Hi everyone! I dropped the ball a little bit on the blog over the holidays. As everyone always says the holidays are a busy time. They were busy for us but that shouldn't be an excuse. A lot has happened since the last time I posted.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving in St. Louis with my family. My birthday was right after Thanksgiving and we had a great get together with family and friends. We went Fitz's in The Loop for dinner with the family. If you are in St. Louis, go to Fitz's, it's excellent. They make their own root beer, creme soda and orange soda. They also have great burgers! Then we headed over to Blueberry Hill to play darts and hang out with friends. Nate's birthday is 2 weeks after mine. We went out to dinner again with the family to Hodaks. Also a great place. It has probably the best fried chicken I have ever tasted. You should really check out the place if you are in the Lou sometime.
Christmas Eve we went out to dinner with Steve and his family. For those of you who don't know Steve, he is one of my dad's best friends. He and his family are part of our family. We then went to Christmas Eve church. On Christmas Day we went to church, opened presents and then went to Wiesehan Christmas (Steve's family). It was a lovely Christmas!
On Christmas Eve before church I decided to try a new recipe. I love chicken wings, a lot. I also have a deep passion for cream cheese. I decided to try a recipe that merged my two food loves. Buffalo chicken dip. mmmmmm. My sister and I were quite happy with this. I then took it to a night with some friends after Christmas. It has gotten some great reviews. The recipe is below. Here is the link to the website I got it from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/buffalo-chicken-dip/
Ingredients
2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing (I didn't use quite as much Ranch...depends on how tangy you want it)
3/4 cup pepper sauce (such as Frank's Red Hot®)...I used Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Wing Dip...It's a little milder.
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers
Directions
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers. I put mine in a little crock pot to keep it warm. MMMM.
The day after Christmas we flew to Connecticut to see Nate's family. We saw a lot of people there. It was actually a good year for us to go out for Christmas because a lot of Nate's family who doesn't live in Connecticut was visiting as well. They were very kind and waited until we got there to have Wollenberg Christmas. We saw his mom's family as well. Nate's grandma on his mom's side is having some health problems. Please keep her in your prayers. We had a chance to visit with Nate's friends from high school. Great trip overall.
I tried another recipe for one of the family gatherings in CT. It is called Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls. I know...you're hungry already. Here is the link for the website I got it from http://www.plainchicken.com/2011/07/cheddar-bacon-ranch-pulls.html.
Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pulls
1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
3 oz bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits (I used the real deal)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix
Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
On the day that we flew back, since we were flying out of NYC, we decided to go into the City. I don't know about you but ever since I saw Home Alone: Lost in New York, I have wanted to see the tree in Rockefeller Center. It was very cool. I think it would be even more awesome at night but this was still quite lovely. We also visited the M&M's store, Hershey Store, Times Square, Benton Park and the Nintendo Store. It was a nice little trip to the city.
We are now back in St. Louis, back to normal. Nate has been working hard with his Handbell group on some excellent pieces for the seminary talent show. It is going to be great. I will be traveling to Texas in a week to see my very wonderful friend Rachel McCall. I will try to keep the blog more updated as 2012 progresses.
That's all for now.
God is good!
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