Much Ado About Somethin: November 2013

Monday, November 18, 2013

Tell Us Tuesday 16

Welcome to the Tell Us Tuesday party everyone! We’re excited to see what you’ve been up to this week! Stop by every Tuesday to link up your latest blog posts and show off what you’ve been doing, then check out the other links and find new bloggers to follow, inspiration for new projects, parenting tricks, or a new yummy dinner idea.

Since this party is hosted by several bloggers, your links will be on multiple sites!

Your Co-Hosts
Much AdoAbout Somethin – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

One FineWire – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

Now for some of the features from last week...they're all about fall this week!

Food Features

It's been really cold here in Boston in the last few weeks, so I'm craving soups. Check out Domestic Superhero's Skinny Tomato Basil Soup!

These chicken nuggets look A-Mazing.

DIY Features

Loving this tutorial for making a table runner from wood scraps.

This is such a cute cake - I love seeing it floating around! O Taste and See has put together a tutorial for the Kit Kat cake - check it out!

Ladies Tellin' It Like It Is

Check out The Jenny Evolution's 6 tips to reduce food cravings. I've been following most of these as I've been losing weight! Great advice.

Ashley from Life on the Parsons Farm did a "day in the week" post - check it out!

If you were featured, grab a button!

Now to PARTY! Just a few basic rules we’d love for you to follow:

- Tell us about your recipes, parenting tips, DIY projects, or your family vacation – we want to see it all!
- Follow each of us so you’ll never miss a party. Follow on GCF, Bloglovin’, or your favorite reader – we’d love to hear from you!
- Add a party text link or button to your blog. This helps us in exchange for letting ‘ya link up! The more people that know about the party, the better.
- Click around – find a few links that interest you below and check them out! Better yet, leave them a comment and tell them where you came from!
- Spread the word – Share the party on Facebook and Twitter so more can join in the fun. The more people that find out about Tell Me Tuesday, the more it benefits you!
- We’d also love for you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We follow back!
- By linking up, you’re giving permission for us to potentially feature your posts on the blog or social media.

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday, November 11, 2013

Tell Us Tuesday 15

Since this party is hosted by several bloggers, your links will be on multiple sites!

Your Co-Hosts

One FineWire – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'
Much AdoAbout Somethin – Facebook Page – Twitter – Pinterest - Bloglovin'

Here's what your hosts have been up to this week...

Check out our trip to Carter Mountain in Charlottesville, Va. Preston had an awesome time!!

Check out my trip to Salem, MA - it was a fun fall day!

Also - make sure to read her recipe for Peanut Butter Cheesecake. Yes, please!

Food Features

Gorilla Bread - it looks sweet, it looks warm - it looks perfect for the Fall/Holiday season!!

Pumpkin pie cupcakes recipe

To. Die. For. - Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes. I will be making these this week!

DIY Features

You gotta love a beautiful knit hat for your daughter with a giant bow. Check out the crochet pattern here!

As we are all giving thanks during this season - this DIY project of a Thanksgiving Chalkboard is perfect.

Ladies Tellin' It Like It Is

Check out how Brianna is planning on staying positive these days and getting rid of the negative. Something I think most of us could try to do!

If you were featured, grab a button!

Now to PARTY! Just a few basic rules we’d love for you to follow:

- Tell us about your recipes, parenting tips, DIY projects, or your family vacation – we want to see it all!
- Follow each of us so you’ll never miss a party. Follow on GFC, Bloglovin’, or your favorite reader – we’d love to hear from you!
- Add a party text link or button to your blog. This helps us in exchange for letting ‘ya link up! The more people that know about the party, the better.
- Click around – find a few links that interest you below and check them out! Better yet, leave them a comment and tell them where you came from!
- Spread the word – Share the party on Facebook and Twitter so more can join in the fun. The more people that find out about Tell Us Tuesday, the more it benefits you!
- We’d also love for you to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We follow back!
- By linking up, you’re giving permission for us to potentially feature your posts on the blog or social media.

An InLinkz Link-up

Friday, November 8, 2013

Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Chocolate Chips

A few weeks ago, I shared a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cheesecake we made while in NC. There were a bunch of friends coming over that night, so one cheesecake wouldn't do - we needed two. What a great excuse to make a Peanut Butter Cheesecake!

Travis' mom, Jenny, loves peanut butter more than anything (except dogwood trees...and, you know, us), so this was her favorite by far. It's smooth, full of PB taste and has a sweetened sour cream topping...and chocolate chips to finish it off. You really can't get much better than that! This recipe was adapted from Southern Living too, so you know it's a goodie.

Ingredients
1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 + 3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter (we used Jiff)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Chocolate curls (or chocolate chips)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter and cocoa. Press into bottom and up the sides of a 9" springform pan. Set crust aside.

Beat cream cheese and 1 cup brown sugar at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until blended. Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in 1/2 cup sour cream just until blended. Beat in peanut butter until blended.

Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until center is almost set.

Remove from oven. Spread Sour Cream Topping over center of cheesecake, leaving a 2" boarder around the edge. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 more minute. Remove from oven; gently run a knife around the edge of cheesecake to loosen. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Cover and chill 8 to 12 hours. Remove sides of pan. Top with chocolate curls (or mini chocolate chips).

Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Day Trip to Salem, MA

This past weekend, Boston had some of the most beautiful weather we've seen in a while. It's not often we get a Saturday in November with the high in the mid 60's! We knew we had to get outside, so we called up our friends Emily and Jason and decided to head to Salem, MA for a day trip.

Four years ago, we ended up going to Salem 3-4 times within a relatively short period of time. Needless to say, I needed a little break from the land of the witches, but I'd finally had enough time apart and was ready to go back.

We spent a lot of time going in all the shops downtown and had some lunch downtown at a the Front Street Coffee House. Everything was delicious and the inside was really unique. They had some of the coolest lamps hanging from the ceiling. We were having such a good time I totally forgot to take pictures! I promise I'll take some next time we go. :)

Here's some of what I did manage to document with photos. Some of these are courtesy of Emily. Once you're finished looking at these pictures, you should go check out her blog. :)