Thanksgiving 2016

I I realize I'm several weeks late, but I've got to get this down before Christmas! We celebrated Thanksgiving twice this year, so that we could squeeze in both side of the family with ample time for each. We started with a pre-Thanksgiving feast at my in-laws' a couple weekends before Thanksgiving, and the baby experienced his first Thanksgiving dinner! Being the ravenous eater he is, he seemed to love it, and shoved food into his face as quickly as possible. We got some really cute "cousins" pictures of him and my niece, which I know we will treasure when they are older.

For that meal, C and I were in charge of pies. We went with one traditional apple and one chocolate pie. To go above and beyond, we made a homemade chocolate pudding pie following a recipe C found online, and it was insanely good - SO rich and chocolaty. Definitely could have used an espresso with that one!

For the actual Thanksgiving holiday, we traveled down to the lake house. We spent Wednesday - Saturday with my family, and had a wonderful time. The lake in the fall is one of my absolute favorite places, so I was really happy to have an extended weekend to spend there! We had a traditional meal on Thursday and everyone pitched in to get it cooked, so everything felt very stress-free and simple. Wednesday night was pie night, and on Thursday morning we watched the parade and ate pie for breakfast. I love that tradition, and I'm happy to be passing these things along to the baby!

The day after Thanksgiving, we did absolutely no shopping (I refuse), but did drive to Roanoke to check out Parkway Brewing. It was a really cool set-up and a beautiful day, and the beers were good, too! Can't beat that.

We opted to drive home on Saturday and do takeout for dinner, and then had Sunday to start getting out our Christmas decorations without feeling rushed. It was a lovely way to wrap up the holiday weekend and continue the relaxing. Returning to work on Monday was still rough - can't I just live in the mountains and be a lake lady?? Ha.

Thanksgiving 2015

Hello out there! Everyone coming out of their turkey comas and ready to tackle Monday? No? OK, cool. I'd appreciate another day or two of laziness, personally... c'est la vie.

We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, and I hope you did, too! A few months ago, when we were trying to nail down T-day plans, I decided that I was not going to travel anywhere (regardless of the fact that family is just an hour away), was going to have dinner at my house, and that anyone who wanted to join us, could. Luckily, our families were totally fine with that "mandate," and everyone came on down to our house! Just the way I like it.

I worked from home on Wednesday, and made a batch of buffalo chicken in the crockpot for easy tacos while we watched the Caps game. My parents arrived just in time for dinner, and after eating, my mom and I settled in for pie night. We made just three pies (some years, we are making 6 or 8!), but they turned out beautifully. C prepped a few of our side dishes that could be done in advance, and we called it a day.

Thursday was absolutely beautiful - sunny, warm, happy. In addition to Thanksgiving, it was my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! We celebrated with crockpot breakfast casserole and mimosas (I am SO CLOSE to getting to join the fun again) while watching the parade. C got the turkey into the oven 20 minutes ahead of "schedule" and we were well on our way to a successful day. C's parents and sister and brother-in-law (K&B) joined us (with our niece - she is getting so big!) mid-morning, and we finished watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while doing a little cooking here and there. We truly kept the menu low-key, and the prep work C did Wednesday night made it even easier.

After the parade was over, my mom and I headed out for a long pre-turkey walk, along with K&B and their dog. We went over to the battlefield trail that I love, and ended up doing a (very, very slow) almost 5 miles! That was more than enough for this huffing-and-puffing pregnant lady. It felt good to move, but I definitely paid for it by way of back pain later in the day. Boo.

We got home, got cleaned up, and finished the last few sides before sitting down to a fantastic feast. I know I've already said it, but I really do love Thanksgiving! It makes me so happy to have a house full of people, with lots of chatter and food smells all day. It fills my little cup right up.

Dinner was followed by football watching and pie before C's family headed home, and we settled in with my parents to watch a movie.

The rest of the weekend was a mix of relaxing and busy - we spent Friday mostly doing nothing but getting the house back in order and watching Netflix, then on Saturday morning I went grocery shopping super early and got a pot of chili cooking in time for a 12 PM kickoff of the VT vs. UVA game. Stephanie was in town visiting family for the holiday, so her, her husband, and the baby came over to watch the game with us. Not only did we get to see a VT victory (12 years in a row!), but we got lots of baby play time, too. So fun!

Saturday night and Sunday morning, I prepped a huge batch of freezer meals for after the baby comes. I will go into more detail later, but needless to say, we will not starve once we are a family of three. Also, my freezer space is totally maxed out - and I have two freezers!

C put up the Christmas tree while I finished the meal prep, and we started getting out some of our holiday decorations. We are keeping it simple this year because otherwise I am afraid we will have decorations up until April! I make no guarantees about my ability to un-decorate the house once a newborn is involved. We do have a few things out, though, and I will add a few more items in the coming weeks. I adore this time of year and can't help but want to have the house reflect all the cheer! We will decorate the tree later this week - for now, we are just letting the cats get readjusted. They are settling in nicely... until the ornaments come out!

I braved the cold and rain to run a few errands I'd been putting off all weekend, and C made us turkey, bacon, and avocado sandwiches for dinner. They were a delicious, fresher use for leftovers that can seem very heavy, and they hit the spot. We are slowly making our way through the piles of leftovers we ended up with... A few more days and we will be good to go! I should have done a better job of sending the family home with food, but I did not, and the majority of it ended up in our fridge. Luckily, it's delicious, and it's a great way to extend the holiday just a little longer. Until the next one!

All-You-Can-Carry Pumpkins

On Friday night, we met up with my sister and brother-in-law for a trip to the pumpkin patch. Belvedere Plantation is a few minutes from our house, and well-known in the area for it's pumpkins, hay rides, and other fun fall activities. It had been years since I'd been there - I have memories of a trip with a church youth group, probably from middle school, when it was cool to do stuff like that with your friends. Wouldn't you know I was back at almost 30 years old, and we had probably just as good a time as I did when I was 12!

I was mind-boggled to learn two things: my brother-in-law had never eaten a funnel cake, and my husband had (as far as he knows) never been to a pumpkin patch. WHAT?! I was pleased we were able to right both of those wrongs in one trip. I can't wait to bring our little pumpkin back next fall! I am already excited for the memories we will make and family traditions like visiting the pumpkin patch. It's going to be so much fun!

While the non-pregnant contingent of our group raced tractors and swung from a rope into the hay-filled barn, I was on a mission to get a funnel cake. Don't stand between me and my desserts right now - things might get serious. At this particular funnel cake stand, cinnamon sugar was offered as a topping for your piping hot fried dough... of course I went for it, and my funnel-cake eating may never be the same. Delicious!! Plain ol' powdered sugar will never cut it again.

Belvedere offers a great deal on pumpkins: all-you-can-carry for $29.99. You better believe my sister and I loaded the boys up with as many pumpkins as possible, and they each stood in front of the cashier for the requisite 3 seconds. It was a little wobbly, needless to say, but they were both successful, and we walked out with more pumpkins than we could possibly need. I love decorating my porch with pumpkins in the fall - now I just need a mum or two to balance it out.

Like I said on instagram... one of these pumpkins is not like the other!

Twelve Day of Christmas Cookies: traditional

Welcome to our Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies link up! For the next two weeks, join us every day and add your favorite cookie recipe for that day’s theme. Please follow Lisa and Lindsay and check out some new blogs! Happy baking!

My parents were both stationed in Germany with the Army for a few years before my sister and I were born, and we lived there until I was three years old. Subsequently, we have adopted several German Christmas traditions and customs that are very special parts of the holidays for us.

German gingerbread cookies, known as lebkuchen, are one of my favorite parts of the holidays. I've never actually made them, but I make sure to buy some from the Commissary whenever I get a chance to go around the holidays with my mama. There are lots of brands and types, but in my head, the best ones are a very specific kind that come in a pretty blue bag, from a company called Bahlsen. Seeing those will always mean Christmas to me!

If you want to try to make your own lebkuchen, try one of these recipes:

• Martha Stewart
• All Recipes
• Food & Wine

What is your favorite traditional or ethnic cookie around the holidays??

Five for Friday: ornaments on my tree

I absolutely love the look of color-coordinated, perfectly decorated Christmas trees... in other peoples' homes. In our house, we believe in a tree that tells tales - covered in ornaments that have stories and memories attached to them. C & I both grew up in homes with trees that were covered in art projects and school pictures and "baby's first" ornaments, and we have continued that tradition in our own house.

When we started dating, we started collecting ornaments from places that we go together. That's generally our "souvenir" from almost anywhere - we don't buy much of anything else, but we always try to find a Christmas ornament. Plus, both of our sets of parents have handed-down lots of family ornaments, so our tree is truly eclectic. I love it! Decorating the tree is always a trip down memory lane, and I can't wait to share those stories and memories with our kids some day.

For this week's Five for Friday, I thought I'd share five of my favorite ornaments that C and I have added to our tree. It's not necessarily my TOP five, just five that I really like. Could I ever truly pick a favorite ornament?! Methinks not.

1 // Jennette's Pier in the Outer Banks is a special place for C's family, and a visit there during the family vacation is a long-standing tradition. The first year that I was included in that trip, we bought an ornament. This ornament always reminds me of becoming a part of C's family, and how welcomed I have always been into their traditions and lives.

2 // During our honeymoon to Jekyll Island, we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. Had to pick up a reminder from that amazing day and week!

3 // When we moved into our first house together, my sister gifted us this sweet Virginia Tech ornament. She added our last name above the door for us - it's true, we are a Hokie home all year long!

4 // We received several beautiful ornaments as gifts to commemorate the year we were married, but this traditional Lenox wedding ornament is definitely one of my favorites. It's a classic! My parents have always had a similar one on their tree, and it's lasted over 30 years. Fingers crossed ours lasts just as long!

5 // We picked up this golden leaf ornament in Idaho last year while we were visiting my grandma for Christmas. It has a real maple leaf inside it, encased in 14k gold. It's gorgeous and sparkly (holiday requirement!) and reminds me of a place I love that I enjoyed sharing with C.

How do you decorate your tree? Do you collect ornaments? Do you have a theme? What's your favorite ornament on your tree?

linking up with the five on friday girls:  Darci, Christina, April,and Natasha

linking up with karli and amy

Pie Night

We take pie very seriously in my family.

In fact, you could call us pie connoisseurs.

[source]

We have been known to turn up our noses at frozen pies, apple pies made with the wrong apples, pre-made crusts, soupy pumpkin pies, and the occasional "weird" pie. (There's no need for weird pie.) I will almost always skip pie as a dessert option unless it's made by us. We have a thing about pie. Sorry, not sorry.

For as long as I can remember, the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving has always been Pie Night (capital letters needed). My mom makes pies from scratch, crust and all, and my sister and I have been helping since we were knee-high to a cricket (I've always wanted to say that). If there's anything you can count on, it's the fact that, wherever we are for Thanksgiving, we will be wrapped in aprons and covered in flour, rolling dough and coring apples. We've made pies in big kitchens, small kitchens, new kitchens, old kitchens. We've made them at our home and at other people's homes. Pie Night. It goes where we go.

This is one of our sacred family traditions, and, this year, I'm excited to say that we are having the inaugural Pie Night at my new house. My mom is coming down after she gets done at school today, and we will spend the evening mixing and measuring. I can't wait to find myself wrist-deep in pumpkin and sugar, standing in my kitchen, baking Thanksgiving pies with my mama. It wouldn't be a true Thanksgiving without it!

And, clearly, I can't wait for pie for breakfast tomorrow morning. Is there anything better than pie for breakfast?!?

Our 23rd attempt: Freak'n Hot Chili

A few weekends ago, we held the annual chili cook-off on the street I grew up on. This year's was the 23rd in a row! When we first moved to the street in 1992, my parents got together with some neighbors and planned a chili cook-off for October... it was a smashing success, and it's been going on every October since then! It's such a fantastic tradition, with the whole thing being more like a block party with a chili cook-off mixed in. I've been helping or cooking chili since I was five years old, and have rarely missed a year at this event (except in college, when there was no way I could get home). I always look forward to it.

Awards from years' past

Basket o' chiles

Michelle and her husband stopped by!

Mama & me

The neighbors all get together, rain or shine, and anyone who wants to can cook chili. There are specific rules (everything must be prepped on-site, no crock pots, cooking starts at 1 PM and judging is at 4 PM... plus more!) and there are awards and prizes for not just the chili, but decorations, themes, and names, too. A lot of chili is eaten, a lot of beer is drank, and a lot of fun is had.

My mom and I cooked together this year, and, although we didn't win, I do think our chili was one of the best (but I'm a little biased...)! We make a pretty good team, even when we're cooking on camp stoves on a gloomy, damp day.

I'm including the recipe we used below. This is one that was originally taken from a cookbook (I think, though I couldn't tell you which one), and has been modified a lot over the years, so it's basically an original. My sister made this awesome sign with our chili name on it, and I think that pretty much says it all...

Freak'n Hot Chili

This chili is HOT! Really. Personally, I like it that way, and really enjoyed this batch. Remember, chili is easy to personalize - if you prefer yours less hot, cut the number of peppers in half. If you like it hotter still, add a few more! The base of this chili is a good one, though, so do what you need to with the peppers.

Ingredients

• ½ lb bacon 
• 1 lb ground round 
• 1 lb ground pork 
• 2 green bell peppers 
• 2 small yellow onions 
• 5 jalapenos, seeded and chopped 
• 3 habaneros, seeded and chopped 
• 4 Anaheim chiles, seeded and chopped 
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped 
• 3 T cumin 
• 1 T red pepper flakes 
• 4 T chipotle powder 
• 4 T dark chili powder 
• 4 bouillon cubes 
• 2 28-oz cans crushed tomatoes 
• 2 16-oz cans diced tomatoes 
• 1 small can tomato paste 
• 2 cans chili beans 
• 2 cans kidney beans 
• 1 beer 
• Optional garnishes: sour cream (or Greek yogurt, like I do!), shredded cheddar, crushed tortilla chips, green onion, white onion, etc.

Directions

1. Place bacon in large soup pot. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess grease, leaving enough to coat bottom of pot. Remove bacon, drain on paper towels, and chop. (Alternately, could chop before cooking, like I do.)
2. Brown beef and pork in pot with bacon grease over medium high heat. When meat is browned, stir in bell pepper, onion, jalapeno peppers, habanero peppers, Anaheim peppers, garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes, chili powder, bouillon, tomatoes, tomato paste, and beer.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans and bacon and continue simmering for another 30 minutes. Serve in bowls with garnish of choice.

I'd love to know if you use our recipe, and if you like it! Any and all feedback is welcome. We love chili in our family and make it all the time, using all different recipes (or non-recipes, at times). What's your favorite way to make it?