Penny's Passion

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

10 on the 10th - Random Facts About Me

Today I'm joining the fun over at Perfectly Port Family for 10 on the 10th Link-Up. This month we're talking about 10 Random Facts About You. So let me share 10 things about yours truly ~

One

I love taking pictures. Like, really LOVE taking pictures. Just ask my family and friends. Last year I finally got the camera of my dreams (HERE). Now I really want to figure out all the bells and whistles and take my pictures to the next level.

Two

I’m not a fan of water, coffee or beer – three of the most common things to drink. I wish I liked them and I’ve tried to like them, but I just don’t.

Three

If I’m channel surfing and come across Pretty Woman, the search for something to watch is over. I’ll stop changing channels immediately and watch the rest of this movie.

Four

One of my favorite TV shows is Married at First Site. It’s like getting a free counseling session with each episode

Five

If I won the lottery, Eric and I would surprise our son and daughter-in-law with a trip to Italy and our nieces and nephews with a trip to Disney World. I would love to share those experiences with them! Oh, and I would also buy a million pairs of shoes!

Six

If a recipe calls for whisking or zesting, it makes me feel like a true cook.

Seven

We currently have no pets in our house. We lost our golden retriever, Daisy, about three years ago. Even though we miss her dearly, we are just not home enough to justify getting a new dog. There are moments when I miss her so much!

Eight

One of my favorite things is coming home and having the bed made. I honestly hardly ever make it myself because most of the time Eric doesn’t start work as early as I do, so he’s still in bed when I’m leaving. When I walk in the bedroom and he’s made the bed, it really does make me have a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Nine

One of my dreams is to attend a live taping of either Ellen or The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

Ten

Receiving a heart-felt thank you for doing something special for someone melts my heart. I’m not going to lie, half the time I do special things just to receive the praise at the end. Is that bad?!?

Monday, January 8, 2018

January's TBB Asks - Monday, January 8

Today I'm joining a great group of bloggers over at The Blended Blog to answer the January TBB Asks questions. It's such a fun way to get to know other bloggers! I also find that while reflecting on my answers, I learn a little bit about myself at the same time. So let's get started ~

1. Resolutions or No Resolutions?

I'm definitely a resolutions girl. Each new year I have a long list of things I want to focus on. Some of them actually make it through to December!

2. Love snow or no snow?

I have a love / hate relationship with snow. I absolutely HATE having to drive to and from work in the snow. Snow can turn my normal 40 minute commute into hours. But if it's a weekend that I can sit in my cozy house and look out the window at huge flakes floating to the ground I'm all about it.

3. Name a New Place you want to go this year.

Italy. Definitely Italy! Eric and I are saving our change and hopefully will be able to book a trip there this summer.

4. Would you rather have a new hair cut or hair color?

Man, I would love a new hair cut. But I have to be honest, it seems no matter how my stylist cuts my hair I always gravitate back to the same way of fixing it.

5. Name one special thing you want to do for yourself this year.

I really want to start eating more healthy. Each week I stock our refrigerator with fruits and vegetables, and each week I throw most of it away. Bad on so many levels! This year I'm going to put more effort into actually using the good food I buy instead of tossing it out.

6. Least favorite thing about January?

The days are so short! Most of the time I leave for work in the dark and I come home in the dark.

7. Most favorite thing about January?

Fresh starts! The new year is such a great time to start new things. It's like hitting the reset button. All things are possible!

8. When do you take down your Holiday decorations?

Ugh. This is a task I absolutely hate. My goal is always to take them down the first weekend in January. Then I spend the next few days missing them.

9. Do you diet in January?

Absolutely. Me and the other 753485478 people that have resolved to lose weight starting in January. Hopefully this year will show some results.

10. What area of your home do you want to organize the most?

My pantry! One of the main reasons we purchased our current home is because I fell in love with the pantry. Unfortunately, it falls prey to stuff being dumped in there. I need to spend some serious time getting it in order. It's amazing the feeling I have when I step in there after it's all clean and organized.

11. Favorite Winter Comfort Food.

There are tons of comfort foods that I love, but one of my favorites is Loaded Potato Soup. My recipe is HERE. It's quick and easy to make and really warms you up on cold winter days.

12. Favorite Guilty Pleasure?

Hands down - Binge watching a new TV series. I love setting aside a day and just watching the heck out of a show.

Thanks TBB for providing the questions and I can't wait to learn more about other bloggers!

Friday, January 5, 2018

Five on Friday - January 5, 2018

Happy Friday! Wowza - I'm so grateful this was a short work week! Getting back into the groove was a real challenge. But so far 2018 is off to a wonderful start and I'm excited to share my five with you today. So here goes ~

1. National Whip Cream Day
Not only is today a special day because it's my friend Linda's birthday, it is also National Whipped Cream Day. That's right - top off that dessert with some creamy white delight in celebration today. If you want to go the extra mile and make homemade whipped cream, it's really pretty simple. All you need is 1 cup of heavy cream, 1 tablespoon of powered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Put the heavy cream in a bowl and whip it until stiff peaks are about to form. Then add in your vanilla and sugar and beat until those peaks are stiff. Heck, no need to waste calories on the dessert - just eat the whipped cream straight out of the bowl!

2. Molly's Game
Molly's Game is based on the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe. Definitely on my list of movies I want to see.

3. The Bucket List: 1000 Adventures Big & Small
Have you evaluated your bucket list recently? Before you do, you might want to check out this book of 1000 adventures big and small. Even if some of them aren't your cup of tea, it would still be fun just to know these things exist! Here's how Amazon summarizes:

We all have things we’d like to do—one day—but work, family, school, money, and responsibilities get in the way. This invaluable guide to fun, fantastic, and life-affirming activities features an eclectic range of ideas such as self-improvement, sports-related endeavors, natural wonders, cultural experiences, culinary delights, and more. From glassblowing in the Czech Republic to swimming with dolphins in New Zealand, The Bucket List is the perfect gift for the passionate traveler—an around-the-world, continent-by-continent listing of beaches, museums, monuments, islands, inns, restaurants, mountains, and more.

Each activity is location-specific and as geographically unique as bird-watching in Kenya or driving through clouds in Sri Lanka, as well as other to-dos that can be done anywhere, such as sketching a sunset behind an architectural monument. In addition to classic outdoor pursuits, the book contains advice on how to achieve some of the most popular goals for people of all ages: direct a movie, learn to play an instrument, make pottery, protect an endangered species, name a star, try a new cuisine, or learn a new language. Whether you are more active or laid-back, serious-minded or lighthearted, you are bound to discover new, stimulating activities.

Click HERE to check it out.

4. Golden Globes - Sunday, January 7
The award season is upon us! Sunday will mark the kick off of the 2018 season with the 75th Golden Globe Awards. Seth Meyers will host and actors and actresses are planning to wear black to protest sexual harassment in the entertainment industry. Although I feel I'm behind on seeing some of the movies, I'm still a bit excited to see who wins what. Are you an awards show watcher?

5. Confession....

The best thing about
winter is that your
winter coat hides the
fact that you're not
wearing a bra to Target.

Hope you have a great weekend and are able to stay warm! I have girls night tonight and on Sunday we're meeting friends for lunch. I might even start taking down my Christmas decorations. Do you still have yours up?? Hope I'm not the last person to put theirs away! See you back here next week!

Linking up with:

The Peaceful Posse

Amanda at Meet At The Barre

Erika at Little Bit of Everything

Simply Sweet Home
High Five for Friday
5 on Friday
The Blended Blog
This post contained affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you click on the link and purchase. Thanks

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Friday Favorites - January 5, 2018

Welcome to 2018's first Friday Favorites! Things are back to normal and we're excited to have Jerri back in action. Enjoy!

Please support and follow our lovely blog party hostesses:

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Maisy at Becoming Alice - FB | G+ | Pin

Sheree at Stage Presents - Twitter | FB | Pin | Inst | Inst

Lisa at Condo Blues - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Amy at A Day of Small Things - Pin

Penny at Penny's Passion - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky - Twitter | FB | G+ | Pin | Inst | BL

If you are featured this week, be sure and grab a featured button for your blog!

You can show your love for this week's favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week's favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week's linky party!

Thinking Out Loud Thursday - January 4, 2018

Welcome to a new year and the first Thinking Out Loud Thursday of 2018! Yesterday was my first day back to work since the Friday before Christmas, so it was a bit of an adjustment hearing the alarm go off and knowing that I had to get up and moving at a much brisker pace than I had in a while!!

First -- Happy New Year!! This is my first post of 2018 and I'm excited to share tons of fun things with you during the next 12 months. Hope you follow along.

I'm still relishing what a great break it was and that's what I'm thinking out loud about today! As with every year, I look forward to spending the week between Christmas and New Year's at home. My to do list grows long and rarely (or quite possibly never) does it get done. And I'm okay with that.

This year on break, besides having a wonderful Christmas with my family, I ~

~ Read four books
~ Went to three movies
~ Got two rather large donation collections together
~ Deep cleaned our laundry room
~ Enjoyed the heck out of New Year's with friends in Kansas City

The books were a great winter escape. Erin Hilderbrand's Winter Trilogy of Winter Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms and Winter Solstice were easy reads, but really kept me wanting to find out more about the characters. If you haven't read them, I would recommend adding them to your want to read list!

I went to three movies - Father Figure, Pitch Perfect 3 and Darkest Hour. Thanks to my Movie Pass, going to movies is so economical! For $10 a month, you can go to one movie a day. By the way, none of the movies I saw were brilliant. Pitch Perfect did make me laugh out loud several times. If you've seen the previews for Father Figures, you've seen all the funny parts. The Darkest Hour was not my favorite. The run time is only 2 hour, but I swear it felt like 10. I might have even slept for a few of those minutes too.

New Year's was a blast at my friend Janet's house! She's my friend Linda's sister and is the baby of their family of nine. I've been hanging out with that family since before Janet was born!! Our party of twenty-three rocked the Party in your PJs theme.

There was food (SOOOO much food) and games. We learned a new game, Splendor, that I immediately came home and purchased. It made me add Have More Game Nights to my 2018 goals.

At any given time, there were various games happening that you could drop in on.

At midnight we rang in the New Year with a toast and confetti.

So even though the items like clean the basement, delete old emails, and throw away expired coupons didn't get crossed off the list, having a great time and enjoying the people around me did. That's definitely the best kind of break in my eyes.

Now I'm ready to face 2018 with excitement and enthusiasm. Let's rock this year!!

What are you thinking out loud about today? Link up and share. I'd love to hear from you!

An InLinkz Link-up

Enjoy more Thoughts for Thursday at:

Home of Malones

East Coast Chic

Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop

This is How We Roll

Friday, December 29, 2017

Let's Make Panera Bread Co's Asiago Bagel Breakfast Bake

Hey guys! Popping in today to share a great recipe that would be perfect for New Year's Day. It takes a bit of planning because you have to make it the day before, but it's well worth the effort! Also, it's meatless so if you have any vegetarians around for breakfast this is a perfect dish for them.

Kayla and Ian came over Christmas morning for breakfast before we headed to my parents. I had decided to fix this breakfast bake because it is assembled the night before and in the morning I just had to pop it in the oven and let it bake while I got ready. I had found this recipe on the Food.com years ago and had fixed it for a girls weekend. Everyone had loved it then, and it was a hit on Christmas morning as well!

Here's What You Need

8 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon)

1/4 teaspoon paprika

6 ounces shredded mornterey jack cheese

6 ounces grated asiago cheese

4 asiago cheese bagels

Here's What You Do

As mentioned above, this dish must be prepared the night before you plan to bake it.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, salt, milk, tarragon and paprika. Add fresh ground pepper to taste.

Mix the schredded cheeses together in a bowl. Cut the bagels into small bite-size pieces.

Grease a 2-quart souffle or casserole dish and, starting with the bagel pieces, place them in the dish in alternating layers with the shredded cheeses. Pour the egg mixture evenly over all, cover the dish, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

Bake, uncovered, in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. The top will be a nice golden brown.

We served the breakfast bake with roasted potatoes and bacon. It was a great breakfast and came together quite easily. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Five on Friday - December 29, 2017

Hello friends! Here we are at the last Friday in 2017. How did that happen?!? This year has flown by! I'm not going to lie, the thought of a new year always makes me a little excited. So many fun things are already planned for 2018. But let's get on with the last Five on Friday for 2017 ~

1. Instant Pot Miracle Cookbook
How many of you got an Instant Pot for Christmas? I got one for my birthday in November and am looking forward to taking full advantage of this hot appliance to pull suppers together in the new year. I also received this cookbook - Instant Pot Miracle. It's full of recipes I can't wait to try! If you're looking for some ideas for your Instant Pot, add this cookbook to your collection and see the miracles your instant pot can pull off for you. Click HERE to purchase.

2. Winter Trilogy Books by Erin Hilderbrand

While on Christmas break, I've read four books. Talk about a nice break!! Erin Hilderbrand hooked me with her Winter Trilogy Books, which is actually a four-book series. Winter Street, Winter Stroll, Winter Storms, and her final book Winter Solstice introduces you to the Quinn family and the Winter Street Inn located in Nantucket. Each heart-warming novel is full of dysfunctional family shenanigans and leaves you anxious to read the next book in the series. Have you read them?

Winter Solstice (Winter Street) by [Hilderbrand, Elin]

3. Shine On Sweatshirt

Eric got me this sweatshirt from American Eagle for Christmas and I just might leave it on until spring. It is seriously the most soft, cozy sweatshirt I've ever owned. And it's on sale right now!! You have to check it out! I got the gray one that says Shine On. It's also available in a red Peace version. It's in my cart right now! Click HERE to check them out.

4. Desktop Cell Phone Stand

I'm thinking I need one of these for the office desk. It conveniently holds your cell at an angle that's easy to view. You can view your cell or tablet at a glance without having to pick up the phone. I'm also thinking you could face time while being hands free with your phone. Yes, I definitely need one. You too? Click HERE.

5. Happy New Year's!

Hope you have a fun and safe New Year's! I'm headed to Kansas City to celebrate with friends. It will be an evening full of games and good times. I'm going to post an egg casserole recipe tomorrow that would be wonderful to serve on New Year's Day. Hope you pop back in and check it out.

Happy New Year's everyone!