Where I Been? Food Stuffs....

A friend sent me a message the other day asking if I was ok? 

I've been silent in bloggy world...and no nothing is wrong...can you just say busy!?

Thanksgiving is at our house again.  I like it that way...with 6 kids and 3 of which destroy things.... I can't bring myself to go to someone's house and basically shadow a kid all day.  So instead I have it here.  Not all bad...I get some good deep cleaning in

Today I'm all about prepping and cooking all the food....2 pies today...thankfully my mother is bringing 2

I'm also making this pink dessert I used to have as a little girl.  I think I am the only one that enjoys it.  It's pink and fluffy...what is not to like?

Cherry Salad Recipe here 

Also I've been freezing trays of this....

for a Sparkling Ginger Raspberry Lemonade I found in December's Issue of Paula Deen.  (think I need to quadruple this bad boy)

4 cups Raspberry Lemonade

2 cups Ginger Ale

2 cups white grape juice

serve with the ice.. (white grape juice with a raspberry)

I also made a few million batches of Pecan Turtles this past week.
I had about 3 different recipes and finally came to the conclusion that this one is by far the easiest (esp when making about 70 of them)

Preheat oven to 300'

Here is what I found the easiest.  Line a pan with parchment paper and line your pecan halves anyway you like.  Then place a caramel square in the center.

Bake for about 10 mins.  The caramel won't be fully melted...you will need to 'smush' around with the back of a spoon

Let cool a bit
Make your chocolate.  I made 2 different batches. (basically what I had on hand)  first chocolate I melted was a combo of Chocolate Almond Bark and Semi Sweet Baker's Chocolate.  Another batch was Ghirardelli Chocolate chips with 1tbs of shortening per cup of chocolate.

After caramel has cooled a bit spoon your chocolate on
EAT

I'm also making some peanut brittle today...Everyone needs a  little sweets to snack on before during and after a huge meal right?

I'm cheating on meat this year.  I got a smoked turkey, pecan honey glazed spiral ham and 10lbs of smoked brisket from the most incredible BBQ joint in Frisco.  3 Stacks Smoke and Tap House.  Why not make life easy?!!!

I'll end this post on a cute note...
Thankfully the weather got coooooold here and my sweet 2 yr old got his Scottish/Irish side out...he's so adorable it hurts!

Happy Turkey day to all...