White Chocolate & Cranberry Christmas Cookies

December 1st means Christmas is officially acceptable to be celebrated in all entities! Which means bring on the Christmas cookies, hot chocolate and Christmas movies on every night. 

The idea for these cookies popped in my head last week and I immediately started doing research to craft the recipe. I love the signature cranberry and white chocolate combo and it's v festive. The dough base is similar to chocolate chip cookies but I added lots of cinnamon and nutmeg to give them a seasonal spice! 

Cranberry & White Chocolate Christmas Cookies
yields 2 dozen

Ingredients: 
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup dried cranberries (reserving a little)
4 oz or 1 cup white chocolate bar, chopped (reserving a little)

Directions:
Preheat your over to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla until combined, scraping the sides as needed. In a large mixing bowl whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. 

Stir in the dried cranberries and white chocolate. Make sure and reserve a little bit of the cranberries and white chocolate. I'll explain why. Form golf ball size balls of dough and place 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Don't over crowd the pan. I got 8 on each sheet. 

Now for the reserved cranberries and chocolate. The key to a pretty cookie is topping them with a few of the ingredients inside the cookie. I chopped up the cranberries and topped each ball of dough with a few pieces of each. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes until the edges are just lightly browned. 

I'm headed to Dallas later today for the OU vs. TCU Big XII championship game. These are name Christmas cookies, but there crimson and creme esthetic are making them a perfect game day treat too!

Boomer Sooner & Merry Christmas!  

Annie  

Lite Bite: Crock-Pot Pork Chops & Sweet Potatoes

Back with a quicky "lite bite" post!

This was a go to meal for my mom growing up and still is for she and my dad. I've now translated it over to my everyday recipe book. Super simple pork chops and sweet potatoes pair perfectly together for a simple but comforting fall or winter dinner. #TBT to when I used to eat this meal and fix my sweet potato up with equal parts 5 Tbsp. butter to 5 Tbsp. brown sugar...

Crock-Pot Pork Chops & Sweet Potatoes
yields 4 servings

Ingredients: 
1-1 1/2 lbs. pork chops (account for one pork chop per serving)
4 good size size sweet potatoes
1 cup chicken, veggie, beef stock (whatever you have) 
1 Tbsp. Oregano or Italian Seasoning  
olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions: 
Heat a little bit of oil in a non stick skillet over medium high heat. Season pork chops with salt, pepper and oregano on both sides. Place your pork chops in the pan, and sear on both sides. About 1 minute per side. You are not cooking the pork chops yet you just want to get them browned. Once seared, take out of pan and place in crockpot. Pour a little pit of chicken stock in the hot pan to deglaze it and get all the browned bits off the bottom. Pour over the pork chops in the crock-pot. Add a little more stock (1 cup or so) to moisten. 

Wrap your sweet potatoes in foil and place right on top of the pork chops. Put your lid on and cook on low all day (6-8 hours). Pork chops and sweet potatoes should be very tender when done.

I keep it simple and serve a pork chop with a plain sweet potato. I love mustard, so sometimes dip my pork chop in whatever fancy mustard I have in the fridge. Loving this right now. You could also do a nut butter or brown sugar on your sweet potato. 

Annie

Annie's Favorite Things Gift Guide

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Raise your hand if you used to anxiously tune in to the Oprah Winfrey Show everyday near the end of November in anticipation of it being the "Oprah's Favorite Things" episode. You never knew what day it would air, and neither would the guests in the crowd, until Oprah and her elves would announce it was OPRAH'S. FAVORITE. THINGS!!!! Cue the crowd going wild because they knew they were about to rake in loads of presents that made it on Oprah's Favorite's list. I remember being in middle school turning the TV on at 4PM and going crazy when it would be this special episode. 

Oprah makes a list of her favorite things and then gives everyone in the audience one of each of those things. Ranging in price anywhere from $30 to $3,000+! RIP the Oprah Winfrey Show and long live the year when she gave everyone their very own VW Bug. "You get a car! You get a car!" 

I wanted to curate a gift guide for the blog this year. Inspired by Oprah, I bring you, Annie's Favorite Things! These are all things I own and love and want you to know about. They range in price and genre, fitting for stocking stuffers to nicer gifts.

Click through the gallery below to shop the items on my list!

A little background: my Le Cruset makes me feel like Ina Garten (and yes mine is pink), these coil hair ties are everything and give you the perfect perky pony, I love my mini SCOUT wallet, it's perfect for going day to night (disclosure this isn't the exact one I have but they don't sell mine anymore).

The CocoKind Matcha stick is a magic dry skin healer/under eye de-puffer, this MAC lipstick in TWIG is my everyday/every night color. I love changing my Cinema Lightbox for the holidays or with different sayings, these Dolce Vita boots are maybe my most worn thing I've ever bought, the My Little Steamer is a must for every girl, peppermint essential oil gets doused over my forehead when I have a head ache, all over my tummy when I'm bloated and goes into my smoothies for a seasonal boost.

Rails plaid shirts are the softest shirts ever. I proudly own two and I'm flipping out over these pajamas they have this year. The Nutri Ninja is my most used kitchen gadget and makes perfect single size smoothies and protein shakes, these gray sneaks from Target are my best kept secret, the Healthy Human tumblers are a chic version of a Yeti and what I drink my water and smoothies and tea from errrrryday, keeps them ice cold or piping hot. Lastly this is the best (and cheapest) dry shampoo ever just make sure you get it in the "fresh" scent.

You get a Rails shirt, you get a Dolce Vita Over the Knee boot, you get a My Little Steamer!

Happy Holidays!
Annie

Bites of My Life

Thankful for my family, my friends, my job, my home, health, experiences, opportunities, the list goes on. 

-A Very Jones Thanksgiving took place on Monday for lunch. Our chef team and managers all contributed dishes (pumpkin bread a la me!). I loved this retro honey glazed ham our chefs came up with!
-Thankful for these adorable cookies and thankful for my incredible work family. Monday celebrations continued from lunch into dinner. 
-Topped up with my favorite, as you all know, a brandy ice. Mentioned last week too!
-Cozied up in a house all to myself with Bon Appetit and Scandal on DVR.
-Monumental night hosting Willie Nelson at The Jones Assembly. 
-Singing along with my momma! "You were always on my mind."
-7:30am wake up call to get the pies going. 
-ThankFULL.
-No pies left behind.
-Post turkey, ham, dressing and pie detox.
-Detox smoothie followed by a plate of leftovers. 
-Holidays with a baby around really are the best. 

Annie

Annie

Bites of My Life

Thanksgiving week is hereeeeee! Mentally and physically preparing myself for all of the "bites" that are about to happen this week. Thanksgiving is hands down the best holiday, who else agrees? Spending my Thanksgiving a leetle different this year do to my growing family, but as the baby of the fam I've gotten pretty good at adapting to traditions. Except when it comes to real vs. fake Christmas trees. I won't even get into it because I've already exhausted my parents on the situation and to my dismay lost the battle. Anyway, I'm eager to get to Thursday to spend the day around a full table and end the day with a full belly. 

-Gingerbread protein shake on the go, but first a picture to prove it. P.S. mules are from Target, my best kept secret that now every single one of you know... 
-So if you haven't noticed I've been making protein shakes like crazy. Well my sweet friend Madison got me hooked on Arbonne's vanilla protein powder and I'm having so much fun coming up with creative shake recipes. I've always been on the lookout for a protein powder to add to my morning smoothies and this one is ittttttt! 
-Another day another shake. Peppermint mocha shake to be exact. 
-Showed up to bible study to see my cookie pizza there! Not made by me. SO COOL when people make your recipes, thanks Paige!
-Do yourself a favor and try the new maple rosemary matcha latte at The Jones. I can't get enough, and I loved getting to introduce Annie #2 to her first matcha with this one!
-Blogging tips and tricks workshop with a side of black coffee and pastries. 
-Behind the scenes of the most epic and easy holiday cheese board. One of my contributions to friendsgiving thanks to the help from Hickory Farms!
-When Friday goes from work, to a glass of wine, to a salmon board, to a basket of chips and salsa, to a margarita, to an early bedtime!
-If you know me, you know how happy this little drink makes me. 
-Making my food as festive as possible is a guilt pleasure of mine. Exhibit A. Pumpkin protein shake recipe here. 
-Perfect homemade pie crust was prepped yesterday and being stored in the freezer until it gets baked into pumpkin and pecan pie on Thursday. Recipe is here and here. 
-Loaves on loaves on loaves of pumpkin bread for our Jones Assembly staff Thanksgiving lunch today! P.S. pumpkin bread is the perfect t-giving breakfast w/ some AB spread on a slice and bananas layered on top. Perfect fuel for cooking all morning!  

Annie