Our First Thanksgiving Just Us.....

I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving this year! It was a bittersweet and extremely fun and exciting one rolled up into one for us. Growing up close to both our families in Indiana we always had multiple homes and dinners to attend on Thanksgiving, not to mention so many family members to see and laugh with! Well this year, we decided not to go back home, and have our first Thanksgiving in our new home with just us. Though we missed everyone back home, we ended up having a blast! I had a Thanksgiving playlist ready to go so we spent the day listening to that, watching the parade (on TV....we didn't even attempt to go), and just laughing and having fun! So today I'm letting you in on how our Thanksgiving went with a few recipes included! 

Our Menu

The Perfect Fall Cheese Ball

Roasted Turkey

Stuffing

Green Bean Casserole

Mashed Potatoes with Gravy

Apple-Bourbon Potpies

Since I knew we would be pretty busy cooking all day on Thanksgiving, I decided to make this super cute cheese ball, found here, for us to snack on (mimosas included) throughout the day. The cheese ball was so amazing! We even had to take it away from ourselves multiple times so we wouldn't spoil or dinner! We served it with crackers, Doritos, and green peppers (the peppers were a healthier option for me, but I did try them all and they were all good options). We already had the chips and peppers so I figured why not use them too. I would make this cheese ball anytime of the year! Just don't include the "stem" and you're golden!

The Perfect Fall Cheese Ball

Ingredients
16 ounces cream cheese, room temp
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
3 Tablespoons onion, minced
3 Tablespoons salsa
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups nacho cheese chips, crumbled
top of 1 green bell pepper for stem garnish

Optional for dipping

crackers

tortillas

nacho cheese chips

vegetables: green, red, or yellow pepper, carrots, etc.

With a mixer combine everything except the chips and pepper. Mix until mixed well and creamy.

Place a big piece of plastic wrap in a bowl and scoop the mixture onto plastic wrap. Wrap the edges up and over, slightly pressing down so the cheese ball takes the shape of the bowl and the top is a little flat (easier to sit flat on a surface). Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, roll ball into the crumbles chips and place bell pepper stem on top (you might want to make a slight indentation so it's "in there"). Serve with desired dipping ingredients!

I had to get some action shots of the hubby helping with dinner! :) We actually weren't expecting our dinner to turn out that great since it was our first one. Kev looked at me and said "Honey, this will help us prepare for our future Thanksgiving and when it's not just us." Ummmm........swoon! He's so sweet! Ok enough sap, back to the goods. Well, our dinner did turn out extremely well. We did a roasted turkey that we placed overnight in this Crate & Barrel brine. The next day, we rubbed it with a mixture of butter, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. It was so juicy and had a fantastic flavor! I did individual ramekins with green bean casserole, homemade mashed potatoes and gravy, and a bread stuffing to accompany the scrumptious turkey! We served it with a bottle of Riesling that we purchased from our trip to Cape May for our anniversary. Needless to say, we were stuffed, but that didn't stop us from having our dessert a little while later! After all, it did come from my idol......Martha herself! I made her Apple-Bourbon potpies and served it with an apple wine that we also purchased from the Cape May winery! It was perfect because I didn't think a whole pie would be ideal for two people (I may not always eat the best, but I don't pig out). I cut the recipe into a third and added a pinch of cinnamon to my apple mixture and it was warm and delicious! I served it with the perfect accompaniment, vanilla bean ice cream!      

Apple-Bourbon Potpies 

(serves 6...I cut it into thirds)

Ingredients
4 pounds apples, preferably a combination of Granny Smith and Rome, peeled, cored, and cut into eighths
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup bourbon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 pound thawed frozen all-butter puff pastry
1 large egg, beaten
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional) 

*I added a pinch of cinnamon to the apple mixture

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, salt, and allspice. 

In a large straight-sided skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter over high heat. Add half of fruit mixture and cook, stirring, 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook until fruit is softened, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl. Repeat with remaining 3 tablespoons butter and remaining fruit mixture, then return first batch of fruit mixture to pan. Stir in bourbon, then add flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Divide fruit mixture among six 8-ounce round baking dishes (each 5 inches). Place on a rimmed baking sheet; let cool completely.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out puff pastry to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out six 4-inch squares; place one over filling in each dish. Cut X-shaped vents in tops. Brush pastry with beaten egg. Bake until fillings are bubbling and crusts are golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, then serve with ice cream.

After all was said and done, we were stuffed (even the dogs got a little treat and were out), happy, and thankful for such a wonderful day to celebrate together! We did get a little family time in with text, phone calls, and playing online games (man that technology has sure come a long way...lol) with each other! It was the perfect way to spend our first Thanksgiving! So from our family to yours, we hope you had a great day and remembered all you were thankful for! 

Happy Halloween........Bark

Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween has always been fun for me no matter what I have been doing. I have dressed up many years, obviously for trick or treating in younger years and parties in adult years, dressed up to pass out candy, and just sat back and watched everyone else dress up and get excited. No matter what your stance, you probably do some sort of celebrating or decorating. Why not make this easy and delicious bark that is super festive and you can use many things you already have. It is perfect for snacking on around your house or taking to a Halloween party! You can use various kinds of chocolate (dark, white, semi-sweet, just one, two, etc.). You can also use candy or sprinkles you have already. I used Halloween Oreos because I feel like we always have Oreos around the house and candy corn, but you can use any candy you have (hello leftover candy from trick or treating). Use your imagination and enjoy!

Halloween Bark

Ingredients

12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

12 ounce bag white chocolate chips

about 10 Oreos, broken in pieces 

about 1/4 cup candy corn

Halloween sprinkles 

Prepare a sheet pan with foil. Place about 3/4 of the broken Oreos scatter about on the foil. 

Heat the semi-sweet chocolate chips over medium-low heat in a saucepan, stirring constantly, until completely melted. Pour that on the prepared pan with the Oreos. Smoothing all around until it is as thin as desired (the thicker it is, the harder it will be to break apart). Place in the refrigerator until hardened (about 20-30 minutes). 

Heat the white chocolate chip in a separate saucepan, the same as you did the semi-sweet. Once melted, pour that over the already hardened semi-sweet chocolate. If it is really hot, it can start melting the semi-sweet chocolate and they can combine (just a heads up, it is ok, but you can let it cool slightly if you don't want them to mix very much). Once you have it on and spread out, place the ready of the Oreos scattered around, the candy corn, and the sprinkles. You can press slightly on the bigger pieces to help them set in the chocolate. Place back in the refrigerator until set (again, about 20-30 minutes).

Once set, remove from refrigerator and break apart. Since mine was on one pice of foil, I hit it on the counter a couple times. You can also use a knife to break it apart or your hands (though it may get a little messy as the chocolate melts).   

This was a craft/halloween fun I was having. I bought my husband his favorite bourbon and dressed it like a ghost. For that I uses part of a pool noodle (I had it on hand) and cut up and old white T-shirt. Then I drew on the eyes and mouth with a sharpie and added the signs. 

I saw someone post a picture of Halloween glasses they bought and I thought "Hey I can make that". I printed off Jack-O-Lantern faces, cut them out and taped them on. If we thought it was fun because we could pick out our eyes, noses, and mouths, imagine how cool kids would think it was. If it is a tradition we continue, I might look into making them so they are reusable, but for right now they are one time use. They can be used on any type of glass so have fun with it! I hope these gave you some ideas for a fun Halloween! 

Pumpkin Spice Crunch Cake

If you haven't noticed from previous posts.......I just love fall! The weather is perfect and the colors of the leaves outside are absolutely gorgeous! Now I don't go over the top crazy with making or getting pumpkin everything, but I do like a taste here and there. I made this recipe, found here, because I hadn't seen my husband eat anything pumpkin and actually he wasn't even sure if he liked pumpkin so I thought this would be a good start. The verdict......he liked it enough to eat it. It wasn't a love, but I'll still take it! I thought it was really great and the spice cake helped dull the pumpkin flavor slightly. Plus, can you really go wrong with cream cheese frosting and toffee? So if you have picky pumpkin eaters, or are looking for a different pumpkin recipe, try this one out! Enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Crunch Cake
(for 2 9x13 pans)

Ingredients

29 ounce can pumpkin, unsweetened 
1 box spice cake mix (plus ingredients indicated on box)
8 ounce bag of toffee bits
1 container cream cheese frosting

*If you want to make one cake simply use half of what is stated. Everything is easy to half, except when it came to my cake mix, it indicated to use 3 eggs. I halved it and used only 1 egg and it turned out just fine.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 1 or 2 (depending on how many cakes you want to make) pans with spray. 

*See note above if making one cake. Mix the cake batter according to box directions. Add the toffee bits, reserving about 1/4 cup for the topping. Add the pumpkin and combine. 

Pour the mixture into your pan(s) about 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for about 45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. 

Let them cool. Frost with the cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with reserved toffee bits.

Pyramid Mountain, Boonton, NJ

In an attempt to practice more outdoor photography, we set out to go to Pyramid Mountain early in the morning. There is a "golden hour" rule that most photographers follow and it takes place right after the sun rises and right before the sun sets. That is when you get really nice, softer light from the sun. Well, I was desperately trying to capture that, but by the time we found the place, it was too late. No big deal though, we still walked around and I practiced a bit. The area was absolutely beautiful and the leaves were amazing colors! It's sometimes hard since we live in a city area and so close to NYC that there is beautiful landscapes like this right around us as well. We walked around for quite a while and had the place practically to ourselves which was nice. I am really glad we found it and will continue my "golden hour" quest and to improve my photography! 

My goofball husband. I told him to give me a pose and this is what he did. He was warned I was going to post it :)