A Christmas Baby Shower

I am crazy.  Just ask my husband.  Today was my best friends highly anticipated baby shower.  Since I am not throwing a Christmas Party this year, this was kind of it.  I went ALL.OUT!  I was so honored to do it for a wonderful friends who has been through more with me, than anyone could even possibly imagine.  Her and I have been best friends since 8th grade when we cheated on our Earth Science tests together.  Sorry, Mrs. Ertle.  :)  Now we are both grown up and she is blessed with having a baby boy.  Beau Russell Burton, the world can not wait to meet you in almost a month!  I know this baby will be so loved.  He is surrounded by one of the greatest families I've had the pleasure of growing up with.  They were pretty much my second family growing up durning high school.  Between watching Chantelle grow with her GORGEOUS family, Shelly keeping my belly full at night, and Fred my belly full in the morning...lets just say I was a very lucky girl and I have no doubt in my mind that baby Beau will feel the same way.  The only flounder of the day was when the mama-to-be burnt herself on the Chocolate Fountain :(  Poor thing, her and I are so accident prone.  Now that I think of it, I wish I would have gotten a picture!  I believe everyone had a good time.  Our house it not very big, so we all were very cozy.  The following are pictures of the day.  At the bottom are recipes for the food that I made.  I know I had some requests for the recipes, especially my mother-in-laws artichoke dip!  I need to say a HUGE thank you to all that were able to make it and help make baby Beau feel so love.  And for those of you who are far away, you were in our hearts and hopefully you can feel like you were their with the photos to follow.  I love you Emily (Dean) Burton and Baby Beau.  Hope you enjoy the Baby Shower Moments.

P.S. The next Blog will be all about my favorite decoration, the Diaper Cake!  I will teach you all how to make one as a gift for your next baby shower! 

Red Velvet Cupcakes, Compliments of Buttercream Bakery, North Pole idea...PINTEREST! :)

The Diaper Cake!  My favorite Decoration!  I plan to make this for all future baby showers!  So easy, cute and USEFUL! :)

Baby Game, "DON'T SAY BABY!"

Onsie Line! :)

Appetizers!

Friends :)

Baby Game: "Who's Water Broke?!"  Freeze gummy bears in ice cubes, first person who's "water breaks" (ice cube melts) wins!  Can't suck on the ice cube!  Have to come up with creative ways to melt the cube! :)  Thank you Dr. Melissa for the idea!  Best Baby Game! 

Hailey, trying to melt her baby over the Hot Apple Cider. :)

LET'S EAT! (recipes to follow at the end of the Blog)

Present Time!  Thats the most presents that will ever be under that tree until we have a little one. :)  My favorite gift for baby Beau...Gee...I wonder why? :)

Elephants!  Emily's favorite next to Hippos! :)

Lots of Laughs!

My Mama!  So Beautiful!  Love you!

Chantelle and Her Baby Girl

Hailey, a.k.a. Dancing Queen!

BEST FRIENDS

Prego 1 and Prego 2, due about 2 weeks apart...So ADORABLE!

Michelle and Em

High School Friends

Second Mother :)

Sisters and Family

Megann and Em

Brother and Best Friend

Mother and Daughter... :)

Hope those photos fill you all in on the wonderful party that was had by all!  Thank you everyone who came!  Now on to the food!

Beverages!

Hot Apple Cider

This is pretty simple and seems to impress everyone.  I got this recipe from my sister-in-law, Ashley.  She is an AMAZING cook/ Martha Stewart!  Seriously, if you all think my stuff is fancy, just try going to a party she throws!  

Ingredients:

Pepin Heights Apple Cider

1 Cinnamon Stick (do not try more than one, too cinnamony!)

Heat over a stove top on low and serve!  SO YUMMY!  

For more wonderful tips and tricks in the kitchen, check out her website SIMPLE ELEMENTS

Another Great Recipe from the Kokal Family Artichoke Dip ( I just realized I forgot the "E" in Artichoke in the photo)  No big surprise :)

This is sure to be a crowd pleaser! It is SO easy and a great appetizer to bring to parties!  Watch out!  It is REALLY ADDICTING!  Once you start it's hard to stop!

What you will need:

One 13.5 oz. can artichoke hearts

1 cup parmesan cheese shredded (a good parmegiano regianno gives it a lot of good taste)

One 8 oz. cream cheese softened

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3/4 tsp. dried dill weed

1 clove garlic -chopped (I add 2 :)  I like garlic )

What to do:

Chop artichoke hearts in food processor --add rest of ingredients and process until smooth.  Spread in ungreased 2qt. casserole.  Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Last but not least my lasagna...this recipe I got from an old friend, and I couldn't find it anywhere so I made it up...it still turned out tasty!  WARNING: contains A LOT OF CHEESE!


Tiffany's Lasagna


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees


1 Package Lasagna Noodles
1 Jar 3 Cheese Pasta Sauce (I usually get Prego)
1 Big container of Cottage Cheese (Yes, cottage cheese, that's the way I like my lasagna)
1 lb of HOT Italian Sausage
1 Bag of Cheddar Cheese
1 Bag of Mozzarella Cheese (the bigger the bag, the better :))


Cook the Italian sausage in a pan
Boil noodles
In a big bowl combine, cottage cheese, 3 Cheese Pasta Sauce, and cooked Sausage
In a large lasagna pan, spread a thin layer of mixture on bottom of pan, layer noodles, add another layer of sauce, then sprinkle cheese combo over top, add another layer of noodles and repeat until done


Cover Lasagna with tin foil, place in oven and bake for 40 minutes, after 40 minutes remove tin foil and bake another 30 to 40 minutes.  Let Lasagna cool fro 45 minutes and serve!  YUM!

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave me a comment!