Thanks

Tags

family, thanks, Thanksgiving, traditions, traveling

Awe….

This is my favorite holiday.  It is my favorite month.   I know that it has to do with the fact that two of the most special and amazing people I love the most in this world were born in November.

This is a holiday about family, food, and creating those memories that last a lifetime.  All of those things are sacred to me.

Since we moved over here to Europe for work many, many years ago, we made a pact.  One year our house would be filled with friends and family enjoying a meal and then one year we would take advantage of living in Europe.  The last two years we have broken that tradition.   We opened our house up to many friends for  fabulous celebrations.  The laughter, the stories, the smiles are precious to us.

This year, Hubby and I are hitting the road.  We will be spending this holiday in the wonderful city of Madrid.  We are so excited.  It will be our first time.  We cannot wait to experience everything.  Our bags are packed.  Our itinerary is solidified and our research is done.

However, this holiday begs for us to sit back and reflect on our lives.  It begs for us to see and treasure what we are so thankful for.  I, for one, feel so blessed.  I have a job that I jump out of bed for each morning.  I have a wonderful Hubby that I  still get goosebumps when he walks into a room.  Together we have an Amazing Daughter that continues to just blow us away. Life is so good.

I hope that you enjoy this marvelous time of year.   I will be back on Monday with tales from Madrid.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Test Drive

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bell peppers, Cookbooks, Mediterranean cuisine, mushrooms, olive oil, sweet potatoes

Remember last week when I shared the cookbooks Hubby surprised me with?  Well this weekend I took one of them on a test drive!  Oh it was so much fun!

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First off, the book is just beautiful.  Here is what I mean.  I just had to take some pictures of the inside.

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The layout is bright and festive.  It is just screaming, “Come cook with me!”  I am a visual person.  I like lots of pictures in cookbooks.  I want to know what the dish is suppose to look like.  If I get close, I feel like I won.  I also like to see how they present the food.  Presentation is everything!  One of the lovely things about Mediterranean cuisine is the colors.  Each dish is a work of art in more ways than one.  For those of us that had a difficult time doing a paint by number project, this is how I get my creative juices flying.

The first dish I made was Cinnamon Braised Beef Tajini.  I sautéed bell peppers and mushrooms in a truffle olive oil for some color. Finally, I topped it off with a generous sprinkle of cilantro.

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It was amazing.  The favors blended well together.  I was so proud of myself.

With the second try, I thought breakfast.  I made the Fried Sweet Potato Omelet.

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Oh, we enjoyed ourselves with this meal.  I would have never thought sweet potatoes for breakfast.  Boy, I will now.

I cannot wait to dig into it some more.  It’s a wonder that we are so delighted with food.  I know it is because I have so much fun cooking it!

 

Pumpkin Dilemma

Tags

pumpkin puree, pumpkins

We are reaching the end of Fall.   I, like many others, have used pumpkins as part of making our home more inviting over the past months.  Now that we are about to pull out all things red and green, we have a pumpkin dilemma!

A few years ago, it dawned on me instead of tossing the lovely pumpkins into the compost bin and buying canned unusually orange pumpkin, I could give the ones I already bought a second life.  Yes, I am a little slow sometimes!

I looked up how to purée pumpkins.  The first year I did it, Hubby said it looked like something from Fargo.  Every since then, the weekend before Thanksgiving I gather all pumpkins and chop, purée, and freeze for upcoming soups, muffins, pies, and smoothies.

For some reason I love this weekend.  I love knowing that we enjoyed looking at them for over a month and now we are going to enjoy eating them over the Winter.  No waste!

 

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Nice selection.  I still love the beautiful colors of nature!

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After going thru the food processor….

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These are resting in my freezer.  I ended up with more pumpkin purée than last year.  Now, we are set.  I’m thinking pumpkin soup is in our near future!

Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!

 

 

To Do Weekend

Tags

life, weekends

Weekends are suppose to be about relaxing from the work week.  Of course, we have our errands to run, our clothes to wash,  and our house to pick up.

This weekend will be a little different for us.  Our to-do list has been created and prioritized.  We will be like a busy CEO!

Whatever we will we doing?  Ah……  A lot.

It is suppose to be a chilly weekend here.  Yea!   It is perfect for the things we need to get done.  The not so much fun things about life.  For example, cleaning out the frig or rotation all the ‘thicker’ blankets to the beds or change out wardrobes.  Busy and vital things you just have to do.

We will turn up the 80s music loud and get it done.  We will stop each evening in time to have a wonderful dinner and finalize our Thanksgiving plans.

See, even the not so fun things can be fun!

Have a fabulous weekend!

New Opportunities

Tags

Cookbooks, cooking

Oh boy!   Hubby bought me some goodies!

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I love books.   I really love cookbooks!  As I have stated before, we do not follow a ‘plan’ .  We like to explore different cultures, different ingredients, and have fun at the same time.

I cannot wait to sit down and explore each beautiful page.   I am a very visual person.  I need pictures.   I need to see if my dish looks like it is suppose too!  Yes, I can rationalize anything!

We love to entertain friends or just cook a fancy meal for ourselves.  Having options is amazing!   It is like a kid in a candy store.

So this weekend I will be sipping some mint tea (my current favorite) while making menus in my head!

 

Why?

Tags

Christmas, Holidays, Thanksgiving

I love the holidays just like the next person.   Right now I am focused on my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.  When I walk into a store however, I am bombarded with Christmas music and decorations.  Why?

I loved going into German stores in November’s past.  No Christmas until December.  Most Germans still put their tree up on Christmas Eve.

I do not know what has happened. Holiday decorations are everywhere!   Why?

I will be ready for Christmas 1 December.  I am one that enjoys savoring the holidays.  One at a time.  Am I normal?  Ok, do not answer that….

Thanksgiving is a time to look around to see what treasures we have in life.  A time where we share our appreciation for what we have been given and what we have not.

I will remain a traditionalist.  I will celebrate the holidays one at a time.  Why not!

Venus and Mars

Tags

tomatoes

This past weekend I was under the weather.   Hubby was in charge of grocery shopping.  I made the menu and the list.   On it I put ‘a couple’ of tomatoes.   I was thinking two, maybe three at the most.

This is what Hubby brings back…..

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Tomatoes anyone?

Boy, we will be eating tomatoes on everything this week.

I asked Hubby why so many tomatoes.  His response was, “Hey, they looked really good.  There was this lady that was going on about how beautiful the tomatoes were.”

We then had a discussion about what makes a tomato beautiful…..

Hubby as always was wonderful this weekend.   Even though we have a bunch of tomatoes!

Snowball Effect

Tags

Sick, weekends

Over the past couple of weeks, I have known it was coming.   I knew it was just a matter of time before I crashed.

The one thing I do not like about Fall is about this time of year I always succumb to change of weather.    The runny nose, the coughing…need I go on?

This weekend it hit.  I crashed.  I slept.  I walked around in a dazed state.   It was my body telling me to slow down and take care.  The thing is I do not do sick well.  Laying in bed on a weekend is just criminal to me.

Hubby told me every time I got up to do something to go back and lay down.  I understood, but I did not like it.  At all.

So two days of meds, rest, and doing nothing I am feeling better.  I guess that is the good thing.  I will not think about the missed opportunities of the weekend.  I will just focus on the work I have to do and enjoy, this week.  With my focus being on the upcoming weekend, I will do what I need to to keep healthy.

Happy Monday!

Speciality Shops

Tags

Sauvignon Blanc, shiraz, wine, wine stores

Make no bones about it, we love our wine.  We watched a documentary on American wine makers a couple of weeks ago.  One statement that stood out to me was every time you open a bottle you uncork a history, a story, a culture, and a future.  Man, that was beautifully said.

Ever since I heard that statement,  I consider that when buying a bottle of wine.

We love dry wines.  We love wines from all over the world.  So when we saw this shop in our travels, we had to stop.

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This is a store that specializes in wines from South Africa.  The owners were so friendly.   We were able to sample and compare years.  We asked about pairings for a meal we are planning.

We ended up with a couple of bottles of Shiraz and a couple bottles of Sauvignon Blanc.  We left happy and excited about our upcoming dinner.

You can bet when I open a bottle of the wine I will be thinking of a history, a story, a culture, and the future.

Have an amazing weekend!

Perfect Fall

Tags

Chili, Fall, food

Fall is in full swing over here.   The leaves are bursting with color.  We have broke out the sweaters.  We are also breaking out our Fall dishes.

Hubby makes a pretty mean chili.   We love chili.  Cool temps just beg for chili.  The first chili of the season is  like a rite of the season.  We even have special bowls for the occasion!  I bought them years ago at a flea market.  They were perfectly imperfect.

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Nice, right!

Hubby is nice enough to allow me in the kitchen when he is cooking.

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All veggies were fresh.  No canned stuff for us.

My contribution was cornbread.

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The  treat…

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We had a wonderful meal.  With the colder weather, more bowls of chili will be gracing our table.

Happy Thursday!

Good to be back.