Favorite Food Discoveries of 2009

This year marked a new era for my taste buds. They were ready for something more adventurous. Most things were there all along and I just had to try them. What did the world have to offer?

1. Amazing Grass--this is the only way I know of to get 9 servings of vegetables per day with an added dose of probiotics. Yucky, but worth it.

2. Tandoori Naan--bread Indian-style and so delicious after heating 2 minutes in the oven with hummus or good ole' buttah...

3. Multi-grain sandwich flats

4. Laughing Cow creamy Swiss wedges--Could a snack be any more fun to open? Eat plain, on French bread, crackers, and combined with the above sandwich flats they do wonders for a cold cuts.

5. clementines--tiny oranges packed with juice and flavor.

6. whole, organic, shelled almonds--vitamin E in a delicious crunchy capsule

7. Kookaburra black LIQUORICE--Get a little more Iron in a soft chewable form. I never ate black licorice in my life without gagging until my friend told me to try these. Yum! and all natural ingredients!

8. California Pizza: move over pepperoni these frozen pizzas have all kinds of fun toppings from BBQ chicken to alfredo and spinach.

9. 100 percent tangerine juice:a tangy twist to regular O.J. like the name implies.

10. roasted pine nuts--Ooooh. these bring back memories of Christmases past. They are expensive and only available in the winter harvest. So just get them and definitely roast them--it's worth it.

11. Chocolatier Blue truffles--for a mere $2 a truffle you can experience heaven. Don't eat and drive. You'll want your full attention to savor these. Available at Tony Caputo's deli in Salt Lake in the most exotic and exciting flavor combinations like "passion fruit caramel apple." Aren't they beautiful???

Unfortunately, we were unable to find one of our dear favorites...maybe it has been discontinued this year and if so....we are begging Breyer's to PLEASE PUT IT BACK ON THE SHELVES....

Bubble Yum ice cream.

What are your new favorites?

Gifts for the small-brained.

Was it snowing big beautiful snowflakes today where you live? The kind that make you want to run outside open your arms, twirl, and catch them in your mouth. Or maybe that kind of weather makes you want to stay inside, make gingerbread houses, drink hot chocolate and snuggle...I've been watching "Elf" way too much. We did the former. Today we read a story called "The Tree that Trimmed Itself." It is about a little pine tree that gave gifts of nature to all the animals in the forest. So we bundled up and trekked to the "forest" aka city park to find the perfect tree. We found a bush-y thing, and got busy decorating it. We smeared pinecones with PB and sprinkled on seeds for the squirrels and birds. We also found some very decorative bean pod things which looked like great natural tinsel and put dried berries on them for the mice. How grateful the forest animals will be when they venture out on Christmas morning to find their gifts! Probably as grateful as Santa will be for the fudge we're going to leave for him and for the hay and sugar cubes we have for the reindeer...(if Buddy doesn't get to them first) MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL..young or old, rodent or human!

Before I forget...

Remember all that cleaning I was complaining about? Well, it was worth it. We had a very fun and memorable Thanksgiving weekend. My parents came from SLC as well as my oldest sister, her oldest son Ben and youngest daughter Annie who has a husband and toddler. Not a huge group but one that fit snugly around our table.

Thanks to pop-up timers and turkey oven bags the meal turned out pretty darn delicious--especially the sausage stuffing.

We went to the park and played some football (way) after the meal, which by the way is a very rough game. I think I got a slight concussion when diving for the ball but, I recovered enough to be able to eat pie later and play our new game "Imaginiff" with everyone back at home.

Three generations of women headed for the Black Friday sales...at 11am. I passed up that 50- inch plasma T.V. and opted for $3 p.j.'s for the girls. We hiked in the red rocks above town, went swimming at the hotel pool, played more games, and had some Prime Rib at the local steakhouse (which was awesome because I didn't have to cook it or pay for it!)

My niece Annie and her little family stayed and extra day and they were rewarded for it. My very kind neighbor made her dreams come true by taking her and her husband horsebackriding. He only had a couple of extra saddles and well... there is someone who loves horseback riding even more than me.

How do you thank someone for making your niece's dreams come true? Ask if they will make your dreams come true also...one of these days...pretty please... and then add a little card and giftie.

Great food, great family, great fun. I loved Thanksgiving this year.