Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving with your friends and families. Take time to enjoy the quiet moments to reflect on all that you are thankful for in your lives, and the loud crazy messy family moments that will create lasting memories in your heart. From our home to yours, Happy Thanksgiving!

Photo Via Maine Magazine: http://www.themainemag.com/eat/eat-maine.html

It all happened one Thanksgiving Eve…day

Last year I shared the craziness of hosting my first Thanksgiving here. It was a very interesting experience and opened my eyes to the reality of what goes into preparing for the big day. This year I was let off the Thanksgiving hook because we are hosting Christmas instead. I have a feeling just as much prep will be in store for me but it's a month away so I am not going to worry about it yet.

The real reason that I am telling you about this is because last year I made two of my favorite deserts of all time. I am not sure if they tasted so good because they took so much effort, or if they were really that delicious, but I thought I would post a link to the recipes in case you were faced with hosting Thanksgiving, or bringing a desert to someone's house and wanted to try something new. 

The first is the Pecan-Pie Cheesecake. 

This pecan pie and cheesecake combo is absolutely delicious! 

Here is the recipe from Taste of the South. I would link it for you, but the link is gone. AHHH! Good thing I write things down.

Vanilla wafer crust

1 3/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and press into the sides of a 9" springform pan. Bake for 6 minutes and let cool. Reduce oven to 325 degrees for the final step.

Pecan filling

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup dark corn syrup

1/3 cup melted butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce and simmer until thickened, about 8/10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into crust and set aside. 

Cheesecake Filling

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 eggs

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy. Add brown sugar and flour and combine. Add eggs one at a time. Make sure they are completely mixed in. Beat until fluffy. Stir in cream and vanilla and pour over pecan filling. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn off oven and leave cheesecake in oven for 1 hour to set. (Side note: it is okay if it cracks.) Remove from the oven. Use a knife to loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan. 

Let cool. Store in refrigerator (at least 4 hours) until the big presentation. 

Like I said, I made this the day before and it was fantastic! I also used extra vanilla wafer cookies, put them in muffin tins with cupcake liners and then drizzled some extra spoonfuls of pecan pie mix and cheesecake batter to make mini-single servings of the pie/cake (not really sure what to call it). They were fun and yummy. Although none of them made it to Thanksgiving day. 

The other yummy desert that I made was this Chocolate Fudge Pie from Real Simple. It also was delicious.

Photo from Real Simple (Mine wasn't that pretty)

The only downfall was that it took four hours to make. Yes, four hours…that's devotion. 

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and are able to get some of the prep work done the day before so that you can relax and enjoy the time with your family and friends.

My first Thanksgiving 2012

Giving Thanks Leaf Banner

I admit that I am much more of a Christmas person than a Thanksgiving person. This is probably because I inevitably eat WAYYY too much food, pass out, and wake up feeling simultaneously hungry and sick every year.

That being said, I do like the idea behind the holiday. It is important to appreciate what you have (the fact that we have enough food for me to get myself sick every year is a huge thing to be thankful for) and thank those around you for supporting you throughout the year. It is a time to visit with family, share memories, and solidify bonds that may have been overlooked during the hecticness of everyday life.

Christmas sales and marketing seem to be coming earlier and earlier every year helping to overlook the Thanksgiving holiday, however I believe it is important for me to take time to be thankful, share my thankfulness with the people around me, and teach my children to appreciate what they have.

To help my boys realize how lucky they are, we make a point to share things that we are thankful for starting at the beginning of the month and going to Thanksgiving. This year we are working on a little craft project to share what we are thankful for with anyone who comes to visit us.

To start, I had the boys do a little painting. They simply used watercolors on large pieces of white paper. I told them to use "leaf" colors. After the paint dried I traced a maple leaf pattern on the paper. I also added another shaped leaf where I did not have room for the maple leaf but had a large empty space.

Then I cut out the leaves.

Each day I used a black Sharpie to write what the boys told me they were thankful for on the leaves. I encouraged them to think of new things each day, although my 2 year old seems to REALLY be thankful for bananas. When we had enough time I let my 6 year old write his own leaves. This helped him practice his spelling and penmanship. (Wahoo! Bonus learning time!)

When I had a small pile of leaves I started stringing them up. I had wanted to use brown craft paper rope, or something that looked a little more organic, but I ran out of steam and ended up ransacking my craft box. So, I ended up with white thread (I know, not inspiring).

I added a small loop behind each leaf to keep them separated when I hung them up.

 

Here is what we have so far. You may notice that there are some construction paper leaves mixed in. That is what I started with, but I ran out of paper and I think the painted leaves look prettier. 

If the boys keep doing one or two leaves each we will have a ton by Thanksgiving. I am going to stop this garland and start a new one with the next pile of leaves. I will then be able to hang the leaf banners from the light above the kitchen table. 

It's kind of cute, right?
Are you guys doing anything to give thanks this November? I know that there are a TON of ideas on Pinterest. Ah, gotta love Pinterest!