Thursday, December 12, 2013

McCormick Holiday Baking - Peppermint Bark

I was compensated for the ingredients for this post, and upon completion will also receive compensation.

Hi guys. I was asked if I would like to make a recipe using some different McCormick ingredients. I was able to pick from a list of recipes. And the one that really stood out to me is the Peppermint Bark.

I have never made Peppermint Bark before, but have always wanted to. I have seen it online before and always wanted to try making it. Come to think of it, I think I have actually never even eaten this before!

Well I was excited to give it a go! So I headed out to my local supermarket to pick up the ingredients. Below is a list of the ingredients you will need:

Ingredients:
picture of the McCormick ingredients I purchased
(c) stay at home mom
white chocolate baking chips & candy canes
(c) stay at home mom

Directions:

Microwave chocolate chips in large microwavable bowl on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes or until almost melted, stirring after 1 minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in peppermint extract.

(c) stay at home mom


    Spread on large foil-lined baking sheet to 1/4-inch thickness. Add food color, drop by drop, over mixture. Using a wooden skewer, swirl color through chocolate. Sprinkle with crushed candies, pressing lightly into chocolate with spatula.


    *c stay at home mom
    white chocolate mix - swirled with McCormick Red Food coloring 

    1. Refrigerate about 10 minutes or until firm. Break into irregular pieces to serve. Store in covered container at cool room temperature or in refrigerator up to 5 days.

    Serves:
    Makes 12 servings, 2 to 3 pieces each.



    broken up Peppermint Bark in a pretty glass bowl:





    A few more notes: Now that I have made this - I want to let you know how easy this is to do! This is also a fun recipe to make with your kids. With supervision, this is something kids can do too, since no baking is involved. My daughter helped me make this.

    Also my son needed to bring in something for a party at school, and I made another batch of this yesterday! Also you only need about 2 candy canes for each batch!

    Hope you will try this recipe out! It will make a great addition to your Holiday Baking! Enjoy!

    Disclosure:
    This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of McCormick and Business 2 Blogger. All opinions are 100% mine. 

    Wednesday, December 11, 2013

    iCaughtSanta.com Review & Giveaway (9 winners!)

    Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

    Hi everybody. I have a cool Review & Giveaway for you. I received a coupon code for a free photo at iCaughtSanta.com.

    And I made this photo below:



    Isn't that cool! It's Santa & Rudolph in front of my Christmas tree. They visited the other day and I snapped a picture!

    If you and your family want to create one of these pictures, then I have 9 more coupon codes for you to do so! To create one of these the price is regularly $9.99, but I am giving away 9 codes to my readers for your own free picture.

    Do you want a picture of Santa leaving presents under your tree? One with just Rudolph? Then you should check out iCaughtSanta.com. There are 20 different poses that you can pick from for your picture.

    You can even have Santa outside your house with your Christmas lights or whatever you want. You just upload one of your own pictures and then create the picture from there. It is very fun & easy to do.

    And your kids will really get a kick out of this. I made one of these a few years ago, when my kids were a little younger. And my daughter, especially really loved it. She really believed that Santa had visited her Christmas Tree! (of course he did right?)

    Once you create your photo, and have it the way you like it, you will check out. If you have a code (if you win one of these then it will be free.) The link to the photo will be emailed to you. And you can download the photo to your computer for printing. You can send to others via email, share on Facebook & Twitter, etc. (The printing of the photo is up to you personally)

    iCaughtSanta.com is having their own contest. Visit the website to enter. But they are giving away over $1,500 in prizes, (such as iPad, Amazon, Visa and Starbucks)

    I also have a coupon code for anyone else who would like to make one of these - for 25% off. The promotion code is: #Santa25

    Please enter to win a coupon code for your own iCaughtSanta.com photo! 

    a Rafflecopter giveaway


    Disclosure:
    I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

    Tuesday, December 10, 2013

    Christmas Parade - 2013

    Saturday my daughter was in the Christmas Parade in our town. She participated again with her dance school.



    This year we bought a real fancy new outfit:




    Here is her dance school's float:




    The girls dancing (my daughter is in the middle row)


    They always have some cool antique cars:



    someone did a duck dynasty float


    There are all kinds of floats and people in the parade from the town, like girl scouts, boy scouts, High school band, 4-H club, etc. They have judges and the groups perform when they stop in front of them.

    This year my daughter's dance school got Judges Choice!

    on the float - her school had collected over 300 canned goods for the local food shelter!

    Santa was the last float - but I didn't get pic of him this year, because my daughter's group was right before him - so I had to leave and make sure I caught up to her!


     (p.s) it was freezing out!


    linking up with