shop small

Saturday was Small Business Saturday. You could say our family is pretty heavily tied to small business. Nick has worked for the past going on 7 years with his dad at a business he began over 40 years ago. And I of course have had this going on for a little over a year now. 

In the spirit of #shopsmall we had breakfast at Shapiro's Bakery and Deli (legendary!) and then went to LUNA Music to pick up a few fun things. It's always nice to support local and small businesses whenever possible. You can learn more about the #shopsmall movement here. Happy Hunting. 

thankful

After a couple days spent in the kitchen the feast was finally ready. I love to cook every minute of it. Even when my legs get tired I just pour a glass of wine and forge ahead. It was funny though because by the time it was time to sit down and eat I was ready to just take a nap. 

On the menu: 2 turkey breasts, cornbread stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac n' cheese, green bean casserole, cheddar biscuits, marshmallow salad,  Tennessee whiskey fruit cake, pumpkin pie and a chocolate cake per Lucy's request. I think I only tasted about half those things before I threw in the towel. It was a great day and the house with filled with lots of laughs, giggles and good energy- just what you want on Thanksgiving. 

This picture cracks me up- before my mom took Lucy to see the new Frozen movie I asked her to take a picture with me. She just wanted to go get in the car and was not in the mood. These are the moments memories are made of. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you 

warm food on a bitter cold day

On Saturday the temps took a nosedive plummeting into the mid 20's. We didn't have much planned besides lunch with Nicks mom and his sisters after that we stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up a few things and headed home in time for the kids to take their naps. I then got to work in the kitchen and made our favorite chicken noodle soup. This particular recipe calls for it to be done in the slow cooker so it would also be great to have going one night during the week too.

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 medium cooking onion, peeled and sliced 
• 2 slices ginger (approx. 1/4 inch thick each), peeled
• 2 stocks of fresh rosemary
• 3 cloves of garlic peeled and pressed
• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 carton chicken broth (approx: 980mL—if not using wine add additional broth)
• 1 cup white wine (optional but highly recommended)
• Coarse salt and ground pepper to taste
• 2 cups egg noodles

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Spray crockpot with non-stick spray

Add carrots, celery, onion, garlic, ginger and rosemary

 Arrange chicken on top of vegetables

Add broth, salt & pepper

Cook on low for 8 hours (don't try to cut corners and cook on high for 4 hours because your veggies will not be done- trust me I know)

Discard rosemary and ginger and remove chicken. Shred chicken with two forks and put back into pot

Add noodles and cook on high for another 20-30 minutes

Serve with a rustic bread or the classic grill cheese 

thanksgiving table setting

Microwave safe dinnerware / CB2 table linens placemat / Stripe placemat / Drinkware / Drinkware / Capri Blue handmade home decor

It's that time again when we get down to the nitty gritty of Thanksgiving planning. Making grocery lists, wading through the crowds at the stores, inevitably realizing you forgot something after you get home. Oh well at least you have setting a pretty table to look forward to if you like that kind of stuff like me. We're keeping things really small this year but that doesn't mean it can't be special. If I could set a dream table it might look something like this.

kickin' it old school with rainbow macaroni

The other day after breakfast while I still had the kids attention I decided to break out the rainbow colored macaroni. I used a pretty simple recipe of rubbing alcohol and food coloring to toss the dried macaroni with in Ziploc baggies. I let them soak for about an hour in their baggies before lining a couple cookie sheets with paper towels and then dumping them on there to dry overnight. 

Lucy was thrilled to say the least since she's all about rainbows right now. She went to town sorting  and gluing them down. Gray had fun watching his big sister work. I eventually gave him a couple of cups and he happily poured his assortment back and forth. All in all it was a big hit and I'm already planning on doing it again with different types of noodles to shake things up. 

It's always the simplest things isn't it? ; )