The other night I watched The History of Thanksgiving on the Food Network. I couldn’t tell you much about it other than the fact that the early celebrators enjoyed foods much different than our own. It is still a feast though and a time to be thankful for what we have. Even if the economy is in the crapper and we may not have as much as in years past, there is still plenty to be thankful for. We live in a country where we are free; for most of us there is always food on the table and a warm bed to sleep in; we are loved and taken care of. I think it’s been a pretty good year.
As I began my baking last night (beer bread with pumpkin beer), I started thinking about what I am thankful for this year.
-I am thankful for a family that loves and supports me. That helps me move. That always is happy to see me. That taught me the value of giving and generosity.
-I am thankful to have a job that I truly like and feel appreciated. And a job that gives me holidays off to spend with those I love.
-I am thankful for lower gas prices. I think most of us are.
-I am thankful for new boots that are perfect. Brown cowboy boots and black knee high boots.
-I am thankful for an amazing boyfriend. And thankful that his family likes me.
-I am thankful for my grandparents. They so kindly chose to be my grandparents and love me no matter what.
-I am thankful for gorgeous holiday weather this year. I have on a short sleeved shirt today!
-I am thankful to have not been affected by the less than great economy.
-I am thankful for love and happiness and friends that bring these.
Enjoy your holiday, wherever you may be, and with whomever you’re celebrating. And when you maybe get a little frustrated with all the family togetherness, step away and find something to be thankful for. Or just grab a piece of pie or glass of wine and smile through it. Happy Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 20, 2008
mississippi mud cake
One of the girls I work with is leaving to start a new job. Traditionally we have some sort of little send off. Another one of my fellow secretaries and I decided to take charge since we were worried no one else would. Today we sneakily found out that her favorite dessert is Mississippi Mud Cake so I of course promptly found a recipe and am pretty excited about trying it out. It sounds delicious.
I made the second chocolate pie last night. It was kind of weird. The chocolate chips gave it a strange grainy texture. It tasted good though. The previously mentioned co-worker said she would bring me her recipe, that it was amazing. So we’ll see. After all this effort on the pie, I was telling my boyfriend about my cooking adventures last night. He said he would have been happy with chocolate pudding in a pie crust topped with whipped topping. Ug. I wouldn’t have felt good about that. And it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun, I’ve enjoyed looking for just the right recipe.
He and I talked last night and now I definitely feel like he deserves the chocolate pie. I got over being mad that he wasn’t coming to see me. I didn’t even bring it up last night. It’s just not worth fighting over. I was pretty proud of myself. And I’m really excited about this wedding we’re going to next week. It should be a lot of fun. And my dress is amazing.
I made the second chocolate pie last night. It was kind of weird. The chocolate chips gave it a strange grainy texture. It tasted good though. The previously mentioned co-worker said she would bring me her recipe, that it was amazing. So we’ll see. After all this effort on the pie, I was telling my boyfriend about my cooking adventures last night. He said he would have been happy with chocolate pudding in a pie crust topped with whipped topping. Ug. I wouldn’t have felt good about that. And it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun, I’ve enjoyed looking for just the right recipe.
He and I talked last night and now I definitely feel like he deserves the chocolate pie. I got over being mad that he wasn’t coming to see me. I didn’t even bring it up last night. It’s just not worth fighting over. I was pretty proud of myself. And I’m really excited about this wedding we’re going to next week. It should be a lot of fun. And my dress is amazing.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
chocolate pie and love
The part about baking…
Holiday season has finally arrived. Or it has in my house at least. I celebrated my first Thanksgiving over the weekend. My parents just celebrate when it’s convenient for all of us. I made pies. My sisters are still under the impression that I can’t or don’t cook. The funny thing is that I’m definitely a better cook than at least two of the three. I love new recipes and I love cooking for other people.
I’m celebrating Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family on the actual day. He requested that I make chocolate pie. I asked him about a million questions to make sure I got the pie exactly right. First I pulled out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook. When I had no luck there the second choice is always google. I found about a million chocolate pie recipes.
I tried the first of my pie recipes on my family for our Thanksgiving. I didn’t want to take a bad pie to someone else’s house. It had homemade pudding, as all of my recipes did. This particular recipe had cocoa, cornstarch, sugar, and milk. I always forget that I hate the texture cornstarch gives things. Those foods always seem slightly gelatinous and gross, kind of like old Chinese food. So the pie tasted delicious other than the texture, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that was bothered by it.
I’m going to try a second chocolate pie this week. It’s pretty much just chocolate chips and evaporated milk. I have more faith in it. So here’s hoping for more chocolate pie success. I’m going to top it with whipped cream and chocolate curls. I had my sister make extra pie crust for me the other day. That is one thing I haven’t mastered yet, I cannot make a good pie crust.
I’m ready for more holiday cooking. I also can’t wait to put up the tree and be festive for Christmas. Traditionally I put up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We’re going to a wedding that weekend though so it will have to wait. I’m trying a new color scheme with my tree this year. I’m a little nervous. For the past five years or so I’ve had a gold and burgundy tree. I keep seeing all these cute bright colorful trees and wanting to do that. Last year after Christmas I bought pink, turquoise and silver ornaments and trimmings for my tree. I think it’ll be good, I’m just not sure about the change. And I don’t have a tree skirt that will match yet.
The part about relationships….
Relationships are funny. I’m usually a reasonably well adjusted person, fairly level headed. But, add my boyfriend to any equation and I automatically over think it. For some reason every word spoken must be analyzed, every tone, every background noise, pretty much anything that can succeed in making me crazy. Once every few weeks I succeed in making myself absolutely crazy over something.
Let me preface this by sharing the information that this is a long distance relationship. We live about two and a half hours apart. I haven’t seen him for two weeks. We also have different days off so it takes some finagling to get our schedules to work. Anyway, I assumed he was coming to visit me this week. But he went on a hunting trip last week and hasn’t really gotten lots of rest lately so he’s not coming to see me. That means I won’t see him until Thanksgiving. Yeah, I’ll get to see him that day and then we’ll be together the whole weekend. Three weeks is a long time not to see my boyfriend though. I know I’m being a baby about it. And I told him it was fine. It is and I totally understand it’s just hard not to be a little disappointed. And I know it will be better eventually.
Holiday season has finally arrived. Or it has in my house at least. I celebrated my first Thanksgiving over the weekend. My parents just celebrate when it’s convenient for all of us. I made pies. My sisters are still under the impression that I can’t or don’t cook. The funny thing is that I’m definitely a better cook than at least two of the three. I love new recipes and I love cooking for other people.
I’m celebrating Thanksgiving with my boyfriend’s family on the actual day. He requested that I make chocolate pie. I asked him about a million questions to make sure I got the pie exactly right. First I pulled out my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook. When I had no luck there the second choice is always google. I found about a million chocolate pie recipes.
I tried the first of my pie recipes on my family for our Thanksgiving. I didn’t want to take a bad pie to someone else’s house. It had homemade pudding, as all of my recipes did. This particular recipe had cocoa, cornstarch, sugar, and milk. I always forget that I hate the texture cornstarch gives things. Those foods always seem slightly gelatinous and gross, kind of like old Chinese food. So the pie tasted delicious other than the texture, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that was bothered by it.
I’m going to try a second chocolate pie this week. It’s pretty much just chocolate chips and evaporated milk. I have more faith in it. So here’s hoping for more chocolate pie success. I’m going to top it with whipped cream and chocolate curls. I had my sister make extra pie crust for me the other day. That is one thing I haven’t mastered yet, I cannot make a good pie crust.
I’m ready for more holiday cooking. I also can’t wait to put up the tree and be festive for Christmas. Traditionally I put up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We’re going to a wedding that weekend though so it will have to wait. I’m trying a new color scheme with my tree this year. I’m a little nervous. For the past five years or so I’ve had a gold and burgundy tree. I keep seeing all these cute bright colorful trees and wanting to do that. Last year after Christmas I bought pink, turquoise and silver ornaments and trimmings for my tree. I think it’ll be good, I’m just not sure about the change. And I don’t have a tree skirt that will match yet.
The part about relationships….
Relationships are funny. I’m usually a reasonably well adjusted person, fairly level headed. But, add my boyfriend to any equation and I automatically over think it. For some reason every word spoken must be analyzed, every tone, every background noise, pretty much anything that can succeed in making me crazy. Once every few weeks I succeed in making myself absolutely crazy over something.
Let me preface this by sharing the information that this is a long distance relationship. We live about two and a half hours apart. I haven’t seen him for two weeks. We also have different days off so it takes some finagling to get our schedules to work. Anyway, I assumed he was coming to visit me this week. But he went on a hunting trip last week and hasn’t really gotten lots of rest lately so he’s not coming to see me. That means I won’t see him until Thanksgiving. Yeah, I’ll get to see him that day and then we’ll be together the whole weekend. Three weeks is a long time not to see my boyfriend though. I know I’m being a baby about it. And I told him it was fine. It is and I totally understand it’s just hard not to be a little disappointed. And I know it will be better eventually.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Custom Search