Strawberry Pancakes & Candied Bacon

My husband just celebrated his 32nd birthday! Yay! I made him a yummy breakfast of strawberry pancakes and candied bacon. The recipe for the pancakes came from Rachel Ray.

You'll need:
1 1/4c AP flour
2Tbsp sugar
2Tbsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1 large egg
1c milk
1/2tsp vanilla extract
2c thinly sliced strawberries

1/2lb bacon
2Tbsp brown sugar

For the bacon:
Line a cookie sheet with foil. Lay bacon flat and sprinkle with brown sugar. Cook at 350 for 12-16 minutes (depending on how done you like your bacon).

Once done, set aside.

For the pancakes:
In one bowl whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl whisk together the egg, milk, and vanilla.

Whisk the contents of both bowls together until mixed well. Then fold in strawberries.

Cook over medium heat, as you would normal pancakes.

I served mine with whipped cream & more strawberries on top, but it's equally delicious with syrup or powdered sugar.
Happy birthday Mike!

Magnetic Nail Polish

I know I've been gone a while, but I appreciate your patience and understanding. But now I'm back! I won't be able to do as many posts per week as I have in the past, but I will update at least once a week.

Now to my first product review! Completely unsolicited of course, but I was so excited about this I couldn't help myself.

I went to a local nail salon for a little pampering and found a really cool nail polish. It's made by China Glaze and you buy it here.
This is how it works: each polish is infused with iron powder so when you hold a magnet over the wet polish, the iron is drawn to the magnet. It takes longer than normal because you have to work one nail at a time. If the paint dries at all, it doesn't work. Also, you need to keep the magnet steady, but that's easy with the magnet from China Glaze because it allows the magnet to rest on the finger. You can't touch the magnet to the polish or it will come right off. Also, you can't apply a base coat. Your nails have to be clean, dry, and free of any other polish. You can put a top coat on though.

So, how does it look? See for yourself:

The magnet comes with 3 different designs: star, stripes, and chevron. I went with the stripes. There are also 6 colors, I chose "Drawn to You" which is a light purple.

I tried another color first, but I didn't like it once the magnet was placed over it. The polish dries quickly which is nice. It lasts just as long as regular nail polish, probably longer actually. I've done dishes, cleaned my house, and all other kinds of crazy stuff & it's still holding up well.

There are other companies that make magnetic nail polish, but I haven't tried those out yet. There are other magnets available with different designs as well. It was definitely worth it! I've gotten so many compliments and everyone is flabbergasted that the design was done with a magnet.