thanksgiving 2011 menu

Here is my current menu for Thanksgiving this year. This is my 2nd time hosting and I’m really excited. My first year was a hit but I decided to experiment and try some new dishes. Here is what I have on the menu.

Turkey –German Turkey OR The Pioneer Woman’s Turkey. (note: before roasting add butter and rosemary under skin of turkey)

Sweet Potato Casserole - (note: roast potatoes, add cloves and cinnamon and use 1 tsp of vanilla and add marshmallows!).
Stuffing - a combo of Picky Palate Stuffing and Emeril’s Stuffing

Dessert – Picky Palate’s Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla Cake and Frozen Fruit Salad 
Veggie - Orange Glazed Carrots

Rolls - store bought

20 months

Finley is 20 months and I can’t believe it! She is such a sweet, funny, joyful little girl. She cracks us up with something new every day. She loves throwing things away in the trash and lights up when we give her something to actually throw away (if we can’t find something, it’s usually in the trash can . She LOVES the cartoon Caillou and begs for “Hi-you” all day long. She loves her Elmo book and asks for “Elmo” and then waves “bye” when we get to the last page of the book. Just tonight we caught her singing the happy birthday song along with the tv… she actually sang the words with the song (first time we’ve heard her put multiple words together). She talks up a storm which I LOVE. We have a ball chatting together.

Here are some pictures (I still need to unload the most recent pictures off of my camera).



Carrying around a DVD of Caillou (I’m telling you she is OBSESSED!).

cleaning tip - cleaning an oven

I spent this morning scooping and scrubbing baking soda from my oven. Apparently, I've made a few too many greasy drumsticks in that oven because it was starting to stink up the house each time I turned it on. It was gross! I wanted to find a safer, not as smelly, alternative to using the self oven cleaner and this is what I found... baking soda. Here's what I did - mix a paste of baking soda and water and slap that stuff on any dirty part of your oven (for me it was the upper part that was the ickiest). I let it sit overnight. Then with a wet cloth wipe it all out and scrub. I'm amazed at how easy it was!

ice and a bff

I often get asked what Finley’s favorite word is so I took this video tonight to answer! Yes, she is always this cute and happy! What a JOY that sweet girl is. Kris and I are so lucky to be her parents.

Today we were so lucky to have a playdate with our good friend’s Sarah and Siena. Finley and Siena have been friends since they were little bitty babies and are so adorable when they get together. They giggle non stop and copy each other’s moves.

counting

Two is now my favorite word. Well, when Finley says it anyways! I know counting is a normal milestone for toddlers her age, but to me, she is a genius. And seriously, her sweet little voice brings the biggest smile to my face. Everything she says has that happy, higher pitched tone to it…even when she says no! I love her.

I’ve watched this video like 100 times today.

Did I mention my kid is a genius. (Her teachers are going to loooove me… okay, I know, I know, I will try not to be that parent!).

I love our mornings together, this video was taken right after breakfast while she emptied and filled a cardboard box with scraps of paper. I really enjoy watching her entertain herself with the most simple things.

(I have a fixed version of this where it is not sideways, but Youtube is being stubborn and not loading it properly right now, so I’ll fix it shortly.) 

sharing

We joined the Y this week and Finley and I went for the first time today. When I picked her up from the kiddie play area the girl was gushing over how good Finley was. She was telling me how sweet she was and how she is such a “sharer.” I guess Finley was carrying around toys and handing them out to all of the other kids. Oh I was so so so proud of my sweet little peanut. We are so blessed with such a good, kind-hearted girl. She really is so sweet and I am so thankful for that. She rarely complains rather says “help” when she needs to tackle a challenge or signs please when she wants something. She is a ray of sunshine in our life every day, I feel pretty lucky!

Here she is holding her baby in her bassinet. I love watching her love on her babies!

Zuppa Toscana and Breadsticks

Kris and I love the soup, salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden. So with this chilly (and oh so cozy) Fall weather, I decided to make my own version. Wow was it good! I am for sure adding this to my regular dinner list.

I found the recipe here - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/super-delicious-zuppa-toscana/detail.aspx.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage (I used hot Italian)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I used previously cooked bacon from our Sunday breakfast, definitely was more than 4 slices)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth (I used half vegetable broth and half chicken)
• 6 potatoes, thinly sliced (I sliced them into coins (hamburger ways) and then cut each “coin” into quarters)
• 1 cup heavy cream (I actually didn’t use the cream, I forgot it. It was so good without it!)
• 1/4 bunch fresh spinach, tough stems removed (I used Kale, that’s what Olive Garden uses)

Directions

1. Cook the sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Cook the bacon in the same Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Drain, leaving a few tablespoons of drippings with the bacon in the bottom of the Dutch oven. Stir in the onions and garlic; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Pour the chicken broth into the Dutch oven with the bacon and onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the heavy cream and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the spinach into the soup just before serving.

I decided we had to have breadsticks so I whipped these puppies up – I’m pretty sure I ate half the pan!

I used the recipe found here - http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/04/breadsticks-and-pizza-dough/