Christmas Favorites Giveaway + Enter to Win a KitchenAid Professional Mixer!

Christmas is right around the corner! Can you believe it?! We've decorated our house and already have a few presents under our tree. This Christmas is going to be extra special for us now that we have a little one to share it with! I seriously can't wait for all of the festivities to begin! Anyway, as some of you know I usually do a fall giveaway, but this year I'm doing a Christmas one instead. Below are seven of my favorite kitchen tools that I can't live without- and you shouldn't either! Enter to win below!

➊ Silpat® Baking Mat: Once you start baking with one of these silicone nonstick mats, you won't go back! They are designed to evenly transfer heat and prevent foods from sticking at temperatures anywhere from -40 to 500°F. I love using mine for cookies, but also for candies and pastries. Let me tell you, it certainly beats buying expensive rolls of parchment paper!

➋ Pure Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste: The secret ingredient in all of my baked goods. I hardly use extract anymore! This paste is made from both the seeds and the vanilla pod. It's thick and syrupy and adds more of an intense flavor to recipes such as ice cream, frosting and pastry cream.

➌ Bench Scraper: These handy tools are not just for cleaning off your kitchen counters. Yes they are for scraping off dough, but I also use mine for moving vegetables off my cutting board and into the pan, chopping bars and fudge, and creating perfectly even cuts.

➍ Microplane® Zester/Grater: Creates perfect flakes of chocolate and zest. I also like to grate fresh cinnamon and nutmeg into desserts with this guy too!

➎ Le Creuset® Pastry Brush: An absolute must-have. Great for basting meats, pastries, pie dough, vegetables and so much more! I seriously use mine on a daily basis- I don't know what I'd do without it! It also makes a great little tool for using in hot sauce pans (especially when making caramel etc) because it's heat resistant to 482°F! It was my staff pick when I worked at Sur La Table ☺

➏ Le Creuset® Medium Spatula: A great size for a spatula! It makes scraping out bowls (especially KitchenAid ones) really easy! It's nice and sturdy for mixing thick or heavy doughs/batters and can be used in hot saucepans (like when tempering chocolate or making ice cream)! It's a kitchen staple!

➐ KitchenAid Best-Loved Recipes Cookbook: Because if you're lucky enough to win the Grand Prize, you're gonna want this book to go with your shiny new mixer!

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—Now on to the BIG giveaway—

I'm teaming up with a handful of awesome bloggers to give one of you lucky readers a KitchenAid Professional Mixer! If you don't own a stand mixer, consider this a Christmas gift to yourself! If you own an Artisan, consider this an upgrade! Or if you're in the spirit of gifting, consider this a fabulous Christmas present for someone who loves to bake! Enter to win below plus join us for a scavenger hunt to decode a secret holiday message. All you need to do is hop on over and visit these other fabulous blogs! My secret word is (IS)... record this word (IS) and head on over to The Partiologist find the next word!
http://www.thepartiologist.com/2013/12/my-cookie-favorites-giveaway.html. 
When you visit all 19 blogs, you'll have to put the words in order to decode the Secret Scavenger Hunt message and enter to WIN this KitchenAid Professional Mixer!

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{Florida} Christmas goodies

Every year we try to make and eat

as many of these goodies as possible.

Our Gingerbread House

Stephen and I decided to make a gingerbread house mansion for Christmas. We made a four story one that resembled the beach house we stayed at this summer at Amelia Island in northern Florida. Since it took us about three hours to make we really wanted to give it away. We gave it to a family in Stephen's ward that has lots of little kids to enjoy it and rip it to pieces :)

Stephen made windows out of gummy bears. He even carved a little Christmas tree out of a green one to place in the front window.

December Arrangement

Our last lab in floral design was an "evergreen" design. This design consists of a variety of evergreen foliage as well as carnations, starburst mums, button mums, roses, hypericum berries, statice and pine cones. This arrangement took the longest to make because of the collaring of greens and the strategic placement of flowers. The candle sits on top of the foam and is secured with wooden dowels that encircle its base. The arrangement is suppose to last well into Christmas with a life of about 4-5 weeks. It's been a little over a week so far and everything still looks fresh and lively.