Thanksgiving Round Up

1. How to Carve a Turkey This is a step by step tutorial with pictures. Really easy to understand and good information to know even if you are not the one responsible for Turkey carving
2. Thanksgiving Archive Recipes This archive is from the Pioneer Woman. If you are looking for basic thanksgiving recipes I really, really, really recommend checking this archive out. Again, this is tutorial with pictures that guide you every step of the way teaching you how to make turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and much more. Whenever I want to try a new recipe I always check out The Pioneer Woman cooks because she seriously takes a picture of EVERY single step which makes it easy to follow and hard to mess up.
3. Pie Crust 101 Want to make flaky, buttery, delicious pie crust? I thought you did! Check out this post by Smitten Kitchen.
   
4. Thanksgiving Pie Recipes I really like this post because it gives you ideas on different kinds of pies you can make. The author of this post is all about making pies and has tested and retested all these recipes so you are sure to get a recipe that works.
5. Taste Spotting Thanksgiving Taste Spotting is my favorite site to search for recipes and their Thanksgiving archive looks pretty delish with a variety of recipes ranging from your traditional pumpkin pie to curried pumpkin soup, plus lots of vegetarian and vegan ideas.
6. Pumpkin Ice Cream A while back I shared my pumpkin pie recipe. You can revisit it and make it in time for tomorrow as an alternative (or an addition) to pumpkin pie.
   

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: Felt Food Pattern

This is the week where we make food. A LOT of food. I'm making mashed potatoes and pies for our family's Thanksgiving. What are you making?

This week I'll be doing a lot of cooking but I also want to make some play food for my son. I'm convinced that this is the perfect Holiday present for my Enzo. Do you want to see what I'm making him?
He loves baking bread with his dad so I think he'll have fun with this.
The lovely Bugga Bugs is giving away one Felt Food pattern to a lucky reader. Each Bugga Bugs pattern comes complete with a Cover Page to help you stay organized, Sewing Tips and Tricks, Supply List, Pattern Instructions (including step by step color photographs) and Full Scale Pattern Pieces. Patterns are e-mailed to the winner in PDF format.

I think you'll have a lot of fun browsing her site and considering her number of sales and how popular her site it I think it'll also be fun to make.

You can enter the giveaway by heading over to Bugga Bugs and choosing your favorite Felt Food Pattern. Come back to this blog and leave a comment telling us what your oick is by Tuesday December 2nd. If you win you get the pattern you talked about in your comment. Make sure you leave an e-mail address so that the patern can be sent to you as file.

For additional entries you can
1-Twitter this giveaway
2-Follow this blog
3-Subscribe in a reader

Good Luck!

Lucky You!

The winner for last week's giveaway is...

wwe11 said...

I like the Thief of Hearts pillow. Thanks for the chance to win.
erma.hurtt@sbcglobal.net

lucky you sporting around a new market bag. E-mail me your mailing address so we can get this shipped out to you!

Attempt at a Full Body Cleanse and a Couple Confessions

This is going to be a long post because I am in full procrastination mode. Usually I blog so that I can procrastinate doing school but right now I am blogging so I can procrastinate having breakfast. Breakfast is easy for me to procrastinate much to my husband's dismay. Whenever he makes breakfast, his favorite meal of the day, he ends up getting mad at me because he wants me to eat A LOT right when it's ready and hot. Frankly I just want to sleep and he's all awake mad and hungry. But today I am awake, mad, and hungry because of this cleanse that I decided to do and will probably not follow through with it.

I'm still not feeling totally myself since I had the miscarriage so my chiropractor and my acupuncturist (so new age, I know) have suggested that I do a vegetable and fruit only cleanse with no sugar or salt. At first this sounded totally easy but then I became light headed and was feeling awful and as soon as a put a pita chip in my mouth I felt sooooo good. I realized that I needed a little salt kick to get me back on track.

This experience reminded me of a friend of a friend of a friend (yes one of those stories) who after half an hour of making a bet that he could go vegetarian was found downstairs in the kitchen liking a slice of ham.

I'm supposed to only do this for 3 days. Today is day two and frankly I think I am going to go downstairs eat some fruit and lick some cereal.

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Pork

...by the way these are not just bell peppers, these are mini sweet bell peppers and I am not simply stuffing them with any 'ol meat I am stuffing them with the easiest pork recipe ever created. Ready for the low down? Here we go...

Stuffed Bell Peppers with Pork
Shredded Pork

• 2 lbs pork shoulder
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

1. Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker on high for 8 hours.
   
2. Once it it cooked you can easily shred it using a fork
   

After that is done you can prepare the peppers. Wash and cut in half individual bell peppers. Place it in a casserole pan.
Now you can assemble the pork inside the bell peppers and bake at 350* for 20 minutes. As soon as you take it out of the oven you will want to put a bit of shredded Monterrey jack cheese on top.
The finishing touch is my favorite...
cilantro lime guacamole.

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 cloves garlic
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• between 10-15 cilantro leaves

1. place all the ingredients in a food processor or a blender and mix it up until it is smooth.
   

Enjoy!

For The Beauty of the Earth

and for our minuscule garden plot,
I am thankful.

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: Cipolla Market Bag

I love me some eggplants. Remember my eggplant salad from last week? Today I want to make an orzo eggplant salad. I'm loving all the eggplants that I get this time of year and in order to fully celebrate this wonderful vegetable how about a giveaway?



Cipolla is a wonderful shop that has fabulous bags, billfolds, oh and scarves....lots and lots of pretty scarves like this one...
I love red and I love scarves. Visit the Cipolla shop to see her beautiful creations. You can also read about her creations on her blog Sewn Fresh Daily. Come back to this post and leave a comment about your favorite item from her store by next Tuesday November 25
for a chance to win the market bag and celebrate with me the season of eggplants.

For additional comments you can
1-write about this giveaway on your twitter
2-follow this blog
3-subscribe to this blog

just remember to TELL me that you've done those things.

Good luck!

Lucky You!

The winner for the last week's giveaway is...

Candie said...

I like the lollipops

candieluster(at)gmail(dot)com

e-mail me your mailing address so we can get your lollipops to you.

Hot Chocolate for the Soul

Thank you for coming to my house and cooking me a delicious meaty dinner even though you are vegan. Thank you for your kind e-mail and comforting words of friendship even though we've never met. Thank you my sweet readers who poured my inbox with e-mails and left me sweet comments on my post. I am so grateful to all of you.

Most of all, thank you my sweet husband who became a super hero these last couple days taking care of Enzo, the house, and me. Thank you for loving me even when I'm broken and completely irrational. Thank you for the small things you do that makes me smile. Thank you for the comforting hot chocolate you made me last night and the conversations that we have where we can't help but continue to plan for another child.

I wish I could have each and every single one of you over. I wish we could sit and talk and I could pour out my heart to you and sip hot chocolate together. I would thank you for your friendship and tell you that I will be here for you when you need me. Until that happens I'll leave you with this easy hot chocolate recipe. I hope you use it when you need some warm comfort in you life.

Hot Chocolate for the Soul (makes 2 cups)
Keep in mind that this is very THICK more like a HOT chocolate pudding

• 4 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 cups milk
• cinnamon and nutmeg

1. Mix cocoa, sugar and corn starch very well.
2. Pour milk into a pan and then add the dry ingredients while you whisk.
3. Bring to the boil under constant stirring until it has reached the desired density.
4. add homemade whip cream on top
   

Celebrate Life

A while ago my sweet friend Liz sent sent Enzo this delicious looking red velvet with cream cheese frosting cupcake. Enzo is really into cake and really into singing Happy Birthday, especially to himself. This cupcake is a way for him to celebrate his life anytime he feels like it. The booties were for Christian and I as a good luck charm to help us create new life as we endevored in planning our second child.

Well the charm worked. I got pregnant. However, my pregnancy was short lived and yesterday I experienced a miscarriage. It has been one of the hardest experiences of my life. So now I am drawn to the cupcake, and my healthy toddler son, and all that he celebrates every single day with his exuberant personality.

Please excuse me from blogging for a while. I need to heal both physically and emotionally and gain a sense of self again as I go through this loss.

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: FELT FOOD

My son is totally into fake food, fake little people, fake little things. period. These strawberries, for example, would completely rock his world


This week's giveaway is sponsored by where you will find an assortment of yummy looking food made out of felt.

Girl Meets Craft is giving away one food item to one lucky winner and you choose which item you want!

All you have to do is visit her store Girl Meets Craft and pick which item you like best. Come back to this blog post and leave a comment telling us what your pick is by Tuesday November 18

For additional comments you can
1-follow this blog
2-follow me on twitter
3-subscribe in a reader

Good luck!

Lucky You!

The winner for the PinkLillyPress Food invitations is

lilyk said...

I subscribed to your blog.

November 10, 2008 10:41 PM

see those extra entries can do you good.

Eggplant Salad

I am so proud of our garden. We are still getting beautiful tomatoes and leeks. Maybe next year we'll grow some eggplants.

EGGPLANT SALAD

• 5 small eggplants
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced purple onion
• 1 leek thinly slices
  
• 2 medium sized red tomatoes diced
• 1 cup gold nugget (or small cherry) tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt to taste
• 3 chopped up cilantro leaves
  

1. In a medium sauce pan bring 4 cups water to a boil
2. Thinly slice the eggplants and put them in the boiling water for no longer than 3 minutes.
3. Drain as much water out of it as you can without damaging or bruising the eggplant
4. Heat up the olive oil a small frying pan.
   
5. Saute the onions and leeks until the onion is slightly caramelized
6. In a medium mixing bowl place the eggplants, onions, leeks, and tomatoes
7. Sprinkle vinegar and salt and mix.
8. Garnish with cilantro
   

New West Knife

I finally have a knife that does not bruise my tomatoes! This is a huge upgrade for my kitchen. I've been wanting a new knife for a while and bought some here and there but they were all dull by the end of the first week.

I wanted something that would work for my everyday need, simple chopping. I don't need to do fine julienne. I just need something that cuts and that cuts well so that my vegetables are not all smashed up.

I am really digging my new Santoku knife. It's light, easy to hold and the granton edge separate the knife from what is being cut which makes cutting SO much easier.

I think I want a new bread knife next mostly because it is really pretty. Their whole fusion knives are really pretty. Christmas list anyone?

What knife do you use at home and why do you love it?

Solving your kitchen problems one giveaway at a time!

GIVEAWAY: PinkLillyPress FOOD note cards with envelopes.

While setting up this giveaway I kept going back to the PinkLillyPress store to browse through her cards. Gosh, I love paper so dang much I could practically eat it. Before being blog obsessed I was scrapbook obsessed. The scrapbook craze has died down due to lack of time. It used to take me hours to make one layout. Lame, I know! So when I feel like I need to get my hands on some paper I make cards instead. However, when I feel like I need to get my hands on some paper but have absolutely no time to make cards than I go on line and look at these pretty things and hope that the shipping comes in real soon.





How fabulous?!

PinkLillyPress is giving away a set of 10 FOOD invitations. These are perfect for Holiday dinner parties. To enter the giveaway just visit PinkLillyPress and look through her products. Come back here by Tuesday November 11 and tell which cards or stationary tickles your fancy.

For additional entries you can
1-Follow this blog
2-Follow me on twitter
3-Subscribe in a reader.
4-tell me that you VOTED TODAY!!! I don't need to know who you voted for but I would like to know that you VOTED.

good luck!

Lucky You!

The winner for the Foodchic giveaway is...

AmandaSue said...

I like the Kumquat picture!

please send me you snail mail address by e-mail so I can get this out to you!

Whip Cream with Cinnamon

Everything tastes better with whip cream even things that are already totally delicious, like this apple crisp that my babysitter made for us while watching our 2 year old so that we could go dancing all night. I KNOW!

Whip cream makes food better as well my insane PMSing. Today is raining like crazy it's the day before THE election and the only school work I've accomplished all day was meeting with a Professor for an hour where she described to me in detail about the horrific conditions of detention centers. I seem to have way to many of these Mondays.

HOMEMADE WHIP CREAM
A spoonful of whip cream helps my foul mood go down in the most delightful way!

• 1 cup cold heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Using an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream for 1 minute on medium-high speed. I like to put my metal bowl in the fridge before I whip. It makes the process go faster.
2. Continue whipping the cream until it reaches a thick consistency. I am very conservative with my whip cream. I have turned the thing into butter too many times. Now I whip for about 3 seconds and stop and check and repeat until I like the consistency.
3. Add the sugar and cinnamon and slowly mix it to the whip cream.
   

Whip cream is good but whip cream with cinnamon is a whole new level. Trust me, it's such a simple touch and it adds a nice flavor.