Black Friday Favorites

Are you out hustlin’ and bustlin’ with the crazies?  I’m not.  I’m pinning my favorite things per usual…

Favorite Side Dish I Should Have Made Yesterday:  Cranberry Orange Brussels with Walnuts.  

 

Favorite Holiday Party Dress:  I just adore this neckline!

 

Favorite Post-Turkey Workout:  Who knows, maybe I’ll bust out this sweat sesh sometime today.

 

Favorite 3 Words:  Pop. Fizz. Clink.

 

Favorite Bell Print:  ‘Tis the season for bells.

 

Favorite Sweet I made for Thanksgiving:  Salty Bourbon Squares

Favorite Appetizer In-a-Pinch: I’m loving the salty and creamy combo of salami, cream cheese and pepperoncini.

Favorite Closet:  I’m obsessed with closets lately.  I’ve also found a new obsession for renovated bungalows.

Favorite Tree for Haines to Decorate:  How adorable is this?  I wonder if Gigi could pull this together for us?

Enjoy your weekend!!!!  The holi-daze are here.

Wedding Wednesday, it’s real.

This week has been a real “it’s real” week in the wedding world.  From people receiving their “Save the Dates” to the wording of the invitation it’s finally seeming real.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s been real since last December but the option of going to the magistrate is out now (sorry, Big Guy).

Another thing that’s made it real, the first “big” holiday that I’m not spending with my parents.  In a way I’m bummed because I love my family oh-so-much.  I think I love them more than they love me (kidding, kind of).  But I’m sort of obsessed with my siblings and parents.  I just enjoy being around them.

But the other half of me is so excited.  It’s a milestone in a way.  Big Guy and I are becoming a family of our own come April and it’s important to spend Thanksgiving together.  So this year it’s about new traditions and spending the holiday with my almost-in-laws and almost-sister-in-laws.

Regardless of who I’m with on Thursday, I’m thankful for all my family, near and far.  Even though I’m not with my parents and my sister and brother, I am so very thankful for them.  And I’m thankful that I’m gaining a family (or two) that welcomes me as part of their own.

So with that, I’m going to end with Happy Thanksgiving.  Take a moment to remember the meaning behind it all and because I’m going to be soaking in every moment of Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Thursday

I know, I know…Thanksgiving is a week away.  Buuuuuut, I have some recipes to share that just might make you switch up your menu.  In the past Big Guy and I have had a mini-Thanksgiving of our own since we go our separate ways on Turkey Day.   This year we’re actually spending Thanksgiving together but we still prepared a feast this past Sunday.  The menu was prepared weeks in advance (I’m serious) and it was absolutely delicious.

The menu:

Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce

Leg of Lamb

Maple Bacon Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans with Caramelized Onions

Caramel Apple Pie

Cranberry sauce is typically served during the meal, but I switched things up a bit (I never said this was a traditional Thanksgiving dinner).  For an appetizer, a hunk of brie, warmed, served with crackers and an Old-Fashioned Cranberry Sauce.  Cranberry sauce is so easy to make – please don’t buy the jarred stuff!

I know that lamb isn’t a Thanksgiving food, but we knew we’d be eating lots of turkey in the near future.  Big Guy wanted to tackle lamb (something he’s never cooked a whole leg of) so lamb it was.  We followed a recipe in one of his “grillin” books but it was super simple (well the seasoning part, I know nothing about grilling).  We cut slits in the leg and wedged in garlic and rosemary.  It was then sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled with herbes de Provence and salt.

I think the leg of lamb took about 2 hours to cook (I can’t make any promises-Big Guy is the meat man) to achieve medium-rare.  The final product was amazing!  Super tender and flavorful.  During the cooking process, he brushed the leg of lamb using a rosemary bundle with garlic infused olive oil every 30 minutes.

The Maple Bacon Mashed Sweet Potatoes were also super easy.  I simply pierced the potatoes with a fork, wrapped in a damp paper towel and then microwaved until tender.  Beware – they’re super hot when you remove them!  Let cool, then mix the flesh of the potatoes with a smidge of butter, milk and maple syrup then top with crumbled bacon.  Divine.

The Green Beans with Caramelized Onions were also pretty amazing (and easy!).  But anything with caramelized onions are good in my book.  I left out the walnuts but I’m sure they’d be a delicious addition.

Quite the Sunday dinner, eh?  I absolutely adored the potatoes but then again I love anything related to sweet tators.  And the green beans tasted so decadent with the caramelized onions.

For dessert, I whipped up my first apple pie (well, first that I’ve ever made) for Big Guy.  And I just realized that I forgot to serve the caramel with the pie.  Oh dear.  Caramel-Apple Crumb Pie.

Seriously y’all, the house smelled amazing after making that pie.

And I’ve been eating leftovers all week…I added some of the cranberry sauce to oatmeal one morning, tzatziki with the lamb, a lamb and cranberry sauce topped salad…I’ve gotten created around here.

What’s on your Thanksgiving menu?

Wedding Wednesday, I’m thankful.

Not only is it “Wedding Wednesday,” but we’re also a week away from Thanksgiving.  I truly believe that you should be thankful 365 days a year but I can’t help to be a little more conscious of my thankfulness around the holidays.  I’m blessed.  I’ve been blessed since the day I was born and I honestly have a life many would envy.

After registering this weekend I have a new-found appreciation for Big Guy.  He was so patient with me Saturday.  Yes, patient.  (For anyone that knows Big Guy, sometimes his patience runs short.)  And he was calm.  (Calm isn’t a word most people would use to describe his mannerism.)  He never once asked me to “hurry up and pick a color” nor did he ask “are we done yet?”  He was by my side, checking off the list from 10am until 5pm.  Even when I became overwhelmed with it all (at about 4:45pm) he calmly had me step away and just breathe.

Thank you, Big Guy.  Thank you for going and registering with me when I know there was 38 things you’d rather be doing.  Thank you for being calm and patient.  Thank you for reminding me that registering isn’t worth frustration.

Thank you.

Friday Favorites and It’s November!

Is anyone else shocked at how fast November arrived?  And boy did it come with a vengeance ..cold weather and all.  For the first time since February, my car alerted me that ice was possible.  Brrrrrr.  So to warm you up, here are some of my favorite November-appropriate pins.  All things Thanksgiving and fall.

Favorite Mantra during the Holi-daze:  

 

Favorite Edible “Art”:  I must make these.

 

Favorite Fall Appetizer:  These would be perfect before Thanksgiving dinner.  Sparkling Cranberry Brie Bites.

Favorite Look for a November Weekend:  I simply adore a comfy turtleneck with jeans.

Favorite Cocktail:  Caramel Apple Cider Cocktail.

Favorite Decor:  I need to switch out the candy corn for something less Halloweenish…I think this just might be what I was looking for.  But where can you find this decorative corn?

Favorite Words to Live By:  

Finally Friday Favorites.

All week I’ve been one day ahead…meaning yesterday was supposed to be Friday in my mind, but it wasn’t.  But it is today!  Hurray.

Here are my favorites for the week:

Favorite Fake-out:  How cute are these sand dollar cookies on a bed of brown sugar?!?!?!

Favorite Beach Accessory:  Speaking of sand, I want need these wine glass and bottle holders.  Now if only I could get Big Guy over his hatred of sand…

Favorite Must-Read:  I love all things food-related.  So of course I’m a fan of Top Chef and want to read Gail Simmons biography.  I would love to be a professional eater.  Just sayin’.

Favorite Dog:  And I don’t even like animals…

Favorite Pizza Combo:  Butternut squash, sage, goat cheese, prosciutto. 

Favorite “Splash” of color:  leopard with bright yellow

Favorite Addition to Thanksgiving Dinner:  Pumpkin Pie Shot.

And on that “strong” note, I’m out.  HappyFridayGoPirates.

We be jammin’…

With jambalaya.  Turkey and Sausage Jambalaya, that is.  This recipe is a great way to use extra turkey (from Thanksgiving) or leftover chicken.  The original recipe calls for chicken but we had a bag of turkey from our Thanksgiving feast in the freezer and I figured I might as well use it up.  Good decision.

Our turkey had been smoked, so the addition of the smoked turkey added a great background flavor.  Also, instead of smoked sausage, I used mild Italian sausage in it’s place.  Why?  Because that’s what I had on hand.  I simple removed it from the casing and continued on with the recipe.  Love when simple swaps work wonderfully.  The addition of the crumbled sausage reminded me of dirty rice which I used to LOVE at Bojangles (I can’t lie).

This was so full of flavor!  Really really tasty, folks.

17 days ’til Christmas.

Holiday Sides

Scratch that.  You can make these side dishes any time you want.  But they do make a fabulous addition to any holiday spread.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Sun-dried Tomatoes.  The original recipe calls for green beans but it also gave you the option with brussels.  I’m brussel-obsessed, so of course I convinced Gigi that we must.make.brussels. for Thanksgiving dinner.  The addition of melted butter added a little richness and the sun-dried tomatoes added tons of flavor.  Make this.  I don’t care win – Christmas Eve, Christmas night, shoot, make it tonight.

That, my friends, is a picture of brown sugar marrying caramelized onions.  It is a beautiful thing.  It took everything in me not to eat this whole skillet of sweet succulent onions.  I needed those onions for Wild Rice with Caramelized Shallots, Cranberries and Pecans.  The recipe name says it all.  The time it takes to cook the wild rice is totally worth the effort.  Soaking the dried cranberries in hot water makes them plump up and releases tons of flavor.  And pecans add crunch and even more nuttiness to the dish.  I could have eaten a plate of this stuff.

But instead of filling my plate with just rice, I filled it with tender turkey (dark meat rules!), cranberry salad (ah-may-zing), brussels (ohmybrussels) and wild rice.  So good.  That’s my kind of Thanksgiving.

But like I said, you can make these side dishes anytime you want.

24 days ’til Christmas. (yep, I’m that girl.)

wordless Wednesday, the last week in pictures.

Ribs and a warm house.

I can’t believe it either…We didn’t go to the ECU game on Saturday.  I know, I know.  And I didn’t even have to twist Big Guy’s arm.  Though I did throw out “ribs” and “warm house” in the same sentence.  And add in the bonus of not having to drive there and back.  And kick it all off with a 7pm kick-off.

So instead of heading to Greenville on Saturday, we enjoyed the day.  Just me and Big Guy.  It was necessary.  And ribs were on the menu.  Finger-lickin’ ribs.  My favorite.

Big Guy smoked the ribs for a short amount of time just to add flavor and then cooked them on low in the oven and then finished ‘em off on the grill with a good saucing.  You’d have to ask him for the specifics.  I was too busy pretending I was at a tailgate drinking mimosas.

One thing Big Guy doesn’t know – what was in the rub!  I don’t either…well we do know that there’s some heat in there somewhere.  But it was actually a wedding favor at Katie and Matt’s wedding this past October.  It was fun to put it to use.  Especially on ribs.  (I love ribs, if you weren’t aware.)

The ribs were messy!!!  Just the way I like ‘em.  Other finger foods on the plate:  Giada’s stuffed baby bells (stuffed with a mixture of ricotta, Parmesan, onions and peas) and Parmesan-coated sweet potato nuggets.  I used several gluten-free substitutions in the potatoes, but they were awesome!  And the peppers weren’t as great as I expected…I just don’t think I’m a huge ricotta fan.  Maybe it needed some more seasoning….gaaaahhhhhlic, anyone?

But all-in-all, this meal was fantastic.  And the Pirates got a win.  And I absolutely did NOT fall asleep after half-time.

Today I’m thankful for the holidays…a time full of love, laughter and family.