Thanksgiving Decorations

This is a busy weekend for me, so today I am cheating on here a little. I am going to refer all of you to another site that I found for Thanksgiving Decorations. If you put a little thought into your decorating ideas, it can be pretty inexpensive and easy to decoration for the holidays. For instance, I have a clear glass pumpkin shaped bowl with a lid. At Halloween, I take it to work and crumple up an orange sheet of paper (sometimes it takes 2 sheets) and put it inside. Viola, I have an orange pumpkin decorating my office. I can do the same thing at home for Thanksgiving. My favorite decoration is a ceramic turkey candy dish that I bought at a craft fair years ago. The top half of the turkey lifts off to get to the candy.

Now, for the referral to the other web site. I don't know the person who has this site, but it has pictures of the neatest Thanksgiving decorations on it. I have copied my favorite below. The site is DigsDigs. It's their "60 Cool Thanksgiving Decorating Ideas page.


I think the bowl above is just the coolest idea I've seen in a long time. If you already have some sort of clear glass bowl like this, you halfway there and small pumpkins and gourds are so inexpensive. I think I am going to get some today while I am out. Which reminds me, I am already running late to go buy a new tire for my car.

Okay, so it's not flat yet, but if I don't get a new one today, it will look like the one above real soon.

Until next time,

Carol

Veterans Days - Thank you

I want to give a big thanks to all of our military veterans on your day. They risk their lives for us every day and am very proud to say I come from a family full of veterans. God Bless them all.

Carol

Thanksgiving Turkey Safety

November is a very busy month for me. As always, I am participating in the National Novel Writing Month project. I am having a minor surgery later in the month, I have to work on the marketing and publicity for my novel that will be released in December (more on that later), and of course there's Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I may not be posting as often on here this month as I usually do.

I thought this would be a good time to write about preparing your Thanksgiving turkey. I remember my first attempt at baking a turkey all by myself. Like many people, I forgot to take the giblets out and they baked right along with the turkey. That was almost 26 years ago and in that time, I figure I have baked over fifty turkeys. Now, that is a lot of poultry. I've learn so much from those many years of baking and I would like to pass along a few tips on preparing your turkey safely.

1. Thawing a turkey at room temperature or in warm water promotes the rapid growth of bacteria. It's best to thaw it in the refrigerator. Calculate your thawing time by figuring 24 hours for every 5 pounds of turkey.

2. When you're ready to bake it, remove all of the netting and wrapping from the turkey. Remove the giblets and neck bone (check both ends of the turkey) from the body cavity. Discard the giblets, if not using. If you do plan on using the giblets, rinse them in cold water, pat dry and refrigerate until ready to use.

3. Thoroughly rinse your turkey in cold water inside and out. Pat dry with paper towels. After handling a raw turkey, your hands will be contaminated. Do not touch any other food until you have washed your hands with soap and water.

These are just a few tips for making sure your turkey is prepared the safest way possible. If you have any questions about baking your turkey, I would recommend visiting the Butterball web site. I found that they even have a video on there showing how to carve a cooked turkey. That is something I wish I had seen the first time I served a turkey. Butterball also has a tip line that you can call with your questions, 1-800-288-8372 for residents of the U.S. and Canada through November and December.

Good luck with Thanksgiving cooking this year and don't forget to check a few days before to make sure you have all the ingredients that you will need.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Carol

Sour Cream Cookies

I just received word today that my aunt passed away. She was like a second mom to me and one of the things I remember most about her was her cookies at Christmas. They were wonderful. She generously shared her recipe with my mother so she and I could make Christmas cookies together. I continued that tradition with my daughter, always making those cookies at Christmas with her.

Here is a picture of my daughter decorating them when she was about three years old. Many times, I gave them as gifts. I will surely miss my aunt and as a tribute to her, I am posting her cookie recipe so everyone can enjoy them.

Sour Cream Cookies

6 C. flour
3 C. powdered sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. soda
3 T. vanilla
1 C. margarine
2 C. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 C. sour cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Sift flour, powdered sugar, and soda. Mix together granulated sugar, eggs, margarine, and vanilla. Add sour cream and then gradually add the flour mixture a little at a time. The dough will become very thick. When ready, roll the dough out on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.

Cool the cookies and then frost with your favorite icing and decorate with colored sugar or candy pieces.

Rest in piece, Aunt Hilma.

Carol

A Thing or Two about Celery

When celery loses its crispness, place it in a pan of cool water with some raw potato slices for a few hours. When you remove the celery, it should be crisp again.

To help keep the odor to a minimum when cooking cabbage, put a stalk of celery in the pot to cook along with it.

Carol

Pumpkin Spice Latte

The nearest Starbucks to where I live is an hour drive away. So, when I'm out shopping or on a business trip and see a Starbucks, I have to stop.

I do have my favorites, in the summer it's any flavor frappuccino. In the winter, it the Caramel Macchiato Latte and at Christmas I cannot pass up their Peppermint Mocha Twist. Actually, it's probably a good thing I am not near a Starbucks or I would be more over weight than I already am.

This Fall, I have been looking forward to their Pumpkin Spice Latte and this week, I had an out of town business meeting and knew I would be driving by a Starbucks. My plan was to stop and get one to drink for the drive back to my office. To my extreme disappointment, they were out of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. OMG, if they only knew how my mouth had watered all morning with the anticipation of that drink. How could Starbucks do that to me!! So, I ended up with my regular Caramel Macchiato and it was really good, but I am still craving that Pumpkin Spice Latte.

In a week, I have a three-day out of town business trip in a large city. There has to be Starbucks near the hotel and hopefully, I will get my Pumpkin Spice Latte, or I will be one unhappy lady.

I'm doing something a little different this week. I don't have a recipe of my own for the Latte, so I have posting a link to one for all of you to try. This is a Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe made in a slow cooker and from the ABC News' Good Morning America web site.

What are your favorite Starbucks drinks? Post your answer in the comments. Thanks and enjoy your drink.

Carol

Sandwich making hint

In my opinion, there is nothing worse that soggy sandwich bread. I don't know how people can eat one of those Arby's sandwiches that you dip into the broth. My husband likes them, but not me. When I make a sandwich to take to work for lunch, I usually don't add tomatoes because they are the worse at making bread soggy. Sometimes, I don't add any dressing for the same reason, but then the sandwiches are too dry.

My solution is to spread a thin layer of butter or margarine on each piece of the bread or bun. This acts as a barrier to any liquid from the tomato, lettuce, or dressing. It works great. I took a turkey sub to work today for lunch and did just that. I had a nice dry, but fresh bun and a very enjoyable lunch.

Carol