Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving Day! So thankful for all of you who read my blog!
Month: November 2016
Getting Ready for Thanksgiving
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is in just two days? Time just flies this time of year. Normally, I consider Thanksgiving my favorite holiday but due to the nature of this year I’m not quite as into it as I usually am. Nevertheless, I’m doing my best to make it a good holiday.
As usual, we will be hosting at our house. I don’t find the cooking to be a chore, and honestly we really like not having to drive anywhere on Thanksgiving. (Plus, I can have an extra glass of wine — ha!) Drew’s mom and aunt will be coming up, but that’s all so it will just be seven people.
My Thanksgiving menu doesn’t change much from year to year. I keep it pretty traditional, though I’ll try a new recipe or two sometimes. Usually one of the appetizers or desserts will be something new.
Here’s my list…
Cheese ball and crackers
Devilled eggs
Roast Turkey with sausage-cranberry stuffing
Gravy
Mashed potatoes
Roasted sweet potatoes
Asparagus (it happens to be on sale this week and Drew requested it)
Cornbread with cranberry honey butter (new recipe)
Tossed salad
Corn
Cranberry sauce
Sugar-free blueberry pie
Pecan pie or sugared pecan topped cheesecake
For wines I have a riesling, a vino verde, and a petit syrah. I also found a non-alcoholic black currant cordial that I thought might be nice either mixed with seltzer or kicked up with vodka. So we will try that, too!
A couple weeks ago I made a 9-lb. chicken, so this 12.5-lb. turkey won’t be too far off! Of course, I will also have my Crock Pot ready with onions, celery, and carrots to make an overnight turkey stock. I look forward to the soup as much as the roast bird! And of course I also love a turkey sandwich on Thanksgiving night. I always like to have it on white bread with American cheese and lots of mayo. It’s one of those things from my childhood that still just makes me feel all happy and at home!
Today I also started a cranberry fluff, which we will be taking to the “feast” in my daughter’s class tomorrow. If it comes out good I’ll be sure to write about it.
What about you? Are you hosting Thanksgiving or travelling somewhere? Anything new and exciting on your menu or do you also keep things fairly simple and traditional?
Honoring Our Veterans
Bits of October
It’s been over a month since I posted – yikes! Well, October was busy and I’m still kind of in a funk. This has been a really hard year and we’ll just leave it at that for now. I’m really hoping that by the time Jan. 1 rolls around things will finally be going our way. Stress is just exhausting.
But life does go on, doesn’t it? I thought I’d just share some photos from the last month to try to jumpstart my blogging mojo.
So. Let’s start with some crochet. I have actually been hooking up a storm. I finished over 10 dice bags for my husband’s Kickstarter project (one of the premium rewards includes a dice bag), I’ve been going dishcloth crazy, and I finished the C2C blanket I made with the new Caron Cakes yarn. This color is called “Rainbow Sprinkles” and I love how bright it is. I do still have to finish the border, though.
I love it so much, and thanks to the 20% wool content is is very warm & cozy.
One day Drew and I took a walk through Ferncliff Forest. Every so often I feel the urge to attempt climbing the fire tower again. I am really afraid of heights, so I don’t know where this desire comes from! Needless to say, I did not make it this time, either. I froze halfway up the second flight of stairs. It was a gorgeous fall day, though, and I loved being in the woods.
I also had my birthday! Yes, I turned 41. It was much more enjoyable than 40. Thanks, Starbucks for the free birthday coffee! Pumpkin Spice Forever!!!
We also all enjoyed some delicious cupcakes with emoji decorations. How can you not love emojis? So fun!
The next day we had our first snowfall! It was beautiful and now we probably got at least half of the snow we got last year. I hated our snowless winter and I hope that this coming year is not a repeat.
Last weekend Laura and I went to visit my parents up in Massachusetts. We had a great time! We got to surprise my niece at school and watch her class’s fall play (so cute!), we went trunk-or-treating, we went thrifting, and I also got taken out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants — Rovezzi’s in Sturbridge, MA. Oh, it is always so good and this was no exception. Laura enjoyed dressing up and going to a “fancy” restaurant, complete with cloth napkins, LOL!
We started with their eggplant rollatini, which is THE BEST I have ever had, anywhere.
And the for my entree I chose stuffed chicken in a Gorgonzola cream sauce. It was absolutely delicious!
And then, of course, we came to Halloween. This year was a little different. Last year was Jake’s last year trick-or-treating. He felt very out of place around the little kids, he said, and I can relate. So he still went into town with us, but instead of going house to house he hung out with a couple friends. Laura ended up going with a friend at the last minute, so it was just me, Drew, and Noah (who dressed as a banana). Actually, he made out like a bandit with all the candy. He didn’t have anyone slowing him down, LOL!
For the most part, the village really gets into the spirit of things. Some of the houses are elaborately decorated, and the fire station goes all out too. This creepy skeleton was hanging off one of the ladders. It totally startled me!
And that brings us to where we are now. November! These last few months of the year always fly by so quickly, don’t they? Well, I’m going to try to be better about keep up with my blog. I love going back and reading old entries and I really need to keep documenting our life (along with sharing recipes, and crafts of course)!
