Happy Turkey Day!!

Yippe! I love Thanksgiving! This morning I made 1 hour yeast rolls and finished the cranberry salad. We are off to eat loads of good food at Ken and Charity's home. Amelia is wearing her turkey shirt and skirt. So cute. We are enjoying the Macy's Day Parade in the background. Amelia was estatic to see Elmo make an appearance. Charity cooked a yummy turkey and Melissa helped cook mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, and corn. The kids watched Wall-e while dinner cooked. After stuffing ourselves we went outside to enjoy some fresh air. Someone got out a lot of balls and two frisbees. Amelia looked so funny with her turkey skirt, boots, blue jacket, and pink hat. Melissa outdid herself making six pies. What a great day to count blessings:

10 things I am grateful for:

1. My family, Justin and Amelia. The best spouse and cutest daughter ever.

2. My extended family

3. Knowledge of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the testimony that burns in my heart

4. Religious freedom

5. Sacrifice of the pilgrims and early settlers that colonized and brought forth this great nation

6. Modern amenities

7. Restoration of the gospel

8. Temple work, especially our eternal family

9. Yummy food

10. Our rich and full life here in America

Night of Shirts

He, he! Last night was so fun. Catherine came over to make appliqued shirts with me. She brought a butt load of cute fabric, iron, board, and sewing machine. We played from 6 pm until after 10:30 at night. Justin sort of corralled Amelia for us. He left on an emergency printer toner run but was back in a jiffy. He amused us by playing DJ with all sorts of 80's and 90's music. Amelia danced her cute little dances and had a blast with my button collection. We made some really cute stuff: a "drama llama" shirt, a snowman, two ornament shirts, a penguin, ribbon lettered pants (said cutie patootie), and a skirt. It was a really productive evening. The best was chatting with Justin and Catherine while our imaginations ran amok. I am all ready to make this evening a weekly repeat.

Cooking up a Storm with Kelsey Nixon

Tuesday evening we had Enrichment at Mindy's home. One of the ladies in my ward is related to Kelsey Nixon, who competed on "Next Food Network Star" last season. She was the fourth runner up! Kelsey shared three yummy recipes for Thanksgiving Dessert. You can find some of her recipes if you click here! I ended up taking Amelia with me because Justin had to be at the church and she is ultra crabby (no naps will do that to you...duh). She spent the whole time climbing up and down the stairs playing with her binky, she'd throw it down the stairs, climb down to get it, suck it on the way up, then repeat. Very entertaining. All the ladies sampled each dessert. They were yummy!! My favorite was a cranberry salad. Kelsey is so, so cute and fun. She kept us entertained and told lots of fun stories. Her family eats this cranberry salad in substitute of cranberry sauce. She said they partially freeze it in a 9x13 pan then cut it into small squares and eat together with hot turkey. Sounds delish!

Cranberry Salad

3 cups of whole cranberries
3/4 cup sugar

2 1/3 cup miniature marshmallows

1 8.5 oz can of crushed pineapple

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1 pomegranate, seeded

Chop cranberries in food processor, add sugar and chill at least 2 hours. Add marshmallows and pineapple. Set aside.

Whip cream, adding sugar and vanilla to sweeten. Fold into cranberry mixture. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.