Day 2 of the Cowboy boots

Day number two of outfits styled around my new Frye boots.

 
Blousey tunic-top and Jeans ("Flirt" leggings -- even though they're actually jeans), both from Old Navy.  I actually wore this today with a thick, handspun purple shawl, because the FREAKING AIR CONDITIONING was on full blast at the stage in our church building.  And I nearly froze.  But thankfully I had that shawl.  Lesson learned: IT PAYS TO KNIT, PEOPLE. I will always be the most warmly dressed girl in Texas.  Except for when I wear shorts with my sweater.  But besides that.

A few weeks ago, I had tons of egg whites left over from my bread pudding with vanilla custard sauce situation, so I decided to make some meringue cookies with some of it (the last 6 egg whites are sitting in my freezer until I come up with another use for them.  Perhaps a winterfruit pavlova...).

 

These are Chocolate Chip Pecan Meringue Cookies, recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  I highly recommend tasting your pecans before you add them though.  Mine were kind of fruity tasting, which I did not appreciate.  Also, 1/2 a cup of sugar was still almost too sweet for me, so I'd cut it down to 6 tablespoons next time.  I substituted brown sugar for the white, which added a delicious hint of butterscotch.  They're fun to eat though -- almost like marshmallows, they dissolve on your tongue, and, not counting chocolate (who EVER counts chocolate?!) (that's obviously against the rules) (OBVIOUSLY.), they're entirely fat free.  Yay!

 

Costume contest and a pumpkin patch

Three weeks ago, since Halloween fell on a Sunday, our church decided to have a costume contest.  Our children are dressing up as Dr. Seuss characters for the town Christmas parade this year, so we decided to use that day a as a test run for our costume ideas.


 
Photo courtesy of Lee Hoy

They didn't win, but it was still fun.  Later on in the day, we did our yearly Halloween tradition of going out on a Family Day to a pumpkin patch.  This one had an extensive hay maze as well as plenty of other activities, so we happily spent the rest of our day there.


 
Haybale slide

 


 
Because it's all about the blue hairspray


 


 


 
I can't entirely recommend sliding in skirts

 
Water pump ducky race

 
Sluice pipe slide













 






Corn maze




Obviously this was pre-blonde


 


 
A very bumpy, tractor-pulled train ride


 



 
Corn cannon (airgun)



 



 



 



 
Climbing hay bales



 



 



 



 
Hey!  That's our new blog header!  (Look up to top of page.)


 

What a great day!  For more photos (is it even possible that there are MORE?!), click through to the Flickr set.

Great Aunt Nancy's Apple Sausage Stuffing

*My apologies for not including a photo with this.  I'll try to take one when I make this on Thursday, but trust me -- you don't want to miss this one!*

Growing up, this stuffing was always my very favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner.  I've since tried to branch out a little and have experimented a bit with some other types of stuffing, but I always come back to this one.  It's savory, a little bit sweet, push-button easy to make, and all around a very satisfactory, delicious addition to the Thanksgiving table.  I never really got to know my Great Aunt Nancy before she died -- she and my grandma were never very close -- but I do very dearly thank her for this recipe that has been passed down to me: her delicious Apple Sausage Stuffing.

Great Aunt Nancy's Apple Sausage Stuffing

Preheat oven to 350.

Soak in a bowl of water:

2 loaves French or Italian bread

Saute until translucent:

2 onions, chopped

pinch of salt

Add and saute until browned and cooked through: 

1 lb Italian Sausage (casings removed, or buy bulk sausage)

Squeeze soaked bread of excess water and break into pieces.  Combine broken bread and sausage mixture in large bowl.

Add:

Small handful of chopped, flat leaf parsley

1/2 cup freshly grated (with a microplane or the finer side of your box grater) Romano or Parmesan

2 eggs

1 apple, chopped (any kind -- I've used Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, and they're all great)

Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all ingredients well, and place into a large, greased, oven-safe skillet, casserole dish or roasting pan.  Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour until browned all over and crusty at the edges.

A Thanksgiving menu and a pair of new boots

Every November, I am faced with the same dilemma.  Or at least for the past 10 Novembers that I've known Greg.  For both Greg and I, Thanksgiving is our absolute favorite holiday.  It frustrates us to no end that literally the day after Halloween, CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS are already up in stores, and Christmas music has begun to play.  It's like Thanksgiving doesn't even matter!  No wonder why people get burned out from the holidays.  It just...too much holiday!  Christmas is supposed to be a precious, beautiful time with family, listening to special music that ONLY GETS PLAYED AFTER NOVEMBER 30TH.  Period.  (Please take me with a grain of salt -- if you disagree, you can be sure that I WILL JUDGE YOU, but I'll try to quietly, and only behind your back.  Agreed?)  (Haha.)  (I'm actually not kidding.)  But enough about Christmas -- today, we're talking about Thanksgiving.  The dilemma in our family is this: Thanksgiving is special to Greg and I for somewhat opposite reasons.

For him, different-ness equals awesomeness (and yes, "different-ness" IS a word.  BECAUSE I JUST INVENTED IT.  Thanks.)  A holiday is the perfect time to try out SUPERSPECIALCOMPLICATED recipes from our shelves of cookbooks, "show off Faith's cooking skills" (his words not mine), and generally use all sorts of ingredients we usually wouldn't budget for/consider using (unless it was a holiday).  Also wine, plenty of wine.  And possibly after dinner drinks.  (Those last two are things that we can both agree on.)

For me, every holiday has it's own traditional menu guidelines, and if I don't stick to them, it's hard for me to even feel like we're celebrating that particular event.  Ham is for Christmas (sometimes I've subbed in lamb or beef, but it just doesn't feel quite right), lamb is for Easter (although I'm pretty sure I made something rather un-special this past Easter because I was feeling overwhelmed -- but once again, it didn't really feel like the proper "celebration" without it), and Thanksgiving?  Thanksgiving is absolutely, 100%, without-a-doubt: TURKEY.  And stuffing, and cranberry sauce (both out of the can AND homemade -- I can't get enough!), and always some sort of handmade rolls (usually the Cracked Wheat Rolls from Moosewood Celebrates.)  Along with that there are always some sort of greens, and hopefully some version of sweet potatoes.  For dessert, I am a big fan of both pecan AND pumpkin pies.

Now, these differences might not seem like such a big deal at first, but the thing is, not only does Greg not hold all of those foodstuffs dear for that particular holiday, he doesn't like most of it at all.  Tragic.  He doesn't like almost any version of pumpkin or sweet potato, and certainly not pie.  He's not a fan of flaky pie crust, and cooked fruit is a total turn-off, so even an apple crumble is out of the question.  He doesn't like chocolate, and cannot stand pecans or walnuts.  He has never liked turkey.  Autumnal spices (gingerbread, pumpkin pie spice, etc.) are not something he goes for.

Do you see the problem here?  It would seem insurmountable, and I have certainly mourned the loss of my favorite once-a-year lunch: the Thanksgiving Leftovers sandwich (thickly sliced turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing)....so beautiful.  So unattainable.  However, there is hope!  I have come up with the following menu that I hope will please our whole family.  And I might even be able to have that sandwich after all!

• Quail (I bought 8 local quail, butterflied for grilling or roasting -- not sure what I will do with them yet)
• Twice Baked Sweet Potato with Chipotle Pecan Streusel (I will only make a 1/2 recipe of this, because I'll probably be the only one eating it)
• Smashed Potatoes (this has become Greg's Signature Holiday Dish, and he does it well -- his own recipe)
• Great Aunt Nancy's Apple and Sausage Stuffing (I'll post the recipe shortly -- it's always been a traditional dish for my family back in NY and NJ)
• Caesar Salad (a variation on my dad's recipe -- our whole family loves this intense, garlicky salad)
• I'm also throwing around the idea of an ambrosia-type thing, or some other sweet-spicy chopped salad.
• Cranberry Sauce straight out of the can (and possibly a homemade sauce/relish too -- undecided)
• Parker House Rolls (I've never tried this recipe, but I've found that I can trust Joy The Baker.  She has never steered me wrong.)
• I would consider making a Butterscotch Cream Pie with a graham cracker crust, but I think Greg might be butterscotched-out -- I made a large bowl of Butterscotch Pudding a few days ago and, while delicious, we still haven't finished it.
• He MIGHT like Pioneer Woman's Pumpkin Cream Pie -- it's got a lot of elements that he likes without a heavy pumpkin flavor, so I'll show the recipe to him and see what he thinks.
• Thanksgiving Twofer Pie (I just may end up eating this all by myself, but it's a Dorie Greenspan recipe, so how can I go wrong?)
• I'm going to keep this list of Best Hot Drinks on hand for after we tuck the children in at the end of the day.  Maybe we'll put a little soft jazz on the turntable...(*wink*)

I'd love to hear all of your opinions in the comments.  What (besides family and friends) makes each holiday special to you?  Special foods?  Traditions?  I look forward to hearing how each of you make your holiday special.

In other news, I finally got my first pair of long-anticipated cowboy(girl?) boots, and I am completely in love.

 
Frye Women's Billy Vintage Boot in Tan.

I want to wear them with everything.  So that's precisely what I'm going to do.  I'll post a picture each day for the next week or so of an outfit I've styled around the boots.

 
The weather here in Texas is so fickle in November, that it makes perfect sense to pair short-shorts with a thick, tweedy pullover sweater (layered over a t-shirt). Or at least that's what I have decided.  Don't judge.  Handknit sweater (a modified version of Stefanie Japel's pattern: Cozy V-Neck Pullover from her book Fitted Knits), shorts from Old Navy (can't even find them on their site -- that's how out-of-season I am), Frye Boots.

Of course I will also need a Black Pair -- studded this time, but I'll have to wait on that and give our wallet a little more breathing room before I strike again.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Bread pudding.  It's one of those things that I've always imagined that I should like...yet no matter how many times I've tried it, I've always been unimpressed and disappointed.  Gummy, dry, or just plain unflavorful, it seems that most people just can't get it right.  But seriously -- custard soaked challah bread?  People!  There MUST be a way to make this dish rock!  So when I discovered that Dorie Greenspan had a Chocolate Bread Pudding recipe in my Very Favorite Baking Book Ever (Baking: From My Home To Yours), I decided that I would give it a go.

Some friends and I get together once a month for a big potluck brunch, and I felt that it would be the perfect thing to share with a crowd.


 


I served it as Dorie suggested with a Vanilla Creme Anglaise Sauce.  I also had some dark chocolate ganache left over from something else, and I MAY have placed a bowl of that alongside...although there are no pictures to prove it... (and, just between us...that might have been overkill...)



 


Oh dear me.


 


Oh my freaking gosh.  I always knew there was something to love about bread pudding.

It's (sort of) fall!

At last, a cold front has moved in to our area, and I was armed and ready with brand new hats that I just finished knitting for the children last week.

 

You gotta be ready and take advantage of the Need To Bundle, because if you blink you miss it, and once again, it's summer.


 


 

For more pics from this photo shoot as well as more details about this little batch of projects, click on over to my crafting blog.

Elijah's soccer game

Pics from last week's game.  Elijah is #25 and plays goalie as well as offense (when he grows tired of the slow-pace of goalie life in a Preschool/Kindergarten league).

 

He's learning the game better each season, and I'm really proud of the way he's begun to work together with his teammates this year (the little guy with the #15 is one of Elijah's good friends, which helps with the teamwork).  So far they've only lost one game. 

 


 


 


 


 


 

There is always action happening on the sidelines as well -- whenever I go to the games, at least half of my attention is absorbed with attempting to keep certain little people off the field.

 

On numerous occasions I've suddenly realized that Jonah is in the middle of the defense zone, absorbed in his own game.

 

Preschool cannot come soon enough for this fellow. He can't understand why he can't just go out and play right now!