Thanksgiving Treats

Wow, this day has flown by! And thank goodness, Mondays always seem harder/longer when they are cold and rainy. Today I want to share with you some of the tasty treats I enjoyed over my Thanksgiving holiday. Thursday morning, my friend and I cooked a big brunch at my apartment that included her very special Southern Breakfast Casserole and a new recipe that I tried, Baked Stuffed Apples. I looked at multiple recipes to try and figure out how to make them but ultimately I just threw together the most decadent ingredients to ensure we would like what we tasted. Sure enough and thankfully, the apples did not fail (recipe-ish below. And please keep in mind, I am no food photographer, but trying.)

Baked Stuffed Apples

Serves 2ppl

2 Granny Smith Apples halved and cored

Brown Sugar
Sugar

Cinnamon

Butter

Orange Juice

Pecans

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Place apples in a casserole dish insides facing up. Put a pat of butter in the center of each (did I mention this is not a "healthy" apple dish?) Mix dry ingredients together and sprinkle a pinch or two on each apple. Place pecans in center of apples. Pour about a cup and a half of orange juice all over apples. Cover with foil and stick in the oven for 45 minutes. About half way through, I took them out and spooned some of the orange juice from the bottom back onto the apples. Unfortunately I didn't get a shot of the final product, they were eaten too quickly!

With our fantastic brunch we drank lots of coffee and mimosas, more of the latter:). But I do want to recommend the coffee, or rather the coffee maker. I've become a pretty big coffee drinker since living in NYC. It's one of those habits I say I need to stop but know deep down I never will. I particularly love it from a french press. The coffee has a stronger, smoother taste than usual to me. Not only does it taste better but I enjoy making it much more. The process is somewhat cathartic and relaxing to me.

And finally, much later in the day, we scooped ourselves off the couch and made it over to Atlantic Grill for one of the best thanksgiving feasts I've had in a while. Sorry mom, your squash cassserole still reigns supreme! Anyway, in addition to the traditional spread, we had two appetizers and we went big and ordered this:
The oysters were every bit as yummy as they look and the pomegranate seeds gave them a hint of fall flavor. Well done Atlantic Grill! I hope my readers had a great day too!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to whoever's reading this blog! So much to be thankful for this year. Hope you like my turkey sketch, quite an interesting looking bird :)

Chandler, Penny, and Bottletop

My parents are unapologetically obsessed with our doggies. This however, works out well for me because I do miss them a lot and I am constantly getting pictures and sometimes even videos of our three cute canines from Nashville. I'll share with you now, how could this trio not make you smile?

Chandler Bing, my aging but ever-youthful Jack Russell Terrier

Penny (pristine Westie) and Bottletop (our little Mexican perra, we rescued her from the dangers of Isle Mujeres, Mexico)

Miniatures

This weekend, KTW (aka, my handsome boyfriend) and I drove up to Boston. It was my first time and since he's a BC alum, he made an excellent tour guide. We enjoyed two yummy breakfasts at the hotel during our stay and these adorable jars of honey and assorted jams were on every table. I have long loved Bonne Maman for the classic, simple packaging and very tasty jams they contain. I learned from my mother early on that these were the "good" jams and not to bother with Welch's. I know, I'm a preserves snob. My favorite is the raspberry but each one is certainly worth trying!

Organizing

Okay, so perhaps my attempt at an "all special events planning" blog was maybe a little too, hmm, what's the word? Overexcited? Carried Away? Although I would like to add fun event ideas to the mix, I'm still hanging onto the idea of "my favorite things." The two can easily be combined, right? So back to it:

I've lived in 5 apartments in my 3 wonderful years in NYC. And no matter what, the common thread between them all has been...you guessed it, TOO SMALL! Each apartment has of course varied some. But in each of them, it has been either the closets, kitchens, bathrooms, windows, etc., that have left me dreaming of wide open spaces. Maybe it's my Nashville roots, or maybe all New Yorkers have this problem...I'm gonna go with a little bit of both.

Anyway, this is where being resourceful (and the nearby Container Store) come in handy. Currently, I am living in an adorable studio with a huge window for lots of light, exposed brick walls, non-working fireplace, hard-wood floors, I could go on but I'll stop bragging. As soon as I saw the place, I said I'd take it. So now, almost 6 months later, I am still loving the place but not getting along so well with the too-small-to-turn-around bathroom or the very limited closet space and the amount of clothes/shoes/stuff I've accumulated up here. I have taken everything out and put everything back in more times than I can count. I've rid myself of sweaters with holes, pants that don't fit, and anything not worn in the last year. But still, I can't come up with a great solution. However, for an organizer like me, this isn't a problem, it's a fun challenge that I am eager to take on.

Even though my current job is not in the creative field, it does allows me some downtime to explore my creative side and organize, organize, organize. Today, I drew out each of my problem areas to hopefully help me when I do my next clean out/organize/straighten up session. Apologies for the notes on one page, floral arrangements and the John Robshaw sample sale have little to do with my closets...

www.usedeventstuff.com

What a great idea! This website is like ebay for special events. It gives you the option to purchase and sell items you won't ever use again like chairs, candle holders, catering supplies, even floral arrangements. Certainly something to consider on a budget.

Party Time

Although I've enjoyed blogging about items/songs/movies, etc. that I like, I think it's time to give this blog a little more direction. Second to my love of painting is my strong interest in Event Planning, which is what I had been doing since college up until about a year ago. In an effort to continue growing my passion for planning and creating, I'm now going to focus my blog on event ideas big and small including great caterers, fabulous venues, exciting decor, etc. So, without further ado, my first "event-focused" post: (and thank you in advance for reading, I'm very excited about doing this!)

The holidays are such a special time for many. However, for those who might not have the most traditional family (i.e. one mom, one dad, 2.5 kids,) the holidays can be stressful and sometimes uncomfortable. For only $8.00, you can lighten the mood a little with these "new family" cups at your next holiday get together.

Feist

I absolutely love Feist and Mushaboom is one of my favorite songs she does. The lyrics are great and the video is super cute. I'll let them speak for themselves:

"Mushaboom"

Helping the kids out of their coats
But wait the babies haven't been born oh
Unpacking the bags and setting up
And planting lilacs and buttercups oh

But in the meantime we've got it hard
Second floor living without a yard
It may be years until the day
My dreams will match up with my pay

Old dirt road,
(mushaboom, mushaboom)
knee deep snow
(mushaboom, mushaboom)
Watching the fire as we grow
(mushaboom, mushaboom)
o-o-o-o-old

I got a man to stick it out
And make a home from a rented house oh
And we'll collect the moments one by one
I guess that's how the future's done oh

How many acres, how much light
Tucked in the woods and out of sight
Talk to the neighbours and tip my cap
On a little road barely on the map

Old dirt road,
mushaboom, mushaboom)
knee deep snow
mushaboom, mushaboom)
Watching the fire as we grow,
mushaboom, mushaboom)
o-o-o-o-old
(mushaboom, mushaboom)
Old dirt road rambling rose
(mushaboom, mushaboom)
Watching the fire as we grow
(mushaboom, mushaboom)
Well I'm Sold...