Seven Quick Takes

1.

Who knew finding 27+ people nuts enough to make dozens of ornaments in the next two weeks would be so easy?

Who knew that internet friends are the best?  Giving up their first pick when someone else wants it, giving up their slot when they see someone on the waiting list, giving great advice about shipping from home, priority flat rate boxes, and safe hot glue-gun usage.

Who knew that some of the great people who signed up would be so hard to track down?  Please share your contact info on your blog or at least your user profile.  I have several peeps for whom I can't find email addresses.

So if your name is on the list, please contact me asap to confirm that you're in, what ornament your assigned, and to give me your contact info.  My email is housewifespice*at*comcast*dot*net .

Karen @ A Servant’s Memories
Blair @ Blair’s Blessings
Kerri
So Many Things to Love
Michelle @ Liturgical Time
Becky @ Sebastian
Lauren @ Knit In My Womb
Lenetta @ Nettacow
Edited Saturday, November 17 at 12:06pm.  Kerri and So Many Things to Love, please confirm via email.  Thanks to all!

2.

 

After 90+ days, see the finished upstairs bathroom!

This is the shower in a closet.  What?  Everybody doesn't have one?

Why didn't I turn on the lights?  Or use a flash?

Behind these doors lies a world of clutter.

3.

My mother-in-law watches Edmund and Baby J for a total of nearly 45 minutes every Thursday afternoon, while I take Lucy to her voice lesson.  (Girl's got pipes.)  It's always interesting to get someone else's perception of your child.  Inevitably, when Nana is around Baby J, she uses words like "busy," "intense,"  and "wild" to describe her.

So maybe when I compare Baby J to this character from Bridge on the River Kwai, I might not be exaggerating.  That much.

Baby J is Col. Saito, and that makes me Alec Guinness.

Just as I typed this, she forced the Chef to surrender his leather armchair to her.

Last night during dinner, I heard the Chef say, "Don't threaten me with broccoli," as J used a new word for the very first time, "fwo."

She refuses the highchair.  She can climb in and out of it at will anyway.

She forces me to get her specific food items, without really having the vocabulary to explain her needs, and if I get her the wrong thing, she throws it.  I have prepared food for her, only to have her spit it out and force me to surrender my own meals.

Last night, I experimented with her techniques, I hollered "wa-wa" at Peter who had failed to set water glasses when he set the table last night.  He was not amused.

She's got a lot of personality.  Some might say she has extra personalities.

4.

She ADORES this movie though.  She gets very excited and jumps off the sofa to point to the tv and say "Rwarrh!"  or "Peeta!"  

She's actually been yelling "Peeta!" for weeks now.  Aside from thinking it translated as "pizza" or assuming she was taking sides against Gale in The Hunger Games, I had no clue as to why several times a day she would inadvertently yell, "Peeta!"  Or sometimes, "Peeta!  Peeta! Peeta!"

But when we put on this dvd, we all knew.  She means "cheetah!"  Well, at least sometimes.

5.

I won't be able to participate in the Office Space Tweet-a-thon, but that's no reason why you can't.  

I have to fill out TPS reports. 

6.

 

If you're making your Thanksgiving dinner, let me share with you The Best Holiday Cranberry Relish recipe ever.  Bonus, you can make it now, or tomorrow, or as late as Monday, because it chills for four days!

I found this New England Cranberry Relish recipe in the Chicago Tribune over a decade ago.

Wonderful Fact Number One: You don't have to cook anything.

Wonderful Fact Number Two: This recipe can be made up to 3 weeks ahead! If you can keep from eating it for 3 weeks. Ideally, it's supposed to be made at least 4 days in advance. But we had it on Thanksgiving once and don't tell anyone, but I only made it 3 days in advance. Actually, I didn't make it, my 12 year old did. Even better.

Wonderful Fact Number Three: My dear friend, Rose makes this every year and calls me on that day.

New England Cranberry Relish

Prep time: 15 minutes
Yield: 20-24 servings, 4 cups

Serve the relish with poultry, game, pork, ham and lamb. Mix with mayonnaise for a flavorful sandwich spread.

1 bag (12oz) cranberries
1 red apple, cored, cut into 1-inch wedges (We used a granny smith. Shh.)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup NOT PANCAKE SYRUP.
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup pecans

Put cranberries, apple, sugar, syrup, cinnamon, and cloves in food processor fitted with metal blade. Pulse processor on/off to chop ingredients, stopping every few pulses to avoid over-chopping. The texture should not be too fine. Scatter pecans over mixture; pulse until coarsely chopped. Make at least 4 days ahead. Can be kept up to 2-3 weeks, refrigerated. 

7.

 For the best stuffing, I recommend Cook's Illustrated Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing, also found in the America's Test Kitchen Cookbook.

Did you see what I did there?  I sent you to New England for cranberry relish and then gave you the epitome of Southern Thanksgiving with cornbread.  Geographically diverse and delicious.  

For the best green beans, this Martha Stewart recipe is To.  Die.  For.  Plus, it's healthy and salad-y.  Two birds, one recipe.  Plus, three words:  Deep Fried Shallots.

And for dessert, Pioneer Woman and Bobby Flay had a Throwdown and this Pumpkin Bread Pudding was the star of the show.  

Take it easy and use Trader Joe's Pumpkin Bread Mix for the bread pudding.  Hope TJ isn't sold out of pumpkin bread mix yet.  That wouldn't have anything to do with the double digit quantities I purchased.  I learned my lesson last year.

Take it real easy and skip Bobby's Vanilla Bean Creme Anglaise.  I spent $12 on vanilla beans only to ruin that sauce and use real whipped cream instead.  Still Awesome.

Go see Jen for more QTs and have a Fabulous Fanksgiving.