The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines

Like most of you, I love HGTV's Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines. He's hilarious and goofy, while she's talented, serious, and calm. They balance each other out. Their strong faith and sense of family is really special. I've been waiting for Christmas break, so I could finally read their book, the Magnolia Story.

It's about their lives growing up to now. I hadn't realized that Chip was such an athlete, having gone to college on a baseball scholarship. He graduated in marketing from Baylor. Joanna was interested in news, did an internship in New York, and graduated from Baylor in communications.

Chip and Jo met in her dad's Firestone store. Though there were lots of reasons they shouldn't have worked out, they did. Chip is a risk-taker, doer, dreamer, and thinker. Joanna is more of a planner and calculated. Chip has always been an entrepreneur.

The book chronicles their start flipping houses, building homes, doing renovations, and Joanna's first little shop. They moved around a lot, but always stayed in Waco. They took a lot of risks along the way, but they all worked out and got them to where they are. Their story is really one of faith, family, hard work, and following your dreams. Chip and Joanna Gaines are inspirations and great role models. Their book is a great read.

Recipe # 32: Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

I needed to bring something to a work social and wanted to use ingredients that I already had so, that led me to make cranberry white chocolate cookies.

Thankfully, they were easy to make!

The BEST Soft & Chewy Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Author: Hayley Parker, The Domestic Rebel
Prep time: 1 hour 15 mins Cook time: 10 mins Total time: 1 hour 25 mins
Serves: 24

Ingredients

¾ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (I like to use Madagascar Bourbon)
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, brown sugar & white sugar with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and egg to combine. Lastly, beat in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda and pinch of salt until a soft dough has formed. Stir in the cranberries and white chips by hand.
Refrigerate the cookie dough for AT LEAST 1 HOUR. You can chill it overnight if you'd like, but one hour chill time is mandatory to prevent cookies from spreading and to create that light, soft and chewy texture.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with silicone liners or mist lightly with cooking spray. Remove chilled dough from fridge and roll into Tablespoon-sized balls. Place onto the cookie sheets about 1-2" apart from one another.
Bake for approx. 8-10 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking time to ensure an even cook. Cookies may appear slightly undone, but do not over-bake them! They will continue to set up more as they cool. Allow cookies to set on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes or so before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If you'd like to make them prettier, garnish cookies with additional white chips on top of still-warm cookies before serving.

I always do my own thing, so I didn't refrigerate the dough, I didn't add unsalted butter (so I didn't add the pinch of salt), and I didn't add extra chips to the still-warm cookies. My grandma and coworkers really liked them!

Conway, Arkansas; A Hidden Gem

On our way back from Thanksgiving in Louisiana, my dad and I stopped for the night in Conway, Arkansas. I didn't expect much for a town right off the highway, but it's now a place I hope to return to and explore more.

As we made our way to our hotel, we saw downtown and a ferris wheel all lighted up. It was a welcoming sight.

Our first stop was to check into Fairfield Inn & Suites Conway. My parents stayed there on previous trips.

Next, was to find a restaurant. We headed to downtown. I read reviews for Mike's Place and we decided to give it a try. It had really good reviews on Yelp. The restaurant featured beautiful paintings on the walls, wood floors and brick walls and arches. It looked like they'd combined three storefronts to make the restaurant. The menu looked fantastic and the staff was great.

Once I saw that they had $3 bread pudding, I decided to get a smaller meal and definitely get dessert. They had great rolls as you waited for your food. I ordered a house salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing. The salad was huge; so good!

I ordered a cup of sausage and chicken gumbo. It was fantastic! It had okra and a depth of flavors. I could go for a cup now!

After that, I had the bread pudding with bourbon glaze! It was large and wow! Despite how tantalizing it was, I just couldn't finish it. I should've taken the remaining and had it for breakfast. We all have regrets...

After dinner and packed to the gills, we walked around downtown Conway. They are known for their art galleries and I enjoyed the window shopping. Most of the paintings were landscapes or Christmas-themed. They did not disappoint. Downtown, Santa gave rides in a horse-drawn carriage. Such a charming downtown and town in general.

They also had weird names for things...

I definitely wish we had a restaurant like Mike's Place in Manhattan, KS. I can't wait for the next time I happen through Conway, Arkansas.

Branson, Missouri

So, this year my family decided to to spend Thanksgiving in Louisiana, since we wanted to visit my sick uncle. It's a 17-hour drive. We decided to split it into two days with a stop in Branson, Missouri. Things changed and just my dad and I went.

We arrived early afternoon and hit the very packed Tanger Outlet Mall. They were having terrific sales. From there, we checked into our hotel at the Clarion. It was super festive there with an enormous Christmas tree. There were also super cute Christmas wreaths on the balconies.

We got lost and walked six-tenths of a mile. It was cold outside. We were relieved to happen upon Shorty Smalls. They're known for the World's Largest Country Fried Steak. We split it and it was huge!

Afterward, we visited the Grand Village Shops, a must-see! They had lots of Christmas decorations to buy and got me in the Christmas spirit.

Later, we went to see the Baldknobbers Show and it was SO good with lots of Christmas songs in the second half.They did a lot of old and new country songs too. It was a high energy show with comedy.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Buckingham's. They stuff were great and the food was okay. I miss when it used to be Sadie's!

I really enjoyed our fast stop in Branson and hope to visit again.

Louisiana Thanksgiving

With my uncle's health failing, we decided to head to Louisiana for Thanksgiving.

Down South food for Thanksgiving is a bit different.

In the south, they don't have mashed potatoes and gravy for Thanksgiving. Instead, they have potato salad. For me, potato salad is for summer barbecues.

I also, had for the first time, carrot souffle. It was so good and sweet; my fav! It was a great addition to our Thanksgiving dinner and I plan to make it for Christmas. It was store bought, so I couldn't get the recipe, but here's what I found on Pinterest.

Also, the green bean casserole had cheese instead of cream of mushroom. There was Cajun fried turkey, roast and rice, stuffing, ham, and thankfully a salad. ;)

The weather was terrific and it was great so get to see so many family members. Now, I have baby fever!