For now, I am FINALLY sitting down (it's 9pm!) after several hours of pre-meal preparations. It would have gone more quickly, but I had "HELP" (my favorite thing....) from my daughter tonight. Actually, at just 16 now, she really IS helpful....when (IF) she listens to me.... *sigh!* Oh, and when she's not poking me (just for fun, and because I tell her not to).
Ah, the sweetness of a daughter!!! LOL
Actually, at 16, if those are the most difficult things about her -- that she wants to be with me in the kitchen, and that she giggles herself silly over poking me again every time I tell her to stop -- I'll TAKE IT!!!! I could have gotten a bit annoyed (I could feel it creeping up!), but I just let it go and played along with pretend glares and then giggled along with her. It was fun!! :-)
So here I sit, everything is finished (except one load of laundry that I hear spinning out), and she's back in her room to skype with her best friend! Aaaahhhhh!!!!!! It felt SO good to sit down. In the silence. :-D
I am cooking again for just our family this year, which makes me VERY SAD....this is the only holiday that I deeply miss my sisters and brother and parents. Growing up, we had extended family around EVERY YEAR on Thanksgiving, and to be honest, without that, it just feels like another meal around here, only bigger and with yummier food. Last year I had vowed it was the last year I would stay home, and had big plans to either travel to Mass or out to Kansas to see my little sister's family. I even started a savings account to pay for it! THEN....Brian cut his fingers and was off for 4 months, and that plan was ruined. That savings account is LONG gone! :-(
What is that old saying...? "If you want to give God a laugh, tell him your plans"...?? Well, I'm going to set that savings account up again after Christmas, then wait and see what God has planned for it next year! :-)
So anyway, THIS YEAR.....
I will be making two turkeys with my Nana's special (to us!) Yankee stuffing recipe. It has remained unchanged for years and years, and she got it from HER mother, who, I think.....and I might be stretching this a little (Amy??)....got it from her mother-in-law, a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee!! :-D (I'm going to check on the true accuracy of that with my mom and get back to you guys....)
Anyways, it's YUMMY and so simple!
Of course we will have mashed potatoes, gravy, mashed butternut squash, and baby green peas.
We ALWAYS have cranberry sauce, and I LOVE the "jellied" kind in the can!!! LOL It's delicious! BUT....this year I found a recipe on Pinterest that I HAD to try, so I made some of THAT, and I'll let you all know how it tastes....I'm a little scared of it, because it called for wine to cook the cranberries (and blueberries!) in, and I substituted that with red grape juice and a little vinegar (because we don't drink at all, so I didn't have any wine). So I was too scared to take a big taste of it after I cooked it! The vinegar was very strong-smelling when I was cooking it, so I hope I didn't use too much...! I'm hoping a little mellowing of the flavors went on this past week in the fridge!!
I will also put apples in the crockpot in the morning, so we have fresh, hot applesauce for the meal!!!! Oh-SO-yummy!!!
But wait, there's MORE..... :-D
The last thing I'm serving, besides rolls, is called Tennessee Honey Corn Pudding, which I made last year and was a yummy HIT with all of us!!!! Also found on Pinterest (and also calls for alcohol, but much less, and I bought a teensy bottle for it in advance).
I will be sure to share pictures and links (and critiques!) tomorrow or the next day -- DEFINITELY don't pass out when THAT happens! LOL
I haven't decided exactly what I want to make for dessert, I'm going to figure that out tomorrow. Usually, everyone is way too full to even think about eating dessert, so I can make it after the meal, and no one will mind! :-) I already have two "Harvest Loaves" -- which are pumpkin breads with mini-chocolate chips in them and a cinnamon glaze on top (also a family-favorite recipe), so maybe Swedish Apple Pie, or Brian's favorite - Chocolate Pie....decisions, decisions!! (the BEST kind! LOL)
SOOOO --- this week, we DID work a little on my cabinet, but Brian has promised to do almost all the rest of it this weekend (while we hide-out from Black-Friday shoppers!), so I'll wait to post my pictures until there is more to show.
What I DO want to show you guys is something I quickly made a few days ago -- SO simple, yet SO LOVELY!!!!
I took an art print image that I LOVE and had it printed at Office Max -- they use laser printers so the ink burns onto the paper, and doesn't "bleed". I found a good-sized image, so I was able to have them make it 11x14, and it still was nice and clear. Look at it!!!!....
It's a painting from 1810, and if you look closely, you can see white specks on the image -- these are on the original image, I'm sure from age. I don't mind them! I didn't have to "age" this print at all myself!! :-)
In this picture, I've glued it to a canvas frame (a few dollars at Hobby Lobby). You can see the white canvas around the edges because I forgot to PAINT the edges before I glued it on! Oh well, no trouble.....I just did it next.
I painted the edges (and over the paper edges a little bit, too) with a similar color to the background, then when it was dry I painted the decoupage glue over the whole top, paper and painted edges!
THAT'S IT!!! Ta-Daaa......
The lines you see that look like wrinkles are also part of the print, so they must be part of the original as well, and I don't mind them at all!
I can't wait to find a place for her!!!
See how easy to make these??
That's my super-easy-awesome-result Craft Tutorial of the week!!!! LOL
I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL day tomorrow!!!! We all have SO MUCH to be Thankful for!! ^-^
