Thanksgiving Wrap-Up

So... what's going on in your world?

Thanksgiving went surprisingly well here at the Baden house. Aunt Rhonda came in for a visit - which thrilled all the kiddos! Thanksgiving Day was spent out with the Gruenhagen family. That's always a treat - tons of cousins and tons of food. Alas, the weather wasn't exactly cooperating with us this year and it was tooooo cold for the little ones to play outside. While that's not exactly surprising -- it is winter in northwest Ohio -- it's always a bit tricky to chase an adventurous two year old in someone else's home. Especially when that home belongs to a family that's lived there for decades and collected lots of stuff. Lots of stuff that interests a very spirited and inquisitive two year old... but I digress. The food was delish and I wish we could have gotten Atticus to try a bite or two. We did discover that he has a love of cashews?!?

Friday, we took Atticus to school for a few hours so that Greg and I could get a little bit of work done around the house. As it turns out - Friday was quite busy. I did manage to get some work training done, but that's nothing in comparison to the rest of the day. Wren started cutting her first tooth, Atticus split his lip on the wooden pelican at school (lovely pictures of that to be posted soon) and Greg came down with the stomach bug that got me a couple weeks ago.

In the midst of all that, I (along with my brave SIL, Rhonda) began prepping for our Thanksgiving that was held on Saturday. Starting from a Food Network recipe - we created our own brine for the turkey and set the bird out on the patio to soak. We chopped, grated, prepped and otherwise tried to get ready for Saturday. I made two new recipes - both from the November issue of Real Simple. I really enjoyed both of these recipes and hope to add them to our regular menu! Bourbon Cranberries (I did a combo of brown/white sugar and added in a heavy dash of cinnamon) and Butternut Squash Bread Pudding. I'd recommend both recipes to both my meat eating and vegetarian friends and family! Yummy! I can't believe how easy it was to make fresh cranberries. Seriously. Easy. The squash was a bit of a pain in the tush to peel and cut -- but the end result was worth it.

Saturday was a success. Everyone acted like adults. No one was injured or required medical attention. Atticus and Wren both napped even with a house full of people! Yipee.

The remainder of the weekend (Sunday) was relatively calm and quiet. A great weekend.