Holiday Extravaganza!

The Stampin' Up! Online Extravaganza sale is a great way to get started on your Holiday shopping!
For one week only, you can get amazing discounts--up to 50 percent off--on over 40 products and product bundles! See below for complete offering.

• The sale begins Monday, November 23, 2009, 12:01 AM (MT), and ends Monday November 30, 2009, 11:50 PM (MT). Please call or email me today to get your order placed!
  

Item	Description	Regular Price	Discounted Price
120280	Framed with Love Bundle Framed with Love stamp set Full Heart punch	$43.90	$21.95
120281	Thank You Kindly Bundle Thank You Kindly stamp set Scallop Edge punch	$29.90	$14.95
120976	Thank You Kindly Bundle (French) Tous mes remerciements stamp set Scallop Edge punch	$29.90	$14.95
120282	Animal Crackers Bundle Animal Crackers stamp set Star Designer brads	$25.90	$12.95
120283	Corduroy Button Bundle Kraft Corduroy buttons Pumpkin Pie Corduroy buttons Summer Sun Corduroy buttons Basic Gray Corduroy buttons Chocolate Chip Corduroy buttons	$49.75	$24.88
120284	Game Night Bundle Card Games stamp set Game Night stamp set	$40.90	$20.45
120285	Four Square Bundle Four Square stamp set Scallop Square punch	$30.90	$15.45
120286	Heart to Heart Bundle Love You Much stamp set Heart to Heart punch Pretty in Pink 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon	$49.85	$24.93
120310	Heart to Heart Bundle (Spanish) Te Quiero Mucho stamp set Heart to Heart punch Pretty in Pink 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon	$49.85	$24.93
120311	Heart to Heart Bundle (French) J't'aime beaucoup stamp set Heart to Heart punch Pretty in Pink 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon	$49.85	$24.93
120287	Chipboard Letter Bundle On Board Timeless Type On Board Loads of Letters	$25.90	$12.95
120288	Double-Stitched Ribbon Bundle Bashful Blue 1" double-stitched grosgrain ribbon Rose Red 1" double-stitched grosgrain ribbon	$17.90	$10.74
120289	Ultimate Stampers' Starter Bundle* Best Wishes & More stamp set Eight Great Greetings stamp set On a Pedestal stamp set Earth Elements Stampin' Spots Earth Elements assorted card stock (8-1/2" x 11") Whisper White card stock (8-1/2" x 11") Old Olive 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Flower Designer brads	$127.70	$76.62
120290	Build-A-Brad Bundle Calendar Alphabet stamp set Pewter Build-A-Brad Antique Brass Build-A-Brad	$40.85	$24.51
120291	Enjoy Every Moment Bundle Enjoy Every Moment stamp set Circle Designer brads Flower Designer brads	$43.85	$26.31
120312	Enjoy Every Moment Bundle (French) Profiter de chaque instant stamp set Circle Designer brads Flower Designer brads	$43.85	$26.31
120292	Cheep Talk Bundle Cheep Talk stamp set Note cards Pumpkin Pie Corduroy buttons	$42.85	$25.71
120293	Sock Monkey Bundle Sock Monkey stamp set Sock Monkey Accessories stamp set Chocolate Chip Corduroy buttons	$58.85	$35.31
120313	Sock Monkey Bundle (French) Sing-chaussette stamp set Sock Monkey Accessories stamp set Chocolate Chip Corduroy buttons	$58.85	$35.31
120294	Alphabet Bundle Jayne's Type Alphabet stamp set Lovely Letters stamp set	$87.90	$52.74
120295	Simply Said Bundle Simply Said stamp set Old Olive 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Full Heart punch	$52.85	$31.71
120314	Simply Said Bundle (French) Amitié stamp set Old Olive 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Full Heart punch	$52.85	$31.71
120296	On Board Bundle On Board So Tweet On Board Batch of Blooms On Board Essentials	$42.85	$25.71
120927	Christmas Décor Bundle #1 Holly Berry Wreath Décor Elements (Kraft, Real Red) Real Red Vintage Ornaments Décor Elements Chocolate Vintage Ornaments Décor Elements	$74.85	$44.91
120298	Christmas Décor Bundle #2 Holly Beary Wreath Décor Elements (Chocolate, Real Red) Real Red Vintage Ornaments Décor Elements Chocolate Vintage Ornaments Décor Elements	$74.85	$44.91
120299	Christmas Décor Bundle #3 Holly Berry Wreath Décor Elements (Old Olive, Real Red) Real Red Vintage Ornaments Décor Elements Chocolate Vintage Ornaments Décor Elements	$74.85	$44.91
120300	For All You Do Bundle For All You Do stamp set 5/16" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$36.90	$25.83
120315	For All You Do Bundle (French) Merci pour tout stamp set 5/16" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$36.90	$25.83
120316	For All You Do Bundle (Spanish) Por todo lo que haces stamp set 5/16" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$36.90	$25.83
120301	Striped Ribbon Bundle Bashful Blue 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Pumpkin Pie 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Old Olive 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Pretty in Pink 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon So Saffron 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon Real Red 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon	$47.73	$33.41
120302	Bling Bundle Sticky Pages Sticky Cuts Sweet Fine Supernova Stampin' Glitter Fine Galaxy Stampin' Glitter	$43.80	$30.66
120303	Fresh-Cut Bundle Fresh Cuts stamp set Fresh-Cut Notes 5/8" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$37.85	$26.50
120317	Fresh-Cut Bundle (French) Fraicheur exuise stamp set Fresh-Cut Notes 5/8" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$37.85	$26.50
120304	Pendant Note Bundle Pendant Park stamp set Pendant notes 5/8" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$39.85	$27.90
120318	Pendant Note Bundle (French) Adorable parc stamp set Pendant notes 5/8" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$39.85	$27.90
120319	Pendant Note Bundle (Spanish) Un dia en el parque stamp set Pendant notes 5/8" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$39.85	$27.90
120305	Sporting Bundle #1 Large Night of Navy Sporting Décor Elements Night of Navy Just Sports Décor Elements	$67.90	$47.54
120306	Sporting Bundle #2 Large Chocolate Sporting Décor Elements Chocolate Just Sports Décor Elements	$67.90	$47.54
120307	Sporting Bundle #3 Large Black Sporting Décor Elements Black Just Sports Décor Elements	$67.90	$47.54
114864	Ginormous Flowers I Décor Elements	$39.95	$27.97
114863	Ginormous Flowers II Décor Elements	$39.95	$27.97
112534	5/16" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$7.95	$5.57
112533	5/8" Neutrals Jumbo brads	$6.95	$4.87
112081	Scallop Square punch	$15.95	$11.17
113693	Full Heart punch	$15.95	$11.17
113694	Heart to Heart punch	$15.95	$11.17
112091	Scallop Edge punch	$15.95	$11.17
112571	Circle Designer brads	$5.95	$4.17
112579	Flower Designer brads	$5.95	$4.17
112572	Star Designer brads	$5.95	$4.17
114785	Small Wonderful Flowers Décor Elements	$39.95	$27.97
114786	Medium Wonderful Flowers Décor Elements	$69.95	$48.97
114791	Small Wonderful Leaves Décor Elements	$39.95	$27.97
114792	Medium Wonderful Leaves Décor Elements	$64.95	$45.47

*This bundle is only available while supplies last.

Huntin' Camp BBQ

Finally! Another restaurant review! To be honest, I have several new restaurants that I have been to - but time hasn't been on my side to write about them here. I will try to be more consistent!

Always on the look out for good BBQ, we have been to the Huntin' Camp BBQ (2221 Highway 25, Traveler's Rest; 864.834.2102) a few times.

They specialize in the buffet - but they do have a menu that you can order from also.

I have had the buffet each time I go - pulled pork and bbq chicken are the meats, along with basic side items and cobbler for dessert. The bbq is good, the sides are mediocre at best. But as long as you can eat as much bbq as you want, the sides don't really matter! They have the standard sauces for a bbq joint, sweet, spicy, vinegar, and mustard based sauces - plenty to choose from!

The star of the show are the hush puppies that they bring out to the table when you arrive! Sweet and warm, made even better by dipping them in the honey butter that also comes to the table (Country Crock brand, not homemade).

The place has always been busy while we are there - and I would say about half of the crowd is just ordering off of the menu (which offers ribs, hamburgers, and other items). I think I would like to do this the next time also - try something else since the buffet side items don't really do it for me.

Overall - worth a trip if you are heading up to Asheville or near the Traveler's Rest area. But honestly, I do believe that other bbq places (Bucky's, Henry's) offer more in taste and value.

Zwiebelmarktkuchen (Weimar Onion Festival Cake)

This week's recipe was Zwiebelmarktkuchen (Weimar Onion Festival Cake). Follow along with the Real German Cooking Challenge on Amiexpat's blog - she is the organizer for these challenges! I noticed that Gourmet magazine's November 2009 issue also has a variation of this exact same recipe!

This recipe involved yeast - which I just am not completely comfortable with! The dough almost doubled for me - and I found it to be a little "tough" to roll out - but was able to fill a jelly roll baking sheet with it. The recipe called for it to go up the sides of the pan - I didn't have enough dough to do that. Think rustic pizza dough - that's what I had.

The onion mixture smelled so good! 3 onions, cooked until they were a little caramelized - with bacon - yum! The recipe called for them to be cooked until translucent, but I couldn't resist cooking them just a little longer to add the color and extra flavor that caramelizing gives it.

Once this mixture was poured on the dough, a sour cream and egg mixture was poured on top and the entire thing is baked.

The crust turned out flaky and crisp on the bottom - very much like a flatbread. It was tasty with the onion mixture. The caraway seeds in this made me keep thinking of sauerkraut - but it really did add alot of flavor to the dish.

Not sure if I would make this again though - my kids definitely wouldn't eat it with onions being the shining star.. and DH also was reluctant to try it (but his excuse was that he had just had lunch... which he had..)

Next week: Muschelsalat (Mussel salad) I hope that I can find jarred mussels... seems so much easier than shelling 2 lbs. of mussels!!! But the recipe sounds good - have to love mussels! Join us in the challenge!

As The World Turns

My sister came into town recently - and we were lucky to find out that the soap opera "As The World Turns" was filming in Greenville! Of course, we had to go and be a part of it! The parts filmed in Greenville has been airing over the last 2 days - but TODAY is the day that we will be seen as extras - sitting right behind Carly and Mike at a car race (filmed at the Greenville Pickens Speedway), watching Jack (guy in the pic with us) race. Don't know who these folks are? Yea, neither do I, but I couldn't resist being a part of the show!!!

So watch As the World Turns today!

As many of you have noticed, my blogging has dramatically decreased! After I took my summer break from this blog, I have realized that my time has been replaced by kids activities and my usage of Facebook has increased! I hope to continue this blog - especially since I have been crafting alot lately, but can't make any promises..... stay tuned!

Maerkischer Rindfleischtopf (Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew)

This week's recipe was very fitting for the Autumn weather that we have been having (not to mention all of the rain!!!) here in S.C.

Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew is the Real German Cooking Challenge recipe for this week. Go to Amiexpat's blog to view the entire challenge, recipes, and to follow others who also are completing the cooking challenge!

The first thing about this recipe - don't think of a "traditional" beef stew as we know (mainly - like the Irish beef stews) - this one is more of a stroganoff type of dish. This recipe uses turnips instead of potatoes - we welcomed the change. The carmelized turnips added a nice flavor to the dish. We used regular white button mushrooms and sirloin steak for the meat.

We found it to be very hearty and flavorful with the mushroom, carmelized turnips, and sour cream. The only flavor that seemed to overpower the other ingredients was the bacon - the smokiness of the flavor seemed to be in every bite.

We served it with egg noodles. Very tasty and easy to do!

Next week: Weimar Onion Festival Cake (Zwiebelmarktkuchen)

Miesmuscheln in Weißwein (Mussels in white wine)

One of my favorite dishes from my time in Europe were Mussels in white wine - so needless to say, I was excited to see that this week's Real German Cooking Challenge was Miesmuscheln in Weißwein (Mussels in white wine).

This recipe was very easy to make - cooking the vegetables in the broth and then adding the mussels to steam them.

The recipe stated to strain the broth after the mussels had cooked and push the vegetables through the sieve. Our vegetables were still too firm to do this - I wish I would have tested them before putting the mussels in to cook!

The cream and mustard added a subtle taste to the broth, but I wish we could have had the richness of the pureed vegetables to really make the broth something wonderful. As we had it, the broth was okay, but not the best that we have ever had.

As a side item, we had french fries (have to love this way of eating mussels! Especially the style served in Luxembourg and Belgium!) - but a crusty loaf of bread would have been wonderful to dip into the broth - wished we would have had one!

Next week: Maerkischer Rindfleischtopf (Mark Brandenburg Beef Stew) - sounds like a great recipe for our cooling Fall temperatures!

Overall, a solid mussel recipe - but we like other recipes for this dish better.

Stampin' Up Deal of the Week

Well, SU has outdone themselves again....check out the sweet deals for this week! I LOVE these little embellishments and at a reduced price....EVEN BETTER!!!
Take advantage of these great deals! feel free to shop online HERE or email me at stampitsteph@charter.net

Have a wonderful day!

114348 - Basic Jumbo grommets, reg price $6.95, SALE price - $4.49
109857 - Mini Library clips, reg. price $12.95, SALE price - $8.99
112571 - Circle Designer brads, reg price $5.95, SALE price - $3.99
112581 - 1/2" Library clips, reg price $6.95, SALE price - $3.99