What Are Your Thanksgiving Must-Have's?

Ever since I was a kid one of my favorite dishes at Thanksgiving was the stuffing.  Its just not a regular at the table and my mom rarely ever did Stove Top at our house.  Her stuffing is loaded with different kinds of bread and lots of onions and celery.  She uses a deep crockery baking dish that makes for an extra crunchy crust on the outside and super moist center.  Its one of those dishes that gets even better on the 2nd or 3rd day and goes with everything.  

My other favorite has always been her yeast rolls.  Soft, pillowy rolls with just that hint of sour.  I am a little afraid to attempt them because she just has "the touch".  I'm also afraid of what they would do to my waistline if I knew how to make them myself!

My Aunt Ann has always brought her highly-requested fruit salad.  I brought it to my in-laws gathering one time and now I have been tagged by my mother-in-law to bring that to the family Thanksgiving (which is good with me because it makes a huge batch so we keep a little at home for a late-night snack!).

My brother always requests my grandma's pumpkin pie.  My favorite thing at my mother-in-law's is her kapusta - a traditional Polish dish with sauerkraut, salt pork and onions.  My step-dad's favorite part is the sandwiches made with the leftovers of everything.

I think my husband and kids would say the bacon and crispy skin on the turkey are their favorite parts.

So what are the dishes that are "must-have's" for your Thanksgiving this year?  I'd love to hear from you!

To those who have served - we thank you!

Cement and Family

You may remember my grandpa had a serious fall in June that really impacted our whole family.  We (largely the sisters) have had to pull together once again.  A large family full of strong women.  Not the easiest group to get lined up on the same page and agreeing on movement in the same direction.  But when crisis strikes you have a couple of choices - you pull together or you fall apart.  And with these women, well, the second choice really just isn't usually on the table anyways.

Happy Halloween!

From our goblins to yours - have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Zebra and Cheetah Cupcakes

I will admit that with everything else going on this year I just did not have the energy to tackle the unique birthday cakes that I love to make for my kids.  I wanted to for my daughter's zoo party because the possibilities were endless but there just was no time.  So when I saw these fun animal print cupcake wrappers with picks and then found Duff Goldman's zebra cake mix I was thrilled.  

Davy Crockett Cookie Bars

Oh how I love to have something warm and scrumptious baking away in the oven on these chilly fall days.  I am often scouring my recipe collection for something I can make out of whatever is on hand.  I recently discovered these Davy Crockett Bars while searching for something sweet and rustic in a Bar Cookie Bonanza recipe booklet produced by Country Magazine (at the time of its printing in 1982 it was called Country EXTRA newspaper).  Many of my recipe books were passed on to me from women in my family and this one came from my grandmother.  I was partly drawn these cookie bars right off the bat because of the name - I was a big Davy Crockett fan after watching the Disney movie as a kid.

Safari Birthday Party

This is one of the most fun (and easy) parties we have had yet - planned around a huge adventure any girl (or boy!) would love.  My animal-loving daughter jumped at my suggestion that since we were in the middle of getting settled at the new house, perhaps a trip to the zoo with something smaller at home would be fun.

Things I Want to Teach My Daughter

Things I want to teach my daughter:

To take risks.

To get your hands dirty.

To not to be afraid to play with the big boys.

To have hope and compassion.

CHARACTER

There are those moments when you fear that the lessons you are trying to teach your children about life may not be sinking in.

Then there are those other moments when you learn from the rest of the world about how your child is teaching them.

You've read here before about bullying and my feelings about it - when it comes to kids and when it comes to adults.  You may have read the stories about bullying situations and my problems with the schools before.

My daughter knows first-hand how it feels to be on the receiving end.

Her school implemented Rachel's Challenge this year and my daughter has taken it very seriously.

When her teacher asked them to write an acrostic poem using the word CHARACTER, above is what she came up with.

Her teacher was impressed and wrote a commendation and sent her to the office to show the principal.

The next day I got a call from the assistant principal about how proud they were of her and how they were brainstorming ideas on what to do with it next.

My next project is to make a wall hanging with this on it - 

talk about words to live by...

Country Crabapple Jelly

I just love discovering new things I can use on my own property.  I was mowing along the property line and discovered that hidden in the "wild" corner that we have been happy to turn over to the birds and bunnies, a crabapple tree sprung to life and was full of ripe fruit.  It took me back to the days of my aunt and I spending the summer riding our horses all over the county.  

One of our favorite spots was an abandoned gravel pit a few miles away on a sparsely populated dirt road.  It was one of those spots hidden between roads where, if you didn't know how to find its hidden little trail, you would never know it was there.  Because of the distance from my grandparents house, we often disappeared down there for the whole day - just coming home at dusk after all the big hills and valleys had been conquered.  Rarely did we prepare for the day with food but the tart little wild crabapples, black raspberries and sweet purple clover heads were just enough to keep us satisfied....