30 Days of Thankfulness

Well somehow October has come and gone, leaving me filled with anxiety over the month of November. It's going to be quite a busy month. Among the upcoming events to look forward to are our annual Sweatsgiving dinner, a work trip to Colorado, a family vacation to Aruba, Thanksgiving, and squeezing in the beginnings of Christmas shopping. It's going to be a fun yet daunting one and so I think it's more important than ever to begin giving thanks at the beginning of the month. I find it helps keep my head on straight and recognize just how lucky I am in this life.

If you've followed me for a few years, you may have seen me participating in Julie's Little Things series in the month of November (see 2010 and 2011...2012 got sidelined by pregnant lady brain and things). I really love this so much. For each day in November, Julie takse note of something to be thankful for. Whether big or small, I love taking a moment to jot down just one little thing making me happy each day. It's so simple, yet I know that I often forget to just sit back for a moment and take in all of the good in my life because, well, there is a lot of it.

As in years passed, I plan to share my 30 Days of Thankfulness on Thanksgiving day (though I know it won't quite be 30 days at that point, but I think we can go with it).

So will you join me? I plan to keep something informal in my phone, but if you want to get fancy, Julie has a very cute printable that you can download.

To kick things off, I'm posting my thankful things from the past 4 days...

Nov 1: Pumpkin Spice creamer making my morning coffee completely indulgent
Nov 2: Five star camping with my in-laws

Nov 3: Truly gorgeous fall foliage in the wee hours

Nov 4: Movember! Shaun is participating, so P and I are excited to cheer him on this month! Personally, I always think a neon mustache scarf makes everything better.

Many thanks to Julie for inspiring me each November to do this...another reason why I love blogging ;)

I hope you will join in the fun...what do you say? Are you ready for some thankfulness?

Thanksgiving Cooking & Baking

I always love the week of Thanksgiving. Streets are bustling, yet commuters are winding down. Everyone is getting ready for cooking, baking and basking in time with family and friends. I always use this time to do a viewing of You've Got Mail, admitedly one of my favorite movies of all time. 

And somehow, I always sign up to make way more than I can handle. But that most likely does not come as a surprise. Tomorrow, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving twice. In the earlier part of the day, we'll be eating and watching football at Shaun's parents house. In the late afternoon/evening, we'll be doing about the same at my aunt's house. I never mind eating two Thanksgiving dinners, and I think this year, Baby H will also agree with me on that one!

Here's what I've got on tap for cooking and baking for tomorrow:

For my in-laws:

My grandmother's cranberry mold

Maple cornbread

Pecan pie

Pumpkin pie

For my aunt's:

Maple cornbread

Pumpkin pie

Salted caramel apple cheesecake

Whew!

Slightly ambitious, no? We'll see how my legs and back hold up for all of this.

I'm also breaking the cardinal rule of baking and trying some new recipes for the holiday, but I'm excited to change it up a bit and am hopeful that they will turn out well!

What are you making for Thanksgiving?

What are you most looking forward to eating? I love ALL Thanksgiving food, but I especially can't wait for my mother-in-law's sweet potatoes and my aunt's stuffing with Mom's gravy on top. Eeee!

And in case you are on the hunt for some last minute Thanksgiving recipes, here are some of my personal favorites!

Rustic cheeseboard. Couldn't be easier and comes together in about 5 minutes.

Cranberry-topped Brie. One of my favorite dishes ever...use some canned whole cranberries for the topping!

Warm Spinach & Artichoke Dip. Always a crowd pleaser and looks so pretty!

Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes. I'm obsessed. Gooey, sticky and delicious. Oh and super duper easy to boot.

Caramel Apple Cider Shakes. Super easy and very sweet. Just the way I like it.

Gingersnap Crusted Pumpkin Pie. I always MUST have pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving! It is one of my favorite dishes of all time EVER.

Apple Cupcakes with Cinnamon Frosting. Another classic and I'm pretty sure I've gotten more compliements on these than any other dessert I've ever made!

For even more recipes of the autumnal variety, check out our Recipe page!

Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

I'm recovering today from a wonderful surprise baby shower yesterday. I cannot wait to recap for you as soon as it all soaks in and I can go through all of the photos. I am overwhelmed by how many friends & family came to celebrate and am so lucky to have the best mom, dad, sisters, in-laws (mom, dad, brother & sister-in-law!) and husband ever who put together this amazing party.

While I'm still floating on cloud 9, I'm also excited for a shortened week in honor of the Thanksgiving holiday. I have grand plans for cooking and baking for multiple Thanksgiving celebrations, but we'll see how long my feet and back hold up :) 

Meanwhile, after doing extensive research on what to make for Thanksgiving, I'm so glad that I found Thrifty Veggie Mama's maple glazed sweet potatoes as part of this month's Secret Recipe Club since it's a simple, healthy yet seemingly decadent side dish that's worthy of this year's Thanksgiving table.

I really loved searching around Jamie's blog for a recipe to make. One looked better than the next! Jamie has a beautiful family and made the decision for them to go vegetarian two years ago. I promise you, her recipes are all so gorgeous that you won't even give meat a second thought.

I truly loved this recipe. It was so simple and SO.DELICIOUS. I'm notorious for loving my sweet potatoes to be sweet...despite Shaun's best efforts to convince me otherwise. This recipe is fantastic because it's healthier yet feels like a real treat! The result of roasting these taters in maple syrup, cider vinegar and cinnamon was a soft sweet potato with a light gooey glaze...could they look any prettier?!

Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

*Adapted from Thrifty Veggie Mama

**Note: I halved Jamie's recipe since it was just for Shaun and me! For a bigger portion, double this recipe, or head over to her site for the original recipe!

1/3 C maple syrup

3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut bite size chunks

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together the syrup, vinegar, oil, water and cinnamon. Pour over the sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Spread into 9-inch square pan and cover with foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking for 30-35 minutes until the potatoes are tender and the syrup mixture is gooey and bubbly, stirring occasionally.

Serve immediately and try not to consumer entire pan in one sitting.

Easier said than done, in my opinion.

Hope you enjoy this recipe and consider it for your Thanksgiving tables! I'll be eating some for lunch today as a nice little treat :)