Tag Archives: Thanksgiving

A turkey trot down memory lane

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I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving – I know we’re almost a week out now…

… but Thanksgiving is easily my favorite holiday…and no, as much as I love food – it’s not about the food. I know I’ve talked about it before – Thanksgiving is pretty much the only holiday that isn’t about the “gimmes” (aside from – hey, gimme some cheese, please) – it’s just about hanging out with your family and eating a killer meal.  

 The fact that Thanksgiving gets trampled by Christmas commercials (I think I said “NO!” out loud at the first Christmas-themed ad I saw in November) or Black Friday madness is just kinda sad to me.

 Okay, off my soap box.

 This year, everyone in my family seemed extra pumped for the time off and for our time together – it’s way too rare. Plans were being tossed around weeks in advance…

  • Charcoal Weber roasted turkey! – yes!
  • Copious amounts of beer? – yes!
  • Hanging out at the local bar (in addition to the beer in the fridge, of course)? – yes!
  • Our first annual croquet tourney? – yes… I’ll probably suck…but yes!
  • Bond…James Bond…marathons on SyFy? – yes!
  • Football game after football game? – yes!
  • Getting the entire family together to see Skyfall? – yes!

 I knew I wanted to make something…but it had to be able to survive a 6-8 hour car ride. So I searched and searched…and finally settled on Jenna’s Walnut Potato Rolls with Honey Butter.

 Had I ever made bread from scratch before? No. Did working with yeast scare the crap out of me? Yes. But what’s the worst that could happen…they’re awful? I’m in.

I started the process on Tuesday night (I’m glad I did…our house gets cold so it took extra time for the dough to rise)…and finished it on Wednesday morning. Was it worth it? Yep.

Our apartment smelled soo, soo good Wednesday morning as I worked from home.

 Eventually, my mom, brother and I piled in the car, and headed to upstate NY… the car ride, which normally takes 6 hours, took 8…but it was so worth it.

For Turkey Day, my cousin roasted the turkey – with this awesome rub he brought from North Carolina – on the Weber…and it was amazing. We spend the day outside – it was sixty degrees! – enjoying the sunshine.

On top of the turkey, we had just about every side dish under the sun. No shame.

Over the course of just couple days, we ticked off everything on our “to-do” list…including some random adventures…like a round of golf and some wine and vodka tasting.

Oh, the trip also included some quality bonding time…

Did I overindulge on Thanksgiving? Definitely. Do I regret it? Not one bit.

What’d you do for Thanksgiving? Do you run a race? Travel? Stay put? Any special dishes that you bring?

Mama, May I?

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My goodness – it’s been quite a while. …I know, I know – I start every.single.post. in pretty much the same manner, as of late.

While I might not be blogging as often – the blogosphere is not far from my mind…and food is – most definitely – not far from my mouth.

I had been resisting the urge to get into the *holiday* spirit…I always feel bad for Thanksgiving…it’s that middle child – and between Halloween and Christmas, the kings of the “gimme, gimme” holidays, it often gets overlooked.

Not by me. I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving! Dare I say it is my favorite one?

  • One. Any holiday based on consuming copious amounts of comfort food is A-okay in my book.
  • Two. I love spending time with my family – catching up, watching football and just been bums.
  • …and Three. It’s just great to be with family – solely for the reason that you want to be together…no gift giving/receiving…it’s based on being selfless..not selfish.

My tree and decorations won’t be up until December – but I don’t think that Thanksgiving would mind if I love on some holiday flavors…like eggnog…and gingerbread.

Speaking of gingerbread…. I’ve had my eye on Mama Pea’s Pumpkin Molasses Cookie Dough Balls …. Basically, all of her little cookie concoctions have been on my “to make ASAP” list…and the gingerbread-y flavors of the pumpkin molasses cookies finally got me baking.

Pumpkin Molasses Cookie Dough Balls

adapted from Mama Pea

Makes 24  30 dough balls — I used a Tablespoon to scoop & got 30 cookies out of this batch

  • 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 c. unbleached organic flour  – I used regular all-purpose
  • 1 T. ginger
  • 2 t. baking soda
  • 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1 t. cinnamon
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 1/3 c. vegan margarine (i.e. Earth Balance) — I used margarine…but it wasn’t vegan
  • 2/3 c. canned pumpkin
  • 2/3 c. organic sugar + additional 1/4 c. for rolling – I used what I had left of natural sugar and then the rest – just plain ole granulated sugar
  • 1/4 c. molasses

Instructions

  • In a medium bowl, combine flour, ginger, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
  • Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together margarine, pumpkin, 2/3 c. sugar and molasses.
  • Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients, mixing until a dough comes together.
  • Chill dough for 30 minutes or more. When dough is chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees and pour remaining sugar into a shallow bowl.
  • Scoop dough into balls and roll until smooth.
  • Roll each ball sugar until completely covered.
  • Transfer dough to a cookie sheet and continue until sheet is filled.
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cookies should be set, but still a bit doughy. (I needed the full 10)
  • Allow cookies to cool on the pan for several minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Loved these. 

My favorite part of these lil’ beauties is definitely the texture…doughy but still light and fluffy.

I might play with the amount of molasses in these the next time I make them…they’re great as is – but I’m a huge fan of that molasses/gingerbread flavor and wouldn’t mind punching it up maybe a notch or two.

However – if you’re craving gingerbread…

go.

make these.

now. 

Thanksgiving Breakdown

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Hello, hello!

How is it Sunday already? Ah, it seems like it was just Tuesday night, and I was relishing the fact that I’d have 5 whole days off…where did those 5 days go?? haha

However, two of those days were filled with visits from family (and their little pup!!), laughter, fabulous food, football, Bond marathons, Back to the Future and ELF!

I give you – in [cell phone] pics – the breakdown of my Turkey Day!

 

It doesn't get much better.

Chocolate.Beer. haha It was actually pretty good.

My uncle and the biiiird (and football).

Awesome creamed spinach.

 

Massshed.

Stuffin' (a fave of mine)

My aunt's squash - so good.

 

Daa bird.

Pearl onions in cheese sauce. Ahhh-mazing.

 

My plate. A lil' bit of everything!

The wee one stole my seat!

Tradition. Sugar-cookie turkeys with lemon frosting.

 

My mom's Kentucky Chocolate Chess Pie. Ahhh - so good!!

(There was also unpictured coffee cake, pumpkin crisp, and pumpkin pie!!)

 

VT cheese (smoked cheddar, cranberry brie, butternut, and the best bleu everrrr)

 

Kissssy babby

 

  • What’re your families’ traditions? Anything that just does not disappear from a celebration?

Mine? Turkey cookies, chess pie, Bond marathon, and football!

I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and weekend!

xoxo

A sleepy day

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Hey everyone! Hope you’re all well! Today has been a very sleepy – -but also productive? haha

Last night I barely got any sleep…maybe 4 hours at most? The people in the apartment above me decided that it was the best idea EVERRRR to move furniture from about 10pm til 2:30ish in the morning? I don’t even know…but it kept me up. This morning, I made the conscious choice to not get a coffee (though, I highly doubt it would have mattered) so that I would be able to nap.

Anyway, this morning – I grabbed a bottle of water and a couple of Odwalla Bars. I was hungry. haha I grabbed the mocha one and the banana nut. I have to say, the mocha one wasn’t really my fave. I’d never had it before — it just..I dunno…it just wasn’t that good. The banana nut is my favorite though.

I got home from class, and started some laundry. Technically, I could probably have waited and done it when I went home for Thanksgiving, but I figured that the house would be crazy enough without my loads of laundry. haha I also made myself a lot of popcorn for lunch. Yumm. I’m so glad I’ve started doing stovetop popcorn. It’s just such a better flavor! I also poured myself a glass of lime seltzer. I don’t know why, but I like to put fizzy drinks in fancier glasses. haha

I finished up my laundry, and just crashed around one. I ended up sleeping until about 4…5. I feel so much better now. I just hope I’ll be able to sleep tonight — someone I think I will, unless anyone else decides to move their furniture. haha

Tonight I made myself some of my rice mess. haha I’ll just call it that from now on…much easier. I added frozen roasted corn and some sliced fresh green pepper. YUM. I also sliced up a sweet potato and made sweet potato fries, and I’m currently finishing off the bottle of seltzer I started earlier (yes, in a fancy glass. hahaha).

I hope everyone’s Monday went well! Gearing up for Thanksgiving here in the States. So excited!! What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish or dessert that is a tradition? In my family, we’ve always had these little turkey shaped sugar cookies with lemon frosting on them (so good)…they originated when we were kids, but seriously, I still love them. I also love my mom’s chocolate pie. My aunt also makes a KILLER ambrosia. Aside from dessert, green bean casserole is always close to my heart and stuffing and gravy…..oh man. haha Okay, I love everything.

I was watching Roseanne on the TVLand channel the other night and it was a Thanksgiving episode. And Jackie said something that I just found poignant. “I hate Thanksgiving!!! You finally get your weight to something you’re comfortable with, and then it’s Thanksgiving…..” haha I’ve been trying to be really good with my eats so that I can eat what I want over Thanksgiving. :)

Peace, Love, Munchies.