Valentine's Pizza

I am already planning our Valentine's day menu! It is so much easier to cook something special at home than to go out to eat on that crazy night!

Try these heart shaped mini pizzas.

INGREDIENTS

1	can (13.8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated classic pizza crust or 1 can (11 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated thin pizza crust
1	can (8 oz) pizza sauce
24	slices turkey pepperoni with 70% less fat
3/4	cup shredded mozzarella cheese (3 oz)

DIRECTIONS

1.	If using classic crust: Heat oven to 425°F. Lightly spray or grease large cookie sheet. If using thin crust: Heat oven to 400 F. Spray or grease 15x10-inch or larger dark or nonstick cookie sheet.
2.	Unroll dough on work surface. With sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough into 4 rectangles. Place rectangles on cookie sheet. Cut 1-inch slit in center of wide edge of each dough portion; on opposite wide edge across from slit, pinch dough together to shape point of heart. Slightly separate each cut slit, and gently press dough into a 6x5-inch heart, creating slight rim on edge of dough.
3.	Divide pizza sauce evenly onto hearts, spreading to within 1/2 inch of edges. Top each with 6 slices pepperoni and 3 tablespoons cheese.
4.	Bake classic crust 13 to 16 minutes, thin crust 9 to 13 minutes, or until crust edges are golden brown and cheese is melted.

Cabin Fever Party

New Year, new parties to plan! With all this cold weather, I am planning a Cabin Fever party for later this month. I know by then everyone will be tired of staying inside and ready for some good old fashioned board game playing!

Going along with the Cabin Fever idea, I am encouraging invitees to drag out their flannel shirts (easy to find in stores this year!) and bring over their favorite games.

I probably won't do much in the way of decor, since we will need the table for our competitive game playing, but I thought this tablescape from Southern Living was both rustic and charming.

Love the wooden rings as risers for a decorate-your-own-cupcake stand. The plaid tablecloth would also fit right in with my flannel theme!

Winter Wedding

Although I am a happily married woman, I still LOVE to look at wedding ideas. Here are a couple I stumbled upon on FB yesterday. Isn't this table simply to die for??? I love every single inch. Spectacular!

Thought the "I Do" was a cute addition to the cake table too.

Happy NYE to all!

1-And a Cocktail in a Pear Tree....

So the 12 days comes to an end with a delish drink for all you lovely followers! I have served this at many parties and it is always a HUGE hit. Better triple the batch for a crowd though, I always do!

Sangria

1 750ml dry red wine (a dry "box" wine works just fine!)

1 cup orange juice-I prefer pulp free

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup lime juice

1/4 cup triple sec

Chill overnight.

Before serving add ice, orange, lime and lemon slices. I also like to put whole, fresh cranberries in around the holidays.

Cheers to all of you! Thanks so much for following The Gifted Life. I enjoy sharing my ideas with you. Have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year!

2-Holiday Thank You Notes

Get a jump start on your holiday thank you notes by ordering them online today at http://www.vistaprint.com/ Click on holiday and then caricatures to create items like the above. Everything holiday is 50% off right now too!

3-Money Wreath

Tired of giving gift cards, but need a similar gift? Make a money wreath! My crafty husband created this one from a styrofoam wreath and U shaped pins. Just lightly fold $1 bills into bow tie shapes and stick into the wreath with the pins. We added floral picks to give it a festive holiday look. This wreath used $50, but you could easily do it with around $40 instead.

4-Candy Sushi

I think this idea is so fun! Great for entertaining kiddos at home on Christmas break this week too.

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups crisped rice cereal
20 to 25 gummy worms
1 to 2 boxes of fruit leather (I think Fruit by the Foot would work, if that product still exists!)
12- by 17-inch baking sheet
2-quart saucepan

Instructions
Grease a 12- by 17-inch baking pan.

Melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.
Add the marshmallows and stir until smooth.

Remove mixture from heat and stir in the rice cereal until it's evenly coated.

Turn the baking sheet so that the shorter ends are at the top and bottom. Then press the marshmallow mixture on the sheet, distributing it evenly.

Starting at one side and 1 inch up from the lower edge, place gummy worms atop the mixture end to end in a horizontal line.

Gently roll the lower edge of the marshmallow mixture over the gummy worms.

Then stop and cut the log away from the rest of the mixture. Use the same method for 4 more logs.

Slice each log in 1-inch-thick "sushi" rolls and wrap them individually with a strip of fruit leather.


In one of the images above, you can see they have used powdered sugar doughnuts, cut in 1/2, placed a Swedish Fish on top, and then wrapped with the fruit leather.