Thanksgiving Success!

Thanksgiving was a HUGE success! My Mom told me that my stuffing based on her recipe was the best. People groaned under the onslaught of food and asked for more.



There was the usual Thanksgiving Day chaos and at one point I banned my Mother from the kitchen. Luckily my Dad, the great sous chef stepped in and helped me out.



My Mom's stuffing mix takes so many bread crumbs that I didn't have a bowl big enough for mixing. I quickly thought on my feet and grabbed a new garbage bag for mixing before stuffing the bird and filling two casserole dishes.



As the dinner preparations came to a close, I turned on the boiler and put the sweet potato casserole marshmallow topping under the boiler. Before I knew it, Scott's Mom was busting into the kitchen yelling, "Burning! Something is BURNING!" and sure enough, the casserole was on FIRE! We quickly put it out and I started over on the topping. This time my Sister-in-Law and I carefully watched the topping toast.



Scott even got in the act and learned how to carve a turkey from my Brother and Dad. It was so much fun to watch!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! May your holiday be filled with festival flavor, happy times and great memories!

Pre-Thanksgiving Prep

Tomorrow is the big day! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!

Today has been full of Thanksgiving Day prep and baking. Yesterday was Turkey procurement day.



After watching the news in the morning, Scott and I determined that it was going to be a bit too difficult to get our turkey from Rain Shadow Meats on Capital Hill. We decided instead to hike up to the Safeway near us and settle for a commercially grown turkey. I mean, I know that the organic, free-range ones are supposed to be better but I was going to just deal with it and enjoy a big-breasted Turkey.



The walk to the Safeway was nice and also gave us a chance to get some exercise in. After being cooped in all day on Monday, it was a joyful walk outside. It was cold too but still joyful.



Scott was also able to wear his new hat. I knit it for him on Monday and on Tuesday, he declared it warm and perfect.



After arriving home, I decided to post on Facebook about our small adventure. My brother saw my post and quickly offered to pick up our turkey for us. I guess he wasn't to be satisfied with just any ole turkey. So he drove over from Redmond in his trusty Subaru (I really need to get one of those myself) and delivered our special turkey to our house.



He also told us that it wasn't that icy out there and that the roads were nice and clear of cars.



Today has been spent prepping for Thanksgiving. I've roasted the beets for the beet salad. Sauteed the celery and onions for the stuffing. Boiled the yams for the Candied Yams and made the sweet potato casserole. I made the cranberry sauce and roasted the garlic. I've also baked up the cherry pie. My dad is bringing the pumpkin and apple pies but my Mom specifically requested that I make a cherry pie.



Now my fridge sits in it's OMG Full state and I think I'm going to knit for the rest of the afternoon. I have to rest up for the big day tomorrow.

Breadcrumbs to Thanksgiving

Yesterday was spent cutting up three loaves of bread into little cubes and drying them in the oven. My Mom insists that this is the absolute best way to make stuffing. It's a three day process. You cut and dry the bread cubes one day, stir and possibly dry them again the next day before you begin on the vegetables.



I must say all the hard work does seem to pay off in the end. Her stuffing is always delicious and I hope to be able to replicate it this year in my home.



I also spent most of yesterday looking out at this scene. I mean if there is one thing I didn't expect to derail my Thanksgiving plans, it would be the weather! We never have snow this early in the year. NEVER!



Oh well, what is one to do but continue on their merry way pretending that all will be OK. Because it will all be OK!

The Road to Thanksgiving

On Sunday, I finished my grocery shopping, printed out my menus and made ice cream. I followed David Lebovitz's Vanilla Ice Cream recipe and it is delicious!





I did however run into an issue. The freezer bowl wasn't frozen enough so I ended up putting the custard back in the fridge overnight and refroze the bowl until this morning. It churned into ice cream quickly this morning and I made sure to have a little taste. It is awesome tasting!



I also appear to have a little helper in the kitchen when I cook. Kato hangs out just to the side of the stove waiting for food droppings. It's almost as if I have a dog and not a cat!

Countdown to Thanksgiving

In just five days, I'll be serving my very first Thanksgiving meal to Scott and I's families. I've always helped my Mom prepare the feast but this is the first year that I'm taking the lead. My Mom has reserved her seat in my kitchen and promises to help out. While we wait to see if that happens, I've begun my preparations.



I've mapped out a schedule of work which started yesterday. Yesterday morning I woke up and dashed outside. My Amazon Fresh grocery delivery was expected. I was greeted with a plethora of Amazon Fresh boxes.



I have one quick grocery trip planned for Monday for the more perishable items but otherwise, groceries have been procured!



I then turned my attention to the other items on my schedule. I ironed my napkins, collected the place mats and brought out the place cards. Thanksgiving is time of year to go all out and ironing napkins just seems right.



My (step) Grandma made these napkins for the wedding. They match my china and are so gorgeous! She also made towels and pot holders which are just as lovely. It's amazing how the bird on the napkins match my china so perfectly.

The table is ready and now the real work begins. Today I make ice cream and pie crust!

Designing a Laundry Room

This is the first place I've lived as an adult that has an actual laundry area. Usually the laundry was in the hallway or in the basement of the apartment building I lived in. I've been so excited to have actual laundry space and a brand new washer/dryer set that I've been doing a lot of laundry.



The space however is in need of a spruce-up. I plan to paint the walls, fix the shelving and update the flooring. My first project though was to re-do the curtains in the area. The previous owners had sewn up some curtains so I used her old ones as a pattern for my new ones.



I found some great fabric in my stash and added some basic white as a border. These curtains were easy to sew up and while the hem may not be the straightest, these are still quite lovely to me.

Next weekend, I'm tackling the painting part of this project!

Will Bake For Food

I'm taking part in Will Bake for Food, a bake sale and food drive benefiting NW Harvest on Saturday, November 20th from 10am until 2pm at the University Congregational Church, Ostrander Hall, 4515 16th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98105. Come out and buy some of the goodies being offered by this awesome group of bloggers. Heck, come on by and say hello to me and buy some of my baked goods. I promise they'll be delicious and you'll be supporting a good cause.