Thanksgiving

"What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside 

on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. 

I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving?" -Erma Bombeck 

^{Thanksgiving is just a little more than a week away.}

^{There are lots of mental prep work going on between me, my sister and Mom.}

^{We are hosting my aunt, cousins and their children for a Thanksgiving feast.}

^{35 people total.}

^{So fun.}

^{It could be overwhelming, but many hands make light work.}

^{I have been bookmarking recipes for a while now..both for the Thanksgiving feast, as well as easy make-aheads to feed to the many people staying at our house. We will have 8 people here, maybe even 10 or 11.}

^{Hungry people.}

^{People who will have to carb load for  this.}

^{That's right, THE RACE.}

^{Some of us actually race, some meander the course, taking in the cheering crowds, the 15,000 runners, bands playing, bagpipers, and the sweet feeling of finishing the 4.75 mi course, knowing that you just burned enough calories to eat the dinner roll.}

^{Oh, well.}

^{What Erma said.}

Photo Shoot!

My friend C. sent me a message on FB Thursday:
"Would you like to come on a photo shoot with me tomorrow afternoon?"

It was going to be a beautiful, sunny day and she had been wanting to go back to a great place she had visited earlier in the month (albeit at 6am!) that had some cool "grunge" backgrounds.

Our rendezvous was the library, and I was super relieved to see that C had brought her sweet daughter, K. to model. I was a tad afraid C. was planning on putting me (yikes) in front of her lens..I let out a sigh of relief, and jumped into the car. Twenty minutes later we arrived at the perfect spot...overgrown train tracks, graffiti, [slightly rusted] fire escapes, arched doorways, and turn of the century windows.

In addition.... a bit of old junk and an abandoned item of clothing or two.

Sounds a bit shady you say? Maybe..but a photographers dream spot I tell ya!

We spent over an hour here, (and another hour in two more areas) and met the owner of one of the buildings during our shoot. I think he was a bit suspicious we were vandals!
But we assured him we were perfectly respectable people who happen to like hanging out in graffiti laden areas :)

C's daughter K. could not have been a more perfect model. She patiently turned this way and that, sat and stood, holding this and not, followed us to better lighting, and patiently endured endless adjustments to capture the best shot.

On top of all that, she was not only a lovely model, but incredibly sweet and adorable. Thank you, again, K! You are one awesome young lady.

Big props to C. who has a fantastic artist eye.

She was the one who brought the cool props and asked K. to stand here,
turn this way or lean that way. I learned a ton in one afternoon.
Thank you, C. for the insight, ideas and fun :)

(To see C.'s incredible shots of her daughter that day, click here.)

Here are a few more of my favorite shots I took that day.....

Can't wait for our next one!!

Randomness

A little bit of this and that.....


First a photo....this past weekend, I caught a glimpse out of the window at a tree in our backyard. It was positively GLOWING from the last rays of sunset. I grabbed my camera and hurried out, but my photo does not do it justice. Suffice it to say it was amazing.
The sunset was spectacular too.




I love Panera.
I love their bagels.
I love their salads.
I love their soups.
I love their free wifi.
I love how fast you get your food.
I love the staff--they never get frazzled, no matter how busy.
They have done extremely well despite the recession..Read here why that is.




I am getting just a bit tired of the fall decor spread around the house.
I am looking forward to visiting my favorite store..(you know exactly where I mean, right?) to supplement my "homegrown" (read: FREE) decorations of pine boughs and holly sprigs.
I am also checking out Martha's ideas.

Some are downright inspired (Martha's make your own glitter candles, above)

Martha's Christmas Vegetable Basket?
A vegetable basket, Martha?

some, maybe not so much.




This love of my life was home this weekend---eating my pizza on Friday night and eating my Feta Turkey Burgers on Saturday. Threw in a few recipe pointers along the way that he can take back to his dorm kitchen. We all had a relaxing weekend together...doing a whole lot of nuthin'. You can be sure he left for NY with the essentials packed into his bags: A batch of Mom's Granola, vitamins, hot chocolate mix, and containers of homemade spaghetti sauce and soup.


Another love of my life was home the weekend before. My mother and I took a road trip together to bring her back to school, and we had lots of fun. Shopping, lunches, eating fantastic homemade soups and staying with my wonderful, giving cousins (again!). And talking, lots of talking. Made the 4 hr trip (each way) there and home much more bearable.
We stopped along the way at the Ben and Jerry's factory for a tour (and a sample). First time for Mom and Taylor, second time for me. I noted two things. The tour used to be free. Now it costs $3. The samples used to be bigger, and in a cone. Now they are small and in little paper cups. Sure, they taste good.
But still. Ben and Jerry, why did you sell out???


Finally found two recipes using yeast that can now be called my go-to recipes.
One for pizza dough.
One for baguettes.
I have made both of them 3 times in the the last few weeks, and they have been fantastic every time.

Just finished this book and now can't WAIT to read this one.

For all of those who struggle with weight...an honest/funny perspective here.

For a blog post that puts a lump in your throat...read Kelle Hampton's post about growing up (and growing old) with a daughter with Down Syndrome.

Isn't this a good idea? I thought it would be great to hang up on the wall right before the festivities begin on Thanksgiving Day and invite everyone to pen their thoughts.

Great idea for holiday baking: Making Your Own Brown Sugar


Conan O'Brien returned to television this week. I find him exceedingly funny. My husband does not.
Here is his (IMHO) very amusing opening monologue from his first day back on Tuesday.

And that's it...until next time!

Real Men DO eat quiche!

Some of my favorite recipes are those that I end up
tweaking either a little (or a lot) to make the finished product
taste even better.

This recipe for Crustless Cheddar Broccoli Quiche is one of my favorite recipes to change up.

The original recipe is basic, and simple, and best of all, forgiving.
(Essentially, forgiving means that you really can't screw it up) And, as a bonus, it is lowfat, and tastes delicious.
You don't even miss the crust. Really!

Start by heating 2 tsp olive oil in a saute pan on med heat.

Now comes the tweaking.

The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup chopped onion, and 1 pkg of thawed frozen broccoli.

What I do is check out what veggies I have in my frig, and use
just about any combination I like.
Leftover veggies are perfect.

Here I started by chopping 1 red pepper into a rough dice.

Throw it into the pan and start it going.

Next, a bit of red onion, chopped.
Now, I LOVE onions, and ordinarily I would put twice as much as this, maybe 3 times..but...keep listening..cuz we are adding a
little somethin-somethin in a bit.

Into the pan go the onions...

Checking out the very back of my veggie drawer, I saw a bit of leftover fresh broccoli.
I chopped it a bit, and put it in the microwave for 1 min to steam a bit.

And then chopped it up....

..and added it to peppers and onions.

In this recipe, I am using TWO ingredients that can take your
recipes from good to sublime.

Here's the first one:
Caramelized onions.
Heaven in a dish is what I call it.

Chop up some of this deliciousness and

add that to the pan too.
If the peppers and onions have softened, you can shut the stove off.
They just need a light saute.

Now back to the basics.
Eggs and cottage cheese.

Normally I use egg whites (which the recipe calls for) and add some whole eggs.
This morning I realized that the only egg whites I had were frozen.
Yes, I realize I could have made my own egg whites out of whole eggs, but I'm too lazy.

The basic recipe calls for 2 cups of egg whites (Egg Beaters), but I ended up using
just 6 whole eggs.
This is why I call this recipe forgiving.
You can tweak it all you want and it
still comes out OK!
Just you wait and see.
(Normally I might use 1 cup of egg whites and 3 or 4 eggs.)

Here I am pretending to pour frozen egg whites into the mixing bowl.
(This is just in case you might want to use them someday when you tweak YOUR recipe!...hhahaha)

Now for the cottage cheese..the recipe calls for 1/2 cup..but I use 1 cup.

Add it to the eggs...

...and mix.

Salt and pepper are nice....

...so I add them here too.

Now here is the SECOND ingredient that can take your recipes to the next level.

Sun-dried Tomatoes!
yummmmm.

Chop them finely....

...and add to the egg mixture.

Now the recipe calls for 1/2 cup shredded
cheddar cheese...but here comes more tweaking.

I used 3 kinds of cheeses...about 2 TBLS of leftover romano cheese, 1/4 cup of feta, and 1/2 cup of a shredded 3 cheese lite blend.

Stir that into the egg mixture too.

Take your sauteed veggies and put them into the bottom of a pie dish....
(spray the pie plate with Pam spray first)

..and pour the egg mixture on top.
Do not stir!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so.

Real Men in this house LOVE this quiche.