Update from T-Day and our TREE!!!

Thanksgiving was good. BF's family came over. Nice dinner - I thought the turkey was a bit dry, but everyone else seemed to enjoy it. It cooked super fast and I probably should've pulled it from the oven around 1130am [we weren't eating till 2pm] but didn't believe it would be done that early!

As for the menu: heritage turkey, mashed potatoes [instant, though everyone thought they were real!], stuffing with cranberries, asparagus, broccoli/cauliflower/carrot medley, herb rolls and homemade gravy. Best damn gravy too!

The one "slice" of disappointment? His family was in charge of dessert. He asked me at one point what he should tell them to bring - I don't care as long as it's apple. Apple pie, apple crisp, etc. Guess what? No apple anything. Pumpkin pie only. Blech. I don't like pumpkin pie. The only good news is that I was SO full from dinner I couldn't even attempt to eat it anyway but still...

There was no pear chutney because when I mentioned it to BF, it was followed by "WTF is pear chutney?" So..... the night before, MY parents came over for dinner. I mixed up the pears I had with some dried cranberries, splash of orange juice, cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, etc. and used the Pillsbury pie crusts I had & made individual "tarts."

Very clever I must say. Just take a pie crust, cut it in half [so you get 2 tarts], spoon some filling on one end, fold it over & trim off excess dough, pinch the seams closed & cut some slits in the top. Put on a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil to catch the drippings & bake for about 30-40min till golden. Voila! Individual pear/cranberry tarts. Very cool. My mom thought it was clever too!

As for the sticky buns? They turned out pretty good. I followed the recipe but they severely needed more cinnamon/sugar mixture in the "filling" so they didn't seem so doughy but otherwise very good.

And this past Sunday we went & cut down our tree! It was the best time. BEAUTIFUL TREE - it's a Grand Pine. Really thick, curly branches make it so full and beautiful. All the ornaments are from Ikea with a few suprises here & there. All red, silver & black. And the black ornaments actually look good. There's even little Danish flag garlands - both paper and handmade fabric - around the tree as BF is Danish. [If you click the link above, it goes to Wikipedia & gives this great story about the history of the flag!]