a day worthy of thanks

I had a very long Thanksgiving Day. It started like any other, bright and early so we could put the turkey in the oven. But after she was in we left to head to the Turkey Trot in New Paltz. The race isn't competitive at all, in reality they only time the first 300 people who finish. With over 1500 people there, I was certain I wasn't making the first 300, but Mike gave it a shot and ended up coming in 295!! I was so proud of him.

After trotting, we came back home, perused the black Friday ads one final time, finished making dinner and sat down to hang out with the family and eat way too much food. The appetizers were followed by turkey, Brussels sprouts, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, turnips, sweet potatoes and I'm sure I'm missing a few things. It was all delicious and I'll share a few of the recipes I made next week.

Turkey was followed by pie which was followed by quiet rest time. There was no actual sleep, but we all laid down and tried our hardest to rest so we could try to be refreshed for shopping. At 930pm we left and went to get on line at the mall for some shopping! We had a blast. I'm not sure any of us got amazing deals, but we definitely had a great time. I love this tradition!

Getting ready to leave our house...9:30pm 

Waiting outside to get into the mall

Jenn modeling a moose hat in American Eagle

Waiting for 4am to get here so more stores would open!

Jenn getting a little bit sleepy...We took a lunch break (homemade
turkey sandwich break) around 6am.

Leaving the mall at sunrise

While I definitely missed not having the normal big crew there on Black Friday, we made the most of it and had a great time together. We got home around 7 am and actually left again around 2! We went to a different town and different stores. We made it home by 7pm and were definitely pooped! Saturday was a great day full of relaxation and leftovers! Tree hunting was Sunday and I'll have a whole post devoted to that on Thursday!

full of thanks

First and foremost I want to tell you how thankful I am for you, my readers. Every single comment I get, every time someone new follows me, every response on twitter just fills me with joy and excitement and I am SO happy that I have gotten the opportunity to get to know some of you ladies through this little blog of mine.
This beautiful Thanksgiving morning I have tons of warm and fuzzies. I am filled with gratefulness for all of the wonderful things in my life.
Once I pop my turkey in the oven I'm off to spread some merry and run a 5k in New Paltz. This race benefits Family of New Paltz which provides the community with not only a food pantry, but a 24 hour help hotline, support groups and a shelter. I love racing, but it is so much better when I feel like I'm donating to a worthwhile cause. I can't imagine a more worthy cause, especially during the holiday season and the colder months than this one.
These are a couple pictures from last year's race: (Not my pictures! All credit goes to Martin Weiner)

I'm off to enjoy the race and then to finish cooking and celebrate with my family. I'll be heading out tonight around 9pm to go shopping! Watch out black friday, we're coming to share the merry!

wednesdays are for pinning

When I was a little girl, all of my aunts were stay at home moms. For us kids that meant that after the 1/2 day of school on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving was spent at Grandma's house preparing pies for Thanksgiving. In '99 when my Grandmother passed away the tradition continued, but everyone came to my house. We still make pie crust pin wheels with cinnamon and sugar as we used to with Grandma, and we even taught my cousins who didn't ever get to meet her or the ones that were too young to remember the tradition how to do it.
Now that we're all old, most of us work the day before Thanksgiving. So pie day will be a little later in the day today. When everyone gets here between 4-5, we will have the ovens cranked up on high, and my house will fill with the smells of the holidays. I'll probably start baking before they get here. Some pies (like pumpkin) take so little prep but have such a long cooking time that it is just easier to do it earlier. I'll also be preparing a brine for my lovely bird that has been defrosting since Monday nicely in my refrigerator. We'll prep the ingredients for the stuffing, I'll make cranberry sauce and some frosted cranberries for snacking and we'll have Christmas music playing the whole time.
For today's link up with Michelle from The Vintage Apple, I'm pinning all of the things I've been looking forward to this week. I hope all of your preparations are going smoothly and you have a wonderful day before Thanksgiving.

Source: post-a-card.blogspot.com via Tracey on Pinterest

Last week they were teasing us that it might snow on Wednesday, I was kind of thrilled about the idea. I'm sure no one else was, especially with everyone's travel plans, but I love snow...especially when I'm prepping for Thanksgiving and Christmas

Source: theniftyfifties.tumblr.com via Sue on Pinterest

This picture made me teary when I saw it on Pinterest. So many memories of baking with Grandma. Thanksgiving was definitely her holiday and I miss her terribly. But I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to create those memories with her.

Source: stylemepretty.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I have a beautiful Thanksgiving table waiting for me Tomorrow.

Source: songbirdisnesting.com via Caitlin on Pinterest

I had to include this one too, I was too in love with the polka dots.

Source: wildflowersphotos.com via Kim on Pinterest

I'm looking forward to spending the day with my extended family tomorrow. I'm so lucky to have such a huge supportive family. I love each and every one of them!

Source: Uploaded by user via Jani on Pinterest

Black Friday. Ok this made me laugh so hard. This is definitely me.

Source: google.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Christmas tree hunting is a big tradition for us, it will happen Sunday morning at 10am. Watch out Battenfeld Tree farm, we're invading!! (they're well aware - we definitely call ahead to see if they can handle our special type of crazy!)

Source: johnsloaneart.com via ZombieGirl on Pinterest

Sigh. This picture makes me miss my dad.

Source: google.com via Abbey on Pinterest

While tree hunting, we tailgate. This crowd is only slightly larger than my family!

pining for pie

Leading up to Thanksgiving I can't help but think about pie. We never stray from our basic pies on Thanksgiving. Nothing new, no changes and you definitely have to make all of them! We make 2 apple, a cherry, 2 chocolate, 2 pecan and 2 pumpkin pies. That is A LOT of pie. I mean I have a huge family and we usually manage to eat it all over the course of the weekend, but it is a lot of pie! I love pumpkin pie. My sister has always joked that I think it is it's own food group. I love to eat it breakfast on Friday and Saturday morning. At least it is full of fiber so I can pretend the calories are healthy ones.
So for this week's Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday I'm going with pie. Thanksgiving at it's best!

Source: pauladeen.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Chocolate pecan pie. Sounds perfectly delicious. At Christmas I make chocolate/pecan/caramel/whiskey bark and this reminds me of that a bit. 

Source: marthastewart.com via Clair on Pinterest

Pear and cranberry pie. I think I'll have to make this, maybe for our cookies and cocoa party in December. There is something about this that is making me salivate. 

Source: bakersroyale.com via Danielle on Pinterest

Frozen chocolate and peanut butter pie. The oreo crust is really what makes this I think. Plus the drizzle on top. Yum!

Source: theberry.com via Alaina on Pinterest

Pumpkin pie. I love you....

Source: swiss-miss.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I need this!!! So practical! This way I could cut it down to 1 1/2 of some of those pies. Not pumpkin though, I like my leftovers.

Source: etsy.com via Andrea on Pinterest

I need this pie. Really too cute for words.

Source: thelingerieparlour.tumblr.com via Meredith on Pinterest

Since I eat pie I do not look like this. But I sure would like to. 

sweet and tangy

Over the weekend I got an irresistible urge to make cranberry muffins. I make orange cranberry cookies at Christmas time and was feeling the flavor combination. So I went to the grocery store, picked up a bag of fresh cranberries and I was all set.

These muffins are delicious. They are definitely tart, as they are packed full of plump cranberries and copious amounts of fresh orange juice and zest. I'd definitely suggest them to anyone who likes tangy foods! I barely tweaked the recipe adding a little more zest, juice and flour.

With this recipe I'm once again liking up with My Baking Addiction for the Holiday Recipe Exchange! I love this link up. Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by Chicago Metallic!!

Cranberry Orange Muffins:
Adapted from here and here:

Ingredients:
4 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups orange juice
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
zest of 3 large oranges

Mix together all the dry ingredients, once combined stir in cranberries. Make sure to coat cranberries in flour, this will stop them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins. In a separate bowl stir together all the wet ingredients and zest. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just combined - some lumps are ok. Divide into muffin tins. I did about 1/4 cup of batter per muffin and got 22 muffins. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.