'Tis the Season....to still be sneezin'!!!

Hi everyone. (if anyone is there)...

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas/ Holidays!!! I've had a rough couple of weeks. And I wanted to let you all know that I'm taking the week off to re-coup, and not just catch up, but to get ahead!

My little 5 yr old has Mono! Not sure how that happened, but it did. She's been sick now for 3 weeks and on top of that - we now have some cold virus traveling through our family. 3 out of the 4 of us - have it - yuck!!! Bust out the tissues - we have issues!

So if you are just now finding my blog - and this is the first post you are reading - please find one of my better posts to read and stay a while! But I am off to rest my head and drink some warm water with Honey and Lemon juice! It's my favorite thing when I get sick. That and my Neti Pot!

I wish you all a VERY WONDERFUL & SAFE New Year! Please follow along with me - the new year will be bringing some really fun tutorials and cool updates about my 2 is Beautiful business!

Thanks so much for checking me out and reading about all the things I love to do and share! And if you wouldn't mind, please vote for your favorite post categories on my blog - up on the right hand side! Thanks! -kg

Edible Wednesday: Creamy Potato Soup

During this time of year when we all need a little "comfort food" to wash away all the colds and other illness' we bring home or our kids bring home, potato soup will comfort like no other.

This isn't the potato soup recipe that my mom always made when we were little (still waiting to get that copy from her)....but here's a great Creamy Potato Soup recipe you will enjoy by Jason Hill from Chef Tips.

Here's what you will need from the grocery store before you get started:

2 Cups of Shredded Smoke Gouda
1 tbsp Dried Basil
4 Tbsp Butter
2 chopped Carrots
2 Chopped Celery Stalks
1 cup Chopped Onion
2 cups Heavy Cream
6 Cups Chicken Stock
6 Red Potatoes

He also adds a little Cracked Black Pepper on top of the soup at the end, but I'm allergic to that - so I'd say that's optional!

To find out how to put it all together - check out this video by Chef Tips. To Find more recipes by Jason Hill - check out his website - Cooking Sessions with chef Jason Hill. So Yummy!!!

Have a great comforting Wednesday! Soups up! - kg

Edible Wednesday: Gingerbread House Part 1

I'm off to a late start today. My daughter and I have been sick for the last few days, but on Saturday when I couldn't do much, I at least sat at my computer and got my Monday & Tuesday post ready and scheduled. That felt great. Yesterday when I started to feel a little better, I was busy cleaning house and unable to get going on today's post. But no worries - I've got it all under control!
Today I am sharing with you all the Gingerbread House Template my daughter's and I will be using to make our village this afternoon. If you haven't made one yet - this is for you too! Because blogspot won't let me upload a PDF file - I have inserted this as a JPEG. It will print nicely on an 8 1/2 x 11 - just check before you click print! It will be a small size Gingerbread house - so if you have a few kids, you'll have a village of gingerbread houses and not just one mansion! This is the recipe I plan on using from epicurious.com since I was not able to find the box gingerbread mix this year at my grocery store! They have all the instructions too - for mixing and baking after cutting out your pieces.

Oh - I can just smell it now....I'll post some more pictures later too of our house in progress...Tune in Friday for the decoration celebration, and have a great Wednesday!

Busy Monday: Starting a Blog Part 1

As you can see from my archive list, I signed up to start blogging in January of this year. But as you can also see from my archive list, I didn't start really blogging until September! I really wasn't sure what to blog about, I didn't have my product up and running anywhere to purchase or promote and I wasn't sure I'd have anything interesting to say!

As soon as I got my Etsy shop up in September, I started to hear "the" buzz that blogging was a great way to promote your shop. But I didn't really want a blog that was all..."hey everyone , look at me"!
So where do you start? First you have to decide which free blogging service you want to sign up with. There are pros and cons to each, so please do your research. Here's a few to check out:

Blogger (aka blogspot)
Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com
Live Journal

Not so free blogging: fees
Typepad - you can start blogging with a free trial, but it can cost between $8.95 a month for the minimums to $89.95 a month for a Business Pro account.

If you want to blog and get paid to blog - check out this list of sites...from Hongkiat.com.

After you've checked out those blogs, and you've signed up, come back here next week for more information about changing the look of your blog and personalizing it to really represent you!

See you tomorrow for a little bit of This 'n' That! Happy reading! -kg