"Food-ation" Celebration

That time of year...

Thank you to Ruth Ayers for the Celebration Link up

at her blog, Discover Play Build

Head over there and link up your Celebration too!

This week, I am celebrating "That time of year"...Even though there is preparation, planning and work involved I don't mind digging in and getting my hands "dirty".

The big event to reflect on this past week was hosting Thanksgiving.  Since I had school work up until Wednesday, I decided to keep the menu simple.  Simple worked for everyone else too.  Turkey, corn, stuffing, mashed potatoes, bread, yams, and pie for dessert was all there was to eat.  My celebration is about my three favorite pieces of the meal...

Turkey-turkey-little turkey...I am by no means a chef so I researched the best ways to cook the bird.  I didn't buy a whole bird-mainly the breast-because no one in the family likes the dark meat.  I had it thawing in the refrigerator since Sunday.  Wednesday called for the time to brine.  The mixture was a little white wine, salt, pepper, and apple juice.  I played around with what to put in the mix but these ingredients worked out well as the turkey was so sweet and juicy...YUM!

Stuff in the stuffing...I love, love, love the way my mom always made the stuffing on Turkey day and so I followed how she put it together.  First, I sauteed lots of onion and celery together in butter.  Then I poured in one can of chicken stock.  After that boiled, I added just one box of stove top stuffing mix-then added bread that was cut up and dried.  I mixed it all together and baked it for 45 minutes at 350.  It turned out so tasty...there was only a tiny sliver left (I'll be eating that leftover).

Marshmallow Yams...Yams have grown on me over the years-I despised them when I was younger.  I really like how they taste now.  I'm not sure what changed but I'll go with it.  I put them in the baking pan and added a few pats of butter, sprinkled on some brown sugar and baked them.  At the last 5 minutes, I added two handfuls of mini-marshmallows to the top!  They came out toasty brown (just like when you cook them over the campfire) on top of the yams.  I really could have eaten the whole pan.  They tasted that good.

Now the problem is how to work around the 3 pound weight gain!  Hope your Thanksgiving was bloated with yummy food and fun times with family and/or friends!

Any tasty morsels to celebrate this week?

Thankful for Gol-ives

Tuesday's Slice of Life...How I've Missed You!

Slice of Life Tuesdays-Hosted by Two Writing Teachers

As my daughter begins to talk less jibberish and more clear speech, I am noticing little things that she's beginning to ask for...the writer in me is noticing little details about how she says these things and the latest and most notable for our house is the asking for "gol-ives". 

You might be wondering...just what are gol-ives?  Let me describe them for you so you know just what they might be.  These things are very bite size-perfect little rings that fit right on tiny fingers.  They taste very salty and are usually juicy.  "Gol-ives" are black and brown colored and are just right for sprinkling atop a yummy bowl of crunchy lettuce or spinach-along with other tasty fixin's like shredded cheese, croutons and even tomatoes!

Have you guessed what gol-ives are yet?  If you're thinking black olives, you're right!  Nattie loves eating them along with her salad-and she usually pilfers off of my serving until there are no more.  It's cute to hear her ask, "Golives? Golives?".  When we finally figured out she was asking for black olives, it made sense!  Say them together really fast-"Black olives" go ahead, I'll give you a few seconds...ok-so doesn't it sound like you're saying gol-ives if you leave off the beginning of black? Kids do say funny things sometimes and I am thankful for catching my "Gol-ive Lover" chatting up a storm and asking for yummy foods to eat...our Thanksgiving ought to be very speechy this year!