Spread the Cheer

'Tis the season. Remember to give more, smile more, sparkle more and love more. Spread the cheer.

Giveaway, Gift Guide, & Giving Back

'Tis the season for giving (and getting) and the inter-webs are filled with tons of fun and festive giveaways. I've rounded up something I've been working on as well as a gift guide and a giving back opportunity from two of my friends.

Giveaway: The 25 Tacky Days Sweepstakes

This Sweepstakes is near and dear to my heart, as I have been working for the past couple of months with an amazing team of people developing a new site that will be launching in 2012. I have taken on the role of The Social Media Manager and am loving it! To spread some Christmas cheer, we're hosting a 25 day giveaway. That's 25 chances to win what totals $2700 in prizes! $100 Visa Gift Cards are being given away daily and on 12/13 and 12/24, we're giving away Amazon Kindle Fires! Enter here: http://sweepstakes.tacky.com, or by clicking the 25 Tacky Days widget on my sidebar. One entry is all it takes- don't miss out! If you Tweet, you can follow us, birdie style (@tackyco).

Gift Guide: 25 Days of Iron Mamas Clean Eating

Iron Mamas is my go to website for kicking my workouts up a notch. I used to take classes from Kelly when we both lived in Charlotte and am so happy she now shares them on her website. Kelly recently started a clean eating blog, Clean Eating, Iron Mamas Style where she posts clean recipes and great nutrition advice. During the month of December, she's doing a 25 day series where she is posting recipes, tips on maintaining a healthy lifestyle during the holidays and creative gift ideas for the healthy foodies in your life! She has already given some great ideas and I can't wait to see what else she shares. Head over to her blog to get some of these great ideas (and for extra motivation to stay healthy during the ultimate season of sweets and treats, too!)

Giving Back: Donation December

My west coast sister, Danica, is doing something AMAZING. She is raising money on her blog for Locks of Love. She is committing to raise $500 during the month of December at at the end of the month, she will donate 10 inches of hair! This is the third time she will be donating to Locks of Love. That's a total of 30 inches of hair. If you are looking for little ways to give back this holiday season, you can click over to Chic Runner and read her Donation December post. Make sure you have a tissue and if you donate, tell her that I sent you!

Hope everyone is having a merry & bright week!

Reindeer Games

On Saturday, Mark and I pulled on our cowboy boots and ventured over the river and through the cornfields to Hardy's Reindeer Ranch. I have had a bit of an obsession with this place ever since I discovered it and getting our Christmas tree anywhere else didn't seem as festive. REAL LIVE REINDEER. You can't get more magical than that. Unless, of course, those reindeer appeared on your roof.

We walked through the little shop, drank hot spiced cider and made friends with the lazy little Reindeer. We opted out of the grab an ax and cut your own tree deal and we picked out a giant Fraser Fir that was raised and brought to Illinois from my beloved North Carolina. I really believe that Fraser Firs make the most beautiful Christmas trees and I'm so thankful that Mark agrees.

The ride home was quite an eventful one. In between Mark deciding to meander and take the long way home, and me making the care shake as I danced to Christmas music, we stopped not once, but twice, to get out and make sure that our tree wouldn't come tumbling off of our car! I could barely take a picture because I was laughing so hard as we got out of our car in the middle of the cornfields (literally) to check on our tree. At this point, 'NSYNC "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" had just come on the radio, and I had a little impromptu concert in the middle of a country road while Mark worked so hard to keep the tree tied up and safe. What has our life become!?

I'm so blessed to be stuck with this guy for life. As we make our own traditions and memories, especially during the Christmas season, my heart explodes with love and happiness. Life is so much sweeter when you have someone to share the little moments in life with. My sisters said during their Maids of Honor speech at our wedding, "Mark must be really special guy for Nina to move all of the way to the middle of Illinois for him".

(for the record, my sisters are almost always right)

Garlic & Herb Dijon Roasted Pork Tenderloin

As I took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer this morning to make tonight, it occurred to me that I have never shared this recipe on my blog. This is a favorite in our house and quite honestly, good enough to make for your next dinner party. If you are not a garlic person, this recipe may not be for you because I believe what makes this tenderloin so tasty is the garlic that is hiding in each bite. Fresh herbs are best, but I have used dried herbs as well. Ladies...make this for your meat loving husbands! Actually, scratch that. Pour yourself a glass of Pinot give them this recipe and tell them it's so easy, even they can make it. Real men can cook. And you deserve a night off.

Garlic & Herb Dijon Roasted Pork Tenderloin

1 boneless pork loin (we usually eat a small 2 lb. loin so double this for a larger cut)

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp. dijon mustard

1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano

1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary

Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together olive oil, mustard and herbs. Set aside. With a pairing knife, make slits evenly all over the pork. Place pieces of garlic in all of the slits. When you are done stuffing the garlic, sprinkle with salt and pepper to season. Less is more with the salt and remember your mustard will add saltiness. Place pork in a baking dish and using a kitchen brush, cover the tenderloin with half of the dijon herb sauce. (sometimes, I will throw in some onion quarters in with the pork, too for extra juices and flavor)

Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Uncover and brush the remaining dijon herb sauce on the pork and place in the oven for another 20 minutes, uncovered. Cook tenderloin until the internal temperature reaches 150-155 degrees.

Allow tenderloin to sit covered for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with mashed sweet potatoes and a baby greens salad.

Handmade Holiday Cheer: Pottery Barn Inspired Wreath

Pottery Barn has always been one of my favorite catalogs to grab decorating inspiration from. I love flipping through the pages at all of the pretty things. I fell in love with this photo of a Christmas entryway last year and have been excited to recreate this wreath ever since.

I already had a nice, plush wreath on hand as well as several packages of shatterproof ornaments from Target. I fluffed my wreath and arranged the greenery before I got started. I grabbed my glue gun and as I made rings of hot glue on the bottom of each ornament, I stuck the ornaments to my wreath until it was full and happy and sparkling.

I'm loving our cheerful and festive entryway! It's like a giant Christmas hug for anyone who enters our home.

Cajun Shrimp and Guac Lettuce Wraps

Shrimp gets neglected in our dinner rotation but when it does make its way onto our menu, I fall in love all over again. It's both chic and easy and really one of those things you can whip up as a main course with just about anything you have on hand. I like to grab the frozen bags of peel and eat shrimp when they are on sale at my grocery store so that I always have a bag of little shrimpies on hand. Just run them under warmish water in a colander and they are thawed and ready for peeling, cooking and eating.

Y'all know we love wrapping things in lettuce around here. Add this recipe to your under an hour list! It's fresh, light and super healthy, too.

Cajun Shrimp and Guac Lettuce Wraps

For the shrimp:

1 lb. shrimp, peeled

3 cloves garlic, minced

Emeril's Essence for sprinkling (or any other Creole seasoning)

Cumin

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In a small bowl, add the shrimp and a quick pour of olive oil. Add a few shakes of Emeril's and cumin and stir to combine and coat the shrimp. In a saute pan over medium heat, drizzle two turns of the pan with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Heat garlic and oil until the garlic is cooked and fragrant. Add the seasoned shrimp, and cook until pink.

Guacamole: (I learned this one by watching my Dad!)

2 large avocados

2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

Handful fresh cilantro, chopped

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 shallot, chopped

1 tsp. olive oil

Juice from 1 fresh lime

Salt, pepper & cumin to season

Mash avocados with a fork and place in a bowl. Add remaining ingredients, mix and enjoy.

A good tip for green guac: To keep the guacamole a nice green color, save an avocado pit and place in the bowl with the guacamole.

Bibb lettuce works best for lettuce wraps, but Romaine works well, too. We wrapped our lettuce with the shrimp, guacamole, yellow bell peppers, roasted red peppers and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Make-A-Wish: Flour Power!

Calling all family, friends and readers in the Charlotte area!

Flour Power!

Combining Pastry Arts with the Power of a Wish

Friday, December 9, 2011

11:00am-1:00pm

Founder's Hall

Charlotte, NC

My dear friend, Paul, is active in the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Western North Carolina and I am excited to team up with him and spread the word about an upcoming event! I have always had an extreme admiration for this organization and believe that the "power of a wish" is a magical thing! Make-A-Wish's mission is to: grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. This time of year brings a little extra happiness and the motivation to give back and spread cheer seems to take over all of us. Paul, along with a fellow M-A-W "wish granter" and a local chef came up with the concept for this fun foodie event. Chef Marsha Skidmore, who created a cake for one of Paul's wish kids, works in partnership with students from Johnson & Whales and helped pull this all together. Here is some more information, in Paul's words, about his M-A-W chapter, and what his wish kids will be doing on December 9:

"Our kids are between the ages of 2 ½ through 18 and the Central and Western NC Chapter serves 51 counties from the greater Charlotte area over to the western-most part of our state.

Typically, wishes fall into 4 categories:

I wish to be…
I wish to have…
I wish to go…
I wish to meet…

The average cost of our wishes is about $6,000.

For the event, we’ve paired 8 children from our chapter who have already had their wish granted. They were then paired with teams of student chefs from Johnson & Wales University. The kids and students attended a meet and greet where they all got to know each other and began the brainstorming session on cupcake flavors, designs etc. based on the kids wish experiences. So, imagine a trip of a lifetime, room makeover or shopping spree interpreted in edible art. The concept of the competition on 12/9 will follow the flow of popular culinary shows: teams will complete their designs, present to our panel of judges and a winning design will be chosen. Of course, samples will be available for the attending public.

In addition to the competition, and decorating demonstrations by Chef Marsha, we’ll have the following items available for a suggested donation at the event:

· Custom-designed recipe card sets of the 8 teams’ recipes (tied with ribbon and a wooden spoon): suggested donation $5.00

· Chance drawings for a couple of neat items

· Make-A-Wish t-shirts will be available as well.

Did I mention yet that the event is FREE and open to the public?! "

Check out the Flour Power Facebook page here. If you live in Charlotte, make sure you listen for advertisements on Kiss 95.1 FM and K-104.7 FM! CBS Radio is proud to sponsor Make-A-Wish locally. If you attend Flour Power!, look for Paul and tell him I sent you. You can give him a hug, too. He would LOVE it!!

If you have any questions about this event, or the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Central and Western North Carolina, contact me and I'll put you in touch with Paul.