Ten Years of Thanksgivings, One Menu…

I’ll start by saying that I love Thanksgiving.  It’s my favorite holiday!  Every year we have people over, usually lots of single guys who aren’t going home until Christmas, sometimes they bring girlfriends, sometimes a friend from out-of-town visits, we generally put the word out a few weeks ahead and end up with a house full of people.  I love it!  I’ve talked to a lot of people about food lately and it seems like they’re all deliberating over what to serve during the holidays, so I thought I’d post my typical Thanksgiving menu, with links to recipes that I use just in case:

Turkey - On a normal Thanksgiving the men form the traditional man-circle around the outdoor fryer.  When the turkey is done they immediately pick it to pieces, which is why I buy two turkeys.  The second is fried right before dinner so it stays pretty.  That first one is useful for offsetting the beer drinking that is mandatory in all man-circles.  Last Thanksgiving fell during a deployment so instead of an entire turkey I did something smaller.  I take the contents of the goodie bags from the turkeys and simmer them for an hour or so, then strain it and use the broth to make gravy with butter and flour.

Stuffing - I was allowed to be a very picky eater as a child and I only started eating this a few years ago.  I still make it exactly like I did the first year though, traditional white bread, cubed and dried the night before, sausage, onion, celery, sage, chicken broth and an egg. 

Sweet Potatoes – In the past I’ve maintained my anti-marshmallow stance and always made a pretty traditional casserole.  This year I’m giving in to Zack’s marshmallow demands and making these.

Mashed Potatoes - Half Yukon Golds (peeled), half new potatoes (not peeled), cubed, boiled, drained and mashed with milk, butter, sour cream, smashed roasted garlic, salt and white pepper.

Green Bean Casserole - I’m not proud of this, but it’s highly requested and considered a holiday staple by some.  And like I’ve said before, I’m nothing if not accommodating.

Fresh Green Beans – Because I love them.  Boiled for 5 minutes or so, thrown into ice water, then back into the pan with garlic, salt and pepper.

Corn on the Cob – Cut off the cob

Cranberry Sauce – I’ve learned most people only like it with the imprint of the can still visible.

Bread – Big, white, squishy yeast rolls served straight from the oven with lots of butter.  I used to buy frozen ones, this year I’m making these.

And for dessert…

Pumpkin Pie – Another holiday favorite that I don’t eat, just not a fan of pumpkin, but it does smell really great.  I use Martha’s recipe and I make it with a pate brisee crust.

Pecan Pie - As a Georgia girl I feel strongly about pecan pie, I like mine with homemade sweet whipped cream and I also make this one with a pate brisee crust.  Again, I use one of Martha’s recipes, the Maple Bourbon one, and I’ve used the same recipe for the past 10 Thanksgivings.  I like it with some Wild Turkey Rare Breed for the bourbon, I use pecan halves on top and pecan pieces in the filling, and I add an extra egg because I hate a runny pecan pie. 

Lemon Chess Pie – A family favorite, I think we love it best for breakfast the next morning.  Cold, straight out of the fridge.  I use a recipe from America Cooks, a cookbook that my mom and grandmother both used all my life, that’s been out of print since before I was born.  My mom surprised me with a copy she found on Ebay for Christmas one year.  This recipe is close.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I make pie crusts, boil the corn, and cook the sweet potatoes and refrigerate it all overnight.  If this helps anyone, well good.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season (all two readers)!

 

On the sewing front, I needed something easy for the hectic holiday season, but still cute and suitable for parties or outings.  At the request of a friend, I think I’ll offer monogramming on this top.

 

Windy day this fall

 

 

Damask Print Pinafore

 

 

Black Ruffle Pants

Every Monday Should Be So Nice…

I’m keeping this quick and to-the-point partly because I’m watching Monday shows with Zack but mostly because I’m feeling more sickly by the minute. Hoping I’m only dehydrated and sleep deprived and not the proud new carrier of H1N1.  I had a wonderful day until about an hour ago though, here’s a quick rundown:

7am – One kid off to school, the other still sleeping soundly.   Ate toast (made from my new go-to homemade bread recipe) while Facebooking and reading email.  Cut and sewed up a pair of ruffle bloomer pants, in olive green this time.  Finished just as Zack was waking up.

9am – Took a bath, did my hair and make-up thing, got dressed and got a text from my friend Steffi about where to meet for lunch.  Hung out with Zack for a while on his last day off after being out of town.

12pm – Met Steffi at IHOP (she’s pregnant so it covers all the bases, food-wise).  Ate a salad and watched her eat Nutella crepes and onion rings.  Camped out in our booth and talked for at least an hour.  Discussed her anxiety about the impending arrival of her twins (yikes!), went into graphic detail comparing notes about our previous labors and deliveries, and had a good long venting/commiserating session.

1:30pm – Arrived at a local Harvest Bazaar to browse and shop local artisans and sellers-of-stuff.

3pm – Walked over to Starbucks, sat outside to talk baby names and clothes, enjoyed some excellent fall weather.

4pm – Said goodbye, and I headed to this great fabric shop:

 

Sweet Treasures Sewing Shop

 

Talked with the two ladies there while I browsed their multiple rooms FULL of wonderful fabric of all sorts.  Love these kinds of local shops!

5pm – Headed home to find Zack getting Lily up from her nap and Gunnar getting in the shower before dinner.  Made a fast tortilla soup while Zack ran out for chips.  Ate and got the kids fed, realized I was becoming achy and retired to the couch.

7pm – Ate an ice cream cookie sandwich.

8pm – Started watching tv, reflected on my very nice day, decided to share.

That sums it up!  If you’re in the Columbus, GA area and are a fabric shopper you should check out Sweet Treasures, or you can shop online by clicking the picture.  They also have a pretty great selection of sale fabrics priced at $2-3/yard, which I am incapable of passing up.  Hopefully some sleep and lots of water tonight will help me wake up ache-free and sick-free, fingers crossed!

The Tunic: A First Attempt

I got up bright and early this morning with what seemed like a clear vision of the dress I planned to create.  As I drafted and then cut my pattern and fabric the pictures in my head became fuzzy and looked more costume than cute.  As promised, here are the pictures of what materialized around noon, with more to come with my next attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

I originally thought about a kimono-style dress with a crossover front so to begin I cut the back from one solid piece.  Then I decided I’d rather have the front be the same so I cut another piece an inch or so wider and added a pleat.  At that point it had essentially become a T shape that I sewed up on the top and sides, with a cutout at the back of the neck to allow it to fit over a head.  My plan for the neck was more of a ruffle than this strange collar that happened, but the ruffle I made ended up looking bulky and out of balance with the very plain body of the dress, so I scrapped it altogether.  I want the look of a couple of layers of unfinised edges but don’t want the fraying that goes with that.  I think tomorrow I’ll start with a body and add actual sleeves, and hopefully between now and then I can get a clear idea of how to do this ruffle.  Or something neck related.

Yes, We Have No Bananas…

So I enjoy blogging, but for a few months I’ve felt a lack of purpose about blogging, sewing and other aspects of life, which is the reason for my inactivity around here.  I finally decided that I do love to sew and that I needed to find a way to turn that into more than a hobby, so I opened an Etsy store.  Over the past couple of months I’ve been brainstorming on my favorite things to make, deciding which are the most useful (while maintaining cuteness), drafting patterns and testing them out.  I’ve spent hours holed up in my sewing room, and I’m more thankful than ever for a helpful husband, and for the free time his job currently allows him to spend at home.  After all of this thought and effort you’d think I’d have an entire line of clothing, hopefully the process gets shorter with practice.  It’s a beginning though, and it’s a good feeling to see my favorite hobby turning into something more.

That concludes the explanation portion of this post, now on to current events.  I never ever thought I’d be a fan of ruffly pants, I see them in loud prints and bright colors and strange combos of both of those, and maybe I’m plain and boring but they always seem like too much.  Then the weather got chilly and the standby bloomer bottoms weren’t warm enough under dresses, and leggings and jeans weren’t what I was looking for (although still cute).  So I took some thin cream colored cotton and made a pair of super plain ruffle pants and they turned out to be a great balance for almost every dress.  Here’s Lily wearing them, being her normal sassy self…

Velvet Pinafore and Cream Ruffle Pants

A cream and floral reversible pinafore with gray ruffle pants

So I take it back, I do like ruffle pants, but only those of the plain and simple variety.  Zack is away playing with rocket launchers for the next few days (his job here is teaching basic trainees to use a specific one of these), so I have lots of free time to draft and sew and not feel guilty about spending entire evenings in front of my machine.  I’m starting on a tunic top/dress today, something with sleeves for a change, progress report to come.  Then later on I’ve got a date on the couch with the last two Project Runways and a glass of wine, or more depending on how the rest of the afternoon goes. 

Last but not least, Happy Veterans Day to all of our service members, past, present and future, and to my own Veteran.  Before we even met Zack had deployed to Afghanistan and to Iraq during the initial invasion, and has been back to each since we’ve been married.  Even after 4 years spent fighting in deserts and another 4 spent training he loves what he does, and we love this military life.  I’m thankful for him and for all of those who have served, and remembering a good friend who didn’t make it home.

Round Yoke in Midwest Modern

I recently stopped at a local sewing shop to check out the classes they offer but when I saw that they have room after room of great fabric I couldn’t leave without buying a couple yards.  I’m still a sucker for Midwest Modern so I came home with these…

 

 

 

That was last week, and after a super fun long weekend with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend here, I’ve rested enough to get around to making this…

 

 

 

I know, I know, it’s another round yoke dress.  I haven’t found a new favorite pattern yet, and I wasn’t up for a challenge this morning so there you have it.  At least I’m honest :-)

One More Quick Remake

I keep a hanging organizer in my sewing room closet for clothes that are marked for repurposing.  It’s where I look when I am antsy to make something but have no inspiration, because when I put something there (instead of in the Goodwill bin) I usually already have plans for it.  I dug around in it this morning so it isn’t picture worthy but here are the results:

 

 

It’s a plain dress like the white one and also made from a shirt I’ve had forever.  This one has a tie for some shape.

 

 

This week is a busy one, we have an overnight guest on Wednesday and family visiting this weekend.  They probably want clean sheets so I probably need to unpack the last of the boxes and hope there are some bed linens in them.  Fingers crossed.

No Assembly Required

Wonderful Friends and Neighbors = Great Weekend

 

 

I am loving this weekend so far.  Last night we went to the mall and out to eat, always a good start :-)  When we got home our neighbors were cooking out and we joined them, along with a few other neighbors and some friends who stopped by.  These spontaneous get-togethers are definitely one of my favorite weekend activities and they make me glad we live in a friendly neighborhood.  The kids get to run wild and play together and then crash in their own beds, leaving us free to enjoy adult conversation and a few glasses of wine.  When I got up this morning I started, and almost finished, my skirt for Presser Foot’s June project (not too sure about the fabric I chose, once I hem it I’ll post pictures).  Then I made breakfast, we ate, and Zack and Gunnar cleaned up the downstairs while I did the kitchen.  Now they’re at the movies seeing Transformers, Lily is napping, and I’m catching up on blogs in a clean and quiet house.  Later this afternoon we’re heading over to swim and eat with some Louisiana friends who also just moved here. 

We have a lot of great weekends but they usually involve planning, effort and lots of clean-up, and after all that the week starts again and we realize that we forgot to rest at all.  This one is a welcome break, I hope everyone else is enjoying their weekend too!

A Place to Sew, and Last Week’s Recap

After sewing at the dining table for the past year it feels so good to have my own space to spread out in! Over the past two days I painted and moved the furniture around so I’ll post a couple of pictures as it is now, with more to come as I get more settled in.

 

Walking into the room

 

The other side of the room

 

 

I haven’t posted in a little while so here’s a recap of my past week:

We spent Father’s Day here at home, I made patriotic pancakes:

 

 

 We found out my brother in law’s fiance’ is pregnant, and they’re visiting for 4th of July.

Breezy (that is her real name, my best friend who now lives 1.5 hours from us instead of 10) still did not visit me as promised (but she did have a kidney stone. Whatever).

For a few days I thought I may be pregnant, then was a little disappointed when I found out that I’m not.

Had dinner with friends who are pregnant, and remembered how glad I am that I’m not.

And that brings us to this morning, when I made this:

 

Long sleeved fleece baby kimono

It’s for a financially unprepared friend of Breezy’s, who is due in November and just found out she’s having a boy. Since almost everything I have for Lily is very girly I don’t have much to pass on to a boy, so I’m making a few basics to help take some stress off the parents.

 

Note: If you’ve got baby boy clothing/gear that you’d care to part with I’ll be happy to give you my address!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 So that’s my week, babies, painting, rearranging furniture and very little sewing. Next on my list is curtains, how hard can they be to make? Hopefully I’m successful and back here with pictures to show for it, fingers crossed.

Six Word Saturday

Home Depot is Calling My Name!

 

 

The bookshelf is now in my sewing room, so I have even more storage space (once I bring everything down from where it got unpacked!).  But it’s white, and the walls are white, and the whole room is just blah, so I’m off to buy paint.  More paint.  Hope everyone is having a great Father’s Day weekend!

 

Blah, just blah.

Internet At Last!

Finally, we have (our own) internet right here in our house! I was having withdrawals, as addicted as I’ve become to my blackberry in such a short time, I still can’t go long without my computer and internet.  I was getting antsy to say the least. 

The entire house is unpacked, except for some toys, but the dining room is the only room that is officially done. Paint choices are tough to make! I am overwhelmed by a house full of white walls, and at the same time afraid of ending up with a rainbow of rooms. While those two sides are fighting it out in my imagination, I’ve kept myself sane with more thrift store shopping and a few small projects. Here’s the last one:

 

 

 

 

It’s an old window frame that was super cheap (the ones with original glass cost much more!).  I used an old pillowcase and made fabric inserts for each space and glued/stapled them into the frame.  It has no place on the wall quite yet, but it’s sitting on my newly refinished and painted vanity that is serving as a sewing table indefinitely.  Today I hope to get that room set up for some actual sewing, with wall hangings on the wall and my machine in its place.  I wanted to paint that room first but if I wait until I’ve decided on a color I may never sew again.  More pictures to come.

Zack signed into his new unit (place of work) today and should be home fairly soon, so we’re looking forward to the beginning of our first real weekend :-)