Our Pre Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

I just finished rubbing a raw turkey. I know how it sounds...actually, how does it sound?
Can you tell it's late and I'm tired?

Anyway, the point of this post is that tomorrow is our Thanksgiving. My stepdaughter V, her boyfriend and their new dog, Stewy, are coming up. M. asked me if I felt nervous about cooking the turkey this year. (I'm still living down our first Thanksgiving dinner in this house...where I proudly served a beautiful golden roasted turkey that was horrifically raw on the inside.) The next year, my paranoia made me resort to roasting the turkey in pieces. It's much easier and you know it's cooked, but it's not nearly as festive. Now, with a few holiday turkeys under my belt, I feel fairly confident (not too cocky, I don't want to jinx anything.) Somehow, I think celebrating on a different day also eases the pressure. I can't tell you why, but it does.

An added bonus is that tomorrow is a regular babysitter day, so we will have an adults only household for much of the day. I love my children dearly, but I'm really looking forward to that break. In light of the Thanksgiving spirit, I should say I'm thankful for it.

Snowed In

It's official. We're snowed in. Seniors are scared, kids are excited, and us...well, we're just hanging out.

We stay in pajamas all day.
(Don't ask why my son is wearing pink ladybugs & my daughter is wearing blue, it's called "what fits". Besides, it's my parental responsiblity to give them future therapy topics.)

...and eat WAYYYY too much Christmas toffee.

Sorry, I'm not a food photographer, it tastes alot better than this picture looks.

This toffee is so easy to make. So easy, you can binge on it & make more so nobody knows you've eaten any & you look really disciplined. Of course I would never do anything like that.

Super Easy English Toffee

• 1 cup chopped pecans or almonds
  
• 1/2 c. butter
  
• 3/4 brown sugar, firmly packed


• 1/2 c. chocolate chips
  
• grease a 9 x 9 pan, a pie pan works great
  line the bottom with the chopped nuts
  melt butter in saucepan over med. heat
  add brown sugar
  bring to boil, lower temp. and simmer, stirring constantly for 7 minutes (don't stop stirring!)
  pour mixture over the nuts in the pan


• sprinkle with chocolate chips
  cover with a plate for 1 minute (this will melt the chocolate)
  spread chocolate
  quickly cut into squares (very important, otherwise you'll have one giant piece of toffee)
  
  If you are feeling extra Martha Stewart-ish, you can always sprinkle the top with crushed almonds.
  

Refrigerate and keep them there.

Enjoy!

The Turkey Soup That Never Was

Yesterday was one of those days where two very clingy, cranky babies never let me: wash my hair, vacuum the carpet, catch up on the dishes or get any sort of domestic duty accomplished. I did start some turkey soup, but the key word here is start. To top it all off, a cake sat on the counter all day calling my name.

Consequently, the kids crawled around on a dog hair covered floor, while a greasy haired mom snuck bites of cake in the middle of a messy kitchen that smelled like turkey soup.

When Hubby walked in the door, he took one look at me and said , "Whoa, I'll take care of the babies tomorrow, you just sleep in." Then we ordered Thai food. Thank God for freezers.

Sorry, no photos of this day, you wouldn't want to see them!!

Morning Memories

I hope our kids will always remember frosty mornings like this one..

...and breakfast a'la Dad.

Thankful

I was going to do a post on the super hot teenage vampire book Twilight (which I'm currently reading) but my stepdaughter V. thankfully stepped in and told me to wait. Apparently, I won't know what I'm talking about until I finish it. So I will follow her sage advice and keep my mouth shut. There's always tomorrow to embarass myself.

Very quickly, on to my post, because it's late, I'm tired and my fingers are freezing! We had our Thanksgiving today, it went very well; from Hubby & I negotiating kitchen space (always tough), entertaining babies, and cooking (1-2-3-4-5!) side dishes. I've had better pecan pies, but this isn't my year to do pie crust. Hey, there was a pie.

Whether it was less stressful because today is really just Sunday, not Thanksgiving, or maybe I'm just getting better at it, I'm thankful. Thankful for the day, thankful for family.

and thankful for the tip V.!

The Family Hostess' Creed

In lieu of the upcoming holiday, I offer inspiration from the 1947 Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking, "this modern cookbook, complete in every detail brings the latest developments in home economics to your kitchen..." (sorry about it being crooked)