K-RAZY!

Hi folks. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful time with my in-laws visiting. It's always fun to watch the kids get spoiled by their Mimi and Papa.

Starting today, our lives become a bit crazy for the next 2 weeks. I'm going to try to keep up with my postings, but I can't promise anything. My parents arrive on Wednesday, so I hope to get some posts lined up before then.

I hope to give you the Thanksgiving run-down tomorrow though.

Good Luck!

I hope everyone found some great deals today! Enjoy the weekend!

From my family...

to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

No time to bake a pie?

(image: Bakerella.com)

How are you feeling on this Thanksgiving eve? If you are like me, you have been baking all morning!

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house, I've been baking away all week. Today, instead of making a traditional pumpkin pie, I made Pumpkin Pie Bites. I found them at Bakerella and thought it was such a cool idea!

I found that they needed to be baked them for 16 minutes, so keep an eye on them. I, of course, had to try one and they are delicious. I plan on serving them with a little bowl of whipped cream on the side.

Hope this helps with that last minute baking!

Sweet Potatoes & Pears

Looking for a new sweet potato recipe? Well, I have a very sweet one for you to try.

You'll need:

2 medium sweet potatoes

2 pears

2 TBS Butter

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. allspice

1/8 c. milk

Peel and cube your sweet potatoes. But them in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender, about 15 minutes.

Peel and cube the pears. While the potatoes are boiling, melt the butter in a small pot. Add in the sugar, cinnamon, and allspice. Cover and let simmer until the pears are very soft.
Drain the water from the tender sweet potatoes and smash partially with a fork. Add in pear mixture and continue to smash with a fork until you reach your desired consistency.
At this point, you can add in milk if needed. Enjoy!

Bench Redesign

Since we are hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, I knew that we needed more seating. Our table only has four chairs, so we needed at least 2 more.

I started my search on Craigslist. After a few days of looking, I decided that a bench would work as well as a chair. I called the seller in the morning and in the afternoon, I went and picked up this bench!

It had very ugly, green vinyl on the cushion. The back was also scratched and dented, but I saw the potential.

I chose fabric from Amy Butler. It is called celery/imperial fans from the Nigella collection.
On Saturday night, I reupholstered the seat with the new fabric. On Sunday I cleaned the wood and used wax & wood touch-up to cover the scraps and scratches. And ta-dah, it's a new bench!
What do you think?

Holiday Magic Parade

How was your weekend?

Ours was fun, but very busy. On Saturday we went to Royal Oak to the Holiday Magic Parade. This is a great parade! It lasted almost an hour and had a variety of floats/people/animals.

While we were waiting for the parade to start, I spotted Jay Towers from Fox 2.

Blake didn't care much that Jay Towers was there, he was excited to see "Sana" though.

Me and my best girl waiting for the parade to start.

One of the best parts of the parade is always the fire trucks. This year, Blake really wanted one of his own!

A variety of participants were watched and clapped for by the K Clan.

Then it as time for the Shriners in their mini cars. These guys were crazy! A few times I feared that my feet were going to be run over or that the cars were going to jump the curb...but my feet were safe as were the parade goers and all was well.

Blake was enjoying a nice cup of coffee as he watched the parade. ;)

And finally, just as Blake was getting ready to eat poor Sara...

the big man arrived!

After the parade we went to a Coney Island and had a great, greasy lunch. It was a great day!

Keep Trying...

Have a great weekend!

Yoga

A Yoga studio opened downtown a few years ago. I wanted to go, but never did. Then I got pregnant with Blake, and then, well....you know the excuses.

Last weekend at a Moms Night Out with my Mom's Group I was talking to another Mom and she mentioned that she goes to Yoga once a week at this studio. She invited me along and I accepted!

I brought along a yoga mat, which turns out was too thick, so I borrowed one from the studio. I was in the level 1 and it was 1 hour and 15 minutes long. I really liked it. It was strenuous at points, but also relaxing at others. Very nice.

So, I've decided to go once a week and hopefully begin to feel more flexible and stronger.

Tim Tams

Photo: NYC Food Guy

Do yourself a favor and go get a box of these delicious cookies. They are chocolate and caramel and made by Pepperidge Farms. Be careful though, you may be tempted to eat the entire box or at least half of it.

I found them at Meijer (on sale this week) and according to this blog they can also be found at Target.

Homemade Bread Day

Who else is celebrating today?! I don't know about you but I love obscure holidays (can anyone say National Pig Day?). Maybe it is the teacher in me, but I just love them.

Anyway, today, November 17, is National Homemade Bread Day. In honor of this holiday, I'm baking homemade bread for my family. I've made this recipe once before and we gobbled the bread down very quickly.

Homemade Wheat Bread

Description:

A slightly sweet, healthy half-whole-wheat bread

Yield:

1 loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see additional notes for a 100% whole wheat version)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

Instructions:

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

Recipe from Tammy's Recipes.

If you have a great bread recipe that you use or found, please let me know. I love trying out new recipes.

Thinking

I'm thinking these would look great under the tree. Santa, are you reading this?

Love It!

Have a great weekend!

It's love!

My son is in love. Yes, at the ripe old age of 14 months he is love with the play kitchen.

It occupies many minutes of his days. He "boils" things, nukes things in the microwave, and brings me endless "dishes" to try. In fact, you can see in the top photo that he was cooking up the very delicious corn with oranges. Que magnifique!

He really enjoys throwing all the food on the floor, but that's another story for another time.

Can I expect lavish meals served to me in a few years? Delicious desserts? I certainly hope so!

Happy Veterans Day

Thank you to all the Service Men and Women who have served and currently serve our wonderful Country.

A big thank you goes out to my Dad, a Marine Corps. Veteran who proudly served in Vietnam. Thanks Dad!

Wrong?

Is it wrong to covet your daughter's clothing?

If so, I'm in big trouble!

I am in love with this top and I want one of my own. Please, Gymboree, make me this shirt in my size!

Shoes!

I bought these shoes at Target and I love them! In fact, I wore them for a week straight (and gave myself blisters).
So, if you have a few bucks, head over to your nearest Target and get a pair. You won't be sorry!

Indian Summer

This weekend we had FABULOUS weather. I mean, it was just amazing, 70 degrees in November!

On Saturday we headed to our favorite place, Greenfield Village. Knowing this is our last trip of the season, we just walked around and enjoyed it. I love seeing the Village in the fall, but I can't wait to see it again in the Spring.

On Sunday we just worked around the house and enjoyed the sunshine and warm (er) weather.

I hope you had a great one!

TGIF!

Our Halloween

Halloween this year wasn't all I had planned. We were out of town until the 25th and I had big plans of baking/crafting/sewing when we got home. Well, we were bit by the flu bug so all of those things went down the drain.

Thankfully I already had the costumes ready to go. A. told me weeks ago that she wanted to be Minnie Mouse, the PINK Minnie Mouse. So in looking around the web the only cute outfits I could find in her size was the RED Minnie Mouse. So, to Ebay I went. I was able to find this cute costume.

Blake dressed up in Ava's old costume, Eeyore. We love this costume and since Blake doesn't care what he dresses up as this year we went for it!

I even got in the action. Ava asked me to dress up so I pulled these items from my closet and transformed myself into a witch. We had a good time walking the neighborhood getting yummy goodies.

After we had collected all of our candy it was time to pass it out ourselves. Ava had a great time passing out candy and was sad when we ran out.

Hope you had a great one!

Veggie Review: Artichoke

I've decided that each time I do the shopping for the week/2 weeks that I'm going to try out a new veggie for us. We usually stick to the normal green beans/corn/carrots/peas and to be honest they are getting old.

This week artichokes were on sale. So, I went for it! I like spinach artichoke dip and artichoke hearts in Italian salads. That is my extent of knowledge on the artichoke.

Did you know that there is an entire website dedicated to the artichoke? Well, there is!www.artichoke.org. I also did a recipe search on All Recipes and Google, and here is what I came up with...

COOKING IT:

I decided to boil it. I wanted to steam it, but we don't have a steaming basket and I didn't feel like getting one. Next time maybe. Anyway, I used about 4 inches of water in a big soup pot. I put a splash of lemon juice, a clove of garlic, and a bay leaf in the water and brought it to a boil. While I was waiting for it to boil I cleaned it by holding it under COLD running water. After that I cut off the top of the artichoke (I just looked to see where it started to "fan" out), then I trimmed the leaves and the stem.

There is an awesome picture tutorial here. I don't have a picture tutorial because I was trying to concentrate and it was nearly impossible with this at your feet.

Anyway, after the water comes to a rolling boil I stood the artichoke up on the stem and let it boil for about 35-40 until the leaves were very soft.

While it was boiling I made the dip.

DIP:

I used 2/3 parts mayonnaise to 1/3 part pesto with a splash of lemon juice. Next time I think I'll add a little salt. It was yummy like this though.

I had this as our side dish for Salmon Pesto Burgers. I found the recipe for the "burgers" here. I think they went well together because both used pesto and the artichoke was a good balance to the salmon.

It was declared a "keeper" and I look forward to making it again. Tonight Rob said he had been thinking about the artichoke "all morning" and wants me to make it again. I think that speaks for itself!

***Next time I promise to take more pictures.***

Sister,

I hear you laugh
My heart fills full up
Keep me please

~Dave Matthews

I heard this song last Saturday when the kids were napping and Rob and I were watching a Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds concert on TV.

When he played this song it just made me think of my kids. I have only a few wishes for them when they "grow up".

1. Be Truly Happy

2. Be Couragious

3. Love and let yourself be Loved

4. Be Best Friends with your brother/sister

Too much to wish for? I don't think so...