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thanksgiving

Thirsty Thursday: Cranberry Orange Blush

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My absolute favorite thing about Thanksgiving is cranberries. Not to disappoint all you pumpkin fanatics out there, but November is not complete without infusing Cranberries into almost everything around here. Cranberry sauce, cranberry fluff, cranberry cookies, cranberry candles, and of course cranberry drinks.

Cranberry Blush 6

Just like when I made those Grapefruit Mules and I found that awesome grapefruit vodka, I found an awesome infused Cranberry Vodka made by Deep Eddy. This had me wondering what to make with it. I took a little inspiration from my favorite Thanksgiving side: homemade cranberry sauce with orange zest. So I married those two flavors and when I did, it turned into the most gorgeous pinky blush color. Then the Cranberry Orange Blush was born.

Cranberry Blush 2

Cranberry Orange Blush 

1 1/2 oz cranberry infused vodka (I used Deep Eddy)

the juice of one fresh orange

cranberries for garnish

orange peel for garnish

ice

Cranberry Blush 3

In a high ball glass, fill with plenty of ice to chill and set aside.

Place three cranberries on a toothpick with a piece of orange peel and reserve for garnish.

Cranberry Blush 7

 

Cranberry Blush 8

Add the juice and vodka to chilled glass, stir gently. Top with garnish and serve.

Cranberry Blush 9

This drink hits all the right flavor notes for Thanksgiving. Enjoy responsibly with this seasonal appetizer of yore.

 

Give Thanks Place Mats: A JoAnn Fabric Celebrate the Season Craft

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While I have been compensated for this post by Jo-Ann 
Fabrics and Crafts, the thoughts and opinions are my own.
 

Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I thought it might be fun to have a week of preparing for one of my favorite days of the year. I know that there has already been a lot of talk about that holiday in the winter with the trees, wreaths, and cards and such, but around here I do like to celebrate Thanksgiving with a little something (speaking of a little something, at the bottom of the post is a coupon to Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts just for you).

 

Since so much time will be spend in the dining room for Thanksgiving, I decided to make some Thanksgiving placemats using some supplies from my favorite craft store Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts. These were extremely inexpensive and simple to make. They only took me about an hour to create.

Supplies.
2 yards of burlap
Stencils
Black Acrylic Paint
Pain Brush or Paint Sponge
Scissors
Measuring Tape
Scrap Paper

 

Tricky Measuring: Burlap is a fabric that frays very easily, so in order to cut down on having a huge mess of threads, it is important to cut it in a straight line. To do that, I measured my fabric and marked on the fabric how big I wanted each placemat. Then, at the edge of the fabric, I very carefully tugged the thread closest to my mark and gently pulled it all the way through to the end of the fabric.

 

 

You will notice a gap in the fabric where there used to be a thread. I did this wherever I had marked my fabric and then I was ready to cut.

Careful Cutting: When all the threads had been pulled, I cut in all the places where there was a gap in the thread. I was very careful to stay within the gap as I was cutting. When I was finished, I had eight placemats.

 

Clever Stenciling: I thought of a few of my favorite words when it comes to Thanksgiving, and using a paint sponge, black paint and some letter stencils I carefully painted the words in the bottom right hand corner of the placemats (NOTE: Make sure to place scrap paper or cardboard underneath your placemat as you paint as you don’t want to paint on your table or flat surface).

 

Let the placemats dry over night or for a few hours before using them.

 

I am so happy how they turned out. They are the perfect addition to our table for Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

To see this craft or to browse other Thanksgiving craft ideas visit the Jo-Ann Fabrics and  Crafts catalogue HERE.

Also, as a THANK YOU, Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts is offering my readers a coupon to create your own #TurkeyTablescape.

 

Happy Thanksgiving, and stay tuned the rest of this week for other Thanksgiving ideas and recipes.

If you like this post and would like to read more about DIY, gardening, cooking, baking or all other things domestic, become a Home Everyday follower! For blog updates or to see other places I write follow Home Everyday on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

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Grateful: November Challenge Week 5

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Today is the final recap of the 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge at Positively Present. If you want to read my other recaps they are here, here, here, and here.

Day 23, Energy: On this day, I was thankful that despite all the craziness, we all still had enough energy to get some major things accomplished while Brian had a few days off. I finally frosted the garage windows so everyone who drives by doesn’t have to see the mess that is our garage.
Day 24, Adventure: I struggled with this one. When I hear the word adventure I think of like an amazing trip with parasailing, zip lining, scuba diving or base jumping. I’m not a thrill like person (can’t you tell? as I drive 35 mph in a 40). Anyway, it got me thinking about more tame adventures, and I am definitely thankful for this adventure called blogging. I have met some amazing people as well has learned a lot about myself. Thanks for joining me on this wonderful adventure that basically started as a way to share recipes, DIY projects, and parenting tips. It has turned into another opportunity at ChicagoNow and 35 followers and growing (Shameless Plug: If you don’t read my other blog, check it out here).
Day 25, Beauty: Thankful for the daily beauty that makes me smile and enjoy life a little more. Here’s George watching his favorite animals (horses) at the zoo.
Day 26, Tradition: I am so grateful for tradition as I feel it helps connect me to people who live far away. On Thanksgiving morning my Mom would ask my siblings and I to break up all all the bread for the stuffing. I remember sitting with my brothers and sister in our jammies, watching the Macy’s parade, and breaking up bread into a huge bowl. I asked my kids to help me this year, and sent the picture to my brother Kevin who lives 2200 miles away. We reminisced together about Thanksgivings of yore.
Day 27, Sound: Sometimes the noise and the mess of having little ones can get to a person (I swear if I step on another Matchbox car and almost break my neck, I will lose it). However, I often think of how grateful I am for the noise and the mess. This time is very temporary and I realize that every day. Someday, I will have a perfectly decorated and clean home with no pitter patter, no giggles, no loud toys, and no pretend sounds. For now, I’m taking a deep breath and thankful for this, because I know I’m going to be one of those old ladies who leaves the radio on before leaving the house so there is noise when I get home. Here are the munchkins playing with the felt tree I made them.
Day 28, Comfort: Sometimes I still think I am destined to be a nurse. While I love to be comforted for and taken care of, it is still my favorite thing in life to do that for other people. I am thankful that I have many people in my life that I can help take care of and give comfort. Kissing Coco after a tumble outside.
Day 29, Art: I am thankful for Etsy. I know, after all that mushy stuff up there, it is silly. But honestly, when I need to cheer up, I just go to Etsy, and even if I don’t buy anything seeing all the beautiful things, crafts, and art created by people just makes me smile.
Day 30, Love: I am so thankful that there are so many days in my life I have experienced so much love, I think my heart isn’t going to be able to take it. This was one of those days.
Thanks for following along for the month of November!

Gobble Gobble: Roasting a Turkey

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I was more than a little stressed last week. While my sister usually hosts Thanksgiving, this year she asked if I would roast a turkey. Our family is getting bigger, and the kids are eating more, so this year we needed three turkeys to have sufficient leftovers for everyone.

I’m happy to announce, with a little help from Williams and Sonoma, America’s Test Kitchen, and memories of my Mom and Grandma Nano, my turkey turned out beautifully and tasted awesome, as did the stuffing.

 

I know that a lot of people buy frozen turkeys, but this year for some reason the fresh turkeys seemed to be reasonably priced so I went that route. If you want to try this recipe please make sure you thaw the turkey completely before the brining process. Another thing worth mentioning, treat your turkey and yourself with a lot of care. Wash hands and surfaces between steps to prevent cross contamination.

Turkey
1 – 20-25 lb turkey thawed
1 can Williams and Sonoma Dry Brine
1 stick of butter softened
1 tablespoon Poultry seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 jar Williams and Sonoma Pomegranate Citrus Glaze

Stuffing (makes enough to stuff turkey and have leftover dressing)
2 loaves of white sandwich bread cubed
2 sticks of butter
2 onions minced
4 or 5 stalks of celery finely chopped
2 to 5 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons poultry seasoning

 

 

Day before Thanksgiving (24 hours before you want to begin roasting turkey), rinse turkey, remove insides and put into a large roasting pan. Generously sprinkle dry brine mixture on all sides of the turkey. Then gently rub into the skin. (This has the same effect as liquid brining but without the mess). Then cover completely with plastic wrap and return to refrigerator for at least 8 hours, but 24 hours is best.

 

The next day, mix together softened butter and poultry seasoning and set aside. Begin to prepare stuffing ingredients.

 

Next, in a large sauté pan over medium to medium high heat, add butter, onion, and celery and cook until onions and celery are soft and translucent. This should take about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. While onion mixture cooks, in a large bowl add cubed bread and toss with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper (I know it is weird to not add herbs to onion mixture, but this is how Grandma did it). Remove onion mixture from heat and let cool slightly.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

While stuffing mixture cools, remove turkey from refrigerator and rinse brine off thoroughly and place in a large roasting pan. Then gently lift skin and rub butter and poultry seasoning mixture between meat and skin.

Once the onion mixture is cooled, add to cubed bread and stir gently. Then slowly add chicken stock until the bread is just moist. You will probably not use all the chicken stock.

Using 1/3 to 1/2 of the stuffing mixture, loosely stuff turkey. Pour reserved stuffing into a casserole dish, cover with foil,  and put in oven for the last 35-40 minutes turkey is roasting in oven.

Tie turkey legs together with kitchen twine and put in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and generously brush with glaze. Cook until breast and leg temperature reaches 170-180 degrees on an instant read meat thermometer. This took about 4 1/2 hours for me.

Happy Holiday!

 

Grateful: November Challenge Week 4

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Happy New Year! Just kidding. Doesn’t it seem like so long since Thanksgiving already? Maybe it is because I’ve been soaking in every bit of the long weekend, which had the perfect balance of accomplishing projects around the house and spending time with family and friends.

Since I took a blog break for the holiday, today’s post it is a recap of my participation in the Positively Present’s 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge. To read the first three recaps, you can click here, here and here.

Day 16, Inspiration: Being a blogger here at Home Everyday and on ChicagoNow I sometimes get a little block about what to write about, so I am always grateful for inspiration. Sometimes it comes from the strangest of places. For example, these ornaments at Target are inspiring a crafty project!

Day 17, Weather: The fall here has been amazing here. We have been spending way more time outside that I ever thought possible this time of year. Here we are doing sidewalk chalk just a few days before Thanksgiving!

Day 18, Change: A big change happened this passed week. My oldest turned 5! 5?!?!? I am so incredibly grateful that I have a happy healthy 5 year old.

Day 19, Laughter: The past week has been filled with lots of laughter. Sharing jokes with my sister and Mom at Thanksgiving dinner, the kids giggling putting up Christmas decorations, and staying up late to watch Christmas Vacation have all made me thankful that we have lots to laugh about.

Day 20, Food: Prepping for Thanksgiving dinner kept me busy on this day. When I went to put the Turkey in the fridge to brine, I realized how full our fridge was. In that moment I was very thankful for a full refrigerator. Rearranging to make room for the turkey, turned into washing juice carton, and replacing with milk to make everything fit. This is a good problem to have.

Day 21, Home: I am grateful for the physical space of our home, and thankful that we are comfortable here, but mostly I’m thankful for the people who live here.

Day 22, Color: Did you know there are way more than 50 shades of gray? Now I do. While narrowing down paint samples can be frustrating, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to choose.

 

Grateful: November Challenge Week 3

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Good morning and Happy Friday! I have been totally amazed at all the grateful posts I’ve seen on Facebook over the last three weeks. It definitely puts things into perspective. Today is my third installment of the 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge. To read my first two Grateful Posts, you can click here and here.

Day 9, Holidays: This year, when it comes to the holidays I am truly thankful for the traditions that were established by our families, but also the ones that Brian and I have started together with our kids. Our favorite is the day after Thanksgiving we put up our holiday decorations. Here are the boxes waiting in the dining room to be unpacked. The kids are bursting to put up their stockings.

 

Day 10, Kindness: On this day, I am so grateful for how genuinely kind my kids are to others and to each other. I took this picture after family photos while playing with my camera. I didn’t come out as I hoped, but the point is I have it captured for eternity of the boys hugging.

Day 11, Friendship: In my lifetime, I have been blessed with many people whom I can call friend. However, today is a day were I am extremely thankful for my sister. It is a bond and friendship that I’m grateful for every single day. Here she is cooking with Russell.

 

Day 12, Music: Ok, I’m one of those people that listen to Christmas music early. So today, I was grateful that the Christmas station in Chicago started playing 24/7 Christmas music.

 

Day 13, Time: Just grateful I have enough time for the things that matter. The time to chat with Russell about his day at school. The time to bake muffins with George. The time to snuggle on the couch with Caroline. The time to stay up a little later with Brian and enjoy some quiet time. The time to wake up early and play trains.

 

Day 14, Creativity: I’m often amazed at the creativity of my kids and for this I am grateful. Sometimes I wonder if we should buy them an educational toy, or if I should enroll them in another park district class. Then, I see them using what they have to play rocket ship or make up a game together with a ball. They amaze me with their imagination. Here is George with goggles and all being a jockey… again.

Day 15, Family: Yesterday we took our family portraits for Christmas cards. This day typically makes me batty. Getting 3 kids ages 4, 3, and 2 clean and in nice coordinating outfits with hair combed, shoes tied and get them to stay clean while I get dressed with makeup and presentable hair by myself is crazy. Then we meet Brian at the photographer and try to get everyone to look decently happy with bribes of M&M’s and popcorn.  I’m still exhausted! However, I am well aware that this is something we don’t have to do and that I am blessed beyond measure to have a healthy and happy family that gets a family picture taken once a year. I am grateful for meeting Brian and us being able to create this wonderful family not just today, but every day.

 

 

T-Minus 9 Days to T-Time: Cornbread Stuffing

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Here’s what’s up people. We have less than 10 days til Turkey Time. I’m totally freaking out! Gallons of coffee, project planning, organizing, purging, cleaning, birthday party organizing, charity collection planning and all this is happening while I still take care of my regular day to day nonsense. Not to mention laundry, menu planning, shopping, toy picking up, milk spill cleanup, disciplining, homework, snuggle time, diaper changing/potty training, photo taking and blogging. Whew! As you can see, the boys are not affected by this craziness.

Why am I doing all this? Because I like to enjoy the holidays. I like to sit on the couch and watch 25 days of Christmas every night. I like seeing the “Giving Tree” at my church set up. I like to bake cookies with the kids. I like to fall asleep reading a book by the glow of the tree. I like having Christmas movie picnics in the living room. I like driving around looking at lights. I actually enjoy writing Christmas cards with Christmas tunes playing in the background. I like spending time with my gal pals and drinking Starbucks. I LOVE wrapping presents while the kids “sort” bows and ribbon. I enjoy cooking with whole sticks of butter like Paula Deen. I love when my family is together. I like that Brian has some time off at Christmas. I even love the shopping. The beautiful combination of Christmas music, warm winter coats (making you sweat), a shopping bag in my hand, Christmas decorations, people rushing, and the smell of department store perfume filling my nostrils just gets me giddy.

With all that said, this is the time of year that I usually go on a purge rampage and get my rear in gear and finish some projects that I have been meaning to do. The rule in this house is, before any decorations go up, the house has to begin at zero. As in, before we add anything we must delete. So, the past few days have been spent purging old clothes in Brian and I’s closet. I’m in the process of getting rid of all the kids clothes that are too small or have holes in the knees (why do boys always get holes in the knees of their pants?). I’m cleaning the basement so we can maybe start thinking of renovating down there in the new year. I reorganized the linen closet. I cleaned the garage. We took down the Halloween/Autumn decor. Brian cleaned out the shed. All old toys get donated. Also, I finish all the projects that have been started. Caroline even joined in on the shed cleaning.

Once all the old stuff is gone, we have room for the new. Once all the projects are done, we have room for Christmas. It is a very spiritually cleansing process. I started this tradition a few years ago. I have to say Brian and I never feel rushed during the holiday season. We just soak it in and enjoy it.

However, the week before Thanksgiving… well its insane around here. Are you in a T-Day frenzy right now? Do you have boxes all over the place? Did you donate all your family’s old clothes and toys to make room for everything new? Are you trying to get all you can done so you can watch all the Thanksgiving cooking specials on the Food Network this weekend? No? Just me, then.

Now that you have listened to my rambling (thank you for that, the stock people at Target are sick of my stories I think), I am going to share one of my favorite T-Day recipes.

Corn Bread Stuffing/Dressing

1 – 8 x 8 pan of Corn Bread crumbled (I bake my own using Jiffy brand corn bread mix)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 large or 2 medium sweet onions chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
1 quart low sodium chicken, vegetable, or turkey stock
1 Tbs poultry seasoning
1 dried Bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Spray a 9 x 13 caserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large pan over medium heat add 1 stick of butter and let melt completely. Next, add onions, celery and bay leaf stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and translucent. Then add poultry seasoning and salt and pepper and stir once more. Remove pan from heat to cool slightly.

In a large bowl mix together corn bread and onion mixture until well incorporated. Then, slowly drizzle in stock until corn bread is moist but not completely saturated (Note: I NEVER have used a whole quart of stock, but it varies how much stock you need depending on how dry the cornbread is).





Pour the whole mixture into the 9 x 13 pan and bake for about 20-30 minutes until top is golden brown and crispy.

Back to organizing and cleaning!

Grateful: November Challenge Week 2

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Welcome to the second installment of the 30 Day Gratitude Photo Challenge that I am participating in on Positively Present. Last week, I posted a the first installment and each week I will highlight all the moments of gratitude I have experienced over the last seven days.

Day 3, Nature: I do love the outdoors, but on this day I was particularly grateful for living in the midwest this time of year. The colors get me every time. A picture from our nature walk.

Day 4, Clothing: Folding clothes is one of those chores that often makes me roll the eyes. Will this ever end? As the weather gets cooler here though, I am so glad that I have clothes to fold. My kids have warm clothes, socks, and jammies. Not everyone is so lucky, and I am truly grateful for this. This is my weekly pile of kids clothes.

Day 5, Knowledge: I am grateful that I have a personality that keeps me researching, learning, reading, and curious. I love to learn, and I am grateful for that. Here is me looking up something again (after I find the perfect iTunes song of course).

Day 6, Memories: I write another blog called South of I-80 and every time I write, I recall so many happy and hilarious memories growing up. My family is truly a mix of some of the most wonderful people I have ever met in my life, and the memories keep me laughing. This is a picture of my Dad and I that I have hanging in my house, I just snapped a picture of it on my iPhone.

Day 7, Innovation: The day after Election Day. I’m so thankful and grateful for my ability to vote and be part of a country that is governed of the people, by the people and for the people. Thank you to the innovators over 200 years ago that have made this possible today. This is me walking into the polling place.

 

Day 8, Sleep: I, of course, am always grateful for a good night’s sleep, but lately as I tip toe into the kids’ rooms every night to check on them, fix their covers and give them one more kiss. I am still so grateful that they let me do this. I know my days are numbered and they will be too cool for kisses, snuggles, bedtime stories, and footie jammies.

There you have it, another week of absolute gratitude.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Grateful: November Challenge

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November usually marks the beginning of a lot of gratitude. People all over the internet are Facebooking, pinning, and tweeting their gratitude for the month of November. There are millions of examples of thankful tablecloths, jars, and river rocks. While I love all these ideas, I wanted to do something that I knew I could do every single day.

All week I was trying to find the perfect way to express how grateful I am for all the blessings that me and my family have. Basically, I wanted something that was easy. We have hectic lives and hectic schedules, and sometimes the gratitude is happening right there in the moment. Like when I’m watching the kids throw leaves in the air, and I think, “Thank goodness they are healthy.”

 

The rest of the day passes, and I’m too exhausted to write it on river rocks. So, after some Googling (another thing for which I am grateful) I found the Thirty Day Gratitude Photo Challenge.

This is PERFECT! I am still learning to use our new Canon Rebel (post to come next week), and I am starting to love everything about Instagram, I knew that more times than not I would probably have a camera in hand. So, I’m joining the challenge. Who else is in?

On Fridays in November, in will be dumping all the grateful moments I’ve had that week. Also, if you want you can ‘Like’ the Home Everyday fan page or follow me on Instagram (eskibs). Let’s share all the reasons we are grateful together.

So, since this is the first Friday of November, here are my first two grateful photos.

November 1, Words: My kids are all so close in age that I can remember a time when they were all too little to say anything. So while I had a full house of kids, I did a lot of talking without a lot of response. So grateful, that all of them can communicate with me now. Like when George said, “Mommy, you are my friend, and you are my superhero.”

 

November 2, Technology: Today, I’m so grateful that I can sit wherever I like to blog, listen to music, check email and edit pictures. Even if it means at 6:30 a.m. with a cup of tea at the dining room table.
Stay tuned for the next few weeks of gratitude. Anyone else want to join in on the fun? (Don’t forget you can see more timely updates via Home Everyday’s Facebook fan page or follow eskibs on Instagram and #gratitude30).