go go. It was nice to stay in on Friday. We put on a record, cooked dinner (stuffed shells, one of my favs) together, enjoyed a couple drinks, made dessert, and then watched a zombie love movie (Warm Bodies, which mind you is a great movie) ... sounds romantic, right!? Well it was, and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first Valentine's together. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

FOOD : VALENTINES CUPCAKE TOPPERS

I'm enjoying Valentines a few days before hand, and kicking it off with cupcakes, which we will gladly eat later tonight. But needless to say, I took a stab at some simple cupcake toppers to pull off the whole look. I found these little post-its in the dollar section of Target (currently as of last weekend) and instantly thought they'd make the most perfect cupcake toppers. So with a few toothpicks, some extra tape, pink frosting and sprinkles here you have it. Of course I had to test a cupcake before hand too and boy were they yummy. Happy Humpy day sweet friends! :)

CREATIVE VALETINES IDEAS

Happy February! So how did this month sneak up on us. I know we had a lot going on in the month of January, but man it just flew right by. Are you ready for Valentines? It's still a week away, but if you're like me and trying to plan ahead, here were a few creative Valentines ideas that seemed simple enough to pull off yourself. Maybe not the cursive sewn letters but they are still cute non the less. Enjoy!
 

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HOLIDAY GIFT WRAP : BLACK, WHITE AND A UNICORN

That's right, there's a unicorn on that gift. I mean who doesn't love a unicorn ;) Over the weekend, the guy I'm seeing and I did our gift swap. I'm sure this looks like a lot, but 90% of this is stocking stuffer items, like socks, playing cards, pez (yum!), stickers, an other trinkety things I picked up. We both share a passion for clean minimal design but with an aesthetic look. Black and white is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of clean and simple. I love polka dots, triangles, chevrons, organic nature-like botanical patterning and kraft paper... I am a sucker for kraft paper... oh and bakers twine... an washi tape! An sadly I couldn't find anything I was really drawn to out at the stores so I tackled it myself to make all of this gift wrap above. I was pleased with how it all turned out, before it was happy torn apart and enjoyed. To achieve all of these looks I printed out patterns I had created and cut it all and taped away. Are your gifts all ready and wrapped? Are you excited for tomorrow? :)

THE COUNTDOWNS ON

Are you ready for Christmas? The countdowns on. And could you guess that these two little people over yonder are beyond excited this holiday season, which makes my holidays that much more enjoyable. I can't wait to see these faces in a few days after Santa arrives with some gifts they have been dreaming of. These photos I took as we waited to see Santa, and though there was all this hype about "I'm gonna tell him all that I want" when getting up to see the big man, the little voices changed a bit, and the faces of awe and excitement left them a little speechless (an a wee bit nervous) about what they had initially come there to ask. Good thing mom double checked the Santa wish lists before hand an I'm pretty sure they'll be pleasantly surprised come Christmas day. :)

HOLIDAY GIFT WRAPPING IDEAS

I love wrapping gifts, especially with kraft paper. In years past I would tie bakers twine around them and call it good, but this year I've been strongly drawn to black and white plus the mix of tan. I'm trying to add a bit of that into this years decorating with a few extra touches too. Here's a few inspirational pieces I gathered. So is all your holiday wrapping done for the season?

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2013 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

I love the holidays. Especially the fact that I love giving gifts, an I'm probably one of the only weirdo's out there who get's excited about wrapping gifts too. I love packaging things and making a gift look all pretty an special. If I could included gift wrapper on my resume, I surely would, but that may seem odd to others I'm sure... But with that in mind I've always had a hard time being on the other end of the spectrum, the recipient. Don't get me wrong, I love gifts, but I'm not the type who has ever wrote a list or asked for specific things for that matter. Though I'm uncomfortable an feel greedy if I reply, I was recently asked, show me things you love. Which is an easier concept for me. So if you knew me well, you'd know it would look a little like this (above). Enjoy and happy new week ahead!
 
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HOLIDAY DIY'S : 5 LINKS I LOVE

With Christmas quickly approaching I can't help but think of last minute DIY projects to add that little extra touch to your holidays this season. There are so many wonderful ideas out there but here were five I spotted and loved. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend. :)

RESOURCES  //  Top Photo. DIY IMAGES -  Image 1. Image 2. Image 3. Image 4. Image 5.