Thankful~A Thanksgiving Recap

How is it that it has already been a whole week since Thanksgiving Day? As I get older and my kids get older, the Holidays seem to go by so much faster than they used to! Maybe it is because there is so much more to do for them when you have kids. Even though we were insanely busy, we had a wonderful 4 day holiday this year. It was filled with visits from family and dear friends-both in person and on Skype. It is definitely one we will always remember.

This year, for the first time, we got to see ALL of our nephews and our niece for Thanksgiving. We have 4 nephews ranging in age from 2-13, and one niece who is graduating from high school this year. My girls absolutely ADORE their oldest cousins! We don't get to see them often because we live so far apart. But this year we have gotten to see them 3 times already, and that is definitely something my husband and I are so very thankful for. Our oldest nephew actually spent 4 days here at our house because his girlfriend happens to be my best friend's oldest daughter(long story). So she also spent most of the week with us, which we loved. She is an awesome kid.

Our other 3 nephews are from my side of the family, and they are so stinkin' cute! All of my girls get along so well with them, so when they were together this time, it was so much fun to watch them together. The two oldest are especially close and spent hours playing Hexbugs and cars and Legos. My daughter did learn how to belch like a boy last week, but I can live with that.;-)

For Thanksgiving Day, Cat wanted to do a food art project she had gotten the instructions for in her Cooking Club at school. It was a turkey made out of fruit and cheese (yeah I know... cheese. But I didn't even touch the cheese- I left that to my husband! And it was on the kids' table so nowhere near me!)
The kids seemed to have a good time putting "Gobble Gobble" together. He didn't look exactly like the picture, but that's ok:-) They had fun and that's all that matters!


I tried to find something other than cheese to use, and we thought about Cantaloupe but it's out of season, and with the recent recalls and health issues I am not about to buy precut grocery store melon to eat. (Ours comes from our CSA).

Friday we had the brilliant idea to go to Christmas Town at Busch Gardens. (If you've never been- Busch Gardens is an amusement park and their theme is Europe. It's broken down into countries: they have England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and New France AKA Canada. For Christmas they decorate the entire park with lights, add special shows and Christmas food, and have special events. It really is a great time!
We thought that since most people would be tired from Black Friday shopping the park wouldn't be that busy. Boy were we wrong! It was a ZOO!! In fact, it was so busy that by 5pm that had to close the gates because they were at capacity. We were already in the park by that point. Mom wanted a picture of all 6 grand kids with Santa (and BG has the best Santa around!). We waited in line for 45 minutes, with SIX kids under age 8. By about halfway through I pulled out the Goldfish crackers and dispensed them one by one to each child. That kept them busy, entertained, and fed. For as cramped as we were, the kids did awesome! Santa was very patient, the kids all cooperated, and we managed to get a great picture of all them.


And then just mine:


Saturday the plan was to drive down to the Outer Banks to take our oldest nephew back to his parents, who were spending Thanksgiving at their beach house. We always love going down to the Outer Banks, even if it's just for the day. Since the weather was amazing that day we made sure we spent a little time down near the water.

My idea of Heaven on Earth.



Even though it was cold, we had to get our feet wet! It wasn't that cold actually.


I am so very Thankful for my family.

Before dinner we went up to Jockey's Ridge to see some kites lit up with Christmas lights. Jockey's Ridge is a huge sand dune in the middle of the Outer Banks and is a great place for flying kites or to just get amazing views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sound.






We also had fun playing in the sand:-)

After our adventures we had a delicious meal made by our brother-in-law who is a professional chef. I love when he cooks for us, because he teaches me something new every time we get together. This time we had Duxelle Stuffed Pork Tenderloin and it was amazing. I can't wait to make it! And of course now I have some tips from a professional on how to make duxelle the correct way. We also discuss ways to make gourmet dishes dairy free. And any time I have questions I can call him and ask. Spending time with him is making me seriously consider going to culinary school once my girls are a bit older. Or at least taking some cooking classes. We'll see...

It was a busy whirlwind of a weekend that went by entirely too fast. But we have some great memories, and my girls will always remember this year.

This year, and every year, I have so much to be Thankful for.

Now on to Christmas...

My Dairy Free Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving is only a couple short weeks away, and most us of are already planning either our menu or where we are going to spend the day. For those of us with food intolerances or allergies, this can turn into a rather difficult challenge. Most holiday food, especially for gatherings, has a lot of dairy in it that is both hidden and obvious. If you are playing hostess for the day, trying to decide what to serve non dairy-free people can be tough, especially if they are used to eating all things with cream, milk, butter, and cheese.

This year we are going to be spending the day with my parents. It's no secret that Thanksgiving is my Mom's holiday in our family. She hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, I get Christmas Day. It works out very well. Ever since I was a kid she always made the dinner, and it was/is always absolutely delicious. My favorite smell (other than the smell of my babies) is walking into her house on Thanksgiving Day. It takes me back to my childhood every time.

~Thanksgiving a few years ago~


There have been a few years in my adulthood that we haven't spent Thanksgiving with my parents, but not many. Usually the years they go to visit my brother and his family we spend the day with my in-laws, and I host at our house. But even the few years we have been on our own, I have stuck with her traditional menu. Last year we hosted friends of ours from South Africa who had never celebrated Thanksgiving. They brought a few of their traditional foods to share, such as Bobotie and a Trifle. We watched the Macy's parade, made Shirley Temples for the girls, drank mimosas, and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. This year they have taken our holiday back to South Africa with them and are sharing the day with friends of theirs who also used to live in the States.

~Last year's Thanksgiving~



Mom and I have come up with our traditional Thanksgiving menu this week so we can get our shopping done early. My oldest has also picked out the centerpiece she wants to make.

What we have to look forward to:
*denotes what I am bringing

Appetizers
~Veggies and a dairy free sour cream dip*. (this dip is a tradition in our family- Mom has been making it for years, and luckily I have figured out a way to make it dairy free. I will share the super simple recipe in a later post)
~Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Dip*
~Mini Crab Cakes*
~Mimosas

Dinner:
~Fresh- not frozen- Turkey: simply oven roasted, not stuffed (takes longer and dries out the breast meat)
~Mom's homemade Stuffing. So simple, yet SO GOOD.
~Mashed Potatoes
~Peas
~Mashed Butternut Squash with Cinnamon and Nutmeg*
~Roasted Acorn Squash (Recipe will be posted after Thanksgiving)
~Green Bean Casserole*
~Candied Yams
~Sweet Potato Cornbread*
~Mom's Homemade Cranberry Orange Relish (recipe will be posted)
~Dinner Rolls
~Stuffed Celery Plate*
~Pickle and Olive Platter

Dessert:
~Apple Pie
~Sweet Potato Pie*
~Pumpkin Pie*
~Pumpkin cupcakes

Of course we will also have wine with dinner, coffee or tea with dessert.

That's a lot of food and we are definitely going to have leftovers! Luckily it will be cooked between 2 kitchens. Seems like a lot of work, but between Mom, Dad, David, and myself we get it all done very efficiently. This year my oldest is also very excited to get to help make dinner. Last year she got to help make dessert.




So there you have it- our Dairy Free Thanksgiving. Just because you are Dairy Free does not mean you have to miss out on a good meal. And it does not mean you need to spend hours slaving over a meal of fancy or strange dishes that dairy loving people may not like. You can have a simple, elegant, comforting, delicious meal and no one will ever even know you cook without dairy. Sometimes simple is better.

What is on your Dairy Free Thanksgiving table this year?

Happy Cooking this Thanksgiving!!

Pumpkin Patches and Pot Pie- The Perfect Fall Day

Halloween is definitely one of our favorite holidays in our family (the only one better is Christmas of course!) Yesterday we celebrated the beginning of Fall and upcoming Halloween by going to the Pumpkin Patch to get our pumpkins, mums, and hay bale for outside.


The girls love decorating for Halloween as much as they love decorating for Christmas, and every year we add to what we have. I have a feeling that one of these days we will be that crazy house in the neighborhood that people drive by on purpose. Once we got home from our adventures at Pumpkinville, we set to work getting the house decorated. The kids and my husband got to work on the yard while I got to work on dinner. Here's a sneak peak at what they have come up with so far:



Meet "Mr. Bones". Yes we named him.


Huge hairy spider- we are going to light him up somehow.


This was my contribution last year- some days it's so fitting!
There are more decorations out than this, and still more to come I am sure. We also have purple lights up, tombstones in the garden, strobe lights, and the girls want a fog machine. Daddy's all for this of course! We don't (and won't) do anything gory or gross, but my kids like the creepy decorations, that's for sure!



Since it was a chilly, drizzly day it was perfect for a comfort food meal. I had come across a recipe for a vegetable pot pie that I wanted to try. I made some huge changes to the recipe- not just to make it dairy free, but I also changed some of the veggies called for because they aren't very popular with my kids. This is adapted from one found on FamilyFun.com.

There are quite a few steps to this, but it really is not as hard as it seems. You have to cook the vegetables, make the filling, add the veggies to the filling, make the topping, and bake. But since there are a few separate steps, the ingredients list needs to be separated as well.

Ingredients:

Vegetables:
1 package frozen vegetable medley with peas, corn, carrots, and green beans
6-7 small red potatoes, peeled and chunk ed
Broccoli- about a cup
1 large carrot sliced (we like carrots)
1 small- medium Onion- quartered and sliced
1 cup Mushrooms- sliced



Filling:
1 cup Soy creamer-plain ( or non dairy milk)
3 and 1/2 Tablespoons Earth Balance Dairy Free margarine
1 teaspoon Thyme
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
1 and 1/4 cup Vegetable broth ( you can use chicken if you want)
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper



FOR THE TOPPING:
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup soy milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon salt



Directions:
1.Start by preheating the oven to 400ºF (so you don't forget!). Put the potatoes, carrots, broccoli, and frozen veggies in a pan with enough water to cover.Salt the water (if desired), bring it to a boil, and then allow the vegetables to continue boiling for about 4 minutes. Drain the vegetables and set them aside.



2.While the veggies are cooking, melt the butter slowly over medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add the sliced onion and mushrooms. Sauté them, stirring often, until they're soft. Stir in the flour and cook the mixture, stirring continuously, for about another 30 seconds.


Add the vegetable broth, creamer, salt, pepper, thyme, and garlic powder. Continue to stir until the sauce thickens.



3.Add the vegetables to the sauce and combine. Add more seasoning, if desired. I found it needed a little more salt and pepper. Let the sauce and veggies come to a gentle boil for a couple minutes while you put the cornbread topping together. Be careful not to burn it though.



4. Make the corn bread topping. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the soymilk, egg, and oil and stir until evenly blended. Transfer the filling to a casserole dish. (I sprayed my casserole dish lightly with cooking spray first, to prevent sticking)



Spread the batter over the filling. Make sure it covers it completely- mine didn't and I had a couple holes-oops!


Bake until the top is golden brown and the sides are bubbly- about 25-30 minutes.

Next time I will take more care to make sure the topping is spread evenly so it looks pretty.

Serves about 8. (or a family of 5 2 with leftovers)

While it was baking away in the oven, I got to work decorating the inside of the house for Halloween.
This is still a work in progress since I need something to go behind the wine bottles, but I love it already.


Once it was done, we sat down as a family and watched "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" while we ate our dinner and had hot apple cider. It was the perfect end to a perfect Fall day.




(This recipe was heavily adapted from the original found here. I omitted the cheese, dairy milk and made a few other changes)