Beware of Christmas Paws

Twenty-five days till Christmas, and the decorations are still in a pile of boxes in the dining room--but at least we got them out of the attic! I dug out the advent wreath, the main part of the nativity set, and our stockings, but otherwise I'm procrastinating decking the halls. I blame Skeeter because I'm not sure what she's going to do with a fully-decorated Christmas tree. She's already pulled the bows off of a few wrapped presents I have stashed in the guest room...

Organization Attack

This past weekend, I felt the need to clean.

I emptied 90% of my craft closet's contents
onto the guest bed.

Skeeter thoroughly explored her "forbidden closet"
while I sorted and reorganized.

I was excited I could fit my craft books
in the closet!

Much better than my toppling stacks of stash!
I should have taken a "before" photo...

All I have left is to reorganize some yarn remnants and
my pattern notebook... and spoil the kitty!

A Pumpkin and a Plan: Part II

The ingredients were ready to make Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies (aka "test run cookies" before I attempted the recipe for Pumpkin White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies).

The batter was a little gooier than expected (but so was the homemade pumpkin puree), so I added some corn starch and a little more flour...and then *after* I had baked the first batch, I realized that I had forgotten to add the oatmeal. Since there wasn't much of a pumpkin taste to the first cookies, I also added 1/4 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice to the second batch.

The last tray of "test run cookies" from the second batch (with oatmeal and Pumpkin Pie Spice) died a horrible death when the wax paper I used as a cookie sheet liner started smoking so badly that I'm surprised the smoke detector didn't go off.  I thought I'd read somewhere that wax paper was okay in the oven--guess it's not!  Dejected at what seemed like such an epic cookie fail, I turned off the oven and rifled through my recipes till I found a cookie recipe I had most of the ingredients to bake.

After a grocery run (and dinner), I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They actually look like the picture on the recipe, so yay!  Next time, I'll prep the recipe in half because it had trouble staying in the mixer (just the opposite of too-gooey cookie batter).

I *will* attempt Pumpkin White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies again, but this time I think I'll stick to canned pumpkin...

A Pumpkin and a Plan: Part I

Thanksgiving week, Monday evening: The pumpkin is baked and mashed in preparation for baking 

Oven roasted pumpkin, ready to be scooped

After scooping, mash the pumpkin into a puree

Thanksgiving week, Wednesday afternoon: The pumpkin is prepped for an evening of baking 

Only had to work a half day, and all the co-workers knew I was going home to bake

Used the blender to puree the pumpkin "applesauce" into pumpkin "baby food"

Holiday Week

A shout out to everyone else who has to work this week--I hope you are able to get away in three days for thankfulness and turkey-feasting among family and friends!

Friday Funny

It's been a while since I've posted a Friday Funny, so how about a Thanksgiving-themed funny?

 

Only 6 more days till turkey feasting!  And hopefully everyone will be healthy--no sudden-onset 24-hour bugs (me this past week...) or pilgrim-shared small pox!

Too Cute

Today's turkey art is brought to you by my BFF's daughter.

Auntie Karen loves you, Miss Faith!

Only one more week until Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey

When I first saw the adorable ribbon turkey on She's {kinda} Crafty, I immediately emailed him to my mother with a request that she please make him for me for Thanksgiving.

Stacy's Ribbon {Gobbler}

Mom didn't have cute ribbon to work with, so she made her own version with scrapbook paper. He came to work with me today and is now leader of the countdown turkeys on my door.  He's got a Post-It in his beak informing everyone how many days are left till Thanksgiving.  FYI, just 10 more days!

More Decor

Two adorable mini-posters from Pinterest printed by Snapfish: $2.75

Eat Pie

Gobble On

Two simple acrylic 5x7 frames from the Dollar General: $2.00

More Turkey Day adorableness on my mantle: PRICELESS

Only a dozen more days until Thanksgiving!

Green Bean Casserole

Only two weeks till Thanksgiving! Dave and I have a Thanksgiving potluck dinner with friends this weekend, and the dish I always bring is green bean casserole. It's a very basic recipe given to me by my mother (who probably got it from the back of a can of cream of mushroom soup or something).

Yeah, my casserole doesn't look that pretty when it's done...

Mom's Green Bean Casserole

3/4 cup of milk

1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 - 14.5 oz cans of French cut green beans (drained)

2/3 cup French fried onions for mixing into the casserole

2/3 cup French fried onions to serve on top of the cooked casserole

• Mix the first four ingredients together in an 8x8 dish
• Cook at 350° for 30 minutes
• Garnish cooked casserole with the remaining French fried onions

I've seen some recipes with 1/8 tsp pepper and/or 1 tsp of soy sauce added to the mix as well!

This year's special ingredient: Cheddar French Fried Onions!

Leafy Blessings

Yet again, I found inspiration on Pinterest. If you follow the "Thankful Leaves" pin back to its origin, you'll find that you can purchase the kit online. Instead, I found a free leaf template (thank you, Google search) and got crafty!  Oh, and does anyone else find it amusing that chocolate and Diet Coke rank right up there with Jesus?  LOL!

Only 16 days until Thanksgiving, so what are you thankful for?

Intruder Alert

I received my first Christmas card over the weekend. Granted it was from my sponsor child in Ecuador and the postal service is less reliable internationally so I can understand mailing it early... but still...

17 days until Thanksgiving!

Turkeys on Parade

I've been counting down the weeks/days till Turkey Day at work as well as on the blog. Each time we reach a significant mark (according to me), I add a new turkey post-it to my office door. I hope to have an entire flock by November 24th!

P.S. Three weeks till Thanksgiving!

As Seen on Pinterest

I blame my BFF. She got me hooked, and now I can't stop!

As I get ambitious enough to try some of the ideas I find on Pinterest, I will be posting them on my blog.  The good.  The bad.  And the epic FAIL.

To start off with, I'll mention a trio of recipes I tried last weekend.  Friday night got a thumbs up and a thumbs down.  Betty Crocker's Impossibly Easy Broccoli and Red Pepper Pie was a pleasant surprise, especially for my husband who eyes any meatless dish with suspicion.  For a side dish, I prepared garlic red potatoes, which sounds fantastic, but after doubling the cook time, they were still crunchy and we were hungry (which probably made the Betty Crocker pie taste that much better!).  I ended up covering the baking dish and tossing the potatoes in the back of the fridge for a few days.

The third recipe I absolutely loved because it was so easy!  Appropriately titled "Easiest Dinner Ever," this chicken, Rotel, corn, black bean, and cream cheese dish tasted great on top of plain white rice.  And the leftovers tasted good on the baked garlic red potatoes that failed the other night!  This time I cooked the potatoes on a cookie sheet like the glorified french fries they were... and next time, I won't use lemon juice to season them (odd, I know!)