I've been chastized

Quite a bit lately, actually. Seems the hubby likes to see pics of his cute little girl while he's at work, and is not liking my extreme blog laziness brought on by massive amounts of freelance work. Win some. Lose some.

So here's my delinquent post on Thanksgiving.


It was an amazing day, full of happiness and joy. Birds were chirping. The sun was shining. Love was in the air.

Yeah. Sure.

It may have ended that way, but somebody may have lost it when her husband spent an extra hour with my super nice brother in law playing in the "Turkey Bowl" (football - for all you non sports inclined folks) that morning. There's a lot to do when you are hosting the happy day, and I had it all planned out. Timetable included. And let's just say it did not include a Turkey Bowl in overtime. But the good news is that they dominated, winning the game in a blaze of glory. I'm sure that's what happened, or so they told me.


Good thing those Malan boys know how to peel potatoes. Man are they fast! It was my second attempt at making "real" mashed potatoes; attempt #1 was a memorable failure; do not ever put in 5 cloves of garlic, no matter what the recipe says! This time was perfect - 5lbs idaho potatoes, 1 pkg cream cheese, and 2 sticks of butter. Yum.

Please be sure to notice that the apron I forgot to remove for the pic matches my Amy Butler decor perfectly. Coincidence? I think not. But it really was - I can't take that much credit.

And many thanks to my father in law for taking a photo with me in it! He's handy with a camera.

Some of the wonderful cooks in my kitchen:

They prevented a roll fiasco, and got them to rise last minute. Whew.



And if you've made it this far, then you deserve a reward. It's the recipe for my favorite salad ever:

Poppyseed-Pear-Pomegranate Spinach Salad

You'll need:
spinach (Marketstreet organic brand from WalMart is my new favorite. It's soooo good)
pomegranate seeds
toasted slivered or sliced almonds (I sugar them in a skillet with about 1tsp. white sugar)
1 diced pear
feta cheese

And for the dressing, I always use the poppyseed recipe my sister in law gave me (my personal favorite):

Poppyseed Dressing

Blend together:

1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 c. White Vinegar
1 tsp. poppy seeds
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 c. oil

And the recipe for this yummy Cranberry salad can be found here. It's my mom's favorite. It made exactly 12 parfait cups worth.