Here’s the skinny… My mom and Auntie Rosie have been on a crafting roll lately…. Every time I check in with my Mom she goes on and on telling me about the candy wreaths her and my aunt have been making, if that’s not enough she’s even sending pictures and blowing up my instagram feed with her crafty creations. I have to admit…. I was a little jealous I couldn’t join them due to an over abundance of work this year. Usually I’m in the thick of the craft projects with them.

A few days later my Mom and I were doing our weekly run to Walmart for all things needed, and she says to me “Are you sure you don’t have time to make a candy tree? We could buy everything here at Walmart, then go home and make some. It won’t take that long.” I got so happy, I smiled and said “Alright. Twist my arm to spend some quality Mom and daughter time making food crafts!” She new I was bummed and was dying to get crafty…. plus I knew I could always share / blog about it.

Once my tree was done, I thought it to be so whimsical and old fashioned at the same time. I imagined it being part of the set of an old Rudolph cartoon with a blaze of snow blowing past it. My Mom and I placed our trees side by side when we were done and photographed them. She made her’s covered in gummy bears and I made mine of sour cherry candies with a white star on top. HAPPINESS = A MERRY CHRISTMAS

What you’ll need for a Candy Christmas Tree:

• glue sticks
• glue gun
• styrofoam cone
• styrofoam circle stand / base for cone (optional)
• green tape (or any other color that suits your needs)
• candy
• sequins ribbon (optional)
• craft stars
• garland / tinsel
• scissors

Instruction:

1. Plug in glue gun and insert glue stick…allow to get hot.
2. Glue base/stand to styrofoam cone.  
3. Working in 2 to 3 inch long pieces, cover the cone from top to bottom in tape. 
4. Once the entire cone is covered, tape up the bottom and top too.
5. Using little dabs of glue from the glue gun, stick on the first piece of candy. Work your way all around to form the first ring. 
6. Then measure the circumference of the tree with the sequin ribbon. Cut where the two ends meet and glue it on between each roll of candy rings. 
7. Once you reach the bottom glue the garland / tinsel around the bottom of the base. 
8. Either glue the star directly on top of the tree or I used pom pom balls between the tree and the star.
9. It’s that simple.
10. Enjoy!

I got a little guy who watches his Mama cook day in and day out. He examines my every move in the kitchen and has recently started asking to be involved. He wants to bake, make pancakes, or pour hot water in jello….all under Mama’s watchful eye of course. This is all music to my ears that I have a little chef in the works here who shows a genuine interest in cooking. I am even more thrilled that Princess House now has wonderful kits that kids can use and actually help out in the kitchen. You can find everything from an apron to mixing bowls to a real whisk to cookie cutters. My son and I have been getting busy in the kitchen…cookie making and whipping up cake batter. He loves it, and so do I. Here are a few pictures of us having fun in the kitchen. Get your little chef a Princess House Cookin’ Kid  kit today!

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. I just love Melissa’s Produce and want to share a good resource with my readers on gift baskets.

Do you have a person that is impossible to buy for this holiday season? I have a few of those on my list, so being a girl that is all about food, Melissa’s produce just made life a little easier with their new Gift Baskets! Now i can shop stress free from behind my computer screen and know that my near and dear will get the best delivered to them! For Instance the basket pictured above would be the ideal gift for a fancy wine and cheese lover. It comes with an exquisite 750 ml. bottle of Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, 4 lbs. of the seasons best tasting Asian pears, a bottle stopper, a cloth bag filled with a 10 oz. medley of nuts and nut cracker, and a box of crackers pairing perfectly with an 8 oz. wedge of Parmesan cheese. It sounds like I may have to order it for myself. 🙂 

 I think the Holiday Fruit Hamper might be my favorite. The natural woven hamper basket is carefully packed with a generous variety of seasonal apples, pears plus juicy grapefruit, tangerines, oranges, and kumquats, then embellished with a festive bow.

• The newest additon of the Melissa’s Gift Basket  line are the Wine & Produce Baskets! But search around you will find new boxes and gift baskets available too… including ones for kids, ones for just organic shoppers, ones for all occasions, etc!
• Melissa’s site also has options to shop by price (in case consumer coming to the site are money focused on the present).
• Meissa’s site options to shop by occassion (Oragnic, Birthday, Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Corporate, etc).
• Melissa’s site has options of all sorts and sizes from the least expensive gifts from the Hidden Treasures Bag in the low $20’s to the Culinary Collection Gift Basket at $500.00 

There are 2 ways to order these unique Melissa’s gift baskets and boxes:  Go online  www.melissas.com (ordering is 24 hours, 7 days a week) .  Also if the consumer is not the online type and likes to talk to a real voice, they can call our friendly Melissa’s Mail Order Department at 800-588-0151 (however ordering on the phone is limited to Monday – Friday 8am – 5pm pacific time)…

Order one today!

There is plenty to be thankful for this holiday season. A year ago my workload was not nearly as full. I have been presented with amazing opportunity in the last 6 months and it seems like a little lucky rabbit foot has decided it’s my turn to go at it.  Getting invited to the Latin Grammy Awards last week as a Walmart Mom /representative is no exception.

The next thing I knew…. I was in Las Vegas in a fancy hotel suite surrounded by wonderful food, a small army of celebrities, and  nice women offering to paint my nails and rub my feet. Yes, I am thankful. With a natural excitement surrounding the Latin Grammy Awards, and Thanksgiving only being a few days away, it only made sense that I would sit down with a few people and talk about family traditions and what I know best….. FOOD. Watch the video below as my friend / fellow Walmart Mom Ruby Wright from Growing Up Blackxican and I interview Natassja Bolivar – Miss Nicaragua 2013, Victor Florencio – El Niño Prodigo, and Lourdes Stephen Victor Florencio – Hostess of Sal Y Pimienta and we all talk about favorite holiday dishes!

I was also very thankful to be able to attend the actual Latin Grammy Award show the next day. It was a surreal experience and unlike any other show I had been to. Of course I have watched many award shows on TV, but there is something uber cool about seeing all  the production of a massive show unfold such as a Grammy Awards show. I loved watching the camera cranes stretch across the room, all the teleprompters, who was wearing what, how the musicians behaved once the camera pulled away, the fireworks on stage, and watching from a bird’s eye view how nice and loving all these artist were towards one another. I can’t tell you how many times I saw Enrique Iglesias hug, kiss, and squeeze his fellow musicians. Or how Carlos Vives had a genuine look of happiness in his eyes when a fellow artist would win an award. Being a witness to this small community of people made me think of all the wonderful friends I have made in this blogging community. I thought of the support I have been given, and the unbreakable bonds I have built. I realized how truly grateful I am for my old friends and look forward to a long road ahead with my new friends. I imagine there will be plenty of food conversation in the future, and many meals to share, and for all these realizations and for my most treasured pastime of culinary adventures…. I am most grateful. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!! Thank you Walmart for giving me this awesome opportunity, it was an extremely cool experience. Below is a little snippet of Ruby and I enjoying the Grammy finale confetti as it rains down on us! OSEA!

This is part of a sponsored campaign with the California Milk Processor Board and Latina Mom Bloggers. However, all opinions expressed are my own.

This weekend I will invite little feet into my house…. They will come dressed in costumes. See my son is celebrating Halloween with a few of his friends. I anticipate to see little monsters, cowboys, witches and princess dresses floating around the house. I have all my candy bags packed and ready. I shall be old fashion and have a game of bobbing for apples, except I will add a new twist to it. For the kids who don’t want to participate in games, they can carve pumpkins or sit by the pile of donuts and enjoy a glazed gooey bite.

I wrote out all my invites and let my son decorate them with stickers.  As I handed the invite to one parent she started to tell me how she is trying to encourage her little one to drink more milk. I felt her pain and went over the details of how I got my son to drink milk a few months back. I told her I would gladly be serving milk at my Halloween party and in the meantime here is a coupon of $1.00 off 2 gallons of milk. She said she would share the coupon with her family and friends. I told her if she wasn’t able to get her little one to drink the milk she could always dress the milk up in costume by cooking with it. There is this wonderful collection of MILK recipes on the web just waiting for her to visit.  Or she could always bounce over to the Toma Leche Facebook page, and find a ton of information and milky milk recipes.

Looks like I’ll be serving my milk in a boo-tiful way for the little parade of characters at my Halloween party.

What you’ll need to dress up your cup of milk:

• Clear glass or plastic cups
• Black tape
• x acto knife or scissors
• milk
• orange sanding sugar
• straw

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post; however, I did receive complimentary entry into the park.  All opinions are 100% my own. I Love being a part of the Disney family. 

Yes… I am a California girl, a native of Los Angeles, and a Disneyland devotee. There are several things in this life that excite me, and Disneyland and the holidays are definitely at the top of that list. When you combine those two things together the feeling becomes electrifying, like a bolt struck by lightning in Frankenstein’s neck.  With that being said, I was so thrilled to be invited to Mickey’s Halloween Party this past Friday night for the mark of the first of 13 Halloween parties celebrated Disney style. The park was decked out from head to toe in “spook-tac-ular” fashion.

I opened my trick or treating bag wide and marched down the candy trail, I had a little ghoul named Maxie following close behind me with an equally eager desire for candy . The magical kingdom sparkled in hues of purple and blue while music played in minor chords making the park feel eerie and ominous like a bad guy in the room kinda feeling.

I looked over my shoulder  to find Jack Skeleton inviting me into the Haunted Mansion Holiday. Talks of his gingerbread house in the center of the mansion ballroom was how he lured me in…revealing 13 different Jack Skeleton faces in each door.

I ran out of there spooked and straight into the arms of the Dia De Los Muertos exhibit where I was comforted by memories of loved ones lost but not forgotten.

Cadaver Dans Ghoul quartet filled my ears as they sang loudly on the rivers of America.

I could see a little red light floating above the castle when I realized it was Zero (Jack’s dog) he was letting the people know “Halloween Screams” firework spectacular was about to start. I watched showers of lights fill the sky in the dead of night as I munched on another treat.

What I ate while I was there is another story….go to Babble for a peek of the GORE- met apples and other treats!

Mickey’s Halloween Party, a separate-ticket event for trick-or-treating families, will expand to a spooky total of 13 special nights in Disneyland Park. Tickets for Mickey’s Halloween Party are on sale at the Disneyland Resort main gate and by phone at 714-781-4400.

Tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party purchased in advance are $59 each for selected nights, while tickets purchased on the event days are $67 each.  Tickets to Mickey’s Halloween Party on Wednesday, Oct. 30, and Halloween Night, Thursday, Oct. 31, are $74 each.

The dates: Friday, Sept. 27; Tuesday, Oct. 1; Friday, Oct. 4; Tuesday, Oct. 8; Friday, Oct. 11; Tuesday, Oct. 15; Friday, Oct. 18; Monday, Oct. 21; Wednesday, Oct. 23; Friday, Oct. 25; Monday, Oct. 28; Wednesday, Oct. 30; and Thursday, Oct. 31.

A photo of all the lovely Disney guests/ bloggers/ story tellers….. taken in Town Square. 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post; however, I did receive complimentary entry into the park.  All opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for the invite Disneyland!

Disclaimer: Thank you GigaSavvy for providing me with 2 tickets to give away to one lucky reader. This is not a compensated post. However all opinions in this post are my own. 

As we slowly creep into fall I welcome the early sunset and the cooler weather. Fall has always meant thick sweaters and Halloween celebrated at Knott’s Berry Farm. In my opinion it is one of the best things to do in Southern California. I have celebrated this annual event on numerous occasions with friends. When I was in my young adult years I remember packing into the car only to arrive at the gates of Knott’s already scared out of my mind and ready to be frightened to a new level. I anticipated a ghoul at every corner and my heart would race at an exhilarated speed as I tried to rush through the mazes. I’d wake up the next day with my voice completely gone and wished I could visit again or longer….. Those were the good old days. Fast Forward to 2013 and many things have changed, but the scare is just the same. Knott’s Berry Farm now has a Early Admission Boo-Fet, better known as the Haunt Meal. You can munch with the monsters before there is nowhere to hide, followed by early entrance into Halloween Haunt! If you find you’re too scared to drive home, or would like to make it into an over night adventure, Knott’s Berry Farm Hotel is now offering some great package deals, starting as low as $149 (+tax), which include room accommodations, TWO Haunt admission tickets, and complimentary parking. I can’t wait for Sept.26th…. opening day, where I will get my grub on at the BOO-Fet! I will be there trying to hide from some goblin who would love to pick my brain!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! CONGRATS ISELA…. YOU’RE GOING TO KNOTT’S #SCARYFARM

Would you like to go to Knott’s #ScaryFarm this year! For a Chance to WIN a pair of tickets (2 total) please follow the steps below! Please note that you have to comment back and let me know which of the actions you took, so that I can account for them.

• Please ‘like’ Knotts Berry Farm on Facebook
• Please follow Knott’s Berry Farm on Twitter
• Please follow Knott’s Berry Farm on Instagram
• Please tweet, by using this sample tweet: ” Enter for a chance to #win a pair of tickets to @Knotts #ScaryFarm @Presleyspantry http://wp.me/p1mJLS-23s “

  

Open to U.S. Residents only. No PO Boxes, please. Must be 18 years or older to enter. Contest ends September 16th, 2013 at 9:00 PM, PST and one (1) winner will be randomly chosen from all entries through random.org, and contacted by email. The winner will have 24 hours to respond with a mailing address, or the next winner up will be chosen.