Thankful That's All It Was

Thankfully Ida weakened to a Tropical Storm before hitting Mobile yesterday. Since we are about an hour inland all we got was lots of rain and strong wind gusts. The trees are just about bare now and the yard has a blanket of leaves and limbs. There were a few fallen trees and we lost power for about 5 hours yesterday. I'm just so thankful that's all it was. But in events like this I just like to be prepared because you just never know. I've been through way too many hurricanes to know you never are sure where they are going or how strong they'll be until they get there. They can turn on you and go any direction and strengthen or weaken at anytime.

School systems all around us canceled school but our... and I'm going to be nice... Superintendent decided not to cancel. I kept my kids home anyway. I wanted them to be safe. The wind was gusting way to hard for me to even think about sending them. They are out again today for Veteran's Day.

Hurricane? In November?

Who would have thought it? But there is a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Ida and it's headed this way it seems. Just when I finally got on a roll with the deep cleaning and organizing. Hopefully it won't get too bad and the power won't stay out for too long if at all. Must go now and prepare.... wash up all the dirty clothes, pick up the toys and such from the yard, make a run to the grocery store for a few more non-perishables and fill up the gas cans just in case we need the generator.

Thanksgiving Traditions, Part 1

We all have them, the recipes, the traditions, the way we celebrate Thanksgiving. I think I'll share a few of ours and I hope you'll comment and link to your blog where are have shared a few of yours.

I think a lot of what we do depends on the area we live or how our own mother's and grandmother's celebrated Thanksgiving. My large extended family always gathered together at my Aunt's home. We jammed into a small dining/kitchen area at a large dining room table, a card table and around the kitchen bar. The food was placed on the table until the table sagged and no more could fit and the rest was placed around the room, usually the desserts. We all ate together, no one was scattered around the house into other rooms when it was time to eat. It might have been a bit tricky fitting us all in there when we were all together, but it was worth it.

Over the years, the food served would vary, but you could bet there would always be fried turkey breast, cornbread dressing, chicken and dumplings, green bean casserole, candied yams, peas or butter beans (which was homegrown), corn on the cob, cornbread, homemade biscuits, sweet iced tea, and more desserts than you can shake a stick at. Two desserts that come to mind that were usually present at our fare were sweet potato roll (like a sweet potato cake filled with cream cheese filling) and red velvet cake. Yep, you guessed it, we are from the south, the deep south.

After the meal, we would all help clean up, well the women and children that is, and then the adults would gather around and converse and us children would go outside if it wasn't raining and play. Then if course it was nap time! I do miss that time in my life, it was and is so special to me.

Now that I'm married with a family of my own, I like to prepare the meal, or at least most of it. If my Mom does not go to visit my brother for Thanksgiving, which she does about every other year, she comes here and helps with some of the dishes. MJ's family, his mom, dad and his brother all come here too. Although the number of people is not as big as when I was a kid going to my aunt's, it's still a big deal and a big meal.

So exactly what do I serve at my Thanksgiving meal? Well, you'll have to come back for Part 2 to find out. I'll even share a few family recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation.

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Pie & Pumpkin Bread

It's pumpkin time and Bridget at Bake at 350 is the host of Flavor -of -the-Month and October's theme was Pumpkin. Well, this is right up my alley since my family LOVES anything made with pumpkin. Unfortunately for me I cannot just use the stuff out of the can, I have to use the real stuff. You know, go buy a pumpkin and spend 2 or more hours cutting it open, scraping the outsides, peeling, chopping, cooking and mashing it.

My sweet 5 year old daughter loves pumpkin pie so much that she sweet talked her grandmother into buying a pumpkin just so I could make her a pie. I spent 3 hours total on that pie (see above and the bake time) and you know what, I got one little piece and didn't even get to make a picture! From the time she got home from school to the time she went to bed, the pie was gone! She ate half the pie herself. The rest of us only go one little piece! But I do have cooked, mashed pumpkin in the freezer to make five more pies or even some pumpkin bread. I they all realize how much I love them.

Pumpkin Pie
2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tablespoons plain flour
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 9 inch pie crust or one deep dish pie crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients well. Pour into crust and bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until set in center. Sprinkle more pumpkin pie spice on top and bake another 10 minutes.

Pumpkin Bread
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree ( I do use canned pumpkin for this from time to time)
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dried cranberries or rasins
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 cups white sugar
2/3 cup water
4 eggs

Grease and flour three 7 x 3 inch pans. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Measure flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices into a large bowl. Stir to blend. Add pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, dried cranberries (or raisins), and nuts. Beat until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for approximately 1 hour.

So Busy Time Just Slipped Away!

WOW! Where have the days gone off too? I can't seem to get caught up on anything. I get started on a project and the school calls for one reason or another, or my husband calls and needs a favor and my day is shot. Church functions and doctor appointment trips. I've also been overloading myself with baking committments and that takes up a good bit of my time. I guess when people find out you can bake they come running. Nope, I haven't made a dime off of any of my baking, they all have been favors for family and friends.

One day I'm going to get caught up and I won't know what to do with myself! Until then, I'll be on here every once in a while.

More Baking This Week

It looks like this week is is going to be another one for baking, and lots of it. It really doesn't matter since it keeps raining off and on... it's been this way for two weeks now, rain everyday... and I can't do much of anything else. I really do wish it would go away for a while. MJ hasn't worked very much in two weeks because of the rain and last night as I was out with a flashlight hunting down as few fall leaves for Little Miss B's school project I slipped in the mud. YUCK!

I said I had a lot of baking to do this week and I do. MJ's Mom and Dad BOTH have birthday's this week, one on Wednesday and one on Friday. Being the good daughter-in-law that I am, I plan on baking them a cake. I did tell them that they would have to share one cake, however. Then Saturday is our pastor's 50th birthday. We are having a fellowship for him Sunday evening and I volunteered to bake the cake. WHY did I do that?

Then yesterday my Mom told me she volunteered me to make apple related goodies for Little Miss B's class. You see, my Mom is the school counselor at the kid's school. Since this week is a celebration of Johnny Appleseed's birthday and the beginning of fall, they incorporate apples in most of the classroom activities, at least Kindergarten and 1st grade do. So Mom told the teacher that I would be happy to make something... I hate then she does that, I'm 36 years old and my Mom still volunteers me for things without asking me first.

When Mister C was in Kindergarten, the class brought in different types of apples. They used them in art, graphed then in math, etc. Then on Friday, the apples that were left, the teacher cut up and the class made applesauce in a crock pot and the kids enjoyed it during snack time at the end of the day. I guess this year, they have decided to nix the applesauce, unless they are going to do it anyway. So I decided to make fresh apple cupcakes with caramel icing.

I Made It Through The Week...

AND the birthday weekend! MJ also commented that Mister C needs to have a birthday more often so the house would be a little cleaner and more organized and really it's true. When I know I have a large group of people coming to my home, especially if it's my family, I want everything to be just right. I even got the garage cleaned out and it looked good. Because it rained on and off all day Saturday and I wasn't sure I would be able to get all those people in my house we set up a few table I use for craft shows and yard sales int he garage. MJ went down to the church and borrowed enough fold up chairs from the fellowship hall for us to us.All in all we had a great time of fun and fellowship with our family and friends while the celebrated the birthday of our sweet miracle.

I made the cake... a volcano cake which looked better than it does in this picture, trust me, a lot better, the colors seem to want to run together in the picture. It took 3 cake mixes, 2 yellow and one Swiss chocolate, 4 pounds of confectioners sugar, 1-1/1/2 pounds of butter and 3 hours to make. But Mister C is so worth it. We had a meal of hamburgers, hot dogs, homemade french fries, baked beans, chips, cake and ice cream. I wish we could have these little gatherings more often!