A Few Fall Favorites

Yummy Fall scents from Bath & Body Works~

My favorite was Scarlett Pumpkin, but I didn't get a picture before it was all gone!

 

These cute little guys!

My confession: I bought them to go with my Fall Mantel décor.

Then I remembered I don't have a mantel anymore!

OOPS!

My other confession: I haven't decorated for Fall yet.

I guess I'll get a few things out since I am hosting Thanksgiving this year.

 



 

 This is my favorite, isn't he cute?

 

This turkey!

(Yes, my front door is turquoise!)

 



 

This Soup:

Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup

 

 



This Blog:

Hen Pecks

 

And these printables:

Colette's Sunday Sentiments Series

 

And...Thanksgiving is one of my favorite Holidays!

Hope all my blog friends are enjoying this month of Gratitude!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

Thanksgiving Bloopers~ 2012

So many bloopers this year!

Sadly, I was not the one making them~ so I don't dare blog about them!

I really want to...

But I won't :)

 

However, here is MY contribution:

 

 

Hubby volunteered me to make rolls.

I have had some trouble baking since we moved last year.

Not sure if it's the elevation or the oven...but I am figuring out how to get things to work.

Last year, my rolls would not raise.

I solved the problem this year by using the fireplace...

I fired it up & put the rolls on T.V. trays in front of the fireplace.

Our house was 80 degrees inside~ but the rolls did raise!

It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures~ but I overcooked 1 pan of rolls. Not quite burned, but nearly!

 

Helpful tip:

If you are in the middle of baking while also cleaning up dinner & working on Christmas projects...

When the timer goes off~ CHECK THE OVEN!!!

Even if you are confused about why the time is going off...

Even if you think you don't have a batch of rolls in the oven...

CHECK THE OVEN!!! 

 

I dumped these in the trash.

Then I dug them out so I could blog about it...

'Cause "Thanksgiving Bloopers" is becoming a regular feature here!

And I do not want to disappoint.

(Sorry, no Jell-O this year...)

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful, blooper free Thanksgiving!



Thanksgiving Bloopers 2011

This year’s bloopers didn’t involve any Jell-O. 

No, the disasters this year all focused on baking.

Earlier in the week, I went to pull my file of Thanksgiving recipes…and they were nowhere to be found! I panicked. I cried. I ranted. Then I searched for a while online and finally…finally found the recipes again!

My pie recipe (which is nothing spectacular~ it involves Jell-O Pudding & Cool-Whip!) is pretty yummy & it’s my husband’s favorite of all the Banana Cream Pie recipes I’ve tried over the years…so I was pretty upset that I had misplaced it.

 

The next disaster involved rolls. Homemade rolls. I do not consider myself a novice baker. I used a roll recipe that I’ve used dozens of times…but the dough would not raise. I made 2 batches of rolls. Both with different yeast & different flour, neither batch turned out.

The picture makes them look much better than they were. They tasted fine~ but they were really small.

(These are my back-up plan)

I was going to blame the mishap on the altitude here…but the back- up rolls (Rhodes) raised just fine~ in fact they raised more than I wanted them to…so I guess that throws the altitude theory out the window!

Either way, we had plenty of rolls to go around! And my family had plenty to harass me about~ so I guess the rolls were a success after all.

And finally…the piecrusts…(yes, they are Marie Callender’s Frozen pie crusts….don’t judge me!) For some reason I thought I could bake them without using pie weights….yeah, no.  They puffed up in the center.  I gave in and substituted Keebler’s Graham Cracker Crusts instead~ which everyone liked better than the traditional pie crust that I usually use.  So, now I know.  Next time, I’ll make my own graham cracker crusts though…

 

Disasters aside, it was a great day! We had 16 people here to celebrate Thanksgiving. There was plenty of yummy food to go around...it was a perfect day!  I love Thanksgiving!!!

 I started the day off by making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for breakfast.  They disappeared in a hurry! 

 For Thanksgiving Dinner, we served:

Turkey, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Sage Dressing/Stuffing (my grandma’s recipe), Candied Yams (my mom’s recipe) Green Beans w/ Bacon & Onion, Rolls, Stuffed Celery, Pickles, Olives.

And for dessert: Pumpkin Pie, Mincemeat Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie.

My dad was at his all- time funniest. He had been sick the week before, so I think he was just happy to be feeling better. I did tell him he might need to lay off the Nyquil.  :)

Shane was our official photographer.  Here are a few of his better shots:

 I guess he likes taking pictures of the backs of people's heads?

These are interesting...

 At least he got a picture of the puppy!

Other Thanksgiving Weekend fun included:

*A partially flooded basement.

No one will confess to plugging the toilet & then letting it overflow. All. Night.

We suspect is was "Blaine" (name has been changed to protect the not so innocent.)

*Season 4 of "Prison Break"

The whole entire season...in one day! (That's for you, Vern).

*Breaking Dawn...my husband has declared it the stupidest movie he has ever seen. Even worse than "The Polar Bear King" (I know it looks like a good movie...I chose it as a rental years ago & have never lived it down.) 

Now we are switching gears for the Christmas season.

I love the Holidays!



Give Thanks

Taking a break from prepping and baking and cleaning

to wish all my wonderful blog friends~

Happy Thanksgiving!



Have a wonderful, joyful day as you Gather Together.



Thanksgiving Bloopers

Things were going well enough until:

Oh yes, I did! And trust me, it's not that easy to do, either! I had 10 or so of these banners I was making. Obviously they weren't as easy to throw together as I had anticipated.

And then there was this:

What is it? Well, a perfectly set, Jell-O Salad.  Why would I consider this a "blooper"?

Well, Jell-O and I do not get along. (click the link to read more) I think this is the first Jell-O I have ever made that actually turned out. And, it was good! Trust me, I'd already started writing the blog post about the failed Jell-O attempt. That's how confident I was that it wouldn't turn out!  It's Jell-O, people! With stuff in it! These kinds of recipes never work out for me...and I mean Never. So, I'm sure it was a lucky fluke for me.

And, I have to admit that even though I was proud of myself...part of me was secretly disappointed because the epic failure was going to make such a great blog post!

Plus, now what am I supposed to do? Can I still call myself a Jell-O making failure?

Find the recipe here:

Cranberry Salad

Part of a Virtual  Progressive Thanksgiving Dinner

Oh, and P.S. I forgot to add..."I got the laryngitis"! What is it with me and being sick for the Holidays? This means we won't be sick for Christmas, though. Right? Right???

Happy Thanksgiving

"Thou hast given so much to me,

Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;

Not thankful when it pleaseth me,

As if Thy blessings had spare days,

But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise".

~George Herbert

Happy Thanksgiving

"It’s so easy in life for us to receive blessings, many of them almost uncounted, and have things happen in our lives that can help change our lives, improve our lives, and bring the Spirit into our lives. But we sometimes take them for granted. How grateful we should be for the blessings that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings into our hearts and souls. I would remind all of you that if we’re ever going to show gratitude properly to our Heavenly Father, we should do it with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—because it was He who gave us life and breath" (David B. Haight, "Were There Not Ten Cleansed?," Ensign, Nov 2002, 24).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Odds and Ends, November Edition

First; I have added a "Followers" gadget in the sidebar to the right, for those who prefer this option.

Second; I did make Spook Popcorn for Halloween. Here's the proof! It was soooo, good! And really easy. The most difficult part was taking out all the un-popped kernels of popcorn. I cheated a little and used microwave popcorn, butter flavor. It takes about 2 1/2 bags. I also used cashews. Oh my, was it ever decadent and yummy. I want to make some more right now.
It also stays pretty soft and gooey, so no need to spread it out to cool. It made my huge Tupperware bowl full, so it makes a nice batch.

Third; After reading Cherie's post "This Month-Be Grateful",
I made this cute Gratitude Jar for Family Home Evening.

It turned out so cute, I decided they would be perfect for Visiting Teaching and Home Teaching gifts, so I made up a few more! I had to buy bottles, can you believe that? All my canning jars have mysteriously disappeared!

Here's a picture of the back of the jars. I think it's so cute, all laced up! I did it a couple of different ways, I like the laced up look the best. I also made personalized labels for the jar lid, with each family's name.


You can find the printable graphics kit here at Daisie Company.
There are also more pictures, showing everything that is included in this cute craft kit.

Next;

I finally dug out my small, slightly pathetic, collection of Thanksgiving decorations. I read a post recently (which I can't find to link back to!), and she shared her favorite Thanksgiving decor, which was mostly Indians. So, when I opened my boxes, I was looking for a theme...what do I like?

Here's a few pictures...can you pick up a theme here?

This is one of my favorites:

(Sorry for the glare on this one. The front of the block says "Be Thankful")

Almost all of these were made in Relief Society! Most are pretty old! :)

I wanted to get some new things this year, but haven't been able to find much. You know, the whole "Halloween-to-Christmas" phenomenon! HELLO! You skipped Thanksgiving!

I did get invited to a neighborhood craft boutique. I took only the cash I was willing to spend, and was determined to buy only fall/Thanksgiving items. No tempting me with cute snowmen, pine cones & holly berries, or Santas! (I looked, but I didn't buy!)

I did find this cute, quilted table runner, which I love.

But this...this was the first thing that caught my eye! Isn't he the cutest little feller? Yep, I must really have a thing for turkeys! I haven't decided where he'll go yet. (He's appliqued on a dish towel). I have already instructed everyone that this is for decoration only and is not to be used! We'll see how far that gets me.

What's coming up:

Favorite Things

A Yummy Holiday recipe

A Giveaway (yes, that's right!)

And more...so stay tuned.