Pots and Pins

Wild Rice and Leek Pilaf...

The mister has selective eyesight.  He can walk over things that have fallen on the floor, even step on them, and not notice.  I could have food in my teeth, pine needles in my hair, dirt on my shirt and if I ask him why he didn't tell me he'd say he didn't notice.  He never notices if a picture is hanging slightly askew on the wall, if there is crud on the countertops, or if our pup Rosie had an accident during the night - he'll walk right over it, oblivious to the smell, even! 

So last week when the mister took Rosie out to go potty and walked around the side of the house, something miraculous happened and the mister came out of his stupor just long enough to glance at the gas meter, almost hidden between the bushes. He noticed tiny bubbles coming out of the pipe that leads from the ground to the meter.  Tiny bubbles, he saw them, what?!?!?!  How is that even possible when the man cannot see dirty socks, shoes in the entry, overflowing trashcans, or empty milk cartons???  

The mister had me go with him to verify that he was seeing bubbles...yep, sure enough, but how did he see them??  Seriously!  It's such a mystery but I am so grateful that after all these years of the mister walking blindly through life he finally opened his eyes at the right time in the right place because our gas meter was leaking!!  The pipes had rusted, they are about 40 years old, so the gas company was called and they repaired everything and said it was a good thing the mister saw it - so all ended well.  And now that I know the mister can see, things will be different around here!!  (If you have old gas pipes you might want to check them!)

This dish is one of my favorites.  I love wild rice, first had it when we moved to Minneapolis years ago (it's the official state grain) and have been a fan every since.  I love the "earthy" taste of wild rice, even though it's not really a rice but a grass.  This dish can easily be made into a entree by adding your favorite protein, but I like it as a side dish.  It's the perfect Fall dish and would be a nice addition to your Thanksgiving feast.

The addition of dried cranberries to the rice and a sprinkling of toasted slivered almonds (I love the almonds Trader Joe's sell, they are toasted perfectly) on top when the rice has finished cooking gives this savory dish a bit of sweetness and crunch, it's practically perfect if you ask me.

Wild Rice and Leek Pilaf - Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining 2005 (This cookbook is out of print but if you can find it in a used book store or on line you will love it, it's full of great recipes.

3 tablespoons butter

1 large leek, white and tender green parts, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise

1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 cups wild rice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 teaspoon salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

6 cups chicken or turkey stock

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

In a large saucepan over medium heat, warm the butter.  Add the leek and onion and saute until soft, 8 to 10- minutes.  Add the wild rice, thyme, and salt and season to taste with pepper.  Add cranberries and pour in the stock, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and cook until the wide rice is tender, about 40 minutes.  Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve hot, sprinkling toasted slivered almonds right before serving.  Serves 8 to 10. 

Nantucket Cranberry Pie...

I'm easy to please when it comes to pie, have never met one I didn't like.  And this one, well, not only did it please me but it's made it to the top of our T-Day Pie List!  It's refreshing, tart and sweet with a touch of cake-like texture, you're going to love it...oh, one more thing to love about this pie, there isn't any pie crust to make!

Somehow I managed to talk the mister into flying to SLC to see the family and attend our annual Whobilation/Grinchmas party.   He agreed it was time for him to make an appearance, lest the nieces and nephews go back to calling him Uncle Phantom.   He was not amused when I told him he had to not only attend the Whobilation but he had to dress up like the Grinch.  Perfect casting, no?   Then Covid reared it's ugly head again and we were been put back into lockdown, so our trip had to be postponed.  I was very sad; I moped around the house for a few days, feeling all those rocks in rock bottom.  Me being sad makes the mister crazy, he wants to "fix" things (so I'll be happy and make him his favorite foods) but he can't fix Covid.  As sad as I was/am, the mister seems to be euphoric!  Oh he's not happy about Covid, he's happy that he doesn't have to go see the fam!  When I told him we needed to get a new artificial Christmas tree he practically bolted out of his chair and said, "Let's go!"  I almost fell over backwards.  When I told him I needed to pick up a few Grinch things for the kids he replied, "Great idea, let's go!"  The mister being happy is not normal.  The mister being happy about going shopping is really not normal but the mister being happy about going shopping for anything related to Christmas is so far out of the normal category that I fear the Earth will fall out of orbit!  You might say I'm in shock even, me sad, him happy, the end must be near!  

This pie brought me back to my senses.  It calmed the last frazzled nerve the mister managed to find and gave me a reason to smile again.  It has curative properties for sure! Don't take my word for it, make this super easy pie for yourself and get ready to push Pumpkin Pie over to the corner!

With 5 minutes of baking time left, the pie is sprinkled with granulated sugar and then put back into the oven to finish baking.  The sugar gives the pie a nice crispy/crunchy top, something to write home about I should think!

Nantucket Cranberry Pie - Adapted From Pioneer Woman via Laurie Colwin

1 stick butter, melted, plus more for the pie tin

2 heaping cups cranberries, fresh or frozen

3/4 cup pecans, chopped, toasted or not

1 2/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Ice cream or freshly whipped cream for topping, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter a 9-inch deep pie pan.  Add the cranberries to the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle on the pecans, then sprinkle on 2/3 cup sugar.  Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until lightly beaten.  Whisk in the melted butter and almond extract.  Gently stir in 1 cup sugar, the flour and salt until combined.  Pour batter slowly over the berries to evenly cover the surface, spreading to the edges with a spatula if necessary.  Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake part comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.  About 5 minutes before removing from the oven, sprinkle the surface with the remaining 1 tablespoon sugar for a little extra crunch.  Serves 8 to 10.  Serve with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.

 You won't miss the pie crust.  In fact, you'll swear it's there, like my foodie friend did.  I like this pie-cake hybrid so very much, not because it's super easy but because it's super good.  It reminds me of the recipe for French Cran-Apple-Almond Tart that I adore, you can find that recipe by clicking here.  And if you need any Thanksgiving recipes, including how to make the best dang turkey this side of the Motherland, grab yourself a cuppa, look on the sidebar, scroll down to Thanksgiving, click on that and sit back and be prepared to have your taste buds tickled.

 

 

Creamy Onions with Bacon and Chives...

There are two things I know for sure:  The first is, it's time to start wearing elastic-waist-pants.  And second, you need these onions on your T-day table.  Seriously, they are so good and will go with every bite of turkey, stuffing, squash, Indian pudding - whatever your fork can hold and then they will make your leftovers taste even better.

This is a tried and true recipe from Smitten Kitchen, via New York Magazine, via Thomas Keller, from 2010.  I stumbled upon the recipe a while back and finally got around to making it, and I've made it 3 times now.  These onions will transform any weeknight dish into something amazing, they are great on pork, chicken, fish and on a burger they will blow your mind.  Hyperbole?  Possibly, but they really are that good!

The original recipe calls for pearl onions, but the markets didn't have any, but they did have some really beautiful cipollini onions, so that's what I used.  The recipe also calls for blanching the onions in boiling water, then putting them into an ice bath to cool them down enough so they can be peeled and cleaned up a bit.  It was a bit time consuming but not to worry, you can buy FROZEN pearl onions...duh!  So WHEN you make this, not if but when, buy the frozen onions and save yourself some time!  Oh, they are just as good with frozen as with fresh, I couldn't tell the difference at all.

Applewood-smoked bacon is fried until crisp, then cut into small pieces and then, hold the phone, the real magic happens...heavy cream is added to the bacon grease, along with freshly grated nutmeg.  Your arteries might begin to tighten up at this point but pay no attention, if you do suffer some kind of cardiac event from eating these, it will be worth it, I promise.  The onions are added to the cream mixture (along with a couple of splashes of Sherry) and they bubble along until they are cooked and soft, about 7 minutes or so.

When the cream mixture is almost gone, the onions will be done and ready to be topped with the bacon pieces and fresh chives.  Now promise me this, just have one or two tastes, but do not stand at the stove and eat one after another, it's just rude.

Creamy Onions with Bacon and Chives - Adapted From Smitten Kitchen

1 lb. cipollini onions or 1 lb. bag frozen pearl onions

6 slices applewood-smoked bacon, cut into a small dice

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons sherry 

1 tablespoons fresh chives, cut into small segments

kosher salt to taste

If using fresh onions:  Blanch the onions for 3 minutes in a pot of boiling salted water. Drain, shock in a bath of ice water, and drain again. Peel the onions (making a slit with a paring knife down the side made this easiest for me), leaving a little of the root end intact.  If using frozen onions, skip the peeling, let thaw for 10 minutes. 

In a medium saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp, then remove it with a slotted spoon and drain it on paper towels. Leave only two tablespoons of the cooking fat in the pan, and add the  onions, heavy cream and nutmeg. Add salt to taste.  Cover the pot with a lid, leaving it a little ajar. Cook onions until they are nearly cooked through, about 90 percent of the way then remove the lid and finish cooking the onions while reducing the cream by half, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the sherry.  Cook until heated through.  Garnish with bacon and chives, serve warm.  I'd suggest doubling the recipe, you won't be sorry.

I took a small bowl to the foodies down the street, they loved them and I'm pretty sure they will add them to their T-day line-up.  Thanksgiving will be different for us this year, but one thing that will remain the same, we will have a table full of delicious food, turkey with all the trimmings and these onions will be front and center!

Apple Cider Biscuits...

Foggy October mornings call for apple cider biscuits, slathered with butter or apple butter, which makes them even better.  Biting into one of these gems makes the morning news more palatable, although they also make me want to scurry back into bed and pull the covers over my head just so I can get up and have breakfast all over again.

If you have a food processor these biscuits come together in a jif.  If not, they are easily made without one, cutting cold butter into the flour is not a workout by any means so you can do it!  Using a good apple cider, a "cloudy" one, makes a difference.

The dough is mixed only until everything is just barely incorporated and then it's kneaded a few times on a lightly-floured counter and that's it.  You can cut these biscuits into a larger size if you want, I used a 2 1/2-inch cutter and made 14 biscuits.   While I was making these the mister was circling, he was hungry and didn't want to wait the 10 minutes these takes to bake.   He decided he couldn't wait so he grabbed the bread and made himself a sandwich with 3 slices of bread, bologna and mustard.  It's so hard to see what he eats when left to his own devices! For lunch every day at work he eats canned food, straight out of the can.  Canned fruit cocktail and canned green beans.  And Spam.  Then he enjoys those little crackers filled with fake cheese and he thinks he's being healthy by eating them with cottage cheese.  I know I've said it before...you can take the caveman out of the cave but you can't make him eat like a foodie!!   

If you haven't made apple butter before, now's the time to do it!  Get out your Crock-Pot and let those apples cook all day, your house will smell amazing and you'll have yourself a sure-fire Fall treat!  Here's the link to my recipe:  Crock-Pot Apple Butter  Of course, these biscuits are perfectly fabulous on their own but the apple butter does send them to a new level.

Before baking sprinkle a little cinnamon on top if you want.  If I was eating them all I would have sprinkled more cinnamon on top and maybe even mixed it with a little sugar, which would have tasted amazing but as you know, the mister has a "sensitive" palate and if anything is too flavorful he just won't eat it!

I baked this batch a few minutes too long, didn't realize I set the oven on convection, so the bottoms are a bit darker than what I normally like.  Even so, they were delicious!  They puff up nicely and hot from the oven nothing can beat them!  Just as I suspected he would, the mister followed the aroma from the kitchen and came slinking in right as they came out of the oven.  He managed to stuff 3 into his biscuit-hole before I could even butter one for myself!  I asked he if liked them and he said they were "okay."  FYI, that's high praise from the caveman connoisseur!

Apple Cider Biscuits - Recipe from Harriet Stitcher via All Recipes

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cold butter

3/4 cup apple cider

cinnamon for sprinkling on top

In a food processor, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pulse a few times until butter mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add cider and process until dough comes together into a ball.  (If you don't have a food processor, put ingredients in a large bowl and mix by hand, cutting in butter by hand, then adding the cider and stir until dough comes together.)  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 8-10 times. Roll out to 1/2-in. thickness; cut with a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet, sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired; pierce tops of biscuits with a fork and bake at 425 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Thanksgiving Quilt...

Brace yourself, there are only 181 days until Thanksgiving!  More importantly, there are just 153 days until I will be able to take my newly finished, hand-quilted Thanksgiving quilt from its special place of honor in my quilt cupboard and put it to good use!  And by good use I mean, wrapping myself up in it (starting November 1st, after the Halloween hoopla has ended) with a stack of cooking magazines and cookbooks nearby, to start my annual reading of Thanksgiving recipes so I can begin to plan our feast.  That's why I made this quilt.  I needed a Thanksgiving quilt to give me some extra mojo while reading recipes.  Call me crazy but I just couldn't let one more Thanksgiving season come and go while reading recipes under an autumn quilt...

Back in October I posted this picture, I had just finished the top.  As you can see, there is a ton of hand-embroidery!  I spent most of September/October dealing with a kidney infection so I had to lay-low, and since I just can't sit and do nothing, working on this quilt was just the thing I needed to keep me sane!  I had spent so much time with the top on my lap I decided I had to spend a few more months hand-quilting it; best decision I ever made!

Years ago I took a class on how to perfect my hand-quilting...use a smaller needle, take tiny even stitches...it was all fine and good until I realized I was never going to be that kind of quilter...what good are precision stitches if your points don't match?!?  Then I discovered utility quilting.  Larger stitches!  Ooooo happy day!  Utility quilting is big enough to get the job done without toe nails getting snagged!  

 

Besides, quilting through several layers of fabric was just not going to work with tiny stitches.  I used Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 batting in this quilt, it shrinks up so nicely!  I backed this quilt with flannel so it is super soft and warm, perfect for those cold November nights.

  

 

This is Lori Holt's pattern, if you don't know Lori you should, take a visit over to her blog soon, Bee In My Bonnet - you will be amazed and inspired with all she does.  Right now Lori is having a Summer Sew Along, I think I might participate, I love the patriotic quilt she is doing!  I saw her Thanksgiving quilt hanging in a quilt shop in American Fork, Utah in 2010.  I fell in love with it because it reminded me of all the wonderful Thanksgiving dinners I had growing up with family.  I bought the pattern and was so excited to get home and get to work on it.  I think two years passed before I looked at it again!

 

 

Every now and then though I would get the pattern out and cut out a few pieces, then I would get distracted by some shiny object or another quilt and that would be the end of it!  Finally, 10 years later and my Thanksgiving quilt is done!  I changed a few things, it had to "sound" a little more like me, and I added a few things, too, but 90% of the quilt is true to the pattern.

 

It's rainy and cold this morning in Seattle, we've had a lot of thunder booms, one even shook the house!  Rosie is now completely traumatized and won't come out of the closet!  Looking out my window I realize it looks exactly like it does in November, except for the maple tree which would have a few sparse yellow-ish-brown leaves left on it.  Seattle is always green, which is why we love it here so much.  Today might even be a good day to "test drive" my Thanksgiving quilt, we are still in lockdown here so nothing to do but sit in front of the boob-tube and watch movies!

I know you'll find this hard to believe but I don't pre-wash my fabrics, including the reds I used to piece the "raspberry Jell-O salad" block above.  So it shouldn't come as a surprise that those red fabrics bled all over the place!  Thanks to the magic of Color-Catchers I was able to get the bleed out, whew,  another close call!  (Actually there is still a tiny spot that I can't get out but everyone knows Jell-O is messy!)

Don't be fooled, Rosie is still in the closet shaking.  This picture was taken a while ago, when Mother Nature wasn't crying.  Surely she is sick of the quarantine by now, too!  I'm so looking forward to visiting a real quilt shop, buying a bunch of fabric I don't need and then going to a restaurant and spreading the fabric out on the table to think about what to do with it.  The good ol' days!   Hope you are good, healthy, with clean hands and a supply of masks that you'll never out grow!  xoxoxo 

Sweet Beet Pie...

Every once in a while something wonderful happens.  Like this pie.  It's so different...the color is truly beautiful and that's what first caught my eye - I couldn't help but think how special it would be to have a beautiful red pie for Valentine's Day instead of the traditional molten lava cake or chocolate cream pie or any of the other standards. 

I don't think you have to like beets to be a fan of this pie, but it would help.  One friend said she absolutely hates beets but she willingly put her taste-buds aside and tried a slice...at first she said she liked it - said it was like pumpkin pie in texture, which it is.  Then she said she got the "after-taste" and could taste the beets...so that was the end of her love letter on sweet beet pie.  I personally love the after-taste because I love beets.

Another friend said she loved it...smooth, rich, pretty...and that it was much better with whipped cream.  I had to agree...I would never eat pumpkin pie without whipped cream and one should not eat beet pie without it either!  

You don't have to cook fresh beets to make this pie, you can use bottled/canned beets, just make sure they aren't the pickled variety (and then you won't have red fingers, but if they match the pie isn't that a good thing?)   Since Valentine's Day is almost here, you can also use store-bought pastry, saving some time for yourself to get all dolled-up for a romantic evening...does anyone still do that?!?   One more thing, this recipe calls for muscovado sugar, which is sugar with molasses, more than brown sugar has.  If you don't happen to have any on hand you can make your own by putting a cup of sugar in the food processor and adding two heaping tablespoons of molasses -  give it a good whirl and you're in business.  

I liked this pie a lot.  If I saw it on the menu in a fancy-schmancy restaurant I would order it and I would probably think I had arrived...like I was in the know...like I was part of the in crowd.  Because you know the in crowd would eat this.  

Sweet Beet Pie - Inspired by Merissa Davis and Adapted From Paul Hollywood, BBC Food

(About the measurements - it's important to weigh the beets and the sugar.)  This recipe makes one deep-dish 9-inch pie, serves 8.

One package store-bought pastry

1 jar (12 oz.) beets, not pickled or fresh beets (12 oz.) cooked and peeled

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 large eggs

6 oz. muscovado sugar, packed

1 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 large lemon, finely zested

Whipped cream for serving

Preheat the oven according to pastry package, usually 450 degrees.  Bake pastry according to package directions.  Set aside to cool slightly.  

For the filling:  Turn the oven down to 350 degrees.  If you're using bottled beets, drain away excess liquid.  Roughly chop the beets and put into a food processor with the cream.  Blend to a thick puree.  Set aside.  In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together thoroughly.  Add the beet puree, spices and lemon zest and mix well.  Pour the mixture into the baked pie shell (if the edges of your pie crust are already browned, cover them with some foil to keep from burning) and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the filling is set with a slight wobble in the middle.  Leave to cool completely.  To serve, slice and top with whipped cream.

This is not your average-run-of-the-mill Valentine dessert...it's better than that...think of it as Valentine's 2.0.  And then think of adding this pie to your Thanksgiving/Christmas pie list because it is definitely holiday worthy.  

Winter Wassail...

Baby it's cold outside...and snow is in the forecast!  That's something to be excited about around here, as long as we are toasty warm inside with a mug of winter wassail there will be no complaints about snow!  This is soooooo easy and you can't mess it up as long as you start with two key ingredients...

Trader's Joe's Winter Wassail and Martinelli's Sprakling Apple Cranberry Cider.  Joe's wassail is good on it's own but with the addition of the Martinelli's and fruit, it's even better!  Pour equal parts Trader Joe's Winter Wassail and Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cranberry Cider into a large container.

Now the fun part...slice up a whole orange and apple and add them to the mix along with a cinnamon stick, about a teaspoon full of whole cloves and the arils from half of a pomegranate.

 

Let this all sit in the container on your counter for an hour or so and then give it all a good mash.  The longer it sits the better it tastes, but after 5 hours put it in the refrigerator.  It will keep for two days in the fridge.  You can drink it cold over ice or heat it up for a nice mug of delicious winter love.

We've been sipping on this since the wassail first appeared on the shelves at Trader Joe's back before Thanksgiving...hopefully they'll still have some for a while because it's quite addictive and apparently I'm a wassail addict!  (Mom and Elsa working on the crossword puzzle - I'm not sure who needed help from who!)

 

 

 

 

 

First Annual Turkey Bowl...

If I said the highlight of our Thanksgiving week was the feast or the pies, I would be lying...the highlight was our first ever (and now to be an annual event) turkey bowl!  I was introduced to turkey bowling by our bishop last year when he suggested we have the church youth group do it.  I thought he was nuts, but the kids LOVED it and so did I!  Elsa and Max were on board from the minute I told them about it.  We invited the neighbor kids over - at first they weren't too excited until we told them the bowling ball would be a frozen turkey.  That was all it took - they showed up on Thanksgiving morning at 11:00 ready to bowl!  

Elsa painted this banner for us to hang up over the garage.  She suggested we get it laminated so we can use it again...that little twinkle-of-my-eye is always thinking!  So of course, after T-day I did!

It was SO cold!!!  We waited until 11:00 am because I was hoping for the sun to come out, which it did, but it was still 35 degrees!  We used a 9.5 lb. frozen turkey breast for our ball...it was just heavy enough so the kids had to heave it down the drive but not too heavy that they couldn't lift it.

It was great fun!  Parents came to watch because who throws a frozen turkey on their driveway?!?  The kids loved it - and if it hadn't been so cold we would have played for hours!  There were 13 kids so we only got in two full rounds before hypothermia threatened to set in.

The mister was the pin-miester - he set up the 2-liter bottles of soda, which were our bowling pins, after each throw.  We put the 6-foot table on it's side in front of the garage to protect the garage door - having a frozen turkey hitting they door would not have been good!  The mister whined and winched about the turkey bowl from the minute I told him about it...what a waste of turkey (it wasn't wasted...it was still frozen and the packaging wasn't torn, and while it might have a bruise or two, 90% of it is perfectly good so it will be cooked and eaten all in good time!)  The mister also complained about how stupid it was...as in what was the point...the point, my dear sir, was  F*U*N !!!  Something he is not familiar with...but...like the Grinch who's heart grew 3 sizes...the mister was seen smiling and at one point he even clapped his hands!!! He had fun!!!  Just a wee bit,  but seeing those kids light up as that turkey flew through the air was enough to make even the mister laugh!

Katie kept score for us - after two rounds it was time to declare the winner.  Elsa looked on, hoping her team was in the lead.  Most of the kids threw "gutter balls" or as we called them, "butter balls."  We moved our starting line up and back depending on the age of the kid - we tried to give the little ones a bit of an advantage but throwing almost ten pounds was a struggle for some.  It was all good, clean fun...everyone was a good sport, laughed, ate cookies, drank cider and had fun...which was the point!  Also, it got the kids out of the house so the moms could put the finishing touches on their feasts!  Not pictured was my mom, who came out on the driveway all bundled up to watch the festivities.  She thought it was crazy but after seeing the kids faces, she was a believer!

We divided the kids into teams...much better than doing it individually.  The winning team members each got to take home a bowling pin/bottle of soda, as their trophy.  I regret not having a real trophy for them - rookie mistake...next year I'll make sure they go home with something more than soda and frozen fingers!  

Since I usually just use my phone as a phone and am horrible with taking pictures/videos, this was the best video I managed to get...not one video of the kids actually bowling...I thought I was taking videos but I was just taking pictures of my feet!  This one at least captures the kids and some of their excitement!  Hope your T-Day was as fun as ours!

 

 

Thanksgiving 2019...

When I look back over the last year, one word comes to mind...thankful.  I am so thankful for my family, my friends, my home, my community, just everything, including the mister!  Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks and this year, my parents joined us for Thanksgiving, making us even more thankful.  My parents are in their late 80's and traveling for them is not easy - traveling for anyone these days isn't easy!  As my mom likes to say, "If it were easy to be a tourist, everyone would be one!"  I am so grateful they wanted to come visit us and that they were able to make the trip!  It was a whirlwind of activity and while they were here a week it flew by and before I knew it they were back at the airport headed home!  I wanted to post some of the highlights of our week, it will be one I will always remember (but given how my brain works, I thought I'd better have the backup of pictures to help with my memory!!)

I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for our Elsa.  Not just because she is my granddaughter and she's sweet and wonderful and kind and practically perfect in every way but also because she is the best sous chef on the planet!  Her mom?  Not so much, but Elsa is right in the mix with me - helping every step of the way, always asking what she can do to help and she does help!  

On Pie Day, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Elsa was in the kitchen with me mixing the pumpkin pies, putting the pecans on the pecan pies and keeping me on track - she can read and follow a recipe better than me!  

Elsa is also very clever when it comes to decorating cookies...she managed to make these sugar cookies look like turkeys without a lot of work!  (These cookies were served at our Turkey Bowl - more on that in another post.)

Eventually everyone got in on the act - dad wanted apple pie so he helped peel and mix...sadly, it was the one pie that didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped!  But it smelled and tasted good, even if the apples were a bit under-cooked.

While waiting for the bird to cook, mom and I sat down for a bit.  This was the only picture I got of the two of us...and the girl is a photographer yet we didn't get one group shot!  Nothing!  She didn't even bring her camera!!!!!  I fired her as our family photographer...I think Elsa took this picture - that little gal can do it all!

While Elsa and Max were waiting on the feast, they put together their gingerbread turkey kit from Trader Joe's.  I think they've done these for the last 5 years or so...when I brought them out both of them were happy and immediately went to work...and then it was back to crossword puzzles, Elsa and Grammy make a good team!

Finally!!!  The food was on the table - and the Pilgrims were ready to dig in but we had to wait on people to take their seats...it was an agonizing 5 minutes from the time we sounded "the alarm" until they all sat down!  Sheesh!  The gravy was getting cold!  I think they all thought if they staggered to the table then we would be so worried about the food getting cold that we would all just dig in and I wouldn't make them read the book...they were wrong...they all had to read a page of the little children's book called, The First Thanksgiving...the one I make them read every year...the one they all complain about yet when it's their turn to read they do so like they are in a stage production of King Lear!  (Please notice the turkey shaped butter, mom brought 3 of them to me in her luggage from Salt Lake City, so thoughtful and mom knows I do loved shaped butter!  Also please note the beautiful harvest casserole dish on the bottom right...Marsha gifted that to me right before T-day and it kept our mashed potatoes warm - I love it so very much - thank you Marsha!)  I don't think we could have gotten one more thing on that table!  

The book was read, the blessing was said, the dishes were passed and the food amassed!  Rosie took her spot under the table, hoping for a crumb to fall her way...and notice the little book the mister dropped on the floor - no doubt hoping Rosie would chew on it, rip the cover off and destroy the pages.  Silly man!  It's a toddler's book - it is indestructible!  (After T-day the little book is immediately taken to a safe and secure spot, hidden away so no one can find and destroy it!  

After the feast we passed around the photo-props...mom and dad are always up for a few laughs.  Once again, no group photo, because we had a photographer without her camera...I'm NOT over it!

Last of all, we all wobbled outside to the driveway and did our annual countdown to the lighting of the Christmas lights...it's usually anti-climatic as a fuse is usually blown or half the lights just don't turn on - something always goes awry but this year, they worked...for a full 5 minutes!!  We heard the mister grunting as he ran from one plug inside the garage to the other, making sure they were all in the sockets and then we waited patiently as he ran from the garage into the house to the deck so he could plug in the last of the lights!  I was beaming just taking it all in...the lights, my grandkids jumping around, my parents wondering why were were standing out in the rain freezing, and as we walked back into the house I noticed the lights flicker... I heard that familiar sound the mister makes...more like a growl than anything..."Sonofa$%*#!"  The fuses had blown...Thanksgiving was behind us and now onto Christmas and Home Depot for help with the lights!

Friendsgiving 2019...

November wouldn't be the same without at least one Friendsgiving!  This year, the older girls I'm lucky enough to teach (and I use that term loosely) at church were thrilled to come to a Friendsgiving - most had never been to one before!  Unlike some Friendsgivings, where guests show up with a dish to share and sit down to a fancy feast, our Friendsgiving required a bit more from the guests...they had to prepare their feast!  They were all very good sports and went about making their food like it was the best thing in the world to do...tiny miracle right there!  

Just look at all of those beautiful faces!  These girls are the best of the best and it was so fun to have them in our home.  I showed this picture to a friend and she said, "I can't believe you used paper plates, I didn't even think you knew they existed!"  Everyone's a comedian!  But she's got a point...I can't believe it either!  Anyway, these gals kicked off a fabulous Thanksgiving week for me and I'm so thankful for them - each young lady is beautiful inside and out and I learn SO much from THEM!  Thanks for coming Zoe, Ashley, Rachel, Jada, Kaylin, Elleny, Ashley, Marisa, and Amber!  Happy Friendsgiving to you!