Happy Thanksgiving

Today, I am thankful for beautiful weather on this Thanksgiving day. I'm also thankful to have a home where I can host Thanksgiving for my family and others. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda

Family Traditions

I didn't do a post yesterday. Shameful, I know. I've been prepping for Thanksgiving the past 2 days. And it's finally here! :) I wanted to make up my post for yesterday and then I will do my post for today (Thanksgiving).

I made all of the dishes for Thanksgiving (except for the turkey, stuffing, and gravy) ahead of time. I figured it would be easier and make today more relaxing. Boy, was I right! I'm so glad I did. I didn't even have to do much today. My hubby made the turkey and stuffing. :) He's so sweet and helpful. All I have left to do is heat the sides and make some gravy. Woo hoo!

Anyway, let's get to the giving of thanks. Yesterday, I was thankful for family traditions. One of the dishes I made is my Gran's famous asparagus casserole. This is the first time I've ever made it, so I called her last night to make sure I had all the details right. She was really excited I was going to make it and that made me happy. She has been making it for Thanksgiving, and sometimes Christmas, since the 1950s. :) It's a family favorite and I'm thankful to continue the tradition.

Get On Your Feet

Today, I am thankful for my GelPro Chef's Mat. It was a birthday gift from my Mom. I know I've mentioned it before, but I love to cook. This mat is a life saver. It relieves some of the pressure on my feet while I'm cooking/washing dishes. We have a smaller kitchen now, so one mat works fine, but in the future I plan on having a mat for every area in the kitchen where I stand for lengthy periods of time. Right now I just move it around to where I need it.

I spent all day cooking and preparing for Thanksgiving. Today I made: 1 pumpkin pie, 3 pecan pies, 1 batch (10) of Rueger treats, pizza rolls (for our dinner tonight - I will post about these later), mashed potatoes (from scratch), and 3 dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I was in the kitchen and on my feet, pretty much all day. The mat was my friend. My feet are a little tender, but I know I would be in a lot more pain if I hadn't of had my cushiony mat to stand on. :) Seriously, I cannot go on enough about it or describe how truly beneficial it is.

This was my first time making pumpkin pie, Rueger treats, pizza rolls (a Pinterest recipe), mashed potatoes (5 lbs from scratch), and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I really enjoyed all of the cooking/baking I did today, and will post more about the recipes and how everything turned out later.

Again, thank you to my Mom for getting me a GelPro mat. It has been a wonderful gift.

Thanksgiving Is Near

I forgot to do my thankful post yesterday. I know, it's unacceptable. Here's the deal. I spent all day researching recipes for Thanksgiving. See, the hubby and I will not be traveling to our hometown for Thanksgiving this year. It just isn't possible with his work schedule. I think I mentioned this in a previous post. We thought it was just going to be us, but a friend from college lives in the area and his son will be here. So, they are going to join us. The more the merrier!

Needless to say, I was excited to be able to cook for more people. When it was just going to be me and the hubs, we were just going to do a simple, yet traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Now that we have some guests coming, I made a feast - okay, not quite a feast, but a slightly bigger dinner.

After researching recipes all day (yesterday), I wanted to go to the store to get all of the things I need for Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't want to wait any longer and:

1. fight crowds of people

2. not be able to get what I needed because it was all gone.

So, I made a list of every thing I needed and was going to head to the store. My sweet hubby told me he didn't want me to go until later because it was storming, and if I would wait, he would go with me. :) So I waited, and we went together. It's not the thing I am thankful for today, but I am thankful he is always thinking of me and willing to help me with chores.

I am thankful that the hubby and I will be spending Thanksgiving together ( we were apart last year). I'm also thankful for the friends who will be joining us. It will be nice to have a "traditional" Thanksgiving!

New Recipe Results

Before I did my thankful post today, I just wanted to give you a little update about the recipes I tried out last night. The crock pot buffalo chicken was yummy! The hubby and I both liked it. Success! We decided to add it to our rotation of favorites. To find the recipe refer to the link in my previous post.

The sweet potato fries weren't much of a success. :( They were decent in flavor, but definitely were not crispy. I'm going to have to keep working on that one. With a little practice, I'm sure I can get crispy sweet taters one day!

What's For Dinner?

Today, I am thankful for the ability to cook. I like to cook (and bake) a lot! Just ask the hubby! :) I'm also thankful that the hubby is willing to try new things and is NOT a picky eater, unlike me. As a matter of fact, I'm trying a new recipe tonight. It's buffalo chicken sandwiches cooked in the slow cooker (Crock Pot). I got the recipe from My Kitchen Apron. She has some great recipes on her blog. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

I'm also making sweet potato fries with dilly dip. I've made sweet potato fries before, but they didn't get as crispy as I would have liked. So I've found a new recipe I'm going to try and if it turns out, I'll share it later. The dilly dip is a mix I bought from a small antique/craft store in my hometown.

Until next time,

XOXO Amanda