An Adventure in Candling

So I saw this thing called candling on an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians (yeah, I like to watch that show...don't judge me!) and decided that I too needed to try it too! I had chatted with some folks at work about it and heard mixed reviews. None-the-less Brie and I gave it a shot earlier this week!

The premise: Purchase an ear candling kit which includes 2 long hollow candles. Lie on your side, place a candle in your ear, light one end up. When the candle is only about 3" tall your time is up.

Our supplies and one used candle in the middle

Yup, that's a flaming hollow candle sticking out of my ear!

The "wax" that came out of my ear.

Thoughts: I seriously doubt that is my ear wax in the candle. I did not feel anything "happening" while lying on my side. Since participating in this little experiment I have had the slightest bit of an earache. Nothing too bad; it could have been from shoving a stick in my ear, who knows! I was hoping to be able to hear better post procedure, but I have not noticed any difference.

I don't think I will be candling again anytime soon, but it was something to do!

Saturday Rocked!

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day all-in-all!

I slept in late (which is my ultimate definition of awesome) before heading to my Groupon financed 60 minute massage! *sigh* I have not had a massage in years and man-o-man was it an hour of heaven! I could barely pry myself off the table when it was over!

Thanks to LivingSocial I had a manicure/pedicure scheduled for the afternoon--I love getting a deal on things like that! Now I have a nice set of nails to show off!

Once I had been pampered to the nines I took the rest of my afternoon to finish reading The Hunger Games. Brie insisted I read it and I must say, I am kind of hooked. I'm excited for the movie to come out in a few months. If anyone is looking for a quick read check it out. There are two more books in the series as well; I am starting Catching Fire today.

Saturday is not normally a football day for me but the Saints played the Lions in the Wildcard game last night and we pulled out a 45-28 victory!! The Saints move on to the Divisional Playoffs next week--woo hoo!! They will be playing the San Francisco 49ers in CA.

So I got a massage, manicure and pedicure, finished reading a good book, and watched the Saints pull in another Dome win (they have won ALL of their home games this season)...I would say my Saturday rocked!

Welcome 2012

What better way to ring in a new year than with good friends, good drinks, and good memories to take with you? I can't think of any so that is exactly what I did! Brie and I took our time getting ready, sipping on our home-made drinks, and making a plan for the evening.

We ended up riding the streetcar down to the French Quarter where we stopped by the Pelican Club to see Evan who was working the bar that night before going to Flannigans to continue the fun.

On the super crazy packed streetcar!

Doesn't he look so dapper with his bow tie? He created a yummy champagne cocktail for us ladies :)

Closer to midnight we walked to Jackson Square where there were TONS of people waiting to watch the Fleur de Lis (instead of a ball) drop on top of JAX Brewery. After the official countdown to 2012 there were fireworks over the river for all to enjoy!

We were keeping it classy...

Some Hipstamatic fun outside the Pelican Club

Evan relaxing after a long hard night at work

Once most of the patrons had cleared out of the PC Brie and I entertained ourselves by sucking the helium out of balloons and distracting Evan as he tried to close up for the night!

Happy 2012 Everyone!

Best King Cake In New Orleans?

Sucre is in the running for the title of the BEST King Cake in New Orleans! If you would like to help us secure a spot in the top 5 click here and take 3 seconds to vote for us! The polls close on Friday :) Thanks!!

*Not the best picture, but you get the general idea of what they look like!*

Candied Orange Peels

In my "free time" last month I made candied orange peels and dipped them in dark chocolate. I am not sure why I decided to make these; I don't like oranges and the process is rather long, but none-the-less, I made them and got decent reviews.

I blanched the thinly sliced rinds of 7 oranges multiple times until they were tender

Once the rinds were soft I trimmed off more of the white pith then boiled them in a simple syrup

After an hour of simmering in the sugary liquid I laid the peels out to dry over night

Up close the orange peels look kind of translucent and gummy

The next day I tossed them with sugar so that they were no longer sticky to the touch

The last step was to dip them in dark chocolate and allow that to dry as well!

The whole process took a while to complete, though I am sure if I had been able to commit more focus to them I could have done everything in one day. The longest part is letting the peels dry before sugaring them.

Brie said she liked them because they were liking eating a "gummy" food but without the gelatin (being a vegetarian she does not eat things that contain gelatin--jello, marshmallows, any gummy candy, etc.)

Along with the Candied Orange Peels I also made the super simple "Pretzel Cookies" to put in little boxes for everyone at work.

For these all you do is place round pretzels on a cookie sheet, top each one with a Rolo or Hershey kiss (I used the dark chocolate kind) and place in a oven that is set to 250 degrees for 2 minutes. You really just want to let the chocolate melt some but not run all over the place. Take these out of the oven and top with a pecan or M&M of your choice.

I did a variety of Rolo/Pecan/Kiss/M&M combinations. These are super easy to make! The lengthiest part of the whole recipe is removing the foil from the Rolos and Kisses!

These two confections concluded my holiday cooking this year! Normally I do more baking but lack of time and energy prevented that from happening.

Merry Late Christmas

During my short trip home I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with both sides of my family. We caught up, enjoyed good home cooking, and exchanged gifts. It was so nice to slow down and be around the people I love, especially after the craziness my life had been the past few weeks. (Prior to flying home I worked 278 hours over the course of 25 straight days.)

Below are a hodge podge of pictures from both the Brogan and Smith get-togethers.

Mom & Dad Christmas morning

Bryan in his new snuggie!

Nita, Judy & Mom chatting about a new pot cleaner

Mom & Maw-maw chatting by the Smith stockings

Bryan being weird, Dad & Paw-paw looking over a card

Grant, Bernie & Dale waiting for the dinner bell to ring!

The Other Smith Clan: Lesley, Joanna & John

Grandmaw with her new snowman

Sitting around waiting for the gift exchange to begin

Mike & Grandmaw deep in conversation

Nothing like family to make the holidays feel right :)

I'm Back & Ready to Blog!

Apologies for my lengthy hiatus from the blogosphere. In case you forgot, this is me:

Welp, it is officially 2012! Hope everyone had fun ringing in the new year.

With it being a time of new beginnings and what-not I decided to change the look of my blog some. Hope you like it!

I will be posting on things from the past few weeks to catch up and get back into the swing of things soon :) Stay tuned!