Happy Day after Thanksgiving

Well, it has been a busy but successful week. Since you last read, I managed to pull together the luncheon at church with plenty of food and hungry people fed. My chicken and dumplings were delicious, and there was just enough left in the crock pot to get me lunch a couple of days this week. I also had a nice gathering Tuesday of the Queen Bee’s. Though we were small in number there had been plenty of progress made on the monthly UFO challenge. I put photo’s of their projects up on my Facebook page –

I had fun getting ready for the ladies – deciding on where to set my Autumn Jubilee creations.

The “first” Autumn Jubilee runner fit perfectly on the top of the buffet.

The “second” Autumn Jubilee runner I made a tad longer, and it worked well on the dining room table.

Then I decided to use the placemats on top of my 2 treadle sewing machines in the dining room.

Which of course, I had to remove so the quilters could see the machines hiding underneath. One of these days, I am going to thread those machines and do a little stitching!

And then of course, the big day on Thursday, with Thanksgiving. I was asked to bring the sausage stuffing; the cranberry sauce and an apple pie. I did some of my cooking on Wednesday and the rest on Thursday before traveling a very short distance to enjoy the afternoon with family.

I posted and shared to Facebook my favorite Cosmopolitan Cranberry Sauce (must be over 21 to enjoy).

The recipe can be found on Epicurious . com . The adults seem to really love this recipe. I have made this for the last several Thanksgivings, from fresh cranberries. This year, I doubled the recipe, and think the “doubling” of the liquids was a bit “much”. At least, I felt that way when I made it Wednesday. You introduce the vodka and triple sec into the cooled cooked berries. I felt like it was too watery. I left it to chill over night and it did thicken up, but not as much as I had hoped. Thursday morning, I strained the chilled cranberry sauce and drained off into a kettle the excess liquid and reduced it down to a more syrup like consistency. After the syrup cooled, I reincorporated it back into the cranberry sauce and refrigerated for several more hours. It did help with the “less fluid” look of the cranberry sauce. And, there was only a little bit left to have as leftovers, so I guess it was well received. So, maybe I boiled off the booze, but I think the overnight “steeping” allowed for much absorption by the berries. If I double batched again, I think I would not fully double the liquor. All was well and those that eat cranberry sauce seem to love this recipe. Of course, now with a little one in the family, I may be asked to forgo the favored recipe for one that is made in a more traditional fashion.

My son-in-law likes apple pie, so I did a deep dish. It is fun to get out the gadgets when it comes to cooking. The Apple-peeler-corer -slicer device is a Pampered Chef item, as is the big measuring cup behind it.

Setting the peeling blade depth just right takes some practice, and if your apple is odd shaped, sometimes you get left with a bit of peel on the slice. I like Granny Smith apples for pie the best because they “hold up” to the cooking. I used the Pampered chef stone “Deep Dish baker” for the pie, and was surprised how much my crust shrunk in places and how much these apples “cooked down”. My next pie (note to self) will be stuffed with even more filling! Epicurious had a great article called How to make the Best Apple Pie . It talked about the liquid in apples and how to use that to your best advantage. I followed their suggestion, and no soggy bottom pie! (It also helped when it came to those cranberries!)

We had a delightful time and enjoyed everything. My granddaughter was decked out for dinner in one of my latest bib creations. (I got to sew on Wednesday, and after I finished up the table runner I was working on, I got busy making 4 new bibs!!) I can’t believe I failed to take a picture of her “first Thanksgiving”. She did look adorable in her Turkey football bib! (The triangle shape is so stylish when worn, and great for a teething baby; but not the “best” for keeping mashed potatoes off the clothes or out of the hair!)

There was to be some fun with the food and the eating at Thanksgiving.

My daughter made this creative platter! It was hard to reach in and spoil the design! I can report it was delicious! I had some fun while cooking, taking and sending pictures back and forth with my daughter who is many states away. My saute pan full of onions, garlic and celery was aromatic, but the picture doesn’t do it justice. Somehow stuffing never made the photo book! (It was however tasty.) Both daughters are fun to hang out in the kitchen and share cooking duties. They share their recipes, menus and ideas freely. So, even if we are far away from each other, it is like we spent some part of the day together.

Today is “my day”. I have some sewing that needs to get done before tomorrow – TRAIN pillowcases. No black Friday shopping – no mystery quilt (either one) for me ! Then the next 2 days are TRAIN days —