how.sweet.it.is

Happy Friday everyone:o) I was catching up on some blogs that I missed in the past few days, and I saw my friend mention that Turkey Day is only 2 weeks away!? Has anyone else wondered where October and November have gone? WOW.

I'm sitting here, excited to be spending the holidays with my loved ones, and brainstorming ideas of how to help my Mom-Mom make Thanksgiving extra special for everyone. Thanksgiving in Mom-Mom's house is a big deal, she will start getting everything ready about 2 or 3 days ahead of time. I am always in charge of making some sort of a homemade craft as a take home gift for everyone but it must also serve as a name plate at each seat.

Thanksgiving dinner at Mom-Mom's house will typically consist of the following: (there really is nothing typical about this enormous feast except maybe the turkey and cranberries)...

Party Punch: Hawaiian Punch, Fresca, Rainbow Sherbet

turkey: one year we did an oven roasted turkey (traditional), a deep fried turkey (thanks Paula Deen), and a rotisserie turkey (my favorite), and gravy of course

cranberries: both whole (my fav) and jelly

stuffing: Mom-Mom takes a traditional recipe, adds all kinds of her love and it becomes a masterpiece

veggies: peas, carrots, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, candied yams, green beans and of course, corn

vegetarian items: we have a few vegetarians in our family so Mom-Mom will make spinach lasagna rollups (the absolute best things you've ever tasted), or veggie soup and potato salad, macaroni salad

Mac and Cheese: now if any of you know me as well as you think you do, you will know what my favorite dish is at Mom-Mom's house at the drop of a dime...yes, her mac and cheese. This is SUCH a secret recipe that you will have to come to Sunday dinner one night and try to figure it out for yourself before we give away the secret recipe. I am proud to say that I have mastered the recipe, figured out exactly what it is that she puts in there at the end that no one knows about to make it taste so freakin' good.

Green Bean Casserole: yep, I'm pretty sure every family has one of these on their table for Thanksgiving, complete with the crispy fried onion strings on top.

Pistachio Pudding: I think its absolutely disgusting because its made of nothing but sugar, but its a family tradition and my cousin Jessica absolutely go nuts for it so we have to have it at every holiday dinner.

There's always dessert...our family loves punkin' rolls (that's for you Mom-Mom!), chocolate pudding pie, apple pie, punkin' pie (all topped with vanilla ice cream), and some of Mom-Mom's wonderful treats that she makes (chocolate covered pretzel rods with sprinkles).

Is anyone hungry yet?

I can't wait to get up early, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv in my pyjamas with my mom, my siblings and my dogs, eat breakfast, then take a drive down to the country to Mom-Mom's house to help her make her house look absolutely wonderful for dinner (I can't wait to post pics of her old farmhouse during the holidays--its.magical), eat dinner with my big family, then head back to Mom's house to enjoy the last bit of Thanksgiving with her side of the family and all of our wonderful friends that come by to celebrate with us.

Happy Friday Everyone:o) Enjoy your weekends!