Ugly Sweaters and Delicious Chocolate Bark

...also know as Bella goes to a Christmas party full of peculiar people in ugly sweaters and feeds them chocolate stuff that she is going to teach you how to make.

Last weekend I went to a Christmas party. Not just any Christmas party but the notorious, annual TACKY/UGLY/AWKWARD CHRISTMAS SWEATER PARTY at the house of my friend Chris.

Basically we all show up in the ugliest Christmas getup possible, eat food, play games, and be ridiculous. An ugly sweater and an appetizer/snack were required for entrance. I will get to the snack part in a minute, but first I know you want to see a couple pictures of peculiar people in ugly Christmas clothes so... here you go. You asked for it.

 *this below  photo "stolen" from the facebook of Katie P.

I needed one of me as I forgot to get a shot of me in my XXL, bedazzled, 3-dimensional ugly Christmas sweater (or dress). I'm the one in with the glasses. This photo really doesn't do the ugliness justice. Darn.

See! Told you it was ughhhhhly. (in case you wondered the guy with the currrrly hair in picture #4 was voted to have the ugliest sweater/outfit. Though I really should have won...)

ANYWAY, after you have erased those scaring images from your mind, I bet you want to know what I brought for these awkward sweater wearing peeps to eat? CHOCOLATE BARK!!!!!!!!!

What is that? Don't worry, it doesn't involve bark off any Christmas trees. It is mostly chocolate and then some other stuff. It is super easy and rather quick. I made two kinds: pretzel/peanut butter and peppermint! Great to bring to holiday parties, to hang out with people in horrific clothing (oh wait...only we do that...),or to munch as you watch Christmas movies. With out further ado...

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE BARK

-the ultimate Christmas party snack!-

 In a double boiler melt 1 and a 1/2 bags of Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips and 1 tablespoon or so of Paraffin Wax (yes, really. It IS edible and it makes the chocolate shiny. Trust me, just do it.) until it is smooth.

 *For thePEPPERMINT one I added  a teaspoon of Peppermint extract to the melting chocolate.

*for the Pretzel and Peanut Butter bark I crushed up about a cup and half of thin pretzels and gentle stirred them into the melted chocolate.

*for the PEPPERMINT I crushed up a bunch of candy canes and stirred those in.

  Spread the chocolate (mixed with either pretzels or candy canes...or both...) onto a cookie sheet lined with wax/parchment paper. You want to spread it out pretty well. It should cover almost the entire sheet.

 

 Once on the cookie sheet I added Peanut Butter M & M's to the chocolate and pretzels. I just poked them in with my finger deep enough so that they would harden into the chocolate.

I stuck mint chocolate chips into the surface of the PEPPERMINT one.

 I covered it all over with aluminum foil and let it dry for an hour or so in my garage. The chocolate needs to become completely solid (hard) again before the next step.

Once hardened I broke it into munchable-sized pieces (just with my hands. Snaps easily). The next day I plated them up and took them to the party.

(The pretzel one was a big hit! Apparently people in ugly clothes like to eat sweet and salt things as they play silly games. Hmmm...)

 Joking all aside, bark is really fun and easy to make and you can play around with different kinds of chocolate and fillings. I've had it with white chocolate, pretzels and candy canes all together. I've seen recipes with mini marshmallow in it. You can turn it into an unhealthy version of trail mix. Dried fruit could be tasty. Crushed/broken candys work fine. Lots of people use almonds and all those other holidayish nuts. 
THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS, MY FRIENDS!
Try it out for one of your Christmas parties (or package it and give it as a gift!) and I betcha it will be a HIT!

Awesomebella Cooks-PASTA!

I really shouldn't even be posting this as I followed no recipe and I will be giving you none to follow. And the "PASTA" part of the title really shouldn't be followed by a "!" because it is no big deal. I always cook pasta. I am a pasta cooking pro. My middle name is practically pasta (...well...maybe it is Kiss but...they both have the letter s in the middle?).

But I did cook pasta last night so I am going to post about it. The original plan for the night was to do Fettuccine Alfredo with garlic bread but no grocery shopping happened over the weekend and we had no fettuccine, no bread and no time to make some, and none of the stuff involved in making Alfredo sauce so... I just whipped up some other pasta creations.  

Penne Rigate with Sausage and 

Spaghetti with Shrimp.

Pictures...
Pasta #1, Penne with Sausage...

 

2 boxes of Penne.

 2 packages of sausage.

1/2 red onion.

5 cloves garlic.

1 can of diced tomatoes.

Many much frozen peas.

Jar of (Meat) Tomato Sauce

 

 PASTA #1!

Pasta #2, Spaghetti with Shrimp:

 One package of Spaghetti

 1 bag of frozen shrimp

 Lime juice (lemon is better, but I only had limes)

Lime Zest

Chili Pepper Flakes

Sirancho Chile Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Delicious pasta #2!

So the whole pasta thing was kind of a last minute cop out. Maybe next week I will go back to fancy stuff that requires skills and recipe following. But maybe not. Whatever. Pasta is (unarguably, in my opinion) the best food ever invented, so I would totally be okay with eating it every Monday. Or every day. 

Guess we will just have to wait until next week to find out to see what I will cook. But I assure you it will be AWESOME.

*check tomorrow, I will be posting a delicious CHRISTMAS PARTY SNACK recipe!

Boots with the socks and the skinnybottomed jeans...

Okay, firstly, I am hesitant to even do a fashion post as this is by no means a fashion blog. Nor will it ever be a fashion blog. I promise. I do not have time to get dressed and repeatedly take photos of myself. I like being behind the camera, not in front of it, and I don't really want to have a blog about what I am wearing everyday. Works for some people, but not me. For me it is personally too time consuming, too girly, too much attention on stuff of little importance.

Anyway, I like clothes a lot a lot and I enjoy wearing them as a means of artistic expression. People often tell me they love my clothes or ask me if I have ever considered a career in the fashion industry but the answer is "Thank you, but no." I wear what I wear because I like it, not because anyone else told me I should. I don't dress to get attention or to not get attention. Truth is, I don't even really like compliments. I just like to look awesome for my own sake! I wear what I wear because I like it! I do not follow trends. I do not dress like the majority. But...this is an exception. I am going to post clothing on this blog. Me wearing it, other people wearing it. I think I could potentially following a trend here? Oh dear...

CONFESSION: I am obsessed with boots and the concept of wearing knee high socks with them, particularly over skinny jeans. No doubt about it this is my favorite cold weather trend EVER (well, besides layering. I am a master at that). This is taking my love of wearing boots to a whole new level. I have always loved boots and I only own skinny jeans so I can wear my boots to their full potential. I'm not sure who came up with this sock thing, but I want to hug them. Socks over my pants under my boots somehow makes me very happy.

Not everyone seems to get this. "Why are you wearing socks over your pants?" "Are those socks attached to your boots?" "What is the point?" (Yes, I am, no, they are not, and there isn't one.)


but seriously, HOW COULD YOU NOT THINK THIS IS AWESOME!? Don't like it? Shut your eyes and me, my socks and my boots will all disappear. I think it is great. So I am going to keep doing it!

 *waldo/elf socks! Yet to actually leave my house with these over my pants...maybe someday.

 And so are these people...

 (click for sources)

Aw, my mythbustin' girl Kari Byron rocking some sick boots with socks! 

Love her. Stylish, cute, smart, can shoot guns and blow stuff up and is on Tv...

Ps: I own those arm warmers!

 

 Okay, I promise (!) I will not show up any place in this outfit. Don't fret. I just like the boots!

Do you people still not get it? Hmmm...I give up. Me and my socks/pant/boots will just have to have fun times without you. And I assure you, I will!

Featured!

Hey guys, just thought I should let you all know I am being  

FEATURED today over at Ashley's THESE HOURS. 

Ashley has a great, inspirational blog and a great photography etsy shop 

(with profits going towards fighting for children with cancer). 

You should definitely check her and her blog (and my post on her blog!) out!

Thanks! Have a great Sunday! Only 2 weeks until Christmas!

Random Christmas Tree Magicality...

First, this:

I took this shot at the tree farm a couple weeks ago. It makes me rather happy. Techicially, you are not really supposed to shoot photos into the sun as...you get this. Light beams and spots and all, but there is something about it, though it is "wrong," that I really enjoy. There is something terribly magical about sun spots. I like 'em. You?

Second, this:

 This is a ginormous tree where I live that gets lighted up every year outside of one of our town buildings. I wish I could capture the magnitude of this thing. It is HUGE. Those are car driving by it. That tree is a beastmonster of evergreeness.

 I jumped out of the car, into the dark night, and tried to take pictures of it. But I didn't last long. It was FREEZING and super windy, so a lot of the pictures came out blurred like this. It was like the tree was dancing. Pretty magical if you ask me...

How lovely are your big branches, monster tree of cow town. You make me smile.

Spreadin' round the Christmas Cheer

Today I got fed up with the lack of Christmas decor in our house so I went and braved the attic, dragged down all sorts of garland, lights, and goodies and made the whole entire house a bit more "Christmasy." (Does it serve a point? No. But it looks good!)  I pretty much felt like Buddy the Elf decorating Gimbles (minus the etch-a-sketch Mona Lisa)/ a very aggravated Martha Stewart (minus the jail time). But, now our house is all out Christmasafied and ready for celebrations and guests so my effort was worth it.

First I made the downstairs more cheery...

 So much GARLAND! Ah! 

This might look all nice now, but let me tell you it was a battle! I spent over a half hour trying to get this wrapped up, down, and all around the staircase, all the while singing (to the tune of "Mister Grinch") a song about all my negative feelings towards artificial greenery. There was also quite a bit of yelling and other aggravated noises as I mumbled about garland nooses. And when my two year old sister asked me what the stuff was that I was stringing up the stairs I responded "Lucifer Incarnated."

But look, it was all worth it! Looks lovely!
*if you happen to come to my house please tell me how happy you are to see garland. please appreciate my effort! PLEASE!*

...but I am SO not looking forward to taking it all back down in a month or so...ugh.

 All those snowflakes we made? Strung 'em up over doorways!

Then I finished decking the halls in my bedroom!

 I put up my newly bought vintage Christmas lights ($6 for the 2 strands at a local thrift shop).

 I hung a paper chain (made from the same dictionary I have made many, many projects out of) across the back wall.

 And then I finished decorating my TREE!!!!!!!! 

Her name is Hadassah.
(Yes, kind of like Esther in the Bible. But Why? Long, complicated, inside joke of a story that makes me laugh but you won't get it...so nevermind).  
Anyway, I bought her for $18 at Home Depot. Hopefully, as she is in a pot and only needs watering and love, I will be able to keep her up year round! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) If you cannot tell, that makes me excited.

 I had so much fun making ornaments and stuff to put on her. Here are a couple of the sites/blogs I used!Check them out and get started on making your own handmade tree/house/anywhere decorations!

• Modern Paper Ornament, via Design*Sponge
• Paper Ball Ornament, via Design*Sponge
• Porcupine Ball, via How About Orange
• Holiday Yarn Ball Ornament, via (one of my favorites) Violet Bella
• Gum Wrapper Chain (which I did out of magazine strips and turned into tree garland!)

*************************************************

Don't you just want to go decorate your house, sing carols, and eat sugar plums (whatever the heckito those are) now? I suggest that you do. Just make sure that as you ensnare yourself in garland and pull tinsel out of your hair that you don't forget the REAL meaning of Christmas. 

Garland is nice, so are lights, and trees are amazing, but nothing can be cooler than my JESUS.