True Blue Party Punch

I made it through another holiday weekend! Hooray! This year I had to do a promo on Saturday at the Mercedes-Benz dealership so that threw off my usual Friday-Monday party. Oops. Oh well. Saturday afternoon Tyson and I headed straight to Grand Lake. We were out on the water all day Sunday then back to Joplin on Monday for a BBQ. I was in charge of the punch and I want to share my recipe with you! It was really big hit!

This is so easy to make!

Ingredients:

1 gallon jug Hawaiian Punch Berry Blue Typhoon

1 64oz bottle of Welch's Light White Grape Juice

2 liter of Sprite

(I used light grape juice to lower the sugar content. You could also use Sprite Zero for less sugar.)

Pour equal parts of each into a punch bowl. Don't pour the Sprite until you serve the punch so that it doesn't go flat before guests drink it. Pour over ice and enjoy!

This punch is kid friendly... but we might have adultified it with some Malibu Pineapple Rum. It would also be tasty with vodka. Pour a splash of your chosen alcoholic beverage and then top with the party punch. Stir and enjoy!

Hello Holidays!

Source: my-blueberry-jam.blogspot.com via sharon on Pinterest

Is anyone else under an extreme amount of stress right now?

No?

Just me?

Okay...

I haven't blogged in 10 days and as I look back, I have no idea what I have done in the last 10 days. Thank goodness I keep notes for that stuff!

Looks like I bought some goodies at Ulta.

I baked some cookies.

Oh and I have a question... How does one (me) find a Kitchenaid Mixer in her (my) boyfriend's house? This thing works wonders on my dough.

Don't worry... they weren't good. I am an awful baker.

I drove from Joplin to the Lake to pick my dad up from the hospital.

Then the next day I had to take him back to the hospital. He was only home for about 14 hours. Ugh.

trying to stay positive!

I made some peppermint bark.

I visited Dixie, Caity, and the Babies... and I found these SWEET baby glasses!

I did some "personal shopping" for Tyson's business partner, Tim. This guy never never knows what to get his wife for holidays!

every lady (with four children) deserves a nice (waterproof), black (stain resistant) purse, right?

Then I drove back to Joplin and met Tyson for dinner right before he left for St. Petersburg with this gorgeous beast.

got to see him for a whole hour!

Then it "snowed".

I got my Urban Decay order.

And yesterday I ran errands and wrapped a bunch of presents.

and now my back is killing me

So looking back on the last 10 days, I am glad I take photos because my brain is SHOT! Between driving 2.5 hours back and fourth, Christmas shopping, CLEANING, hospitals, a sick dad, bills, crappy weather, laundry, and trying to wrap "inconspicuous" Christmas presents so that people won't know which ones are theirs, I am exhausted!

Today it is almost noon and I am still in my pajamas. I have this strange urge to bake things (even though I suck at it) with this sweet mixer I found.

I wanna bake this:

Source: justbakedbyme.wordpress.com via Tristan on Pinterest

And these:

Source: sallysbakingaddiction.com via Tristan on Pinterest

I don't know... we'll see how much energy I can muster up.

Tomorrow I will drive back to the Lake, have dinner with my lovely Mallory and Seth, and then relax at home.

Christmas Eve I will visit my dad...

and Christmas Day I will go pick up my dad, bring him home, open our gifts, eat some food, then I will drive to Joplin, try to be at Neely's by 5pm for chili, and then I will open gifts with Tyson's family.

jam packed day!

So everyone just pray that my next blog post won't be from a nut house because I keep trying to fit 30 hours into a 24 hour day.

Merry Christmas, my lovelies!

Recipe: Spicy Pretzels

This recipe is perfect if you need an easy, flavorful snack. I keep them at my desk to munch on when I get hungry. I found the recipe on Pinterest via Pouty Pink Princess.

Photo via Pouty Pink Princess

Spicy Pretzels

3/4 cup Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Lemon Pepper (not Lemon Pepper Salt)

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Salt or Powder

1 package dry Ranch Dip

1 bag of Pretzels

2 gallon baggies

1. Mix together oil, lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic salt, and ranch mix.

2. Pour bag of pretzels into gallon bag.

3. Pour mixture over pretzels.

4. Seal bag and flip every hour or so.

5. In the morning, pour into a clean baggie.

6. Nom on your delicious creation.

I made a batch to munch on while we are getting ready for Mallory's wedding.

Drunk Gummies Recipe

The bachelorette party has come and gone and now I can show all you lovelies my recipe for Drunken Gummy Bears. Do you like to get drunk? Do you like gummy bears? Perfect. You must make these ASAP.

What You Will Need

Gummy Bears (I buy mine at Sam's Club... $5.98 for 6lbs)

Shoe Box Tub (Wal-Mart carries these for about $1.00)

A lot of Vodka... I'm talking like at least two fifths (I used Skyy)

Watermelon Pucker (Two Liters)

A Stirring Utensil

Disposable Shot Glasses with Lids (Optional)

Step 1: Dump your bag of gummy bears into the plastic tub.

Step 2: Dump in one of the bottles of vodka and one bottle of Watermelon Pucker.

Step 3: Stir it up.

Step 4: Dance around the house because you are so excited to be making drunken gummies.

Step 5: Stop dancing and put the lid on the tub and put it in your refrigerator.

Step 6: Stir every day at least twice for three days. Your gummies should be a little tipsy by now and be soaking up all that delicious goodness.

Step 7: On about day four, pour in the rest of the vodka and Pucker.

(Don't lie... you have already tasted a few of your gummy friends and they were a little hard in the middle. This means they are not done.)

Step 8: Wrestle down a few gummies and taste them. They should begin to taste delicious.

Step 9: After about seven days, they should be soft, slippery, yummy, and drunk. Now they are done.

Step 10: Put about eight gummies in each shot glass. You are probably going to need some sort of a gummy-bear-catching-device because they are very slippery and run away from your fingers.

Step 11: Nom on your drunken gummies.

Step 12: Don't forget to share them with your friends!

I used about 5lbs of the 6lb bag because I might have eaten a few before I got them drunk. 5lbs of drunk gummy bears makes about 100 shots.

A word of advice... keep the gummies in a cool environment. They are kinda big sissies when it comes to extremely hot temperatures and they will melt and turn in to gummy-bear-booze-nastiness. I kept mine in a cooler on ice for the party. It worked brilliantly.

I'm in FLORIDA!

Yay! Tyson and I just got to Florida yesterday. We had to haul a boat down from St. Louis. The drive isn't that bad if you like being cooped up in a truck with a seat that won't recline for 20 hours...

anywho...

We made it just in time to go to a super bowl party. This party was FAB! It was at a friends house in their back yard. They had a projector showing the game on a big screen, a chili cook-off, door prizes, food galore, drinks, kegs, wine, and a band! Very well executed. Kudos to those who put their sweat and blood in to that party!

We are staying in Land O' Lakes with our friends that own Statement Marine. They are so hospitable!! They have a daughter who is a senior in high school and a son who is three. I have so much fun with them!

I'll post pictures later. Tonight we are making this for dinner:

Dorito Bake

I'll let you know how it turns out!