Door County Day 4

Today is the 4th day here in Door County and it is New Year's Eve!

Before this trip, I made a TON of puppy chow (or muddy buddies) so that we would have a delicious snack.  This giant batch has lasted us the entire trip and we plan on taking it to my brother's friend's house for New Year's.  It is the perfect snack/dessert and everyone loves it.  Plus, this batch turned out even better than any other batch I have ever made.  I made some adjustments to the recipe on the Chex box and I am very pleased with the results.

Puppy Chow/Muddy Buddies

Ingredients:
15 cups Chex Cereal (divided in half into two bowls)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup Natural Creamy Peanut Butter
8 tbsp margarine (or butter)
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:
1. place about 7.5 cups of Chex in a large bowl
2. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup peanut butter, and 4 tbsp butter in a microwavable safe bowl for about 1 and a half minutes.  Stir in 1 tsp vanilla and then microwave for another 30 seconds or until mixture is smooth.
3. Pour over the Chex and mix until cereal is covered thoroughly.  Place mixture in a large ziplock bag and pour in 1 cup powdered sugar.  Shake until cereal is coated.  You may need to add some sugar.
4.  Repeat 1-3 with the other half of the ingredients.
5. Keep in freezer (Muddy Buddies are amazing when they are cold and crunchy!)
Enjoy :)

New Year's Eve started off with a nice mommy-and-me work out. After that, we all got ourselves together and returned to the Village Cafe for lunch.  I got an omelet and I swear it came with the best breakfast potatoes that I have ever had! Lunch was really nice and I think it's fair to say that the Village Cafe became our favorite place.

After lunch, we decided that it would be nice to bring a dessert over to my brother's friend's for later.  We went to this place called Sweetie Pies, but unfortunately it was closed for New Year's Weekend.  This was  bit of a bummer and the grocery store didn't have any good pies either! My parents dropped me, Brian, and my brother off at the hotel and they went off to do some shopping and search for a pie.  They found one! White Gull Inn had whole Door County Cherry Pies for sale.  Finally, we were all ready for our New Year's Eve get-together.

So many snacks!

We went over to our host's house, which was beautiful, and we brought a ton of snacks and the cherry pie.  We snacked, made our own pizzas, and played Scattegories as we waited for the New Year to approach.  The pizzas were amazing and they were made even better with home-made pesto and tomato sauce.  Everything was delicious!

Zack and his friends made a balloon drop and they had purchased a ton of fireworks and poppers earlier that day.  I love how fireworks are legal in this fabulous state.  As midnight came, we set off the balloon drop and ate dessert.  The Cherry Pie was a tad too sweet for me, but it was gorgeous and Brian loved it!  This is saying something since he is a huge cherry fan.

Then, we headed outside for a bonfire and to set off the fireworks.  This ended up being even more epic than we expected as Zack's friend's dad lit the wrong side of the firework and it started shooting towards us and the house.  We all went screaming and running inside.  After that, we read the instructions more carefully and had a great time watching the fireworks go off.

Happy New Year's!
Picture: Sparkling Cherry Juice 

Brian and I shared our third New Year's together and it was made even more special by being surrounded by family and new friends.  This was an amazing New Year's and, now that I have not been burned by fireworks, one that I will always look upon fondly.  I can't wait for all the new year has in store for me.  Any New Year's resolutions? What will I cook? Where will I go? What will I do? I am excited for it all! I hope that everyone had a great New Year's and I wish you all the best in 2012.  Enjoy :)

Door County Day 3

Door County 


Today is our third day in Door County.  We discovered this fantastic place called Hands on Art and spent most of our day at this place.  Hands on Art is a fantastic idea.  They have a bunch of different buildings and in each building there is a specific art project that you can work on.  You do an art project, they finish it, and then you pick it up the next day.  They can also ship, but that costs extra.  We spent a ton of time there and we all made different projects.  I made a coffee mug, wine glass, and ornament.  I am not the most artistically inclined and I have to say I'm fairly impressed with myself.  My projects turned out pretty good and I'm excited to see what they look like when I pick them up tomorrow.  Brian made an adorable mug and the rest of my family participated in ceramics, glass work, and wine glass painting.  The center also had a metal working building, jewelry making, mosaics, and spin-art.  Everything was fairly inexpensive and there were plenty of employees around to help you out.  I can't wait to go pick up my stuff tomorrow and see how it all turned out!

Mom working on a platter

Coffee Mug and Snowman Mug

After our hands on art experience we went back to the hotel for a bit and then it was off for dinner at Mojo Rosa's.  This place was super cute and we got to have a really nice Mexican dinner.  After dinner, the plan was to go bowling at Sister Bay Bowl with my brother's friend and her family.  This didn't work out yesterday and so we were hoping it would today.  I guess it was just not meant to be because when we got to the place it was packed and we were going to have to wait hours before a lane would open up! We drove back to the hotel and while my family played games, Brian and I finally finished a movie that we had been watching before this trip.  Overall, it as a really good day and tomorrow should be fun as well since it is New Year's Eve!  Now it is off to bed...goodnight!

Door County Day 2

Door County

On our second day in Door County we continued to do a lot of shopping...and I'm serious when I say a lot! We went shopping everywhere!  We went to the Liberty Square Shops (all of them) and the Patricia shop. After all of that shopping, we were starving and so we went to the White Gull Inn for lunch.

White Gull Inn

Cherry Stuffed French Toast

The White Gull in is known for its delicious Cherry Stuffed French Toast, which won an award for the best breakfast on Good Morning America! We, of course, all split a half-order (which was still HUGE) along with the rest of our lunch.  It was all really good.  After we cured our hunger, we went (you guessed it) shopping! Seriously.  But this time, we were shopping in Fish Creek instead of Egg Harbor.  The boys found some good clothes at one shop where everything was half off.  There were also some great stores with all sorts of clothing and shoes as well as a confectionary!  The best part of shopping near the end of the year: all the great sales!

Once we actually finished shopping, we drove to Sister Bay Bowl to meet up with Zack's friend Melanie and her family.  We were in for a night of dinner and bowling.  The only problem: anyone can bowl at Sister Bay Bowl except for on Thursday nights when they have bowling leagues.  Of course it was Thursday! We hung out by the lanes and played pool for a bit, but then we left to try out an Italian restaurant called Villagios back in Fish Creek.

This place was really good and we had a great time! Brian and I split a pizza and pasta dish and got to have the best of both worlds! We all ended up very full and very happy.  We then headed back to the hotel.  It was another fun day in Door County!

Door County Day 1

Door County

Today was our first full day in Door County.  Me, my mom and dad, brother, Zack, and Brian are all here for a little relaxation before the New Year.  We are staying at the Newport Resort in Egg Harbor and it is lovely.  The only problem we have encountered is that a lot of places are closed for the winter season.  However, we have found a ton of stuff to do and it has been really nice.

Last night, we bought groceries at the local store and then went out for dinner at this place called Shipwrecked.  Then, we came back to the hotel (around 6) and read books in front of our fireplace and watched movies.  I felt about 80 years old, but it was so nice! I am reading Cold Mountain and it's my goal to finish it by the end of this trip!

Today my mom, Brian, and I went downstairs to the fitness center and worked out for a bit.  Then, after a nice skype call with my friend Caryn from school, we all got ready and headed out for the day.  Oh, and by the way, getting ready also meant calling housekeeping to come take care of the flood started by Zack clogging the toilet and then Brian trying to fix it.  Yep, wouldn't be a family vacation without that sort of thing happening.  Anyways, after the flood was cleaned up, we all headed out to check out what Egg Harbor has to offer.

We started at the Main Street Shoppes and did some retail-therapy.  I purchased a beautiful bag that will be perfect for carrying all of my school stuff.  We also went into this store that sold items made in Britain.  Zack got a candy bar and Brian got a beer.  It was called Banana Bread Beer and it did indeed taste like banana bread with beer.  Then, we checked out the gelato shoppe and the cheese shoppe.  (I'm really liking the use of the word shoppe...it's for a shop, but cuter).  Zack and I bought a cute cat mug for our mom and we also bought two kinds of cheese that tasted amazing and are meant for the wine and cheese night we are planning on having.

Lunch was next.  We went to the Village Cafe, which was highly recommended, and it did not disappoint.  Not only was the food yummy, but the place also had great art pieces available for sale.  Therefore, the decor was cute as well!  Zack and I both got hot chocolates and they were HUGE.  We ended the meal with a  Door County Cherry Pie.

hot cocoa!

Cherry Pie

After lunch we headed out to check out some of the local wineries.  We had no idea that Door County had so many! We ended up going to the Simon Creek Winery and the Door Peninsula Winery.  We also purchased no fewer than 18 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of beer.  Yea...now we are definitely prepared for that wine and cheese night.

We came back to the hotel after all of this (it was only 4:30) and we snacked on appetizers and watched Les Miserables in Concert.  Brian and I had rented it from the library thinking it was the actual play.  My family loves that play and so we thought it was appropriate.  The "in Concert" version does not have any acting though and it made it much harder to follow the story.  I also finished my book! It was great and I highly recommend it.  It was very beautiful and a bit depressing.  Now, I am going to start A Small Hotel which my mom took out from the library.

Side note: If you don't know this about me, I LOVE to read.  Whenever I am not in school, I basically drink in books.  Over the summer I read about 9.  That included both the Hunger Games Series and the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  I also recently saw the movie of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it was great! I am a strong supporter of reading a book before seeing the movie so if you intend to see this movie please read the book first.  It makes it better.

Anyways, after a night of snacking, musicals, reading, and finally, Apples to Apples, it was time for bed.  See you tomorrow for Day 2 of our Door County experience :)