Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Anniversary

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

I hope wherever you are, whoever you are with, and no matter how busy you are today, that you take a moment to "give thanks" for all your blessings!

 Happy Anniversary to you, Dear Hubby!

We were mere children on November 25, 1972

Thirty-eight years ago today, I married you, my best friend. 

Today you are still my very best friend, and so much more!

Now, as we are getting "older," we are blessed to be called not only Dad and Mom, but Gramma and Papa, too!

Thank you for the every one of these past 38 years!

I love you more today than yesterday, or the day before, or 38 years ago!

Our Thanksgiving Menu and a Trip to the Emergency Room

It's almost here! I have been busy putting our menu together, grocery shopping and cooking up a storm today. I could see the end in sight when I got a call about a family emergency, but I will get to that later.

Our main course is going to be Turkey, surprise, surprise! In addition to the 25 lb. turkey, we are also roasting a large turkey breast. We will be using Cristina Ferrare's famous marinade that we have used several times since her "Home and Family" Show days. It is amazing! You can find the recipe here.

We are making a Dressing with half cornbread and half white bread. It will have sweet onions, celery, sage from the garden, apples and bacon. We don't have a  recipe that we are following, but we are confident that it will be good. We don't stuff the bird so it will be baked separately. 

I made the Cranberry Relish today using a recipe I found several years ago in the LA Times. It always turns out very good. It has whole cloves, allspice berries and cinnamon sticks with fresh orange zest added at the end. You can find that recipe here.

I made the Mashed Potatoes today and I used a recipe from RecipeGirl called Creamy Oven-Baked Mashed Potatoes. I was really happy with how they came together and the ingredient amounts are perfect. You can find that recipe here.

Today the house smelled like Thanksgiving because I made Make Ahead Turkey Thanksgiving Gravy from the Woman's Day magazine. I added two stalks of celery and fresh thyme. I couldn't find turkey wings but I did find two turkey legs so I used them instead. The broth turned out beautiful and tomorrow I will remove the hard fat that will be on top. Thursday we will add some of the drippings from the turkey and thicken it to complete the gravy. I would highly recommend making this. You can find the recipe here.

Today I also made two jellos; Black Cherry Tapioca and Apricot Dream Jello. I got the apricot jello recipe in a round about way on facebook friend. She responded right before me on a post from Taste of Home, asking about your favorite jello recipe. Her description sounded so good, I sent her a note asking her for her recipe. She sent me the recipe and we have been facebook friends ever since. Thanks again, Louise! You can find the jello recipes here:

On Wednesday, I will be making Macaroni and Cheese and Homemade Applesauce, especially for my grandsons, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows, Sweet Potato Puree with Pecan Streusel. On Thursday I am making Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole from For the Love of Cooking and  Shredded Brussel Sprouts with Bacon and Hazelnuts from myrecipes. My mom-in-law will be bringing her amazing homemade rolls.

Also on Wednesday, I will be making the desserts. I will be making Impossible Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes from Baking Bites, Chocolate Layered Dessert and Mini Caramel Apple Pies that I posted on November 5th. Key ingredient is not letting me access that recipe right now and it is not 11:35 pm and I'm not going to stay up waiting for it to work. You will need to find it in my index if you are interested in that recipe. Here is the Layered Dessert recipe. I will be making a chocolate pudding, from scratch, for the filling and I will be using roasted hazelnuts in the crust.

I expected to have the applesauce, mac and cheese, and both of the sweet potato dishes finished today, which would leave Wednesday to make the desserts, but sometimes our plans change can change in a flash. 

This afternoon I received a call that my dad was being taken to the hospital by ambulance. He had lost his balance and fell on some black ice on his driveway while he was heading down to get the mail. A couple of hours later, he became disoriented, and didn't know where he was. That was very scary. I rushed to the hospital along with most of my siblings, waiting to hear how he was doing. He had became aware of what was happening by the time he reached the hospital, but had no memory of what happened or why he was there. 

The CAT scan showed he had a concussion but everything else looked good. By the time we got that report, he was back to his happy self, and his memory had come back. He remembered feeling dizzy and the next memory was of being at the hospital, everything that happened in between was missing. With concussions these days, the Doctors instructions are for "Brain Rest," which means; no jumping, no football, no pogo sticks, etc., for two weeks. They also said keep the head upright, no bending, lifting, and sleep in a reclined position with the head up for one week. 

We are all so happy that dad is alright and that he didn't have a stroke. Today, I am so happy that we are back in Oregon and that I was able to go to be with my dad and mom at the hospital. The only down side to all of this is that I have a lot of catching up to do to make up for those hours I lost in the kitchen today. I better be getting to bed now that it is 12:11 am, Wednesday, and I have a full day of cooking and baking ahead of me today!

Sweet Dreams!

Let it Snow!

Just in time for Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting

I have another pumpkin recipe. I had some pumpkin leftover from the pumpkin waffles we made last weekend, so I decided to make a batch of cookies. I modified a recipe I found here. Yes, I used more of the Kraft Caramel Bits and I should own some stock in the Kraft company. I have bought at least a dozen bags in the past month from our closest Wal-Mart, the only store I have seen them in lately, and I have saved several bags for Christmas baking.

I used a large scoop and  got 24 cookies. Some of the caramel bits melted around the edges of the cookies but I just used my fingers to roll them back into balls and pushed them back in or under the cookie. They turned out great and they disappeared very fast, a sure sign that they are good! I will definitely be making these again in the not too distant future.

Enjoy!

Blog Surfing

This Toastess Cordless Warming Tray looks like such a great product, especially for those that do a lot of entertaining during the holidays. You plug it in for 8 minutes, remove the cord and it stays warm for an hour. It holds 4 plates, casseroles or platters. It sounds like the perfect addition to any holiday table or buffet table. From Cookware.com.

From Tasty Kitchen, Homemade Coffee Extract that you can add to baked goods, ice cream or anything else you can think of.

From Our Krazy Kitchen, a great looking recipe for Southwest Butternut Squash.

HOLIDASH  has a short article about What Not to Serve this Thanksgiving. It is safe to say we won't be serving any of them at our table. You might want to check it out for a laugh!

This Pumpkin Cream Pie has a gingersnap crust and candied pecans is on my Thanksgiving menu. From shutterbean.

How about Mashed Sweet Potato Brulee on the Thanksgiving table? The brown sugar and walnuts make the crackly crust. From Brown Eyed Baker.

These Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes can be made several days early and they will stay hot for hours once they are heated. I am putting these on my menu, too. From Tasty Kitchen.

Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream sounds like a great finish to a Thanksgiving meal. You can find the recipe here along with detailed instructions and pictures from Home Cooking.

Are you tired of Pumpkin yet? These Pumpkin Pie Pancakes are beautiful, if pancakes can be beautiful! From Crepes of Wrath.

From Bunny's Warm Kitchen, these Pumpkin Doodle Cookies need only 1/2 cup of pumpkin and are rolled in cinnamon sugar like a snickerdoodle.

Easy Pasta e Figoli

Fall is such a great time to indulge in tasty soups. It took a good old dark and rainy day this week to inspire me to make some soup. Pasta Fagioli is always one of our favorite soups to make and enjoy. It smells so good while it is simmering on the stove, no one can resist lifting the lid and taking a peek.

I basically followed the recipe except for a couple of changes. I like to add V-8 along with a little broth as the base. This really enhances the flavors in the soup. I also like to add a jar of spaghetti sauce, but not just any spaghetti sauce. It has to be Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Spaghetti Sauce. I used great northern beans and small red beans. As for the seasoning,  I still haven't forgiven Trader Joe's for discontinuing their fantastic Pasta Seasoning Blend, so I have to improvise. I added oregano, basil, parsley and fennel seed, slightly smashed to release the flavor. Add your own favorite seasonings. I didn't measure these spices, but I wasn't stingy!

The soup ended up simmering for about two hours, so I added more V-8 to the pot so there was plenty of liquid. I served it with a spot of grated Parmesan cheese and garlic toast and we all enjoyed it. This is one of those meals that really does taste better the next day! 


The next day, I shared some with good friends Bob and Gigi. That night, Bob ate it cold and loved it. The next day they had it warmed up for dinner and they loved it even more. I stopped by their home that day and Bob told me I won the prize for the "best soup maker." That was really nice, considering Bob is getting close to 89 years old and has eaten a lot of soup in his life! 


The recipe:

Enjoy!

Savory Bread with Sweet Butter for a Harvest Lunch

Recently, we were invited to a harvest lunch at my niece's house. When I asked if I could bring something, her suggestion was a bread to go with the soups that were being served. At first I thought that's easy, we will pick up a loaf of bread on the way there. My next thought was, I will make some bread. In fact, I will make a savory quick bread. I had read an article a few days before about quick breads (no yeast) and how they are usually made with fruits and sweets, but that they were great with savory fillings also. I had never thought of making a savory quick bread, but it sounded intriguing, so I decided to give it a try.

At first I thought I would make a buttermilk cheese bread. Then I decided to add onion...Then I decided to add bacon...Then I decided to caramelize the onions...Then I decided to spice it up with fresh black pepper, cayenne pepper and hot pepper sauce. (This is how my mind works when I am creating a new recipe!) I ended up making Buttermilk Onion Cheddar Bacon Bread with Sweetened Whipped Butter.

Fresh from the oven

The flavors took everyone by surprise, but it was a good surprise. I encouraged them to add the Sweet Butter to balance out the savory and everyone loved it and wanted the recipe, especially for the Sweet Butter.



It looked beautiful on the platter with the butter in the middle, Thanks Matt! I was on my way out the door as soon as it was finished and didn't get a picture before the lunch crowd hit.

This is what it looked like during the middle of lunch

There was much more than homemade soups and bread! Baked potatoes with all the toppings, fresh roasted veggies, homemade applesauce to name just a few!

Our beautiful hostess

Wiley giving papa candle blowing tips

My amazingly tall son with my beautiful sister

It is possible to get most of his tallness in a picture

Cute cousins

Such a fun afternoon! Great food! Great people! I'm not partial, but I was related to almost everyone!