Thanksgiving Traditions

See Kellys Korner for more Thanksgiving recipies and traditions.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.
I enjoy the planning and preparation, Cooking while watching the Thanksgiving parades, the house smelling like food all day, gathering of family and friends, and of course everyone eating and enjoying themselves. There were at least 4 courses, starting with the soup, antipasto, main course & desert.

When my mother had her Thanksgivings there were 6 courses. Her Thanksgiving started with 1st course, soup, either pasta fazoulie or escarole and beans. Course 2, antipasti course included, meat try, assortment of chunks of cheese with black and green olives on top, deviled eggs, stuffed mushrooms, Artichokes steamed with salt pepper & garlic, roasted red pepper salad, chic peas with mint, sweet & sour meatballs. Course 3, ravioli & broshole with homemade tomato sauce. Course 4, half baked ham, fresh carrots glazed in brown sugar, honey & clove spice, sweet potato bake. Course 5, the main course consisted of, turkey, mashed potatoes, fresh string beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, brown gravy, and biscuits. Course 6, the desert course consisted of. Horn of plenty filled with a variety of fruit, large bowl of mixed nuts, apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, coconut custard pie, key lime pie, banana nut bread, Pumpkin loaf, pineapple & cherries, & mints.

My thanksgiving meal is not exactly the same every year. I love all the traditional foods that my mother cooked. I can’t bring myself to make everything she cooked. It was just too much food. I scaled my dinner down allot. I have decided to change out a few things every year so I am not eliminating the family favorites forever.

This is the desert table from Thanksgiving 2008.Fresh fruit, Fresh baked apple pie, chocolate cream pie, Homemade pecan pie, Honey spiced roasted nuts, Chunked pineapple topped with a Cherrie, harvest cookies with chocolate centers, mints and Apple cider.
This is a simple Italian Antapasta salad recipe.

1 can of x large black olives, drained and cut in half
1 can of artichokes, drained and cut in half
1 can of chic peas, drained.
1 cup of roasted red peppers, cut into strips.
1/2 cup fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Another favorite is my Roasted Red Pepper Cheese Cake recipe on Family Heritage Cookbook.

Simple Italian Antapasta salad

Thanksgiving course 1 and 2. Pasta fazoulie, deviled eggs, roasted red pepper cheese cake with crustinis, chic pea antapasta salad, & stuffed mushrooms.

I will be posting numerous Thanksgiving recipes over the next few weeks with a complete menu.

Isotoner slippers

Now that the weather is starting to cool off in Florida, my tile floor feels like I am walking on Ice. When my feet are cold, I am freezing. Yes!!! I am wimpy,wimpy,wimpy!!!!

I was shopping yesterday and I went to the slipper section when I saw these Isotoner holiday slippers. I tried them on and I thought my foot slipped into a velvet cotton ball and I was walking on a soft cushion. The inside has an Arch Contour and the front has a toe rest. They are so worm and comfortable. LOVE THEM!!!!

Stromboli

These Stromboli's can be served as an appetizer or a main course. Both could also be served with a side of tomato sauce.

Ingredients:
4-1 lb fresh or frozen dough
2- 6 oz. package of sliced pepperoni
1 lb. of 98% fat free ham, sliced 1/4 inch in length
2 large green bell peppers, sliced 1/4 inch thick
4 cups Shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 egg scrambled
Your favorite Tomato Sauce for dipping

Directions:
Roll the dough to the size of 19 inches x 6 inches. That length will depend on if you like a thinner or thicker crust. If you like a thicker crust, roll the dough to 15 inches x 5 inches. I like a thin crust. That is what you see in the picture. I prefer to fill them with pepperoni, ham, green bell pepper and mozzarella cheese. You can fill them with anything you like. I do recommend that with any ingredients you may use, always include the Mozzarella cheese.

Scramble one egg and set aside. Once you have rolled out your dough, start layering all your ingredients down the center, starting with the pepperoni and ending with the Mozzarella. Now you can start to close the Stromboli by bringing both sides of the dough around and overlapping them. Then fold the two ends closed. If your dough will not stick together you can dip your fingers into the scrambled egg and run it along the seam.

Place the Stromboli on a greased or lined cookie sheet seam side down. Generously rub the scrambled egg all over the Stromboli’s.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or golden brown.

Serve with a side dish of tomato sauce for dipping. These ingredients will complete 4
Stromboli's.

Serving the Stromboli as a main course
Cut Stromboli in half and serve with a side of tomato sauce. Serves 8

Serving the Stromboli as an appetizer
Cut into 2 inch pieces and place on a serving tray with tomato sauce. Approximately 80 pieces.

Hints: When cutting the bell pepper into your 1/4 inch slices, slice the two ends off where it curves. The curves have a tendency to puncture through the dough.

Thanks Kim from "Pair Slices"and Heather from Oswalds Cuties for participating in "What would your children say"? Wednesday.

How many question can your child ask in five minutes?

Here we are again with "What would your children say?" Wednesday. I cherish these defining moments in my child’s life. Children are funny little comedy acts.

My son is at the age of questions. Everything is question after question. He would ask so many questions that I become brain dead.

This event happened on our way to Disney.

Disney is a two and a half hour drive from where we live. The first fifteen minutes of the drive, the Cisco Kid asked about 40 questions. My husband decided to do something brilliant. He turned the tables around and started to constantly ask the Cisco Kid question after question. At that point the Cisco Kid didn't know how to process that information. About a half hour later the Cisco Kid started all over again asking me questions. After the tenth question I decided to turn the tables and do exactly what my husband did. I started asking him questions. The Cisco kid realized that was not what he wanted to hear and he said....... Listen!!!!! I'm asking all the questions around here and I would appreciate it if you didn't ask any until I am done!!!!

The Chief and I just cracked up.

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Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party

Continuing with our Disney trip. The past two days I have posted all about our Disney Trip.

It is so much fun to spend Halloween with all of Mickey's friends. Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party transforms the park into a special Halloween wonderland. All the characters come out and have dance parties. Throughout the night the castle changes colors.
We are waiting for the Halloween parade to start.
It all started with the Headless Horseman galloping down Main Street.

Throughout the park they have candy stations and they give you handfuls of candy.The next morning we got up and the Cisco Kid decided to run around outside our room with his balloon.


Before we left our hotel we decided to have our last vacation breakfast together. As we were waiting to be seated, we thought the fish needed some breakfast also. We were right!! They were practically jumping out of the water for food.
Seeing Figment the night before sparked the imagination in all three of these kids to become builders. They had three very different ideas on how to use the creamer for their buildings.


One of the attractions is Figment.