What I am grateful for in 2012

So far, 2012 has been a pretty great year, and there are certainly a ton of things for which I am thankful.  This is but a brief list, and in no way considered complete.  I hope you're having a wonderful thanksgiving weekend, and have plenty to be thankful for, as well!

A tasty Thanksgiving meal spent with my dad and stepmom

A super, super sweet and affectionate pup

Calvin and Hobbes comics

Nashville (the new tv show)

Anthology magazine

Good olive oil

An awesome sister

Getting to spend a couple of days with my mom and her fun family

Bulky, comfy sweaters

Room diffusers

Joining a new family in March

Asics sneakers (my favorite running shoes!)

A husband like John Paul.

A Thankful Life

I hope that everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving celebration!  Matt and I hosted our first Thanksgiving at our apartment with our friends Rob and Summer, and I don't like to brag but, we had a truly delicious meal.  I work really hard every day to be thankful and conscious of the little things that make my life as amazing as it is, and of course, Thanksgiving Day was no different.  So, for what am I thankful?

These two, for the most part.  I honestly don't know what we did with ourselves before we got Layla, and she has been the brightest part of my day every day since we got her.  I'm also thankful that Matt loves her just as much as I do, if not more.  There is just something about a man and his dog...

I am also thankful that I live in a place where I can see beautiful sights like this almost every day.

And I am thankful for having the opportunity and means to have a Thanksgiving feast like this, with people that I love by my side!

Oh Wow Cranberry and Orange Relish

I added the "Oh Wow" to the name of this relish, because that is the first thing that came out of my mouth when I tasted it, still hot and syrupy from the pan.  Somehow, cranberry sauce always seemed daunting to me, what with making sure you had the right amount of sweet and tart, not burning the sugar in the syrup, and generally the idea of working with ripe (i.e., not dried and already sweetened) cranberries.  How wrong I was.  How very wrong...

 

 The recipe that I used, from Real Simple here, called for only butter, brown sugar, orange juice, and ginger (which I keep in my fridge in a handy, already-grated form).  It also called for orange marmalade, which is NOT a standard ingredient in the apartment, so I figured I'd just add in some grated orange zest and call it even.   

 

It was so easy!  All I had to do was melt the butter, add the ginger and cook for a few minutes, then all of the other stuff gets mixed in and simmered until the cranberries start to burst and the liquid gets syrupy and delightful.  I honestly just left it simmering on the stove and went about my business (glitterizing pine cones - more on that later) for 15 minutes while those lovely little cranberries did all the work for me. 

 

 

After a taste test, I added about 2 tablespoons of orange zest, a bit more ginger, and a small spoonful of brown sugar (to make up for the lack of marmalade sweetness).

 

And that was it.  Possibly the easiest thing I've ever made, with the best results.  In fact, I already have visions of me making this relish all season long to top pork chops, dip pretzels, scoop on vanilla ice cream...

That is, if any of it makes it out of the pan.

 

And the happiest of Thanksgivings to you and your's!  I hope that you all get to spend this day with the ones that you love the most!

 

Thanksgiving in Illinois

We drove 27 hours total from Wednesday to Sunday at noon.  I've never driven west from DC before, so it was wonderful to cruise through towns that had buildings painted like works of art.  So cool!

Mia was super-antsy in Illinois until Mom opened the window, put the  bean bag in front of it, and let her stare at the squirrels in the yard.  Then JP joined her, and she was the happiest camper!

Brent showed me how to fold napkins so they stand up on their own, and I added the leaf garland and squirrel placecards.  Cute!

Jeez Louise, the apple pie and pumpkin custard Mom made for dessert was to die for!  Topped the custard with candied ginger, and whipped cream.  Bon appetit!

We had such a great visit to the midwest!  Thanks for the excellent hospitality, Mom and Brent!

Last night John Paul made the monumental Squash-henge while we prepped for dinner.  What an artist!

Thanksgiving 2011

Just a smattering of what I am grateful for this year:

Almond milk

Chocolate

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Netflix

My good health

Francis Field

Mia

My sister's patience for teaching me to knit for the fifth time

Real Simple

Cookbooks

JOHN PAUL 

Hot lemon water in the morning

Parents who have always made me feel loved

Cappuccinos made with love by my fiance

Lavender scones

Family who is incredibly supportive of all of my life choices

Ryan Gosling

Musicals 

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

So you know that my mom, sister and I were in charge of desserts for the Thanksgiving dinner held at Andrea's new house (so cute!), and they were aching for the pumple.  I was desiring something hearty and not overly-sweet, and this dessert from November's issue of Real Simple was calling my name. 

As much as I enjoy pumpkin taste, I'm not wild about pumpkin pie; sometimes it's just too silky and rich. Baked goods, like pumpkin muffins and cakes, are much more up my alley. Add in my love for Bundt pans (they always look impressive and pretty!), as well as a thick lemon glaze, and I was done for.



 

 This cake turned out beautifully: dense, perfectly spiced and a beautiful, deep orange color. Be sure to grease your pan within an inch of its life, and use some flour, too. You'd hate for half your cake to stick to the pan! Also, be sure to let it cool completely before even attempting to slide it out of the pan.  All of those are hard-learned tips, I promise.

This could also work as a brunch offering, with some berries scattered on top. Or dress it up with a chocolate glaze, instead of lemon. Go nuts!



The Pumple

I wish you could have seen my face when my mom and Haley explained their excellent idea for Thanksgiving dessert.  You would have seen confusion mixed with huge amounts of doubt, as well as a headshake.  Or two.
Let me back up.  My Uncle Rob and Aunt Nesi were in charge of turducken.  If you are like anyone in my office (who now thinks my family and I are completely nuts), you probably don't know what that is.  Simply put, it's a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck stuffed into a turkey.  A TURkey-DUCK-chicKEN.
Taking that into account, Haley and my mom thought they should make a cherpumple.  What the what?!  A cherpumple is a cherry pie baked into a spice cake, pumpkin pie baked into a chocolate cake, and an apple pie baked into a vanilla cake (pies and cakes can be switched up as desired).  All of these are stacked on top of each other and frosted with a cream cheese frosting.  Please see their inspiration on youtube.

After some heated discussion, they were talked down to a pumple, excluding the cherry layer. 
I got to Florida on Wednesday evening, and we didn't start on the pumple until about 8:30.  Because you're baking a pie inside of a cake, the cooking times were essentially doubled.  The apple layer took about 40 minutes, and the pumpkin layer took a full hour.  During the pumple baking, we baked a pumpkin spice cake, in case people didn't want the pumple.  I was the most skeptical of all.  At 12:30A, we finally collapsed into bed.

On Thanksgiving day, my mom cut into the pumple and it looked...pretty.  The pies seemed to smile at us from inside their respective cakes.  The apple layer was delicious, and the chocolate layer was a bit rich, but edible.  I was astounded.
But won't be making it again.  Too much trouble to explain the name.

Literal Tee

Tee and skirt: F21
Shoes: Gap
I wanted to get a new top to wear for Thanksgiving, and this one couldn't be more appropriate for the holiday!  On the bottom it reads, "I am so lucky."  It's a little long, so I tied it into a knot in the back; tucking it in meant you couldn't make out the cute saying.  The only issue with the whole outfit is that the waistband is not elastic, hence a little self-restraint was in order.  I had one and a half pieces of cake.  Man, the things we do for fashion.

 

 

Thanksgiving in Florida!

Man, Thanksgiving went by superfast!  I'm spending the last days of November in sunny south Florida, and soaking up the 77 degree weather while I still can.  Want to see some pictures of the big eating day?

Haley looked like a leggy model.  Seriously, who's allowed to look so cute when they eat so much good food?!

If you knew how many pictures we have to go through to get just one good one with my dad, you'd be exhausted.  Just trust when I say that there are some silly outtakes of this shot.

I love Amber laughing in this photo!  The family always gathers for a board game after dinner, and, needless to say, we get a little goofy.

I wouldn't know, though, because I was partaking in my annual, "Sleep when it's most noisy, least appropriate, you-really-shouldn't-have-eaten-so-much" nap.  It's a time-honored tradition.
You can't just break tradition.

Mom trying to cram Haley's tummy back in.  We gorged on turducken.

She's a great cook!

And the pumple.  More on that later.