Thanksgiving Recap

Why does Thanksgiving always catch me off guard? Last year, Mr. G and I had a wedding that week, and this year it came earlier than usual. I'm never prepared. It's probably a good thing I don't have any fall decorations, because Thanksgiving always comes and goes faster than I can throw away my pumpkin and log into Pinterest for craft ideas.

The one thing I've managed to somehow prepare in time for Thanksgiving is the food. Even though I don't typically start thinking about it until the week before and cooking it the night or two before, it's miraculously worked out so far. I even (successfully) cooked my first turkey last year! We spent Thanksgiving with my in-laws this year, so everyone brought one dish. Since I love holiday cooking, I contributed a couple more. :) Here is what I made for this year's feast:

• 11-lb Turkey (for Mr. G and me)
• Apple & Goat Cheese Salad
• My Mom's Sweet Potato Casserole
• 44 Cupcakes -- 18 Pumpkin, 26 Chai :)

Turkey

For my turkey directions, check out my Thanksgiving post from last year. I only did a couple things differently this year: I cooked the turkey in an oven bag (it keeps the pan clean and browns the skin), and I used the packet provided by Jenni-O for gravy instead of my mother-in-law's recipe (we didn't keep enough drippings to make the latter, but it was still really good!). And FYI, Jenni-O turkeys have a thermometer that pops out when the turkey is cooked, so it's super easy to tell when it's done. I made this for our "round two" of Thanksgiving at home, just for Mr. G and me. We had it with mashed potatoes and leftover sweet potato casserole (starches much?).

And in case you're wondering, I'm STILL eating turkey leftovers.

Apple & Goat Cheese Salad

This was inspired by the Apple Gorgonzola Salad at Buca di Beppo. I worked there for four years, and that salad was always my favorite. I posted this recipe once before and called it the "summer apple salad." Here's the link. Try it out -- it's a light, sweet salad that pairs well with a raspberry/cranberry/walnut vinaigrette and can be enjoyed as much in the fall or winter as in the summer. :)

Mom's Sweet Potato Casserole

My mom makes the best casseroles. Maybe it was her Southern roots, but holidays at my house were always delicious and abundant. This is one of her sweet potato casserole recipes. I've made this one three years in a row now, but this year was the first time I tried the crunchy topping (usually I just do marshmallows). For the record, the crunchy topping is way better! Here is her recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 c sweet potatoes (canned is fine)
• 3/4 c sugar
• 2 eggs
• 6 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 c milk
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• Topping:
• 3/4 c crushed corn flakes
• 1/2 c chopped nuts (I chopped up honey glazed peanuts)
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 6 tbsp melted butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Bake sweet potatoes according to directions on can. Mash when they are cooked.
3. Add eggs, melted butter and spices to mashed potatoes.
4. Slowly add milk until mixture reaches pudding consistency.
5. Pour mixture into greased 9x9 pan and bake for 20 minutes.
6. Sprinkle topping on casserole when it comes out of the oven. Return casserole to the oven to bake 10 additional minutes.

Chai Cupakes

I've been wanting to make chai cupcakes for a long time. I have a slight major obsession with chai tea. I drink it every single morning while getting ready for work, and I usually order it whenever I go out for coffee. (For those who share my obsession: my favorite chai makers are Panera, Starbucks and Uncommon Grounds in Minneapolis.) Sadly, these cupcakes turned out to be much more challenging than I expected due to several issues I encountered with this recipe. I got it from Pinterest (naturally), and the blogger who posted it neglected a few details:

1. I had no idea how many cupcakes the batter was supposed to make (I wanted 12 cupcakes and ended up with 26).
2. The ingredients were very imbalanced -- the dry/wet ratio was off due to the pot of CHAI TEA I added. Even after adding several additional cups of flour/sugar and test baking three cupcakes, I still ended up with soupy batter and sad little cupcake craters.
3. The frosting recipe (honey cinnamon swiss meringue) lacked directions entirely. Have you ever made swiss meringue? If so, you know that it requires VERY specific directions. With most frostings, if there are no special directions, you can pretty much throw all the ingredients in the KitchenAid and mix them up. Not so with swiss meringue! I eventually found these directions and was able to make a successful swiss meringue (after throwing out a batch), but Mr. G hated it. :( I liked it, but just in case I was the weird one, I made a double batch of my go-to buttercream -- Magnolia Bakery's vanilla buttercream. (Pro tip: use less butter or more confectioner's sugar if you want buttercream that doesn't melt; I've learned this the hard way. Multiple times.)

Thankfully, even though they looked pitiful, the cupcakes actually tasted amazing. I think they may be my new favorites.... In spite of how angry they made me!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes last year around Thanksgiving for the first time. Here's the link to my post with the recipe. This year, I substituted the vanilla buttercream for the cream cheese frosting and sprinkled cinnamon on top. I was going to make a salted caramel frosting, but after two (kinda) failed attempts at the swiss meringue, I just decided to make something that would work for both the chai and pumpkin cupcakes. Whatever, I was tired.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you try any new recipes, or do you have classics that you always make? Feel free to share your recipes and your cooking/baking stories and screw-ups with me. :)

<3 Mrs. G

P.S. I may not have any Thanksgiving decorations, but Christmas I've got covered. Right now I'm working on a burlap ruffle tree skirt (Pinterest project, of course). I'll post it soon!

Redefining Home: My First Thanksgiving in Minnesota

Hello everyone,

In the spirit of the season, I thought I would take a post to express some gratitude, talk a little about home, and share how I made my first ever Thanksgiving turkey.

Let me begin by saying how thankful I am for my husband. He is still my favorite person in the world, and he knows me better than anyone. Plus, we make an awesome team. He regularly does the dishes and laundry and sometimes even cleans exactly when I need it, but I don't have to tell him. He just knows, and he does it. He also gets up with me every morning at 6 am even though he doesn't need to wake up for another 2 1/2 hours. And he listens to me go on and on about work, sometimes for my entire 40-minute commute home. And yes, sometimes he drives me nuts and occasionally embarrasses me in public, but in our own way, we're perfect for each other, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The longer we're together, the deeper our love grows. Nothing is better than being able to spend every day with your best friend.

Another thing I am thankful for is my wonderful, ever-growing family. Just this past weekend, my brother-in-law got married to a sweet girl who will be a great addition to the family, and my sister-in-law started planning her wedding for next May. I am also super excited to be going home to visit my side of the family over Christmas. I got a little homesick for Nashville on Thanksgiving, and I wasn't able to be there for Christmas last year. It's time to come home.

This brings me to my last point of gratitude - my new home here in Minnesota. "Home" has taken on a new meaning for me since moving away from Nashville last September. I was born there and spent my entire existence in the same house (with the exception of college dorms/apartments) up until my wedding day. I remember how weird it felt that night before - knowing that as soon as I came back from my honeymoon, that room, that bed, and that house would no longer be mine. It would be my parents' home, and even though I would love coming to visit, I would never see it the same way again. Connecticut never felt like home. It was beautiful, and we made some wonderful memories there starting out our marriage, but it was also very lonely. I cried a lot in the beginning, not because I was homesick but because I felt homeless. When we came here to visit in January, I immediately felt what I had been waiting to feel for months in Connecticut - that sense of comfort and belonging. I knew this was where I wanted to live, that this is where my home would really be. Thankfully, God worked it out (in some amazing ways - see my very first post for details), and we were able to move here and finally start a home together. And you know what? I really do love it here (to the shock of my Southern friends and family). I love the snow, the evergreen trees, the outdoor hockey rinks, the corn fields, the Twin Cities, the sports teams (even though most of them suck) and the accents. And I love my little townhouse that I've been decorating with homemade crafts, thrift store finds and IKEA awesomeness. Now that we have our Christmas decorations up, I love it even more. I look forward to buying a nice house someday with Mr. G, but for now, this is perfect. I feel very blessed to call Minnesota my home.

And now for the food! Many thanks to my mother and Mr. G's mother for all the turkey tips. :) I struggled a little at first (my turkey was still frozen on the inside, so my fingers kept going numb trying to find the giblets), but once it was prepared, cooking it was super easy!

Here's my Thanksgiving turkey how-to:

1.  I started by washing and dry patting my turkey, including rinsing out the inside. 

2.  Take out the neck from the top (it's impossible to miss) and the bag of giblets from the bottom. Rinse again. Your turkey should be empty now, like the picture above shows.

3.  Cook for 4 hours at 325 for a 14-lb turkey. See the directions in the package for other sizes. I covered it with foil even though it said not to, because it keeps the turkey from drying out. Keep in mind that if you do this, it usually takes longer to cook than the directions say (mine said 3 - 3 1/2 hours). To make gravy, add a cup of water to the bottom of the roasting pan (again, even though it says not to) and then boil it afterward with flour/corn starch and salt. It's seriously the best gravy I've ever tasted...

 

4.  To check if the turkey is done, stick a fork in the leg and see what comes out - if the juice is clear, the turkey's done; if the juice is pink, it's not done. Then carve and serve! Here's how mine came out - I would show you the whole turkey, but Mr. G decided to pull all the skin off of it first, so it turned out looking like something from a horror movie. It still tasted amazing, but if you want a more "picturesque" bird, leave the skin on for photos.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Feel free to share any family recipes as well as any Christmas crafts you've made. I have a few planned for the weekend... Inspired by Pinterest, of course. ;)

Also, I would love to hear your comments on what "home" means for you. Here's a blog entry that really resonated with me about celebrating the holidays and creating traditions, no matter where you are or who you're with. It makes me even more fuzzy inside that she has a child with special needs, something that has always been close to my heart.

Happy Holidays!

<3 Mrs. G

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Hi everyone,

As promised, here is my pumpkin cupcake recipe that I found on Pinterest:

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
Salted caramel drizzle

Even the mix looks like fall. :)

All 48 cupcakes!

On my new cake stands - one DIY, one a thrift store find!

I think this might have been my best batch yet, and at 48 it was definitely my largest... I made them because we had 16 people over to our house last week and I was in charge of dessert, plus I had to make extra to bring to work, of course. I had been wanting to make pumpkin cupcakes for quite a while anyway. Molly and I finished off the last two tonight. :) Still delicious!

Are you ready for Thanksgiving? Mr. G and I bought our turkey this week. We're actually having Thanksgiving with his family and his brother's fiance's family since their wedding is on Saturday and her whole family is in town. There will be a ton of people there, but I'm only responsible for green bean casserole. Still, we bought a turkey because Mr. G loves turkey leftovers, so after a big Thanksgiving lunch we'll have a 14 lb. turkey for dinner. Just the two of us... At least his sister and brother-in-law will be staying at our house to help us finish it off. Between Thanksgiving, bachelor/bachelorette parties, the rehearsal and the wedding, this will be a busy week for us... Wish me luck! It will be fun, though.

Happy Thanksgiving! Feel free to share any yummy recipes. :)

<3 Mrs. G