Julie Florence

With my nail polish collection growing every week, I’m always looking for new and unique colors that are in season. I’ve rounded up a few the most popular Fall shades to share with you!

1.     Essie “Nice is Nice”

This pale purple is the perfect shade for the fall and it goes with everything.

2.     Essie “Penny Talk”

3.     OPI “Diva of Geneva”

This is one of my favorite colors by OPI. The dark shimmery plum color is a great accessory to any wardrobe.

4.     OPI “Into the Night”

As many of you know, the government shut down last night. This is a lot of information to process and can be confusing to understand, so I’ll provide a rundown of what is happening.

The House and the Senate couldn’t agree on a bill to fund the government in the allotted time, which results in part of the government shutting down. There are parts of the Government that need to be funded every year, and if Congress can’t agree on how to fund them, a government shutdown takes place. 

“To get a bit more specific: Each year, the House and Senate are supposed to agree on 12 appropriations bills to fund the federal agencies and set spending priorities. Congress has become really bad at passing these bills, so in recent years they've resorted to stopgap budgets to keep the government funded (known as "continuing resolutions"). The last stopgap passed on March 28, 2013, and ends on Sept. 30.” (Washington Post)

Obviously not all of the government is shut down, so here are a few examples of things that are staying open (not a complete list, taken directly from Washington Post)

-- Any employee or office that "provides for the national security, including the conduct of foreign relations essential to the national security or the safety of life and property." That means the U.S. military will keep operating, for one. So will embassies abroad.

I made these cookies during Christmas time with my Mom and we loved them! Well, we love anything involving chocolate and caramel so it was kind of a given. They did take a while to make because of all the different steps, but they were worth it.

Chocolate Turtle Cookies

Ingredients:

(Makes about 2 ½ dozen)

·       1 cup all-purpose flour

·       1/3 cup cocoa powder

·       1/4 teaspoon salt

·       8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

·       2/3 cup sugar

·       1 large egg, separated, plus 1 egg white

·       2 tablespoons milk

·       1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·       1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped fine

·       14 soft caramel candies

·       3 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1.     Combine flour, cocoa, and salt in bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (for about 2 minutes.) Add egg yolk, milk, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture until just combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (for about 1 hour.)

Over Spring Break I tried out a recipe that is sure to be a staple in my household forever, Chili’s queso dip. I can never visit Chili’s without getting their queso because it is just too good!  I thought I’d take on the challenge of recreating it by following a recipe I found on Pinterest. I must warn you, although this recipe creates an absolutely delicious queso dip, it didn’t exactly taste like Chili’s queso dip. So although I was disappointed that I couldn’t exactly recreate it, I was still very pleased with the outcome!

Ingredients:

16-ounce box Velveeta Cheese ( I used the Wal-Mart brand Velveeta Cheese, worked just fine!)

1 C. milk (1 cup of milk will make this cheese dip really thin, I went with ½ cup to add some thickness to it)

2 teaspoons paprika

½ tsp. ground cayenne pepper

15-ounce can of Hormel Chili (I prefer No beans, but it’s entirely up to you)

3 tsp. chili powder ( I have made this recipe two separate times, once using 3 tsp. of chili powder and once using 4. There was a huge difference in hotness of this dip. Using 4 tsp. was way too spicy for my liking, but if you enjoy spicier things then go with 4 tsp.)

1 tablespoon lime juice

½ tsp. ground cumin

Directions:

-Empty can of chili and all of the spices to a medium to large size pan

-Put pan on the stove to medium/medium low setting

-Cut the Velveeta into cubes to make it melt faster

-Add Velveeta to the pan