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.

How did you spend your weekend?

It was Halloween weekend and we spent our time enjoying the company of my parents...  and SEWING!

I also got a few hours of sewing in and enjoyed every minute of it.  It was about time that I got to sewing because I had some baby gear to put together for my biggest order yet!  

Here are a "few" pictures of the items I whipped up...





Thank you, Mom Woods!

Check out my Etsy shop, The LOVE of Baby, for more of the baby gear I make.

Coming soon some pics from Halloween and Trick-or-Treating.

Love

Steph

And again... yummy??

I was at it again, the night after my first FABULOUS grilled cheese creation I tried my hand at another sandwich.  But this time it was definitely more of a miss than a hit.

I'll start with the ingredients and then explain why it was a "miss"...

Yukon Gold rustic bread

Jambon ham

Crispy bacon

Tomato

Smoked gouda cheese


Here's the before "grilling"/cooking pic....

And the after "grilling"/cooking pic...



See the difference?  What? They're the same? 

Well Mr. or Mrs. SmartyPants, you are right!  The pics are the same and that's because the sandwich looked pretty much the same, except the bread was golden from cooking, but the cheese did not melt as I had hoped, big disappointment.  BUT, if it had I think this sandwich would have been AMAZING!

Until next time!

Love
Steph


FYI, my third attempt was delicious!  A grilled fresh mozarella, tomato and basil sandwich, yum!

"She's a tad obsessed."

A direct quote or thought, I'm sure, from either my father or my husband, if not both, while I was organizing my Baking Center in our new place.  

We've been in our new place for a little over a month now, FYI we are LOVING it, and two weeks after the move I spent some time organizing all of my baking goodies on what I'm calling my Baking Center.  Grandma and Papa Kelly were visiting for the weekend so I had someone to keep the prince busy while I worked on my project.

The storage space in our kitchen is lacking since we no longer have a pantry in which to store stuff and the cupboards seem to be a tad smaller than they were at our last place...  therefore ALL of my baking stuff needed a new home to make room for dishes, canned food, etc.  I've really been into baking this last year, especially cupcakes, and thought it would be fabulous to have all of my stuff in one place, FINALLY!  So here's what I came up with...

We've had this white shelf for years now and it was the perfect foundation for my project.

Notice my KitchenAid is displayed front-and-center, I love that thing and the COLOR.  Have you seen the new glass mixing bowl that some come with?  Check it out here.  I must have one!  And in case you have now found yourself needing one too you can find it here at Macy's or here on Amazon.

**FUN FACT:  My kitchen paint color, if we actually take the time to paint, in many of our previous places has been a few shades lighter than my mixer...  each time we get paint I compare the swatches to the mixer to make sure they compliment each other and don't clash.  I guess I'm kinda obsessed with a fan of the Robin's Egg blue colors.**

Did I mention that we (yes the hubby, too) are obsessed with fans of coffee?  And we have a collection of coffee brewing supplies too...  how many do you see in the pictures?  If you guessed 4 then you are correct!!  There's the coffee maker on the kitchen counter next to the Baking Center; the green French Press on the top shelf right next to the canister with a Starbucks VIA package (Italian Roast) inside (and yes the VIA counts as one of the 4); last but not least... our Starbucks espresso machine- LOVE!

We definitely have fewer drawers now in the kitchen so I found the white "baskets" at a local storage store to put my measuring cups and spoons in, my cupcake decorating supplies, and the lids for our NUMEROUS travel mugs...  I told you we are obsessed with fans of coffee.  Don't even get me started on all of the Starbucks mugs we have hiding in the cupboards...  trust me.

And then there's the collection of mason jars that I have, only a couple are pictured here because I'm still working on perfecting my storage solution for these babies...  of course once I've figured it out I'll share with everyone.

Ok so that's my new Baking Center!  Who knew that sharing my completed project with you meant I would be sharing a few of my other obsessions along the way...  coffee- YUM... and blue- specifically Robin's Egg blue...  I think that covers all of them right?!  Oh wait!  I forgot STARBUCKS!

I feel so much better after coming to terms with my obsessions, thank you all for letting me share with you :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love Steph


I almost FORGOT!  Someone decided to help a little...