Share Some Love

February 10, 2013 / www.spilledcookies.com / Leave a comment

Spring is almost here. Amazing how quickly time passes. Valentines day is quickly approaching. It makes me wonder how we allowed all of our holidays to become so commercial. I love Valentines day candy and the stuffed animals and treats are pretty cute, but it’s a lot of hype for “showing love,” that shouldn’t be limited to one day of the year.

I like to keep my family all “loved up.” My kids know they are loved every day, not just one. We tell each other on a regular basis, show each other often and have fun just being together.

Valentines day is great and of course another day to enjoy sweet treats and pampering, but sharing love is something that never gets old.

Take a moment to show the people in your life you appreciate them, tell them, do something nice, and let them know they are loved.

Cherry Coley (c)

Sa-weet!! Sweets!

November 17, 2012November 17, 2012 / www.spilledcookies.com / 6 Comments

Today I am thankful for candy. I love all kinds of candy and there are so many kinds that you will probably never be able to try them all.

I love walking into a candy store and smelling the sweet flavors in the air, and the way different candy stores smell. The smell of a salt water taffy shop is sugary elation, but it cannot come close to walking into a chocolatiers like Godiva. The smell of chocolate is sensual and sweetly intoxicating.

My mom used to make divinity and chocolate fudge every year around Christmas and keep the candy bowls full. We also made peanut brittle to give away as treats for teachers.

There are many fond memories associated with candy, from shopping for it and trying it in the candy shops to making it in the kitchen at home. Candy is not just sweet to the taste, but a treat to make memories. I am thankful to have sweet memories and plan to make many more.

Cherry Coley ©

Godiva Chocolate and Its History (proflowers.com:80)

Eat it Up!

November 10, 2012November 10, 2012 / www.spilledcookies.com / 2 Comments

Today I am thankful for restaurants. It’s nice to have a wide range of places to go out to eat, to gather with family or friends, be served a meal, and enjoy the company without having to worry about cooking or clean up.

It can be addicting, this kind of convenience, we can get spoiled very quickly to having others wait on us.

Our family goes out to eat to meet up with friends, or family, and to celebrate different occasions. We don’t go out to eat a lot because it can get expensive depending on where you go. So going out to eat is a real treat when we do go.

I am thankful to live in a time and place where there is a wide variety of restaurants to choose from. To be able to choose different cuisine’s is a convenient treat. To be able to share the experience is a blessing. Not long ago we went to Medieval Times and enjoyed dinner and a tournament for a birthday.

Take a moment to reflect on different places you’ve been able to eat at and enjoy, many memories have been made laughing and sharing around meals.

Cherry Coley (c)

Treated Like Royalty: Medieval Times and Renaissance Hotel in Toronto (kerryhishon.wordpress.com)
Gratitude Month: Thankful for my family (thegreatexperimenters.com)

Can We Have Some Healthy Choices?

August 2, 2012August 2, 2012 / www.spilledcookies.com / 1 Comment

Isn’t it a shame that in this day and age it’s sometimes a challenge to eat healthier? I can’t help but wonder how successful a restaurant that offered good, fast, healthy food would do – even in this economy. Honestly, I would go visit them. It’s hard sometimes to find anything remotely healthy on any of the menus of the popular restaurants. It seems everything is super-sized, and loaded in calories. Even some of the salad choices aren’t really healthy when you start looking at them.

I find myself wanting to eat healthier and after looking up some of our favorite recipes realize I need to revamp and toss out a lot of them, not just for everyday meals, but for holidays too. Sure, I love the turkey and dressing, the sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, pecan pie and so many more dishes that are popular that time of year, but are they really good for us? No, not really and make matters worse we pile it all on the plate generously, and then go back for more later in the day, especially at Thanksgiving. It’s the American way, right?

Well, this year I want to have good dishes – as close to traditional as possible, but more healthy. I am not sure where to begin, but I have been scouring some of the various cookbooks and also utilizing some stellar websites like www.Allrecipes.com which is a great resource containing recipes from many popular magazines, for just about any occasion you can come up with. Many of the recipes are also posted with nutritional facts and helpful hints for adding flavor, cutting calories or making them healthier. The other website I frequent is www.EatRightAmerica.com which also emails recipes and helpful hints. They also offer lots of information on High Cholesterol, Hypertension, Migraines, Heart Disease and Allergies.

I love that so many blogs are dedicated to cooking and trying new recipes. There’s so much information available now that it can be overwhelming at times. Still, that is why it really bothers me that there are not more healthy alternative restaurants out there, there really should be.