Food

It was dinner time....again.

I was looking for something to make with apples, cause I had a ton of them that we hadn't eaten yet. And I found Apple Cranberry Stuffing on Paula Deen's site.
I thought this was perfect because I also had a lot of bread around. That may sound weird but there is a reason.
Husband and I kept buying hot dog buns for brawts every time we had a football game and we ended up with a ton of hot dog buns that were just wasting away.

So, this recipe called for a few things that I didn't have but I think it worked anyway.

To pair with the stuffing - Paula Deen's Sausage Stuffed Pork Chops with Grits. Husband loves grits. That woman really knows what's good. Not healthy, but GOOOOOOOD!



So, you cut up your apples, celery and onion. You saute the celery and onion until soft and then add the apples and cook for about 5 min, until soft.

Meanwhile you need to soak 1 cup of cranberries in 2 cups of chicken broth for 30 min.

Then you need to add 8 cups of toasted bread cubes to all of that good stuff you just cooked. And some cinnamon.
Oh, and then you mix in 3 beaten eggs with salt and pepper. You are also supposed to do something with cream of celery soup, but I didn't have that.


You pour it in a greased pan and bake it at 350 for 40 min. It came out great.

For the pork chops, you just stuff them with as much sausage as you can and season them how you like. Make some grits on the stove, with milk. Top the chops with the grits and of course - a dollop of butter!
Then, no matter how bad your husband's day was - it is miraculously all better. In the word's of Paula - Best Dishes Ya'll!!

Thanksgiving Project

Garland.

I saw this done on a couple of blogs and I thought, 'Cheryl, you have a lot of freaking ribbon AND fabric...do this!' So I did.

And I had some giant letters that I bought a while back so I painted them and glittered em up.

A pretty easy and cheap decoration if you ask me.

Good Times: Weekend

We are so blessed to live so close to Disney AND our friends.

And we make sure to take advantage of that whenever possible!

Here we all are in front of Spaceship Earth.

Watching the Chinese do their thing.

Hollywood Studios had the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights - and it was amazing!
Can you see the hidden Mickey in this photo? There are 36 total in all the lights.


Here he is :)



Husband and I like to make out under Christmas lights whenever possible.

Get Into the Season: Cooking

My little sister was here for a couple days last week. She loves to cook - like me!

I had purchased a butternut squash and I wanted to make something new and seasonal with her.

So we made, Giada's Butternut Squash Lasagna.

Oh man - it was AWESOME!

First, we cooked the noodles.


Then you cut, gut and cube the squash. You then simmer it in Olive Oil for 20 min, with salt and pepper. Stirring often.

Then you blend it in your food processor.


It gets complicated now so I will shorten this a bit.
You have to make a white sauce with flower and milk. You then sprinkle in some nutmeg.


You blend half of that sauce in your food processor with a ton of fresh basil and then return it to the rest of the sauce.

Next you start your layers.




You need lots of mozzarella for this and some parmesan for the very top.

Then bake.
You can get this recipe too from the food network site. I HIGHLY recommend it :)

Beer Can Chicken

It all started with a chicken and a beer.

This dinner was so easy and delicious. I highly recommend it.

All you need is:

A blend of your favorite spices


A can of beer (you must drink half - I know, it's hard)

And a chicken
Of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but you get the idea.

I rubbed his a** in butter and covered him in spices and a little brown sugar. Stuck him on the beer and into the oven at 350 for 2 hours.

It was delicious and moist. I also made some green beans and garlic smashed potatoes to go with the chicken.

Husband had no complaints. So, in the words of my niece "Try it - you'll like it!"

Crisp Air, Fall Leaves, Family

We just don't get this weather in FL. It was so nice in North Carolina and about 10 degrees cooler up on our mountain than everywhere else we went.

It actually feels like fall and there are leaves everywhere!



We went hiking.







We shot bb guns.
We found acorns - also not included in the part of FL that I am from.

We carved pumpkins.

We baked cookies.

And decorated them.



We made caramel apples.

We ate pumpkin seeds.

(This is what Tiny looks like when her brother is sitting in her chair)

We built fires.
We had a great view... as always.

Good bye North Carolina. See you in December.