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I can’t believe I completely missed November altogether. Oh well, how about a pictorial catch-up post on Thanksgiving?
ingredients…
Gingersnap crust (waiting for the pumpkin to go it) and the pecan pie and cranberry sauce.
Pecan Pie 
This is a Long Island cheese pumpkin. We had a very hard time finding any kind of pumpkin. Ryan managed to find this one at Whole Foods; it was the last one! It made an amazing pie. (I used this recipe from Alton Brown.)
Rolls.
Par-baked rolls waiting for their final bake. Pies and cranberry sauce waiting to be eaten.
The table setting
(Please excuse the matches, embroidery floss and scissors. We had some last-minute table runner adjustments going on. Also please excuse the bad light. We had a late dinner.)
And… the TURKEY! I literally had three separate nightmares about ruining the turkey the night before Thanksgiving. It turned out great, though. Very tasty, if I do say so myself. I used this recipe from Bon Appetit: Salt-Roasted Turkey with Lemon and Oregano.
Thanksgiving is always fun for me, but this year was especially exciting because I was hosting! I got to cook most of the food. My in-laws brought some veggies. We had a great time eating and visiting and even got to skype with Ryan’s brother and his wife who just moved to California. Good times. I am so thankful for my family. We get along so well and it’s always a joy to be with them.
How was your Thanksgiving? Did you cook anything daring and delicious?
I made a little, toy Santa Claus for Edda. Actually, it’s for Christmas decorating but Edda doesn’t really understand that… So it is now Edda’s Santa. At least, until she forgets about it and I pack it into the Christmas decoration box while she’s not looking.
The pattern is from Itty Bitty Toys by Susan B. Anderson. I seem to be knitting a lot of things by her. I really do like her designs!
He’s a cutie. He was kind of tedious to make because of all the little details (beard embroidery?!), but I feel like without all the detail stuff he wouldn’t look so nice and “finished.” I wish there had been more picture of him to help with the sewing together, so I took a few for the benefit of others.
An up-close of the beard/face:
(Oops, I accidentally left off his mustache!)
His back:
His side and arm-join:
I was reading MommyCoddle (one of my favorite blogs) and I really enjoyed her post today: rejoice evermore. She mentions the HBO show about John Adams, which I also very much enjoyed…. what an amazing life he had. I’m feeling very blessed this Independence Day.
We are going to a friend’s house for some delicious smoked barbeque later. And, because it also happens to be their oldest daughter’s birthday, we will be having birthday cake as well. Hopefully Edda and Walter will be able to stay awake until it’s dark enough for fireworks!
Do you have any big plans today?
I plan to do some flower picking and baby snuggling sometime today…
I hope you all had a lovely Easter filled with chocolate and fuzzy bunnies and happy babies. I hope that you all remembered the real reason we celebrate Easter Sunday: the resurrection of our Lord. He is risen, indeed!
I know I have mentioned the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day on here before, but just in case case you haven’t been convinced that you need it, I present to you this photo of our breakfast on Christmas eve:
These are are the pecan sticky buns from the book. I found an adaptation online (here), but you really need the book. Really. The recipe calls for the brioche dough to be used, not the master (boule) recipe. However, I used the boule dough and it was still good, just a little harder and chewier on the outside. It was good, just not ideal.
Looking at the picture makes me want to make more……
Somehow I forgot to take a photo of the finished cookies. You’ll have to use your imagination… we put green, powdered sugar icing on them. They are cute and tasty! Edda really enjoyed helping me make them, too. It was a such a fun mommy-and-daughter time.
P.S. No baby yet.
It’s true! I have been knitting a whole lot these days. I just don’t seem to finish anything. In spite of this phenomenon, I do have two projects to present to you.
The new baby’s Christmas stocking (unblocked still). I had so much leftover Plymouth Encore from all the other stockings I’ve made that I was able to make this one entirely from scraps.
Edda’s winter sweater in Patons Classic Wool (Aran Tweed) using the Knitting Pure and Simple pattern #214 (baby pullover).
The sweater has been completed since yesterday when I took the photo but I haven’t had a chance to take a new photo. Edda was very excited when I showed it to her “all done” and wanted to wear it right away. Sorry, little bear, it’s just too hot for a wool sweater right now.
Edda’s language skills are growing in leaps and bounds these days… much like her feet. I’ve bought three pairs of shoes for her this summer. Just for grins, because I have lots of them, here’s a photo of Edda and Oliver snuggling on the couch watching Winnie the Pooh.
I hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day! I did. I didn’t take any photos, though. Ryan and I made some delicious grilled chicken and corn together (Edda and Oliver watched) and I made a coconut cake and homemade bread. We ate a ton and and visited with some good friends and stood out in the front yard and watched the neighbors’ fireworks. It was a great evening!
The grilled chicken recipe that I used is from Alton Brown, the host one of my favorite tv shows: Good Eats. The guy is a culinary genius. I always learn so much from that show. He’s a little kooky, but then…. so am I. The recipe is here. It is a good one. Don’t skip the brine stage, it’s essential! We used a gas grill and split breasts instead of a whole chicken. It took about 35 minutes on low for the chicken to cook.
I’ve been making things that I can’t blog about recently, hence the lack of new posts. I’ve been making them really slowly because I’m busy and knitting time is scarce. But soon I will be finished and the blogging can commence!
We are going to have an ultrasound in one week to find out if we are having a boy or a girl. I had really better finish this Christmas knitting because as soon as I know what colors to use I’m going to be knitting up a storm of baby things!
Until next time, I leave you a photo of Oliver digging that I find very cute.
I made a silly hat for my youngest sister Katie. She is eight years old and enjoys unusual clothing, so I think this will suit her nicely. It’s a Christmas gift, so I have a long time to wait before I know how she likes it. It seems really early for Christmas knitting, but if last year was any indication I’m going to be glad I started early. Having a baby in November is going to effectively prevent any kind of last-minute Christmas knitting and I’m going to have a toddler to chase around as well. I’m getting tired just thinking about it…
I used Knit Picks Comfy Bulky in Marlin and I was very impressed by it. It is super-soft and satisfyingly squishy. The pattern is from Interweave Knits Fall ’07 and it’s called the “Nomad Hat.” The name seems odd to me. I can’t figure out in what way it is nomadic…
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