Thanksgiving Recap

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Now that it's Monday I wish it was not over. I am not ready to go back to the daily grind! We have a lot of stuff coming up in the next few weeks so I think we will be ready for another vacation come January!

Our Thanksgiving was really nice. We were at Chris' parents house with my family as well. We had a great time eating, watching football and the Thanksgiving day parade, eating some more, putting together a puzzle and playing Scrabble.

The cranberry fudge I made (pictured below) tasted delicious but did not turn out very fudgy. It was pretty gooey and messy to eat but I think we all enjoyed it. My pumpkin pie turned out very well and Chris' mom made a lemon meringue pie since that is a favorite for them. Maybe some day I will try making a meringue pie. I'm sure it's not as hard as I think it will be!

Overall, we had a great weekend. Very relaxing and fun. Looking forward to Christmas with our families as well. Enjoy this season - it goes by so fast!

Thanksgiving Baking!

It is the week of Thanksgiving! I work only 2 days this whole week - I am very excited. Although the shifts I work are overnight - it will be the longest 8 hours of my life tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully I can stay awake because the hotel is not going to be busy at all with our regular business travelers staying home to be with their families.

We are headed over to my in-laws house Thursday morning for Thanksgiving with them, my parents, and my grandma. We have been doing this for a few years since our families started spending holidays together after Chris and I had been dating for a couple years. I know we will have a great time!

I always get chosen to bring dessert because I love finding and trying out new recipes. My favorite Thanksgiving dessert is the traditional pumpkin pie but this year I wanted to do something different.

So I found this recipe that looks absolutely delicious:

Double-Layer Pumpkin Pie:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. milk, divided
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 HONEY MAID Graham Pie Crust (6 oz.)
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
2 pkg. (3.4 oz. each) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

BEAT cream cheese, 1 Tbsp. milk and sugar in large bowl with whisk until blended. Stir in half the COOL WHIP. Spread into crust.
WHISK remaining milk, pumpkin, pudding mixes and spices 2 min. (Mixture will be thick.) Spread over cream cheese layer.
REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until set. Top with remaining COOL WHIP just before serving.

Unfortunately, my husband does not like pumpkin (or any squash for that matter) so he can never try my pumpkin recipes. So I searched to try and find something to make that he could try and enjoy. And I found this recipe for fudge, with a twist:

Cranberry Fudge:

1 (12 ounce) package fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.Line bottom and sides of an 8x8 inch pan with plastic wrap. Set aside.
2.In a medium saucepan, bring cranberries and corn syrup to a boil. Boil on high for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to about 3 tablespoons. Remove from heat.
3.Immediately add chocolate chips, stirring until they are melted completely. Add confectioner's sugar, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract, stirring vigorously until mixture is thick and glossy. Pour into pan. Cover and chill until firm.

Yum, doesn't that sound delicious? I think I am going to try dark chcolate chips though since dark chocolate and cranberry are a good combo.

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Holiday Baking & Cooking!

New Schedule

Chris started a new schedule today. We're both pretty excited about it. Today he went to work at 12:30pm and will get off at 11pm. So I got to see him this morning AND I will get to see him when he gets off work tonight because we'll get off at the same time. Awesome!

It could change to being 10:30am to 11pm but hopefully it stays at less hours for now so he can get caught up on some rest.

I think his company is figuring out they can get more done if they spread their people out over the day instead of making them work until they are burned out. Who knew!!

Laminin

A few weeks ago in our Wednesday morning bible study we watched a video entitled "How Great is our God" by Louie Giglio. He talks about the wonders of the universe and how God created amazing stars and galaxies and yet knows all the hairs on our head intimately as well.

The following is a clip talking about a cell adhesion molecule found in the human body called laminin. It's so amazing! I love how God makes Himself known in every area of our lives from His creation in the mountains, oceans, and flowers to the intricacies of our very own bodies. He's put reminders of His love for us everywhere we look.

I hope you enjoy this amazing video:


"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." -Colossians 1:15-17

Beach Pics

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip to the beach. We had a great time. It was so nice to get away for a while and enjoy nature and being together - since we hardly see each other during the week. It was a beautiful drive there and back with all the fall colors.

We also had a great time at Justin & Kristin's wedding connecting with family & friends. It was a beautiful wedding and a great way to cap off our weekend.

Quick Update

A quick update on our lives:
1. I stayed home from work today because I had a huge sinus headache and just wanted to sleep all day. I have not stayed home from work in probably a couple years - maybe since college! I'm feeling a little better and hopefully 100% tomorrow. It just hit me without warning yesterday evening with coughing and a small headache then was much worse this morning.
2. We had a great time on our trip to the beach/Portland/Tacoma. It was so wonderful seeing friends & family along the way and getting away to the Oregon coast.
3. The wedding we went to was so much fun! We reconnected with friends & some family members and had a great chat with the pastor of our church in Pullman. It was so refreshing and a beautiful wedding.
4. I'm planning on making applesauce with my mother-in-law this Saturday. The apples are starting to get soft though so I hope to cook them up tomorrow and then re-heat to can on Saturday.
5. Saturday we get to see one of my friends from high school who I haven't seen in over a year. She got married this summer and is having a harvest party to celebrate since the wedding was in Wyoming.

Ok, enough energy exerted for now. Time to eat dinner, thanks to my husband cooking, and probably head back to bed! I'll hopefully post some pictures of our trip later this week.