Neglected Dog

Someone found a creative way to get her food bowl filled.

She brought the dish to Adam's feet, hopped on the ottoman and started pouting. Too Cute!

Bring on the Remaking of Leftovers

Creative Ways to use up Turkey Leftovers, after you've exhausted your love for sandwiches.

Turkey, Quinoa And Persimmon Salad With Warm Cranberry-Maple Dressing

 

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Prep started on Monday and ended at 4:30pm Thanksgiving day. All my pre-planning granted me a late start. Adam, Peanut and I watched the parade.

 Took Peanut for a walk around the neighborhood, before coming home and starting the day.
Adam's family arrived around 2pm and we had appetizers all layed out. This picture was taken a little late :)

We broke out the wii and played a few games.

Here's Adam's Mom playing on the wii fit.
Then the main affair started. We made sure to get pictures before we dug in this time :)

Sweet potato casserole, maple cider brine turkey, Boursin potato au gratin, pork pie, garlic brocolli, onion bacon kale, herbed chestnut, apple, cranberry stuffing, & Cornbread. *Cranberry Jelly not pictured.

Dinner was delicious, even if I do say so myself. I took the largest plate of food I think I have since getting my thyroid treated. What a glutton!! After dinner, I took to the kitchen and knocked out dishes. Adam packaged up leftovers and I made sure my In-laws had Stuffing and Turkey to make post-Thanksgiving Sandwiches, and a little Sweet potato Casserole (which I think was the best dish!)
Afterwards we all beached ourselves around the TV, watched a Miracle on 34th Street before diving back into dessert.

Apple Pie, Pumpkin Pie and Cheesecake Factory Chocolate Cheese cake, Vanilla & Dulce de Leche ice creams

Everything was great and everyone was happy with the meal. I had so much fun planning and cooking for the family and too hear and see everyone was so pleased, made it all that much more special. Hope everyone else had an amazing Thanksgiving too!

Thanksgiving Prep

This year my in-laws are in the middle of a kitchen remodel, so I took the reins and offered to host Thanksgiving. Today I spent the majority of the day planning our menu and creating a shopping list.

Here is what we plan on serving for Thanksgiving 2011:
Appetizers:
Parmesan Rosemary Crackers
Cheese Platter with Jalapeno Jelly
Chopped Liver 

Salad:
Roast Beet, Chimichurri Steak Salad

The Star:
Maple Cider Brine
Maple Bacon Turkey

Sides:
Herbed Chestnut, Cranberry, Apple Stuffing
Potato au gratin
Sweet Potato Casserole
Bacon, Onion Balsamic Kale
Garlic Broccoli
Small Pork Pie (Mostly for me, since I'll be the only Canadian attending)
Jellied Cranberry Sauce

Dessert:
Apple Pie ala mode
Pumpkin Pie*

Mighty Ambitious for such a small kitchen, but I'm hoping to make a lot a few days in advance and make sure I'm prepped for the day before and day of.

Peanut spent the day outside on the deck enjoying the sunshine.

Ding Dong Ditch?

The door bell rang this afternoon, which is really uncommon at our currently location. The only thing that might tell people some one lives in the rear of the front house is a small white door bell. (The doorbell was only installed after I spent 2 hours locked out of the house, while Adam slept. Peanut on the other side of the gate did not approve.) So the doorbell rang and I weathered the elements to answer it, but no one was there! Well, I thought if they're not going to answer, "Who's there?". I'm not opening that door! I walked back inside to an angry puppy, who wanted nothing but to patrol the area to make sure we weren't "under attack". Then it dawned on me it was Thursday... Once a month on Thursday we get a CSA box! Woot! Our first box.

This month spoils: red grapes, pomegranates, apples, radishes, carrots, collard greens, spaghetti squash, lettuce, dill and sweet potatoes.

I'm really excited to figure out some recipes, but it's a small sign of normality for me. While we lived in Santa Barbara we got a CSA box twice a month and enjoyed coming up with menus together. :)