Thankful

There's so much to be Thankful for this year there's no way I could list it all...

A big happy family to celebrate the holidays with.

A group of friends that no one can beat.

Kai's thriving in her first year of school.

Frodo's healthy with no signs of an old back injury resurfacing (knock on wood)

A welcoming home & lots of comfy blankets to snuggle under.

Actually getting to experience Fall this year, instead of skipping straight to winter like it seems has happened the last couple of years.

My new blog friends. :)

More food successes than food failures
...And I am SUPER Thankful that I learned my lesson and will NEVER combine Franks Hot Sauce with the Popcorn Popper.  lol!

This year we're going to the Hub's sister's new home for Thanksgiving.  With their twin boys they needed more space and even though I've only been there once, I'm LOVING their new place.

My contribution to the Thanksgiving Feast this year is the Cranberry Sauce (NOT from a can).

As soon as I was asked to bring the sauce I e-mailed my Auntie Em (Yes, that would be my Aunt Emily, who I'm named after) to get her recipe.  It's just so good.  Then, since I can't leave good enough alone, I modified it to use the ingredients I had on hand.

AUNT EM'S MODIFIED CRANBERRY SAUCE

2 Bags Fresh Cranberries

1 Navel Orange

1/2 C Maple Syrup

Peel the orange and put it, along with the cranberries and syrup into a blender.

Pulse until well blended but not perfectly smooth.

Chop the orange rind and add to the mix.

Let sit in the fridge over night.  (Taste periodically and add sweetener if desired)

I couldn't believe how simple it was to make!  You don't even have to cook the cranberries.  And seriously, once you have real cranberry sauce you'll never want to go back to the can. :)

I also asked if I could bring a green salad.   Since I'm not planning on having any turkey my original plan was to include quinoa in the salad so I'd have a protein.  But as I thought about it more, I decided to bring the quinoa on the side so that it could be added if wanted. 

And since I'm in a cranberry mood I made up some of this Vinaigrette to put on the salad....

Makes too much for just one bottle!

And then I decided to dehydrate the rest of the cranberries to add to the salad I plan to make. :)

Yep, definitely in a cranberry mood. 

I hope your Thanksgiving is a wonderful as I expect ours will be!  And hopefully you won't have to leave your celebrating too early to hit up the stores.  I'm still a little miffed that they're opening on Thanksgiving Day itself now.  I liked the idea of early risers going out to hunt down great bargins...Even if I have only done it once. :)