Monday 2 December 2013

Thanksgiving and all these deals.

It's Monday night and I'm all shopped out, folks. I'm not nearly on top of my gift-giving game as I'd like to be but the majority of the girls' gifts that I'm purchasing are done. Now to make some "specials" and find just the right thing for a few adults. Adults are so much harder! It takes so little to make a child happy; I'm really trying to keep that in mind as I shop for the girls. Simpler is almost always better. Anyhoo, cyber this, small business that, it was awesomely exciting typing in those promo codes in all caps and seeing the price subtract but I need a big gulp of fresh air now. Or at the very least just a break from the computer and smartphone. I'd love to not shop for awhile but new homes seem to bleed money, everyone warned me and ours is no different. There are lots of little and big updates we're hoping to do over the next few years and of course I would love them all done at once. But I'm kind of glad we can't afford a sweep-of-the-arms renovation since I think (hopefully) it'll result in more thoughtful and deliberate choices that help our home be perfect for us. 

Onto more delicious things. Thanksgiving! Ours was lovely. We were at my parents with family and good friends--but my favorite was the surprise guest who came just before we sat down to eat: Steve. He had been scheduled to work but ended up getting called off. Marmee worked tirelessly on an incredible meal, her turkey is always just right, the stuffing always ends up so yummy, all the sides are just perfect...she's amazing. The few times Steve and I have attempted to pulled off a Thanksgiving meal for just us back when we didn't live close to family we either a) ended up sick (undercooked ham! to this day I can't stomach glazed ham. I just can't do it cap'n.) and/or b) didn't eat 'till 9 pm. Not even kidding. 9 pm dinner is romantic like 99% of the time EXCEPT on Thanksgiving, apparently. I like to think I know my way around a kitchen and yet all those multiple dishes at once intimidates the crap out of me. Someday I'll conquer it, someday. Just not in 2013. So I contributed two pies and a simple side of swiss chard in a béchamel sauce (Martha!) . I am quite proud of our person-to-pie ratio, we had 4 for 12 people. 11.5 really as most of Dani Lu's meal ended up on the floor, as did yours I'm sure when you were nearly 13 months old, don't lie. I loved my apple pie with 3 different kinds of apple slices layered in and a double crust. And a little late but I definitely shall have this book in my corner for next year. I've heard such great things. Aaaaaaaaaand, drumroll...this year's tried and true: Smitten Kitchen's green bean casserole with crispy onions. It sounds so unglamorous but green beans at Thanksgiving have always been a staple in our family and this recipe just elevates it. It's those dang crispy onions. And don't, DON'T, leave out the mushrooms even if you frequently can be found whining about the "texture" of mushrooms. Side note I'm married to one of those whiners. Chop them up superfine like Marmee did and they'll just hugely boost the flavor. And with that, pictures. There aren't too many, mostly because my hands were with baby and side note again, Dani was sweetly jealous of Robi :) She would practically tackle whomever was holding Robi in order to get in their arms. It was hilarious but a little stressful for the poor little Lu bug. 

Thanksgiving 2013 in the bag. I'm so grateful, so thankful for all of this.














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