Thankful
I'm thankful for so many things all the time. I thank the Lord every night just for bringing me to this day.
Thankful also doesn't even begin to describe my feelings at this time of year. I love autumn (even if ours was unseasonably warm and wet), and I love being able to have good times with my family (we're really lucky in that department). This year, though, I'm standing on the precipice of changes for myself and the Hubster, and it's making me see things in a new light.
I've apparently made my frustrations known about some things and my kids took action: They planned and made Thanksgiving dinner. A first for us; we've been the ones doing all the cooking for over 20 years. The Hubs and I took over for my mother and her siblings and inlaws shortly after we moved into our home. I think at least one of our kids saw how I wasn't really enjoying holiday dinners because of the way we busted our butts to get everything done (and don't even get me started on the expense). We always did this willingly, but the older we get, the longer it takes for us to recuperate from all the work.
So imagine our surprise when the kids told us what they were doing! My sister and I were sitting in the dining room having a lovely conversation with Emma's mom. We all talked about how we felt we needed to be doing something, but I then said I was good with it!
They did a fantastic job. Ross deep fried the turkey. The kids brought most of the sides, but the Hubs and my sister and I fleshed it out with cranberry salad, my rolls, apple pie, brownie pie, pumpkin pie and broccoli casserole--a fraction of what we used to do.
AND, since the kids were doing the lion's share of the work, I decided to introduce something new: Cocktail and appetizer hour. I made a new appetizer and had liquor on hand for 3 different drinks. The appetizer, Cranberry Brie Bites, were ok; the eaters thought the cranberries were too tart (only 2 tsp. of sugar was in the compote); otherwise, they thought it was a good idea. The other appetizer was tried and true firecrackers with some sliced cheese. The cocktails included Sparkling Cosmopolitans, Champagne Margaritas and Maple Leaf Bourbon. Now honestly, I thought all of the booze would be gone in a heartbeat and all 3 drinks would be sampled. Nope; everyone loved the Sparkling Cosmos and that's what was served. So I know what will be served next year!
The only bad part about it? We don't have much in the way of leftovers. The good parts about it? EVERYTHING, including not having too many leftovers!
Pumpkin pie, brownie pie and pecan pie:
About that apple pie. Every year for many years I have made Iron Skillet Apple Pie for the holidays and some birthdays. This year I saw an interesting technique in my Facebook feed--cinnamon roll pie crust. You use pie crust and make cinnamon rolls with it, squish the rolls together and roll them out into a new pie crust. Here's what it looked like before rolling:
And here's what it looked like after it was baked:
Not so pretty, but everyone thought it tasted good. But they want their Iron Skillet Apple Pie back. That's fine.
I stitched out a couple of kitchen towels for the occasion. I had plans to stitch out a few more, but there's always next year:
And here's the next thing: Since it could be our last Christmas in our home, I've decided to go all out with decorating. I told Steph what colors I wanted after I saw a wreath that Bestie Melissa made. We went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels, and got the tree decorated on Black Friday. I love it:
Steph thought it was Pinterest-worthy and she was snapping photos:
Here's the wreath Melissa made:
And Hubs came up with a fantastic idea. My sister painted a great big sign (you know the kind, Christmas tree farm stuff, etc.) that she hung in her dining room last Christmas. I told him I wanted a sign, and he said let's make it a Holiday Inn sign (from the old movie with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire) and hang it year round. I thought that was a fantastic idea! So we found an old hollow core door that we had used as a headboard and I've painted 3 coats of black chalkboard paint on it. I'll add the lettering hopefully on Monday. We'll leave space to personalize it during all the different holidays. Finished product in a future post!
There's so much more decorating to do! Besides the lettering on the Holiday Inn sign, I'll be attempting to squeeze out some Christmas kitchen towels and pillows. Maybe some hot pads. We'll see! In the meantime, go sew and quilt!
Thankful also doesn't even begin to describe my feelings at this time of year. I love autumn (even if ours was unseasonably warm and wet), and I love being able to have good times with my family (we're really lucky in that department). This year, though, I'm standing on the precipice of changes for myself and the Hubster, and it's making me see things in a new light.
I've apparently made my frustrations known about some things and my kids took action: They planned and made Thanksgiving dinner. A first for us; we've been the ones doing all the cooking for over 20 years. The Hubs and I took over for my mother and her siblings and inlaws shortly after we moved into our home. I think at least one of our kids saw how I wasn't really enjoying holiday dinners because of the way we busted our butts to get everything done (and don't even get me started on the expense). We always did this willingly, but the older we get, the longer it takes for us to recuperate from all the work.
So imagine our surprise when the kids told us what they were doing! My sister and I were sitting in the dining room having a lovely conversation with Emma's mom. We all talked about how we felt we needed to be doing something, but I then said I was good with it!
They did a fantastic job. Ross deep fried the turkey. The kids brought most of the sides, but the Hubs and my sister and I fleshed it out with cranberry salad, my rolls, apple pie, brownie pie, pumpkin pie and broccoli casserole--a fraction of what we used to do.
AND, since the kids were doing the lion's share of the work, I decided to introduce something new: Cocktail and appetizer hour. I made a new appetizer and had liquor on hand for 3 different drinks. The appetizer, Cranberry Brie Bites, were ok; the eaters thought the cranberries were too tart (only 2 tsp. of sugar was in the compote); otherwise, they thought it was a good idea. The other appetizer was tried and true firecrackers with some sliced cheese. The cocktails included Sparkling Cosmopolitans, Champagne Margaritas and Maple Leaf Bourbon. Now honestly, I thought all of the booze would be gone in a heartbeat and all 3 drinks would be sampled. Nope; everyone loved the Sparkling Cosmos and that's what was served. So I know what will be served next year!
The only bad part about it? We don't have much in the way of leftovers. The good parts about it? EVERYTHING, including not having too many leftovers!
Pumpkin pie, brownie pie and pecan pie:
About that apple pie. Every year for many years I have made Iron Skillet Apple Pie for the holidays and some birthdays. This year I saw an interesting technique in my Facebook feed--cinnamon roll pie crust. You use pie crust and make cinnamon rolls with it, squish the rolls together and roll them out into a new pie crust. Here's what it looked like before rolling:
And here's what it looked like after it was baked:
I stitched out a couple of kitchen towels for the occasion. I had plans to stitch out a few more, but there's always next year:
And here's the next thing: Since it could be our last Christmas in our home, I've decided to go all out with decorating. I told Steph what colors I wanted after I saw a wreath that Bestie Melissa made. We went to Hobby Lobby and Michaels, and got the tree decorated on Black Friday. I love it:
Steph thought it was Pinterest-worthy and she was snapping photos:
Here's the wreath Melissa made:
And Hubs came up with a fantastic idea. My sister painted a great big sign (you know the kind, Christmas tree farm stuff, etc.) that she hung in her dining room last Christmas. I told him I wanted a sign, and he said let's make it a Holiday Inn sign (from the old movie with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire) and hang it year round. I thought that was a fantastic idea! So we found an old hollow core door that we had used as a headboard and I've painted 3 coats of black chalkboard paint on it. I'll add the lettering hopefully on Monday. We'll leave space to personalize it during all the different holidays. Finished product in a future post!
There's so much more decorating to do! Besides the lettering on the Holiday Inn sign, I'll be attempting to squeeze out some Christmas kitchen towels and pillows. Maybe some hot pads. We'll see! In the meantime, go sew and quilt!
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