The long-awaited, Thanksgiving recap.

First came breakfast...

This is the yummy-delicious Eggs Benedict Casserole that I made.

 { I heart eggs benedict }  

Another great find on Pinterest, here's the recipe.

Then it was time to start the desserts...  Mom made two pies, apple and pumpkin, while I made a sheet cake, Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet cake to be exact.

Delicious/moist/rich, so many words to describe the yumminess that is this cake and so little space.  

Get the recipe here from Picky Palate.

For dinner I made a side dish of sweet potatoes, the same one I made last year...  I guess this disliker of sweet potatoes finally found a recipe that she likes.  

Thank you, Food Network for creating this wonderful recipe.

And now some pictures of the Prince and family from Thanksgiving...

Everyone's ready to head out to Mom Woods', just waiting on me I'm sure. { smile }

Carter's Thanksgiving outfit and his cool fire truck.

Our little family.

Carter and his wonderful grandparents.

My parents, aren't they cute together?!

Playing with his cars at Ma's house.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with family, friends and most importantly LOVE, like mine was. 

{ Coming soon to a blog near you...  pics from our Christmas tree decorating night!! }

And moving on to the next holiday...

The big turkey day is almost upon us.  And I've got my contributions all planned out, see here (Family. Friends. And Food. = Thanksgiving) if you need a refresher. 

So that means that I'm now having to mentally plan for our annual tree decorating get-together with the grandparents, which will be this Saturday night, as in 3+ days away--  EEK!  Click here to see me blab about the { yummy } hot chocolate and marshmallows I will be making for us to enjoy. 

Here are some pictures from last year's tree decorating.  Seeing the joy and awe on Carter's face while we decorated the Christmas tree was amazing/priceless/one of the most wonderful moments EVER!

Ok now back to business. { wink }

Let's start with food.  I've decided to make some soup, roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons to be exact. { smile }  I found the recipe on Pinterest, as would be expected considering I'm addicted to it.

Get the recipe here if you should want to try it, too.

And then there's the Greek layer dip, I'm about 80% sure I'll be serving it.  I have most of the ingredients already I'm just not sure if everyone will try it, some { specifically the hubby } aren't very adventurous when it comes to new food.

Photo and recipe courtesy of The Lovely Cupboard, get the recipe here.

Hummus, kalamata olives, cucumber, etc...  what's not to love?!

Moving on...  the tree and the decorations!

 We have a new, smaller tree to use this year because our usual one, yes we have an artificial tree and it is way. too. big.  So that brings up the dilemma of decorations...  since it's a new tree there have to be some new ornaments for it, right?!

I hope to recreate something kinda similar to these...

I love the color schemes of BOTH of these and the fact that I have some gold/champagne/silver glass balls already is { PERFECT }.


I'll be shopping on Black Friday, just not at the crack of dawn, will you?

You'll find me at JoAnn Fabrics with my partner in sewing/fabric crime, Lacey Rose.  We'll be the ones with bolts, upon bolts of flannel fabric in our shopping cart.  { smile }

Good luck in your shopping adventures this weekend!

Thanksgiving touches { Inspiration. Inspired } Part 2

How's about some inspiration for decorating around the house for Thanksgiving?!?!  If you aren't up for the go-all-out approach with your tablesetting then here are some ideas on little touches of Thanksgiving you can do instead.

Add a frame and you've got a great addition to your mantle.

A collection of pumpkins/gourds would look festive at your front door.

A beautiful wreath for your front door by Saffron Fields design studio on Etsy.  I just { LOVE } the colors and the glittery pears!!

Add a simple and colorful bunting to your table/mantle/anywhere you want.  You can find the DIY project for this garland at A Beautiful Mess Blog.

Another printable to put in a frame, this time with words of fall and Thanksgiving.  Get the free printable here from Betty Crocker {wannabe}.

And to decorate your dessert... I found this adorable Autumn Garland on Etsy from Potter + Butler.  I think the fabric poms would look just PERFECT on this Snickerdoodle Cake with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream, get the recipe for this scrumptious cake here by Foodie with Family.   

Our you could make some cupcakes that look like pumpkins.

{ Simply add frosting to the cupcake in a dome shape, roll it in sprinkles so that it completely covers (or cover in M&Ms), then use the back of a butterknife to make the indents and then add the end of a chubby pretzel to the top. }

Here's another printable for those who { LOVE } cranberry sauce...  specifically that which comes from a can (or at least love commenting every Thanksgiving about where the canned stuff is)...  **pointing finger at you Dad**

Get the printable here, courtesy of Scene of the Grime.



Until next time, enjoy!

Thanksgiving Edition { Inspiration. Inspired } Part 1

In all honesty I have been plotting and planning for when I get to host my very first Thanksgving, it won't be this year but maybe, just maybe next year if all plans go as we hope.

Since we currently don't have a place large enough to comfortably accommodate all of our family and the goodies that come with Thanksgiving, I instead get to find inspiration for all of you to use for your celebrations this Thanksgiving.

There are so many parts to plan when hosting a family dinner for the holidays, so in this part of the Thanksgiving Edition { Inspiration. Inspired. } we'll discuss the table/place settings...  I love this stuff!! My first successful attempt was for Christmas Eve last year...  I'll share some pictures with you at the end.  But here's some fabulous inspiration that I found for you with the help of Pinterest and HGTV.

There's simple and casual with the added fun of a small pumpkin/gourd used as the name cards, { LOVE }.

There's Floral-elegance, add a few vases overflowing with beautiful seasonal flowers (or any flower for that matter) on a table with cream plates and hints of gold.

Last, but certainly not least...  my FAVE!!  I'm in { LOVE } with the monochromatic tones , the glitter, and touches of rose gold and other metallics = BEAUTIFUL!

And as promised here's my table-setting for Christmas Eve last year.  The colors I choose where gold, white and PINK!

The menu...  I used three different pieces of scrapbooking paper (pink glitter, pink houndstooth and an opaque white).  I then cut them down to different sizes so that I could layer them. 

 { TIP:  By printing on the opaque paper it made my font appear to be metallic.  I chose a dark yellow color for the font of the menu and when I printed on the opaque white paper it made it look GOLD.  FYI...  I also used the opaque paper for the placecards. }

Back view of the centerpiece since the menu was blocking it above.


While I went all out and did a whole table-setting... remember, you can always just add touches of Thanksgiving to the table or even just around the house...  hmmm...  maybe my next post will be about "Touches of Thanksgiving".

Enjoy!

Family. Friends. And Food. = Thanksgiving

Seriously!  Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just a short 2.71 weeks away?!?!

Seeing as how the holiday is almost upon us, I've found myself thinking of what to take to the family dinner this year.  And should I do a dessert?  Or maybe a side dish, like last year?  There are so many options and from so many different sources like Epicurious.com, Foodnetwork.com, and lets not forget Pinterest.

Last year I made this wonderful recipe for Sweet Potato Mash that I found on foodnetwork.com.  It was a hit from the browned butter sauce in which the green onions/scallions spent some time cooking to the sage leaves that were crisped up in that same browned butter...  YUM!  Did I mention that you drizzle the yummy browned butter over the entire dish of sweet potatoes?!?!  Again, YUM!

Photo courtesy of Food Network Magazine.

If you tend to not be a fan of the ooey-gooey, suagry-marshmallowiness that is a traditional sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving like me, then you will surely enjoy this dish.  IN FACT!  I enjoyed it so much that I'm pretty sure, 85% sure anyway, that I will be making it again this year...  that is unless I find another recipe in the next 2 weeks to make instead.


On to the dessert that I am SURE I will be taking this year!!  I look at the recipe and picture of it's yumminess more frequently than I need to and can't wait to try it...  oh! if only Thanksgiving could be here already for the sole purpose of me getting to enjoy this dessert now!

Recipe and picture courtesy of Picky Palate.

This amazing creation is a Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet Cake, go here for the recipe and more yummy-delicious-scrumptious pictures!

As usual, Thanksgiving is sure to be full of delicious food and wonderful moments with family and friends.  So remember on that fabulous food day...

Courtesy of Craftily Ever After.  Click here for the free printable.