Slow Cooker Spiced Brisket

A coworker of mine shared her Spiced Brisket recipe with me and I changed it up to my liking. At first it seems like a lot of liquid to use but the brisket soaks it up nicely to create a juicy amazing taste and the leftovers are even better. 

Ingredients:

4 pounds beef brisket
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp mined garlic
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne
2 cups beef stock
1 cup ketchup
1 cup chili sauce
1 cup brown sugar

What To Do:
Pour 1 tbsp of olive in slow cooker and grease the bottom nicely before placing the brisket flat at the bottom of the crock pot.

Saute onions with remainder of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Add minced garlic and saute for 3 minutes more. Stir in the dry spices (paprika, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic and onion powders, black pepper) and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside. Pour mixture on top of the brisket and spread evenly.

In a large bowl, whisk together the beef stock, ketchup, chili sauce and brown sugar. Pour over onion/spice mixture in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours (or 5-6 hours on high).

The consistency may look watery throughout cooking but the brisket really soaks up the juices and will help to keep it from drying up throughout cooking for that long period of time. Let cool for a couple hours before serving so the juices can set in even more.

We LOVED this recipe and briskets are great for leftovers because the flavor will soak up even more overnight.

Enjoy!

** We will be taking a break from the Recipe Swap next Tuesday 12/30 due to the holidays **

1. Follow Kate and myself via GFC and Bloglovin. 

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food-related posts.

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to our blogs.

Christmas Time Weekending

We meet again here on a Monday but luckily it's a short work week. I had a fairly low-key weekend which was much needed. On Friday, we did a Secret Santa gift exchange at work and I was gifted some puppy treats, a dog photo frame tree ornament and a gift card for Alex and Ani.   

    
We spent Friday night at home with Lola and she loved her new puppy teething rings.

On Saturday, I relaxed with Lola all day while nursing a migraine. I made these beef bites from Trader Joe's which are a really good snack or appetizer to take to a party. 

On Saturday night we went to a friend's holiday housewarming party and had a great night out with friends.

On Sunday, I got to sleep in which felt great. Later in the day we took Lola on a little road trip to visit friends and their baby girl who is exactly the same age as Lola (born a day apart). 

I'm looking forward to spending Christmas this week with family and friends.

How was your weekend?

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.

Friday's Favorites: Christmas is Near

Happy Friday! 

I'm so relieved this is the last full week of work before the holidays begin. I usually travel to visit my family and friends every other Christmas (and this would be the year) but I have to head there for two weddings next year so another plane ticket is just not doable. 

I'm totally okay having a quiet Christmas at home to spend time with Lola while she's a puppy and also have Christmas dinner with K's family. My baby girl is growing every week and I don't want to miss it.

I had a late birthday dinner last night with the ladies. It was fun catching up over some tapas and wine. My girl friend who is also pregnant and due next week made it out. She amazes me!

Between my husband, girl friends and coworkers I was spoiled with so many lovely gifts. I got 3 new Alex and Ani bracelets to add to my collection. The puppy paw is from Kate which was on my wishlist and I love it!

The Tinkerbell bangle was from our trip to Disney over the weekend and K got me the starfish one for my birthday since he knows I have a weird love for starfish.

I also got these Hello Kitty pajamas from Japan in Epcot last weekend.

Yes, I'm 31. I like comfy and warm (maybe not bright pink) pajamas. I was trying to get them in navy blue but they didn't have my size and K was getting impatient. Ta da! I have the ugliest cutest PJ's ever. They are warm and I like them (behind closed doors).

 OK, so no more birthday talk until next December. Joining Amanda for Friday Favorites.

Favorite Recipe:
Heather @ My Little HEA's Peppermint Mocha Mudslide

Favorite Funnies:

Favorite New Blogger:
Sarah Emily from Coffee & Glitter is such as sweetheart and also from Florida. I must say she has a pretty awesome middle name too. She has the cutest fur babies and who doesn't love coffee and glitter?

Favorite Siting: 

Random messages in the sky. Hello Jesus!

Have a great weekend!

2014 Year in Review

Looking back at the year, I think 2014 treated me really well and I did lots of traveling and fun things with friends and family while also keeping up with my full-time job as well as Martinis & Bikinis. It wasn't always easy and I've had ups and downs but I try to focus on the positives.

January

I was sent to Vegas by my company for a work convention and stayed at MGM Grande.  Since it was my first time visiting Vegas, I took a few days off of work to tour the strip and K came along to join the fun. 

February

Kate and I started our Tuesday Recipe Swap linkup which has been fun keeping up with and trying out new recipes every week. Feel free to join us every Tuesday if you have a recipe or food related post you want to share.

March

 Celebrated St Patrick's day with friends...

Also traveled to San Francisco for another work conference which was amazing! I used my free time to do a bus tour and visit the Golden Gate Bridge. I love this city and just found out I will be going back next year for the same conference. Woo hoo!

April

Went to New Orleans for a bachelorette with a group of 8 ladies and partied up and down the streets. My NOLA bachelorette trip recap.

I also threw an Easter dinner party for friends at my house.

May

Spent Memorial weekend at St Pete beach for a beach front wedding and stayed a couple nights at the hotel with friends.

June

We traveled to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for another wedding. Punta Cana is by far one of the most beautiful destinations I've visited to date.

Later in June, my work took us on a company beach vacation to St Pete beach.

July

Celebrated 4th July with friends at a pool party.

August

August was a fairly uneventful month. We made a few beach trips and I went to a baby shower and a gender reveal party for friends. We also lost our cat Skyh who was 12 years old. 

September

We visited Chicago with Kate and her hubby for K's birthday. We toured the city, went on a river boat cruise tour, ate some great meals, went to a baseball game at Wrigley Field and had an absolute blast! We all loved Chi town.

October

My parents came to visit for 2 weeks from Trinidad. We went for a beach weekend trip to Treasure Island on the west coast of Florida and stayed at a condo for a few days.

My best friend of almost 25 years came to visit me from Trinidad to go wedding shopping. We shopped til we dropped and had so much find spending QT together.

November

Our wrinkly baby joined our family and has been keeping us very busy. She made a 2 hour road trip with us to celebrate Thanksgiving and even got a little piece of turkey to try.

December

My work holiday party at Universal Studios and City Walk.

 

Celebrated my 31st birthday with K at Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

Witnessed the marriage of two good friends and had a blast at their wedding. 

2014 was my first full year in the 30's and WOW was it a fun year!

Looking forward to what 2015 has in store for me!

Disney Recap: Magic Kingdom & Epcot

I wanted to get my Disney recap out before the craziness of the holidays begins so I'm double posting today. 

About a month ago K and I bought Disney seasonal passes to have in time for my 31st birthday last weekend and to enjoy all year round since we live a short drive away. (I'm especially loving forward to the Food & Wine Festival next year.) I took Friday off of work and we headed to Magic Kingdom in the morning. 

We walked around to admire the all Christmas decorations, went in several shops on Main Street and went on a few rides including Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Peter Pan's Flight. 

Then it was time to head over to Epcot via the monorail and I was able to snap this photo of the Spaceship Earth ball. 

We started in Canada and went around to Japan, Italy, Norway, China, Morocco and all the other countries in between ending at Mexico. 

We had beer in Canada, warm sake in Japan, and some amazing wine in Italy. 

We enjoyed the sunset on the lake and stopped off at several of the shops including the Mexican market which has a bunch of fun stuff like piñatas and sombreros etc. Thankfully we avoided the tequila bar!!

After our drinking around the world adventures, we were ready for some dinner so picked the Marrakesh restaurant in Morocco since that just sounded exotic and it was. 

It was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday!