Thanksgiving is over

And I am just a wee bit sad.

Having family around really drives home the fact that you don't have alot of family near by. As much as the week was chaotic, insane, busy, and a blur.. I can really put it in my list of all time best Thanksgivings ever. As we were together for the first time in a long time we decided we would do some of our Christmas Traditions at Thanksgiving, knowing we wouldn't be together for the next holiday.

In our houses, every Christmas morning we have a Cinnamon dish and champagne. We have done this for years.. It started on way back when we were little and there wasn't anything to eat or drink Christmas morning. I cant remember if our mother was there or not, because lets me honest, some mornings she wasn't there. There were some stale cinnamon roles and a left over bottle of Cold Duck left over from some party or another that our mother went to. We got the bottle open, and that is what we had for our breakfast. The next year, I do believe my mother was home and she asked us what we wanted for breakfast. Ummm the same thing as last year??? Duh! What 8 year old wouldn't want to get tanked on Christmas morning.. and so then It began.. every year since.. This year I made monkey bread, its delish, and great for kids to help with. I personally don't like my kids to help with it, its part of my OCD, but well lots of other people love to cook with their kids. Her kids made a comment as we kept checking the oven...

Hunter: Ummm mom its not done yet

Debbie: Yes it is

Hunter: Ummm no its not, It still looks raw

Debbie: That is because we burn ours every year, it really is only supposed to be Golden not dark brown like we make it at our house!

It was finally time to get to work! We put the Mulled Wine in the crock pot...

My husband took Frank the turkey out of the brine and gave it a bath.. I think there were a few more pictures, but as the photo editor I am allowed to delete the ones that are not pleasing to the eye...

So after 2 bottles of champagne and much wine and beer, the camera was forgotten, and thanksgiving was a BLAST!!

The last day she was there, I remembered that I had wanted to make a soccer tie blanket for her daughter. 3 Stores later on black Friday, I finally found some cute soccer fleece. Of course I didn't photograph it, that would have been .. ummm smart? I also found some great flannel.. so On the very last day I strapped my self to the sewing machine and set out to make a rag quilt for one of my other nieces. Even my sister and her friend Nancy joined in. I never thought I would see the day that my sister would take scissors to fabric.. But I have proof now. And will be using this as leverage!

Just a few more pictures of the kids on the last night

It was a great time, I was sorry to say goodbye. I wish she lived down the road, but that really isn't reality is it?

To much to do and another recipe!

Do you ever get that feeling that you are running around like a chicken with your head cut off and constantly on the go but still not getting anything accomplished? I am feeling like that. I really need to manage my time better. I really just gotta get crap done!!! So I made a list! I also have the last of my Thanksgiving recipes to post.

Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole

Its not the traditional with Velveeta, Velveeta has been banned in our house once we figured out that real cheese tastes so much better.. so this is what you need.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fine bread crumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese divided

2 Tbls butter melted

1 1/2 tsp Italian herb seasoning

1 pkg frozen broccoli

1 pkg frozen cauliflower

2 Tbls butter

1 large yellow onion chopped

2 Tbls flour

1 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/4 cup milk

6 oz cream cheese

Directions:

Mix Topping... bread crumbs, 1/8 cup of the Parmesan, the melted butter.

For the Casserole.. Mix butter in skillet, add onion and cook until soft. Stir in the flour and Italian seasoning. Add milk and cream cheese and the rest of the Parmesan. Mix. Add the Veggies and coat. Put in a baking pan, put on the topping and bake for 40 min.

I'm pretty liberal with the Parmesan, and also sometimes like to add a bit of Gouda in there to. But It depends if I'm in a cheesy kind of mood.

This was the last of the recipes for Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy them all as much as my family does.

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving

Ready for some Thanksgiving quotes?

I don't mean the "I'm thankful for my Xbox Live" or the "I'm thankful that I got 200 bucks for my birthday!" quotes that we hear all too often lately. I mean some real Thanksgiving quotes that remind us of what we really have to be thankful for.

Here are 10 Thanksgiving quotes to celebrate and ponder.

1. "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." ~ H.U. Westermayer

2. "Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." ~ Edward Sandford Martin

3. "There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American." ~ O. Henry

4. "You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled." ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon

5. "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy

6. "We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction." ~ Harry A. Ironside

7. "It must be an odd feeling to be thankful to nobody in particular. Christians in public institutions often see this odd thing happening on Thanksgiving Day. Everyone in the institution seems to be thankful 'in general.' It's very strange. It's a little like being married in general." ~ Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.

8. "It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast." ~ W. J. Cameron

9. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." ~ Cicero

10. "Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men, but be careful that you do not take the day and leave out the gratitude." ~ E.P. Powell

This Thanksgiving Day, let's remember what we truly have to be thankful for. Let's take a good, hard look around us and realize that while we may not have everything we want, what we want is not always what we need. Let these ten Thanksgiving quotes remind you of the true meaning of this great American holiday as you celebrate with friends and family.

Ohhhh and if you have already sipped the KoolAide and started putting your Christmas lights outside.. you know who you are... Just hold off.. just 1 more week before you turn them on.

Stuffing anyone?

Over the years I have toyed with stuffing, and come close to omitting it completely! My family really doesn't like it, but seriously.. I LOVE stuffing. So It seems every year I am trying a different one. Every year I love it, and well .. lets just say they don't. It doesn't keep me from trying though.

I don't stuff my bird, I like my stuffing to stand alone. In the beginning I would make my stuffing like my granny. I would use beer and bread crumbs, half a bottle of poultry seasoning, some celery and whatnot and walla! Granny's stuffing.

I toyed with Nigella Lawsons gingerbread stuffing which I love, but execution in my kitchen was lacking, I tried the oyster and rice dressing, cornbread dressing.. Paula Deen's stuffing. Nothing, nothing was changing my family into converts.

Until last year. Last year was the year that I figured it out! After a week of trial I think I have come up with the perfect Stuffing recipe.

Sausage Cranberry and Apple Stuffing

Ingredients:

1lb breakfast sausage

4 Tbls butter

3 cups sliced leeks

2 Granny Smith Apples (peeled and chopped)

1 cup celery chopped

2 Tbls poultry seasoning

1 cup dried cranberries

6 cups bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

2-3 cups chicken stock

1 dark beer (optional)

1 Tbls salt

2 tsp black pepper

*What makes this recipe awesome is for the breadcrumbs, I use 2 loaves of Garlic Loaf from Kroger. Its not garlic bread, but an actual garlic loaf from the bakery. I have used a Sourdough loaf, I have used real french bread. Its yummy. The Preperage Farms bread crumbs are great, but you get more UMF if you make your own bread crumbs.*

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees

Cook Sausage in a heavy skillet over medium, making sure to break it all up. With a large slotted spoon, Transfer to large bowl with drippings. In same skillet cook butter, add leeks, apples and celery and poultry seasoning. Cook until leeks are soft. Mix in cranberries. Add to sausage. Then mix in bread and parsley. Add the beer and chicken stock until moist, not smooshy! Cook for 30 min.

It really is just that easy!

Love the Pie

Today at Tidy Mom of 2, She is hosting a Love the Pie! I have been waiting all week for this! I have had my two favorites sitting next to the computer waiting for me to type this blog post! So lets get started!

Crunchy Carmel Apple Crisp

I know this isn't a pie, but It started out as a pie, but its so gooey and oozy that I omitted the pie shell, but you can definitely put it back!

Ingredients:
1 pastry crust for a deep dish pie (9 inch)
1/2 cup of sugar
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples.
1 recipe for crumb topping (see below)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup Carmel topping

For Crumb Topping:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Quaker oats (or other quick cooking oats)
1/2 cup butter

Direction for the Crumb Topping:
Stir together brown sugar, flour, oats. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

Directions for Pie:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt. Add apple slices and gently toss until coated. Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell. (Tip: Remove the store bought pie shell from the aluminum pie plate, and transfer it to a pie plate of your own :) Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture. Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven. Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 min. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 min. Remove from oven, sprinkle with chopped pecans and liberally drizzle with caramel on top. Cool..

I make this the day before, and pop it back in a warm oven, and put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the top .. Its supper yummy!

Second is a family favorite!

Chocolate Whiskey Pecan Pie

Ingredients:
1 9inch pie shell
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
4 eggs beaten
1/4 cup of whiskey (we prefer Jameson's)
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Direction:

Preheat oven to 325. In a small saucepan combine sugar, corn syrup and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Cool slightly.

In a large bowl combine eggs, whiskey, vanilla and salt. Mix well. Slowly pour sugar mixture into the egg mixture. Whisking constantly. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 min or until set and golden.

This can also be made the day before and just pop it back in the oven to warm it up!

I hope you enjoy these as much as my family does!

Thanksgiving getting a raw deal?

I'm a big Thanksgiving person, seriously. It is my favorite holiday.. I think I have stated that before. It is really one of the few holidays that is not religious, and truly American. It celebrates all diversities, and the generosity of one human to another. Its a time to give thanks, love your neighbor. You open your doors to everyone at Thanksgiving. Its a time of tradition, joy, and open hearts, even the presidential turkey gets a pardon.

When I lived in England, I would have a big Thanksgiving there, invite all of my neighbors. I would have my Frenchies onions, and make my homemade pumpkin pies. Ya they thought I was a bit crazy for putting out a spread like that, but after the first year I would start getting calls at the end of October to make sure that there would be room at the Thanksgiving table for them. They secretly love the tradition.

So as I go about my days getting ready for this Holiday that I love, I find myself not experiencing the joy the way I used to. Its almost a feeling of disappointment. Thanksgiving is getting taken over by Christmas!!!

I go to the grocery store and see fruitcakes and Christmas wrap, wreaths and lights up in the town square, my neighbors are already getting their lights up on the roof tops, and I am feeling very disappointed.

I'm a firm believer that The Christmas Season DOES NOT START until you see Santa Clause in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Yes I still watch that! You don't hang lights until the weekend after Thanksgiving, and take small breaks to sneak inside and eat turkey leftovers. Gifts and wrap should remain tucked away in the garage or closets, and town decorations should remain a surprise until Friday when you line up outside of your favorite store to get to the sales.

I love to spend November exchanging recipes, scouring online looking for new and creative ways to do Thanksgiving table scape's or a new dressing recipe. I love to bake pumpkin bread all month long, and have a reason to serve my kids squash. I definitely don't want to think about Christmas!

So today I have another favorite Thanksgiving recipe for you. Growing up, I hated sweet potatoes. My mother bought them from the can, dumped them in a casserole dish, took a whole bag of brown sugar and bag of marshmallows and baked it. They were nasty, to sweet, an awful texture, and for years I just refused to eat them. So when I came across this recipe about 10 years ago, my mind was changed and now these are served with honor on my Thanksgiving table.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

6 sweet potatoes
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
generous dash of vanilla
juice from 1 med orange
generous dash of orange liqueur (optional)
some marshmallows

Directions:

Boil the unpeeled sweet potatoes in a pot for about 20 min. Once cooked and soft to the touch, peel and slice (or cube) into an oven proof dish.

Heat oven to 375 deg.

Put the butter, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange juice and orange liqueur in a sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil. Pour the sauce over the potatoes and bake for 15 min. Remove and place the marshmallows on top. Return to the oven and bake until melted and browned.

Drunkin Turkey anyone?

During the holidays I cook with lots of butter and alcohol. Well seriously why not? Its one of the few times I can eat eat and eat with no guilt. So If I'm going to pinch those calories for the rest of the year, I might as well go ahead and splurge on the holidays.

So today I'm going to share my TOP SECRET Drunkin Turkey recipe. Seriously.. Its the best Turkey I have ever had, and once I started making this, my Turkey fryer has sat neglected in the garage.

In my house we like to have a Drunkin Turkey Party while we are putting it together. It makes it all the more better.

Ready?.. get some pen and paper.. ill wait.. its a pretty long list.. but so worth it..

Turkey Brine

2 quarts apple cider

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

2 cups kosher salt

1/4 cup black peppercorns

1 tablespoon juniper berries

4 bay leaves

two 3 inch cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon whole cloves

4 quarts of dark beer

8 - 10 lb turkey

10 quart cooler

heavy duty CLEAN trash bag

While roasting

3 cups chopped yellow onions

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 1/2 cups chopped carrots

6 garlic cloves peeled and smashed

1 stick of butter

2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning

4 cups chicken stock

Now this is where the fun begins....

Ok.. make sure your cooler is clean, and also your trash bag. I use white, as heavy duty as I can find.. and triple them up.

Put your bag in the cooler.. Inside.. combine the apple cider, beer, brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, juniper berries, bay leaves, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir it up to dissolve the sugar and salt. Place the turkey in the brine in the bag.

*tip* I treat the wings so they are not pointy and puncture my bags.

take your bag.. (it should already be in the cooler) and squeeze the air out of it, that allows the brine to cover your turkey, seal off. Cover it with Ice, close the lid, and let it sit for 36 to 48 hours.

Our cooler sits in the kitchen, and we talk to him, name him and just have fun. The kids decorate the cooler.. It really is a good time.

Getting ready for the big event!!!

Spread the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic in the bottom of a large roasting pan, Add the turkey neck to the bottom of the pan. Preheat the oven to 400 F

Remove the turkey from the brine and rinse. Your going to need some help with this.. Its a bit tricky to coordinate with just one set of hands. Pat dry with paper towels and place on top of the vegetables.

Combine 1 stick of butter and Cajun seasoning in a pan and melt over medium heat. remove it from the heat. With a pastry brush, baste the top and sides of the turkey with half of the butter. Roast for 30 Min

** Please don't cover your turkey, this turkey gets cooked uncovered**

Baste the turkey with the remaining seasoned butter, reduce the oven temp to 300 and roast for 30 min

Baste the turkey with 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Return to the oven and roast until golden and thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 160F

If your turkey starts to get "Dark" spots. take a tiny bit of foil and place over that spot.

Once its reached the temperature, remove from the oven and transfer to a platter or cutting board. Now you tent with foil and let rest for 15-20 min before carving.

I hope you enjoy this Drunkin Turkey as much as my family does.

Its November

And anyone who actually knows me knows that November is my Favorite month, and Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I am so anal about it.

I don't like to travel, I don't want to go to anyone else's house for fear I won't like their food. I make the same thing every single year and I LOVE IT! Its my only holiday I will NOT compromise on. It is what it is...

This Thanksgiving I'm really looking forward to, My sister and her kids are coming, and also some friends that we know. I love a crowd at Thanksgiving, Christmas stay away don't call, don't stop by, but Thanksgiving, come on by!

So this month I am going to talk alot about Thanksgiving. I will give out some tips and tricks, Some time savers, how to get all your food out at the same time.. HOT.. and of course share my Super Top Secret recipes! Not so top secret, but I refuse to give them to my family.. lol.. thank goodness they don't read my blog.

Thanksgiving Shopping

If your like me, Thanksgiving costs alot of money, It will easily be a 200 dollar dinner, I like to spread that love around. There is nothing like being in the grocery store and shopping for 1 meal and my husband flipping out. So many years ago I learned.. spread the love during my regular shopping.

.

So make your list now. Make the MASTER list... Everything you need to purchase for your feast. Copy that bad boy out and put it in your purse, wallet, on your refridgerator.. I put mine in my car so I have it when I'm at the store.

There are some things that you can start buying now. Green Beans, frenchies onions maybe? Salt and pepper.. chicken stock.. wine.. beer.. sugar.. etc.. you get the point.

Make your shopping easier on your pocketbook and plan ahead!