Thanksgiving Weekend and the Blizzard from Hell


While we waited for our own personal Thanksgiving to arrive...we were basically snowed in at my mom's...here's what we did to avoid cabin fever:

We ate a lot of fantastic food

we did a bunch of arts and crafts

Check out these cute tags made by Reilly and my mom. So cute!!

We played with play dough

Kameron and Dane

We read a lot of books in our jammies

We played in the snow...and played in the snow...and played in the snow

Dane and Ailey

Dane and River

We made snow ice cream

Eating snow ice cream...delicious!!

Brynnie liked it!!

We played this game which was so much fun. I can't wait to play it again.

We played with cousins, drank a lot of hot chocolate, laughed a lot, had a few squabbles, and were grateful to be together.

Finally the Big Day arrived...

Our gracious host and hostess

Ken carved the bird

Kirk ate the neck...gag!!

Grannie arrived after a harrowing slick and snowy trip chauffeured by two handsome grandsons...Kirk and Tyler. It took a bit longer than expected. I quote Kirk's Facebook post:

"If my mom ever gives you a shortcut for a route, don't do it! She is incredible at so many things, long routes with great views being one of them!"

Reilly made individual mini-cheese balls in the shape of pumpkins. Yum.

Dane and Ailey

All the cousins except for Jaylah. We really missed Jordi, Ramon and Jaylah.

Reilly and Kaiden

The kids table

The whole crew

Happy Thanksgiving!!

(By the way...we have already received more snow than we got all last winter...and more is on the way. We thankfully made it home safe and sound last night. Everybody ended up extending their stay another day and I am so glad we did!!)

Thanksgiving 2010


This Thanksgiving is not our typical Thanksgiving because it is Friday...the day after Thanksgiving...and we haven't celebrated it yet. My brother, Kirk, and his son Kaiden are coming to town on Saturday so we are celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday. But yesterday we did travel:

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...

And...traveled on the worst roads ever. Pure ice. Cars and SUV's were off the road all over the place. We were so happy when we pulled into my mom's drive way. We are here until Monday night.

So while all of you are still stuffed from your Thanksgiving Feast and up to your eyeballs in leftovers I am starving and craving mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and pumpkin pie...and still have DAYS to go.

So to tide me over until the feast I thought I would post a little Thanksgiving Meme:

1. Which do you like better: hosting Thanksgiving at your home, or going elsewhere?

I like going elsewhere. Preferably to my mom's house. She does Thanksgiving just how I like it. Elegant, delicious, fun and festive. Also-- this vegetarian/flexitarian family would be up a creek because I have no idea how to cook a turkey. I'm sure I could figure it out but I don't really want to...so it would just be a Thanksgiving of sides. Come to think of it...the last turkey I ate was last Thanksgiving...and I have to be honest...the best part it the skin which I love. The rest not so much. ( Mmmm...my mom basts it in white wine and butter.)

2.) Do you buy a fresh or frozen turkey? Organic? Free-range?

It depends...sometimes it is fresh; sometimes frozen; and sometimes organic. I think it is frozen this year. Not many of us are dark meat eaters so my mom usually roasts a large turkey and then an extra breast.

3. Do you make stuffing or dressing? What kind?

We make dressing even though we still call it stuffing...but it isn't stuffed. My mom is well-known for making a delicious sour dough sage stuffing. Over the past several years though she has upped her game and improved on an already fantastic stuffing. A few years ago she added sausage...yum...and last year she added roasted chestnuts and completely out did herself. This is the new must-have stuffing. She still makes her original/vegetarian version too.
4. Sweet Potato Pie or Pumpkin Pie?

I love both. While living in Texas I came to LOVE Sweet Potato Pie but I never make it. I need too. We always make pumpkin pie. That was my favorite pie as a child. My Grandma Ellersick makes the best...my mom is a close second...but I miss my Grandma's pumpkin pie. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie but I especially like it for breakfast the day AFTER Thanksgiving.

5. Are leftovers a blessing or a curse?

A Blessing!! Since we spend Thanksgiving elsewhere we have to divide up all the leftovers among my sisters and their families. They are a hot commodity!!

6. What side dishes are a must-have in your family?

Besides the usual...the one side dish we HAVE to have are homemade noodles eaten on top of our mashed potatoes with gravy. This tradition came from our West Virginian Great-Grandma and our Nana. I love this Southern twist. It is definitely a MUST-HAVE.

7. What do you wish you had that might make Thanksgiving easier?

A bigger kitchen and maid service. My mom, sisters, daughter, brother, husband and brother-in-law are all fantastic cooks and gourmet foodies. Everybody wants to whip something up and the kitchen is chaos. Also-- I hate cleaning the kitchen and doing the dishes afterward.

8. If/when you go to someone else’s house for the holiday, do you usually bring a dish? If so, what is it?

I always bring homemade pies. I usually bring two pecan pies and two cherry pies. We also usually bring Tyler's Grandma Kofford's Parker House Rolls...made by Tyler. He'll have to make a batch when we get home to eat with our leftovers.

9.) What new recipes will you try this year?

Let's see... Reilly is making individual mini-cheese balls for an appetizer and Stacey is making some new kind of punch for the kids...and Mormons. :)


10.) Who gets to carve the turkey?

No clue. This isn't a really big deal for us. The bird is usually scalped of all it's delicious skin so once that is gone I don't really pay any attention. Maybe Ken will carve the bird?

11.) How many will be at your table this year?

My Mom, Ken, my Grandma, Me and Tyler and our crew, Stacey and her two kids (John won't be there), Kelley and Elle, and Kirk and Kaiden.

12.) Three best pies for Thanksgiving dessert?

That would clearly be my pecan, my cherry and my mom's pumpkin pie. :)

13.) What time do you eat Thanksgiving dinner?

We usually eat our Thanksgiving dinner in the evening by candlelight which is how I prefer it. This year we will be eating dinner around noon because most people will be making the drive home Sunday night and don't want to be on icy roads late at night so it will be a little weird.

14.) Favorite leftover?

Killer mashed potatoes and my mom's liquid gold gravy!!

15.) Is Thanksgiving a religious or secular holiday in your home?

Thanksgiving is a religious holiday to my family. We usually try to celebrate that aspect at our own house the Sunday before Thanksgiving. My extended family aren't religious so it is more of a secular holiday although all are thankful and grateful for all of our blessings.

16.) Share one Thanksgiving tradition.

The usual, going around the table and saying what we are thankful for and expressing our love and gratitude for one another.

17.) Share one Thanksgiving memory.

Most of my favorite Thanksgiving memories take place at the lake. One in particular was the year that Tyler and I first started dating and he came up to the lake for Thanksgiving to meet the whole huge extended family and I was checking him out to see if he passed "The Lake Test." I am the oldest cousin and believe me Tyler was under huge scrutiny as the first boyfriend to ever come to the lake...everyone wanted to make sure he "fit in". If he didn't LOVE LOVE LOVE the lake and love my family...he wasn't the man for me. Since my father was not in the scene my uncles were probably worse than a father would be. They were scrutinizing him and interrogating him. I loved it. The best was when my Uncle Steve demanded that Tyler wrestle him. I thought I was going to die laughing. Tyler at the time was shy and not used to a large rambunctious family. I remember him looking at me like "please say I don't have to do this" I just grinned and told him that "Yep! You have to wrestle my Uncle." I thought Tyler would die of mortification as furniture was cleared away in the living room and about 30 family members looked on and Steve said "Let's go!!" I am happy to say that Tyler, of course, kicked Steve's butt...Steve a notorious cheater...was hooking his legs around furniture and trying with all his might to win. I do believe that was the first and last time Steve made any "future" family members wrestle him. After that Steve tried to beat the crap out of Tyler while playing ice hockey. It was a memorable holiday!! Tyler passed the lake test with flying colors.

So while we wait for our own Thanksgiving Day to arrive we have been doing a lot of this:

crafting

cooking

playing in the snow

playing with cousins

Hope you had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!

November

So even though the snow is here...much more today than when I last posted and much more on the way and the temperature is below zero. We are still managing to have a good time. With enough hot chocolate I just might survive. Thank goodness for the flavored holiday creamers to spice up our hot chocolate and make us feel festive. We are currently enjoying gingerbread and eggnog. Delicious.

Here are some of our latest happenings:

First we had:

for Reilly, Kameron, and Ailey. All are doing well.

We had a fun night of Harry Potter!!

We LOVE the books and the movies. We were not disappointed except that the movie had to end and now we have to wait again to see the final movie. There is nothing better than a cozy movie theater, big tub of popcorn, pop, and family. We had a great night.

Christmas Sale


Sisters Creed will be vendors at the Christmas Antiques and Craft Show on Saturday December 4th at the Palouse Grange in Palouse, Washington. We are so excited for this sale. I have so many FABULOUS items for the sale and have been busy painting, polishing and crafting.

On Saturday while thrifting Tyler and I came upon this Thrift-Score:

Pfaltzgraff Dishes...Heritage Pattern. These are the dishes that we picked out when we got married. Over the course of our nearly 16 years our kids have managed to break quite a few bowls, mugs and salad plates. We found a 41 piece set at Goodwill for $15!! Awesome. We were able to replace most of our missing pieces and even added to our set. I still love this classic dish set and I was thrilled!!

Thanksgiving is upon us and I am so excited. Kirk and Kaiden are coming to town and we are going to be spending the holiday weekend at my mom's house in beautiful North Idaho. We are also going to hike deep in the woods to find the perfect Christmas tree. I can't wait for great food, good company and lots of laughs.

So right now I am packing, enjoying a gingerbread flavored hot chocolate, homemade banana bread and listening to this:

Normally I am a stickler for not listening to Christmas music until AFTER Thanksgiving. But I am breaking my own rule because this is a FABULOUS CD!! Buy it. You will love it.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Ode To Snow

You Suck.

This morning I woke up to an inch of snow blanketing my town. As I drove through the dark, snowy streets to the gym at 6am I really tried to find the magic in it all. After all it is the first snow of the year. But...there wasn't any. I know. Bah-Humbug.