Holiday Giveaway! (closed)

Hey Everyone! 

Do you just love Christmas music?? Me too!!

My fiance [husband in 11 days ♥] & I love it. There is something about Christmas music that makes life so upbeat and happy. I believe its that we are all preparing our hearts for Christ's birth.. and everyone is in the giving spirit! That is why today, I am doing a Holiday Giveaway of:

This CD is 2 discs with 32 songs by 32 of the top Christian Artists!

You can visit this amazon website for the song list!

Some favorites of mine are Joy to the World, O Little Town of Bethlehem, The First Noel, Jingle Bell Rock & my absolute fave is:

Go Tell it on the Mountain by Need to Breathe.

so beautiful! 

Ok, Now, how do you enter?

Well there are 4 ways {leave a comment for each entry}: 

1. Follow my blog and leave me a comment so I know that you are a follower

2. Like me on Facebook here, Leave a comment letting me know that you like me.

3. Follow me on my new Twitter @Spicy_theblog found here 

(Don't judge, it is still under construction! promise to look cooler soon!)

4. Leave me 1 comment letting me know 

what you want for Christmas or your wish for the new year.

Giveaway Ends on 12.25.11

US & Canada Only

so excited! So many great things happening. Christmas in 5 days, Disney in 6, Wedding in 11 & Guest Post Palooza starts in 6 days! God is so good! Now enter my giveaway!

That's all I have for now! Thanks for stopping by & MERRY CHRISTMAS

xoxo Jen.

Linking Up: 

The Wiegands

Cherished Bliss

Sweet Little Gals

Skip to my Lou

Call Me Blessed

Free Pretty Things

Pinterest Copy Cat: Christmas Cookies

Don't these cookies look soo yummy?! 

Well I found them on Pinterest, but here is the original site...

So here are the ones that I made: 

I made them green for Christmas.. but Noland said they looked more like St. Patrick's Day Cookies...

And here is the Recipe:

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons brandy, or milk (I prefer milk, surprisingly enough)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer, mix until light & fluffy. 

2. Add egg, milk and vanilla; mix well until combined.

3. With the mixer on low, slowly add flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until just combined. 

4. Here is where you make the swirl cookies.. Refer to Prudent Baby for directions! She tells you how to do it with the wax paper and all.. 

After the dough it all rolled up with sprinkles...

5. Wrap in plastic wrap

6. Then Chill for 1 hour. 

7. After its chilled, Bring it out, unwrap it and cut about 3/4 inch cookies:

 8. Place then in the pan about an inch or two apart.

9. Preheat the oven for 350.

10. Then bake for about 10-12 minutes and they are done!

And that's all! They are so yummy. Mine do not look as scrumptious as Prudent Baby and next time, I think I would make the white part of the dough red.. so its red and green looking less St. Pattys Day! :) 

That's all I have for today! Thanks for stoppin' by:

xoxo Jen.

PS. Don't forget: Guest Post Palooza Starts December 26,2011. 

Email me for more info! I'm willing to go 2 posts a day! 

Double PS. I think  I may get a Twitter... Opinions? Would you follow me?

Linking Up:

Skip to My Lou

Want to Guest Post?

Hey Everyone! I've been sharing now for awhile that I'm getting married on December 31, 2011. On that note, I'm trying to fill in some guest post spots from 

December 26, 2011 to January 2, 2012!  

Would you like to guest post? Just send me an email over at:

itsjustcalledspicy [at] gmail [dot] com

I would really love to have you and you would be doing me a great favor! You could share a 

Recipe, Craft, Do a Giveaway, Blogger help, Book Review or even just a little about yourself! 

If you are interested, please contact me no later than December 23, 2011. 

Can't wait to hear from you!

xoxo Jen.

PS. I figured that you couldn't turn down my adorable nephews... (;

Christmas Lane!

Last night, in celebration of Noland's (my fiance') Christmas break starting.. We went to Brandon, FL then Dover, FL to check out Christmas Lane! Very Cool. 

Here's some pictures from Christmas Lane:

Here was the entry sign (:

Christmas Lane is in Dover, FL. You park and walk through. Its pretty neat especially for kids. They have a walk-through area with Santa, a little train ride for kids and live music entertainment.

This is the house that Christmas Lane is located at. So pretty with all the lights!

This was the gigantic tree they had there... It was beautiful! Sorry the picture is a little blurry.

& here is some cool info about the tree:

so crazy.

 The Nativity Scene. so pretty... Love this.

and they had a salute to the armed forces

Christmas Lane was a cool place.

...and then we went to a gated neighborhood in Brandon, FL which was open for people to drive through and look at the lights. Almost every house had lights. It was pretty neat...

Here's some pictures:

this was one of my favorites ^^

a little blurry.. a precious moments Nativity scene.

another Nativity. so pretty.

It was so fun! Gosh, I love Christmas! You should "google" Christmas lights in your area. 

That's all I did and found these great locations!

Alright, well now, Noland & I are watching "The Year without a Santa Clause"... 

Will be having a Christmas give-away soon! Stay Tuned! 

Thanks for stoppin by! I'd love to hear about your Christmas lights experiences!

xoxo Jen.

Make-Ahead Unstuffed Shells

This is good. I'm glad this was successful. So last night for dinner I made Unstuffed Shells! 

I got the recipe from Food & Family Magazine! 

Ingredients:

4 cups of medium pasta shells, uncooked

1 lb extra-lean ground beef

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can of tomato paste

1 tub (10oz) Philadelphia Cooking Creme

1/3 cup of fresh basil (I didn't add this, but you can)

1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Directions:

1. Brown the meat in a skillet

2. In the mean time, in a separate pan, bring water to a boil, add pasta. Boil until cooked.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

3. When the meat is brown and ready to go, add one can of tomato sauce and one can of tomato paste. I would use the regular size can even though I used the smaller cans.

4. Also add a cup of water.

5. Mix that up well until you have your meat sauce. 

6. When the pasta is cooked, strain it.

7. Place it back in the pot and add 1 tub of Philadelphia Original Cooking Creme and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

8. Layer this in a 13x9-in casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray. 

Spread half meat sauce in the bottom, then all of the pasta mixture, the remaining meat sauce. 

9. Sprinkle with Mozzarella Cheese

10. The great thing is if you make this ahead of time, you can refrigerate it for 24 hours before cooking. 

11. Cover with foil, and bake for 40-45 minutes or until heated through, uncovering after 30 minutes.

12. Serve yummy goodness!

I guess this is kind of like a baked Ziti/Lasagna type of dish. But it was so good! 

Now, go make some! Yum!

Thanks for stopping by!

xoxo Jen.

Linkin Up

Shabby Creek Cottage

A Glimpse Inside

Somewhat Simple

Momnivores-Dilemma

the 36th Avenue

Can't Stop Crafting

The Christmas Quiz

These are NEW stocking my mom got Noland & I from Pottery Barn! 

I don't have a tree up at my place yet because Noland's sister Kirsten is bringing it down tomorrow! 

Also, I'm cooking dinner as we speak and can't wait to share the recipe with you tomorrow... if it is tasty.

But, I've seen this Christmas Quiz going around so I decided to take it.. Get to know my Christmas side! Beware, I'm told that I can ramble at times.

CHRISTMAS QUIZ

Hot Chocolate or Egg Nog? 

Well it depends. I love Hot Chocolate when its cold outside, especially homemade on the stove top with Hershey's chocolate. I also really enjoy cold Barber's Egg Nog!

Colored lights on tree/house or white? 
I like white lights on the tree in the house and colored outside. I told Noland that when we get a house, he can do whatever he wants outside! haha.

Do you hang mistletoe? 
No, but i would love to in the future.

When do you put your decorations up? 
My mom always made me do it the day after Thanksgiving. When I have a family, I would like to do it on St. Nicholas Day, which is December 6. I think that St. Nicholas day is such a neat tradition and really want to start it.

What is your favorite holiday dish? 
We usually have ham at Christmas! Oh Gosh, so yummy! My mom also makes homemade Macaroni and Cheese Casserole from Southern Living magazine. It is amazing. If she makes it this year, I will have her take pictures and share the recipe!

Favorite Holiday memory as a child? 
Every year, my mom and brother would work out some way to surprise me. Like one year I got my first computer but I opened all my Christmas gifts and was kind of upset because I thought I didn't get it. My brother went into the guest room and grabbed a bag and came out and I thought for sure this would be my computer.. He walked out and my mom had bought me a Limited Too sleeping bag. I smiled and acted like I was okay but deep inside, I was disappointed because I told her all I wanted for Christmas was a computer and it didn't even have to be new.

So every year after we open all of our gifts, we play with them... especially if there are games and such. Afterwards my brother was like, "Hey you want to see what I got Ashley (his wife now)"? and I said, "Sure." So we walked in his room/guest room and there it was... He had revamped the old computer. It was slow but it worked and could get online. It was exactly what I wanted!
But most of all, every Christmas, I just love spending time with family! & lately, its been awesome to have Christmas with my nephews! They make it so much fun again!

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 
Man, Santa is such a heart breaker. I think I found out in like 1st grade from an older kid that went to my after school program. I asked my mom and she told me that he was real and I forgot about the whole ordeal. Then I started thinking he wasn't real again around 4th or 5th grade and I think I found out around then. My mom totally cried & I must say that being the youngest, the year after I found out was not as much fun. 

I think my 4th grade year I knew the truth but I could not figure out how they got the presents under the tree. Every year we went to midnight mass (we're Catholic) & when we got back, the gifts would always be there. I was so confused. I didn't know if my mom left mass to put them under there. Years later, I learned that my brother (we're 10 years apart) would always "forget" his keys and have to run back in the house. I never even noticed.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? 
We don't do this anymore but when I was younger we would go to Midnight mass and Santa would come while we were at mass. So when we got home around 1:30am, we would open all of our gifts! No one can stay up that late any more. We go to an earlier mass on Christmas eve and wait until the morning. 

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
 I don't really understand this question. Haha. I like it with white lights and ornaments & an angel at the top!

Snow! Love it or dread it? 
I have only seen snow about 5 times in my whole life and that's fine by me. Too cold and then it melts and you are all wet... so I'll stay in Florida!

Do you remember your favorite gift?
 Hmm. I don't know. As a kid,  I have no idea.. As a teen, probably the year I got my computer or cell phone!

What is your favorite holiday dessert? 
Christmas Cookies with ICING!

What is your favorite holiday tradition? 
All of them!

Watching Christmas movies
Drinking egg nog & hot chocolate
Looking at Christmas lights!
Looking at all the Christmas stuff at stores!
Listening to Christmas music
Baking
Giving gifts! Shopping for the gifts to give!


Candy Canes: Yum or Yuck?
 Yuck! but I do like the Starburst or the fruity ones.

Favorite Christmas movie?
 I love them all. Charlie Brown Christmas is a classic.

This year, I've already watched ELF twice.
Its a Wonderful Life is a must.
and I love the clay-mation old Rudolph, Santa Clause is comin to Town... etc.
Oh and I watched the new ABC Family movie, 12 dates of Christmas. That was cute too.. but it doesn't make the favorites but it was good.

What is your favorite Christmas song? 
Noland was asking me this the other day. I don't know.
His favorite is The Little Drummer Boy.

 Pa-rump pa pum pum. 

I like Mary, Did you know? & What Child is this.

I don't know-- they are all so good!

Thats all for now! Stop by tomorrow for an amazing Recipe! :)

xoxo Jen.

PS. Sorry there are spaces in some place and not in others. Blogger was not cooperating with me!

No Bake Cookies - My Epic Fail

+ Yesterday was a busy day for me.. I stained some furniture, I'll share later. 

+ And last night, I tried to make a new meatball recipe but it was an EPIC FAIL and did not look or taste good.. + On top of that, I've misplaced my camera. I can not find it anywhere... 

+ So, I decided to make NO BAKE COOKIES..  

my mom used to always make them around the holidays. so yummy. 

+ Well I had a second EPIC FAIL. I will share the recipe though and you can try.. I'm going to have to have her show me cause apparently I can not follow directions! I mean they kinda came out..

Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
2 cups of sugar
3 tablespoons of cocoa
1/2 cup of milk
3 cups of oatmeal
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup of peanut butter.

Directions:
Melt the butter, Add sugar, cocoa and milk. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes. [Do NOT boil for more than 5 minutes or less than 3 minutes].
Then when it starts to thicken. take off the heat, add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal.. Mix well. Place on Wax paper to set.
They should look like this:

mine definitely did not look anything like this.. 

I threw out the first batch and made a second batch.. but I only had 1 cup of sugar left.. ruined that batch too. 

Hopefully you will have more luck! 

Have you ever had an EPIC FAIL on a recipe or craft you wanted to share on your blog? 

Let me know! :)

+on a totally different note, a while ago, Noland & I went to look at Christmas lights and I stole a picture or two off of his phone. This one house we saw was amazing..

Like Clark Griswald AMAZING! 

The second picture didn't turn out as well.. but it was amazing! 

Hopefully, I'll find my camera soon & can share some Christmas goodies with you!

Thanks for stoppin by: 

xoxo Jen.

PS. 18 days til my wedding!

& Linking up here:

Lady Bug Blessings

Carolyn's Homework

Not just a Housewife

Sugar Bee Crafts

Vintage Wanna Bee

Tip Junkie