Happy Thanksgiving to you!!

I’m thinking I should just use the above picture as my Christmas picture!

Poodles from right to left:  Sophie (my poodle), Chloe (my mom’s poodle – Sophie’s sister),
and Noemmy (our newest poodle who is a red head!!)

I made these pumpkin cookies last week. It is a good recipe, but the cookies were way too sweet. If I make them again, I will cut the sugar in half.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/desserts/soft-pumpkin-cookies/

As soon as fall rolls around, I start eating massive amounts of pumpkin.  Here is one of my go-to pumpkin recipes that my mom used to make while I was growing up:

Buy a couple of cans of pumpkin—100% organic pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix), follow the directions on the can for pumpkin pie, put it in a casserole dish rather than a crust, bake 450 for 25 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 350 for 75 minutes longer, or until a knife comes out clean. It all depends on how much you put in the casserole dish as to how long it takes to get done.  I like mine brown on the top.

I never use the full amount of sugar.  Just depends on how much you want to cut calories.   Sometimes I use egg beaters rather than whole eggs too.

The last time I made it, here is how I made it:

2 cans pumpkin
1 can milk (just pour the milk into the emptied pumpkin cans to measure)
1 can evaporated milk (Sweeten Condensed milk for a more decadent treat)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp.+ cinnamon (I always used several shakes – I like a lot)
2 tsp.+ pumpkin pie spice (I always used several shakes – I like a lot)
3-4 eggs

Serve with cool whip.

You really can’t mess it up. I make it different every time and it is always good.

Note – Another way to make your house smell the same way is to shake pumpkin pie spice and/or cinnamon onto a sheet of foil and put it in your oven at 200 degrees for 30-45 mins.

Stayed tuned for more pumpkin recipes!!

For Christmas we got a Traeger grill!!  It is a pellet grill that:  Smokes, Barbecues, Grills, and Bakes.  My parents have had one for years and love it.  We got a Junior size so it will fit on our small porch.

Here are the pellets.  The cool thing is, you can buy different types of pellets to go in your grill to give your food a slightly different taste.

The Traeger dealer here in Tulsa (Hanlon’s Fireplace and Patio), has Traeger grills in the shape of a giant pink pig and a black charing bull.  They are hilarous!

Ryan and I have our couple Christmas pictures tomorrow – Monday.  Although, when we were home for Thanksgiving we had Christmas pictures taken with my family.  My sister told us that the photographer we were going to had very uncomfortable poses.  It turns out, that was an understatement…

Here, I was laying on a wooden bench and the photographer kept telling me to put my head down, in and to the side.  My neck doesn’t even move in all of those directions at once…my neck hurt afterward and in the picture it looks like I have a double chin.  lol

Then the photographer wanted to add Ryan, my husband, to the photo.  I was annoyed I had to stay on that bench longer, and my neck couldn’t hold the same position any longer so it actually looks nice.

This turned out to be my parents Christmas picture.  I think it looks nice, but notice we are kneeling on ROCK!!  Oh my gosh, that hurt!!  I could never be a model.  I am too into my comfort.

I really like this one.

I took this picture with my iphone.  It is so nice to look out the drive and see nothing…just beautiful.

And this will just make you feel cold…

I guess it could be worse.  He could be in his boxer shorts! 

Tonight my hubby and I went for a cup of joe at Starbucks.  I thought I would try something new, so I got a Tall Hazelnut Signature Hot Chocolate with a shot of espresso in it.  When I got home I looked up on line the nutritional information:

For my tall drink made with non-fat milk and no whip:

• Fat:  15
• Calories:  360
• Protein:  11
• Sugar:  46

Oh my gosh!!  How could this have so much fat it?  I can understand the sugar, but 15 grams of fat!!!

I pulled that picture off of Starbucks.com.  Doesn’t it look pretty?!  Don’t be fooled!!  They are sinful.
Next time, I will stick to my regular:  Caffe Latte (Tall, non-fat, no whip, no foam)

• Fat:  0
• Calories:  100
• Protein:  10
• Sugar:  14

Last year I found the best Pumpkin bread recipe.  It was supposed to taste just like the Pumpkin loaf sold at Starbucks, and it did.  It is wonderful.  I made it last year and again this year.  You can find the recipe here.

I took several pieces to Jazzercise this morning to give away and it was a big hit.

While in Branson, MO, this weekend we went to Silver Dollar City.  We had so much fun.  If you haven’t been to Silver Dollar City in a while, you need to go back soon.  They just opened up a Culinary Craft School.  It is amazing but you have to pay $10 extra to book a spot.  It is basically a cooking show where everyone gets to taste the final product.  Despite the fact that I only went home with two new recipes, I will definitely take another class at the Culinary Craft School.  It was fun to sit in a brand new gourmet kitchen and watch food be made.

One of the recipes that was demonstrated while we were there was this Apple Salad.  I have made it TWICE since getting back.

Ingredients:
7-8 apples (I used Gala)
1 can crushed pineapple
1/3 bag small marshmallows
Nuts (I like Walnuts)
*optional* cut up orange slices
1 cup fat free half and half, give or take
small container of light cool whip

Directions:
Drain can of pineapple into large bowl and fill the bowl up half way with water.
Cut up all the apples in to small pieces and place in bowl with pineapple juice.
In another large bowl, whip up cool whip, crushed pineapple, and half and half.
Stir in nuts and orange slices.
Add apple pieces, stir, and store in fridge for up to a week.

Notes:
The orange slices make this salad really sweet.  I would prefer the salad without them, but my husband likes them added.  The teacher at the culinary craft school said that she adds different types of candy depending on the holiday.  Orange slices are good for Halloween, etc…