Pacific Rim Riesling + Sara Lee = A Perfect , Easy, Affordable Pair!

Disclosure of material connection- I received one or more of the products mentioned in exchange for my honest thoughts. Regardless, all opinions stated are 100% my own.

In less than two weeks, it will be time to gather around the table with our families and friends, give thanks for what we have and enjoy good food and good company. One of the biggest components of Thanksgiving is the big meal. Many of us spend hours in the kitchen preparing the perfect feast for our families and friends. The star of Thanksgiving, of course, is the turkey, but in my family a big part of Thanksgiving are the wide assortment of desserts.  We have a very large gathering, so we do things pot luck style. This Thanksgiving, let Sara Lee cover the dessert for you. They have a ton of great desserts to chose from. Some of my favorite Sara Lee desserts include pumpkin pie, pound cake and, of course, cheesecake. You can even dress up a Sara Lee dessert and make it look like you worked hours on it in the kitchen. I recently bought a Sara Lee Cheesecake, let it defrost just enough, scooped out the cheesecake, melted some chocolate to roll it around in and voila- cheesecake truffles. These made an excellent date night treat for my husband and me and paired easily with Pacific Rim's Riesling, but you could also make a huge batch to take to your Thanksgiving meal to feed everyone and take an affordable bottle of Pacific Rim Riesling as a  hostess gift!

Sara Lee and Pacific Rim make an excellent and affordable pair. They want to help make your holiday meals come together. If you head over to the Pacific Rim website, there are some other great recipes to give a try this wonderful time of year (Salted Caramel Turtle Pumpkin Pie anyone? How about Peppermint Bark cheesecake?) There is something for everyone!

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The French for Christmas by Fiona Valpy (Book Review)

Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions stated are 100% my own.

About the book-

A year to forget. The perfect escape. And a little Christmas magic…

Touching, uplifting, and filled with delicious French cooking, The French for Christmas is the perfect Christmas treat.

Evie used to LOVE Christmas, but this year she can’t wait for the tinsel and presents to be a distant memory.

When her best friends offer the use of their cottage in the beautiful French countryside, Evie jumps at the chance. With her soon-to-be-ex-husband, celebrity chef Will Brooke, plastered over the news with his latest ‘love interest’, leaving the country seems like the perfect plan.

Armed with her French grandmother’s tattered notebook of recipes, Evie is determined to ignore Christmas altogether and bake herself back to happiness.

And when Evie meets her next-door neighbour – the très gorgeous doctor Didier she finds a very willing taste-tester. But is it possible that he could be interested in more than just her Tarte Tatin?

With snow falling, a special Réveillon dinner and a little Christmas magic in the air, could Didier even be the one to thaw Evie’s heart? Or will a visit from the ghost of Christmas past change everything?

My thoughts-

I have not been in the same situation as Evie and I can't even imagine the pain she feels, especially such a loss during the holidays, so I absolutely understand her wanting to avoid Christmas and just be on her own in a different place. This book was so sad to me the more I learned about Evie and her life, how things ended with her husband and what led to that happening, his success in the wake of all of her sadness, so I enjoyed reading about her finding herself and a new beginning in Paris. I didn't feel completely connected to this book for some reason. I thought it had a great message and I liked the overall story, but found myself bored and skimming in several places. I still think it is was worth a read. 

About the author-

Fiano Valpy is the author of The French for Love, The French for Always and The French for Christmas. She also teaches yoga at her home in the Bordeaux winelands. Learn more about her at fionavalpy.com/

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Warner Bros. Spook-Tacular App + Win a Spook-Tacular DVD

*Disclosure of material connection- I am working with Warner Bros. to bring you this promotion. Giveaway prize will be provided by them.

Halloween is such a fun holiday, especially after you have kids. I know I enjoy helping my kids pick out their costumes, get ready to go trick or treating and we love finding as many Fall festivals to go to as we can the weekend before or after Halloween to get the most out of our costumes! Warner Bros. has a great assortment of Spook-Tacular Halloween movies for you and your family to enjoy together. Titles available include:

• Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales: Run for your Rife!
• Regular Show – Fright Pack (V4)
• It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown Deluxe Edition
• Tom and Jerry: Tricks and Treats
• Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween
• Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King
• Tom and Jerry: Halloween Hijinks
• Sesame Street: Elmo Says Boo!
• Adventure Time – Jake the Dad (V5)


Check out the Warner Bros. Spook-Tacular App below. Find out which spooky family you are (are you all about the pumpkins like me? or something else?). After you take the fun quiz, download the Spook-Tacular Story Time PDF and write a spooky story of your own and don't forget to pick up copies of your favorite Warner Bros. Spooky movies because, really, what's Halloween without "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"?



Enter Below via the Rafflecopter for your chance to win a copy of one of the awesome Spook-Tacular dvd's from Warner Bros. mentioned above!

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VeggieTales Announces New Movie: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas Featuring Si Robertson!

Awesome news for fans of VeggieTales! Today it was announced that a new movie will be released just in time for the Holidays! Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas will feature Si Robertson of Duck Commander as Silas, a wise okra janitor who narrates the movie. Larry the Cucumber stars as Head Elf at a mall who is on a quest to help a compassionate little girl who wants to help her neighbor in need for Christmas. Bob the Tomato stars as Phillip Fleagle, who takes some time to reflect on there being more to Christmas than material gifts and light displays. This feature will help little ones understand what the true meaning of Christmas is and what a joy it can be to give to others, especially those in need. In addition to Robertson starring as the new okra character Silas, Owl City and TobyMac team up for the theme song of the movie "Light of Christmas".

There are several special features that will be included on the dvd including a lyric video for "Light of Christmas", a behind the scenes look at the creation of the character Silas with Si Robertson, a new silly song with Larry called "Wrapped Myself Up for Christmas", and information regarding VeggieTales collaboration this holiday season with Operation Christmas Child, a global children's project of Samaritan's Purse, who collect donated shoe boxes filled with gifts for children in need around the globe.

New character Silas the Okra, portrayed by Si Robertson!

I am so excited about this new VeggieTales movie. I try to teach my kids about giving throughout the year, but there is never a better time than during the Christmas season to really teach about loving others through giving to those who need it most and the VeggieTales movies are always so good at making learning important lessons super fun through these unique and vibrant characters. The movie looks like it will be a really cute Christmas movie we can watch year after year. Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas is set to launch at Christian retailers on October 19, followed by a more broad release to other retailers on October 22!

Head over to VeggiesTales.com to watch the trailer for Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas or to pre-order the movie!