Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving Eve, preparing for our traditional breakfast:

Challah French Toast and Egg Casserole

Ready to go into the fridge!

Got the dishes washed

and, later, the table set.

Thanksgiving morning!

Thanksgiving afternoon!

We were at my folks with my side of the family.

Since we'd been sick, I'd been relieved of my cooking duties.

But we were all (thankfully!) well enough to enjoy the best meal of the year.

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

 Here's to a great holiday season!

And, for those not on Facebook, here's how I'm looking these days.

Apple Pie Anyone?

We went apple picking yesterday! Simmons Farm, in the south hills of Pittsburgh, has it all: apple & pumpkin picking, a store, a petting zoo, hay rides, etc. We got ourselves a couple pecks of apples, so each of the kids could have their own bag to carry. The varieties of choice: empire and jonagold. Both are crisp and delicious!

Later in the afternoon, Elizabeth and I prepared and baked our first pie together. (We've done pumpkin in the past, but I don't feel like it counts because I've always purchased the crust. This one was from scratch, start to finish!)

Some wonderful person has put together this site to walk you through making an apple pie. It's more elaborate than necessary for me, but the pictures and lists of necessary ingredients and tools are great for baking with a kid. We put a laptop on the table and went to work!

I'll say it again: Happy fall!

This Was My Husband's Idea

Isn't he cool?!

The dirt is crushed chocolate chip cookies. The dump truck is not edible.

Birthday Preparations

A couple of weeks ago we purchased all of the party goods we would need for Elizabeth's birthday party this coming weekend. A few days later I got the goods for making her cake. This year it's a butterfly theme and I found a "howdini" video about making a butterfly birthday cake. Here's the final result:

Elizabeth insisted that the butterfly have stripes on one side and spots on the other. It's her birthday, so I didn't argue. She took care of the spotted side and I the striped. At one point she was giddy with delight as she decorated. And I'm thankful that she's is who she is, and doesn't mind that her mama could not get a crumbless coat of icing on the cake!