Happy Thanksgiving!

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

http://www.jackiearthur.com/

Christmas is coming!

Right about this time every year I get super excited about Christmas.  Super dang excited!  I can't wait to decorate the house.  The only problem is I'll be on a budget ~  I've been looking for ways to decorate on the cheap.  Sometimes I hit up the dollar store looking for bargains.  I try to stick to a color scheme when shopping at the dollar store so it doesn't end up looking...well, dollar store-ish.  I know this is sorta putting the carriage before the house ~ talking about decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving... I had Thanksgiving yesterday since I have to work tomorrow.  (It was goooooood!) 

Here's a few ideas I've found that I may work into my decorating this year:

Candy canes in a glass jar..economical and jolly!

I'll be using red instead of blue..but the blue really does look nice.

Just cute.  Festive.

Pretty.  Makes me want to run out and get some disco balls.

I would love this on my mantel!

I hope you have a happy, safe, Thanksgiving full of yummy deliciousness!

Lemon Pound Cake

Every now and then I come across a recipe and post it just for me.  If you are anything like me, I get lost in the blog world.  Sometimes I just look at other people's blogrolls and jump from blog to blog to blog, sometimes I see something great, forget to follow the blog, and forever try to remember where I saw that one thing, and it remains in oblivion forever.

Or sometimes!  Sometimes that just happens at home with my millions of cookbooks.  I also print recipes daily, then go to find it and find scraps and bits of paper and recipes and grocery lists on backs of recipes all over the place.  Organize much?  Clearly lacking at the moment.

When I found this recipe I knew I was going to make it relatively soon, and just so happened had to bake for a bake sale.  And gosh.  I so didn't want to give this pound cake up..it was delightfully lemony, perfectly moist, altogether just delicious.  I knew I had to post it so I don't lose this one!

Lemon Buttermilk Pound Cake

Recipe from Baking Bites

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 tbsp lemon zest
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in lemon zest, then beat in the eggs one at a time until well-combined.

In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine vanilla, buttermilk and vegetable oil. Working in two or three additions, alternately add the flour mixture and the buttermilk mixture to the butter mixture, ending with a final addition of dry ingredients. Stir only until no streaks of flour remain. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack before topping with lemon glaze (recipe below)

Lemon Glaze
2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Friday Fives

Today I'm linking up with Beth at Just Me and My Life for her Friday Fives!

Big ups for link ups!  Woot wooooot!

1.  Describe your IDEAL Saturday.

I have lots of ideals actually, but I'll give a realistic ideal.  Tomorrow I have a Saturday off and I couldn't be more excited!  I've only had about 4 or 5 Saturdays off this whole year so this is something special.  I am looking forward to a business meeting in the morning..my own business that will ultimately lead me to the life I've always dreamed of.  Then either lunch with hubs or friends, a movie at the theater, and church.  Then a quiet night with the hubs.  A little Barnes time squeezed in somewhere too.

2.  What is your favorite Thanksgiving dessert?

Hahahaaaa well.  I never met a dessert I didn't like.  But Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie.  Although on Throwdown the other night Bobby Flay made a pumpkin bread pudding..I've been searching for the recipe, I must have that!  But I haven't found a recipe that looks like the one he made.  Anyone?

3.  What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

I was a flight attendant starting in 2001, then in 2007 I moved from the flying world to the hospital world..both industries that don't get holidays.  I am usually working, sad to say!  This is why I look forward to waking up early on a Saturday morning for business meetings,  because one day, holidays will be all mine!  And new traditions will be made.  Really though, I just miss my family, who are in Chicago.  I just want to go hoooooome for my mom's turkey.

4. Who does the cooking?

Depends on where I am.  Anywhere but Chicago, I do the cooking.  In Chicago I make a dish or two and dessert.

5. Do you shop black Friday?

Helllllllllls no!  You won't find me waking up at 3am on a day off..and I hate crowds, in particular vicious crowds.

Oh nooo.  No no no.

Just no.

Happy Friday!!



The Great Thanksgiving Menu

I have to work on Thanksgiving, can you believe that bunk!?  Someone break out the violin, hand me some cheese to go with my w(h)ine, and give me the pathetic sad face!

This leaves me to cook our Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday, which means today, I shop.  I just finished the grocery list and hope for a week's worth of leftovers out of this meal, because this wipes out my grocery budget for the next 2 weeks.

Here are the recipes I'll be using:

From Pioneer Woman:  Turkey brine, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and pumpkin cream pie.  Wow, I didn't realize how much of her recipes I was using until I wrote all that out.  I almost considered not doing mashed potatoes this year, for health's sake, but after seeing PW on Throwdown with Bobby Flay last night, I made a command decision: mashed potatoes were back on the menu!

Turkey Brine

Mashed Potatoes

Green Bean Casserole

Pumpkin Cream Pie

And from Southern Living Magazine, a necessary slow cooker dish.  You gotta have one right, saves so much time!

Balsamic Root Vegetables

And stuffing, no recipe attached.  I'm sorry to say I can't make it from scratch, and by can't I mean I am too much in love with making the ol box of Stovetop, I saute up carrots, onion, and celery with crumbled spicy breakfast sausage, then add in the Stovetop.  And there is no other for me.

I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait!!!

It's just going to be hubs and I so if you are free on Tuesday, come on by!

Memoirs - Part 3 - The First Trip

Diane's flight was earlier in the day than mine was..we were both flying into New York and laying over, a simple 45 minute flight.  I drove to the airport, a mess of jitters and excitement.  And then even more excitement on top of excitement at being excited about going to work.  Can you imagine such a thing? 

Being only 3 days after 9/11, even though passengers were stranded around the country, they found other means of getting to where they needed to go.  My first flight had less than 10 passengers on it.  The flight was quiet and completely calmed my jitters - I can do this!  Our flight plan took us right over downtown Manhattan, and I don't think anyone expected that.  All eyes were frozen at the gaping hole that was the World Trade Center, not a soul moved, some cried as they saw their city's new skyline for the first time.

Walking through the airport, the other crew members marveled at how empty LaGuardia airport was.  Normally a jam-packed, hustle and bustle, mass of humanity, and now eerily quiet.  The only people in sight were military men, in uniform, carrying massive weapons.  I didn't know the difference - yet.  Obviously it was not normal but I didn't understand the chaos that was normally LaGuardia.  Feeling ever the new girl, I followed everyone outside and waited for the hotel van.

Still not knowing what to expect, I was given the key to my hotel room in New York, and did a little happy dance when I realized we all got our own hotel rooms!  Yee-haa!  I went in the room and jumped on the bed for a good 5 minutes before gathering myself, throwing on some real clothes (as opposed to uniform clothes) and running to find Diane.....who had already gotten started at the hotel bar with a couple of pilots and another flight attendant.  Altogether, there were 4 of us from the same graduating class on our first layover there.  We were excited and ready for whatever flight attendants do on layovers.

Everyone but me decided it would be a great idea to jump on a subway and head to Manhattan.  But not wanting to miss out on my first adventure, I went along with the group.  When we arrived, it was late, and immediately the pungent smell attacked my senses.  A rescue worker passed us at that moment - If you're here to sightsee you can turn around and leave right now, he told us.  I immediately turned to get back on the train, the whole feeling of being so close weighed me down, it was overwhelming.  As I was about to get back on the train I realized I was alone - the others were walking on.  Now I'm in a strange city, I have no choice but to stay with the group, so I ran to catch up with them. 

Long story short, that night changed me forever, I will never forget the sights, the smell, the sadness, finally ditching the group because I couldn't take it anymore, walking forever to find a subway, taking hours to get back and not caring as long as I got away from there. 

The next day a classmate, Jay, and I continued on the same crew.  As we all piled out of the hotel van to gather our luggage at the airport, Jay and I looked at each other dumbfounded as the crew all held out their dollar bills to the van driver.  We have to tip?  Oops!  Note to self: bring lots of singles on long trips.  We had to check in at the airport, security opened our bags to look through them.  I laughed at Jay when I looked over and his bag was filled with hotel soaps, shampoo, and towels.  He just shrugged - whatcha gonna do - Busted!

The second day of our trip ultimately took us to Los Angeles, for a 24 hour glorious layover.  We stayed at the Hilton, a beautiful hotel I'd never be able to afford on my own.  After my ritualistic jumping of the bed, I met the crew at the bar.  After spending several hours there - now it's about 2am our time, we headed to the hot tub.  Now why didn't I think to bring a swimsuit?  Note to self: always pack swimsuit!  I ended up borrowing someone's shorts and jumped in with everyone else.

Is this what you always do on layovers?  I asked another flight attendant.  Probably a dumb, novice question, he looked at me like are you for real, shrugged, I guess, he said.  I watched as a pilot and flight attendant grew increasingly closer, and eventually excused themselves.  The rest of us stayed out late, or should I say early, and drank the night away.  A 24 hour layover gives plenty of time to drink.  We planned to wake up early and head to Venice Beach.  The next morning, hungover and bleary eyed, we set forth on another adventure, a world apart from the first.

This is the life!!!  I came back from that trip completely exhausted, happy, and excited at my new career. 

Roasted Butternut Squash

Here is a very simple Thanksgiving side recipe, and so tasty too.  While in Barnes yesterday I was flipping through Ina Garten's new cookbook, How Easy is That?  I really was tempted to buy, but truth be told I had to make a choice.  I've been wanting to join the group French Fridays with Dorie and I can only afford 1 cookbook.  Do I need yet another cookbook, definitely not, if you ask the hubs, but I say YES.  There's always room for more!  So I just perused the How Easy is That book for now..maybe I will get it after the holidays.  For now, I bought Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan and I look forward to joining her cooking group!

I couldn't just leave the book at Barnes without snagging a recipe or two though.  I had a butternut squash waiting at home for me, so I copied this simple (I mean, how easy is that!?) recipe.  It tastes so good.  Did I say that already?  It's GOOD.  The only thing I'd say, for Thanksgiving, is make this last..it did turn cold rather quickly.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Recipe from Ina Garten, How Easy is That?

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and 1 inch diced
3 Tbsp good olive oil
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the squash on a sheet pan, add the olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper, and toss with your hands.  Roast for 30 to 40 minutes, until tender, tossing once during cooking so the cubes brown evenly.  Serve hot.