Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

Bloody Mary's have always been a favorite drink of mine. Who would not love the option of a cocktail with breakfast?!? While honeymooning in Jamaica they had a make-your-own bloody mary station. While I will not divulge how many bloody mary's I consumed in the course of 10 days, I will tell you how to make your own mix at home. I can not tell you how many mixes I tried over the years looking for the perfect one. I never did find it. It just struck me that I should obviously make my own. I am not quite sure what took me so long to realize that, but the result is fantastic. I should note that I like a very spicy and smooth bloody mary. Some are made with big chunks of horseradish, celery seed, black pepper, etc. and I have never enjoyed that. I ran mine through the blender to eliminate anything of the sort. We will be enjoying these on Thanksgiving morning while we stuff Turkey and prep food for the day. I hope you enjoy these as much as we will! Try garnishing this with the Maple-Chipotle Candied Bacon, you wont be sorry!

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Maple-Chipotle Candied Bacon

I love bacon, thats no secret, so when I was out to brunch and saw "candied bacon" on the bloody mary menu I knew I had to have it. Bacon? Candied? What could be better! Out comes my beautiful bloody mary with a piece of crisp bacon stuck in it. Oh. My. Goodness! The heavens opened, angels sang! I am pretty sure those candied bacon pieces were made with a mixture of brown and white sugar. I knew I wanted to make these for my own homemade bloody mary's, but I also knew white and brown sugar were out since we do not use either routinely. Maple syrup seemed like a better option for us for use on special occasions. I also decided to add a little kick with the chipotle spice. The result is a sweet and savory masterpiece. Use in your own bloody mary, or as a topping for salads or soups!

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No Added Sugar Cranberry Sauce

What is Thanksgiving without the delicious cranberry sauce? I have to admit that I love the cranberry sauce from a can - what can I say, I just do! This year I am trying to avoid said jellied cranberry sauce. It is easy enough to make your own so I thought I would give it a shot this year. I used fruit juice and stevia to sweeten and was very pleased with the results. If you are looking for a cranberry sauce with no refined sugars, this is one to try.

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Simple Pleasures : Busy, Busy, Busy!

I have been neglectful of my blog as of late. My family has always been (and will always be) my first priority. We very recently welcomed a new baby girl into our family and thus my blogging time has been reduced to zero. Hopefully as life settles down I will be able to go back to cooking more new things and posting a bit more. As far as simple pleasures go, there is absolutely nothing better than holding your newborn baby as she sleeps on your chest. Feeling her warmth and listening to her breathe is the most beautiful and wonderful simple pleasure of all.

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Simple Pleasures : Spring has Sprung!

Simple Pleasures : Spring has Sprung!


It's spring time out in the country. This is our first spring living here and we are finding it delightful.  This week we had the lawn mowed for the first time this year. The back lawn was overgrown with these pretty little purple flowers, that my husband later informed me were actually weeds. Oh well, weeds or not it was pretty. I wanted to get some pictures of my two sons sitting in said weeds (They were pretty, what can I say!) but as you can see from the pictures below, neither of my boys were very interested!

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