Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day proved to be a bit eventful. BF's parents were hosting dinner at their house and planned to start cooking around 7:00 AM to have the food on the table by 3:00 PM. Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning, the toilet in their basement powder room exploded (ie, ceramic bowl completely shattered), spewing water everywhere. Since that bathroom is never used, there was no real "mess"... other than the six inches of water that had spread throughout their entire finished basement. Luckily, they have a wet/dry vac and were able to remove most of the water within a few hours of the explosion. But it certainly created quite a disruption. Between their basement toilet, the flooding in my prior apartment, and a recent roof leak in my new apartment, I have never before been so convinced of the force of water!
My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner was meant to be an apple pie as well as a cranberry-apple relish. Both recipes are family traditions, but the apple pie is especially beloved. It is my mother's recipe and she has made at least two of them every Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember. I started helping her when I was in elementary school, so it's a recipe that I could nearly recite in my sleep.
In my head, I have images of my mother rolling out pie crust into perfectly thin, pliable rounds that fit nicely into a pie plate. For some reason, my pie crust simply would not cooperate this Thanksgiving. I made the crust three separate times. And each of those three times, I threw the crust away because the consistency wasn't right (and yes, one of the times I literally threw the crust across the kitchen out of frustration). After plowing through nine cups of flour and three cups of shortening, I decided that enough was enough. On a holiday that is about celebrating bounty, it seemed sacrilegious to waste so much food. So I whipped up a quick crumb topping and we enjoyed an apple cobbler. And you know what? It was still delicious and no one seemed to miss the crust.
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| Image from Country Home |
Black Friday
As you probably expected, I ventured out before the break of dawn for Black Friday. The stores on my list were Lord & Taylor, Anthropologie, LOFT, J. Crew, Banana Republic, Talbots, and Crate and Barrel. The sales at J. Crew and Banana Republic seemed comparable to their typical sales, so I didn't brave the long lines. I did take advantage of the sales at Anthropologie and LOFT to pick up a few gifts. And Lord & Taylor had some wonderful deals on jewelry that will be perfect for BF's mom.
I tried to focus more on purchasing gifts for others, but I did treat myself to a few things on Black Friday:
Kate Hill Faux Fur Collar Cardigan. Retail: $104. Sale: $40
The collar is detachable, so I can add the faux fur accent to other outfits -- or wear the cardigan without the collar.
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Talbots Suede Colorblock Flats in Autumn Flame. Retail: $119. Sale: $60. Use code "FIFTY" through midnight on 11/28 to have the same discount applied to any one full-priced item
Love the bright colors and the jaunty bow. And Talbots was offering 50% off of any one full-priced item, so they were a decent price.
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One of the best parts about Black Friday shopping is returning home, eating a leftover turkey sandwich, and collapsing after a long day of shopping. But it was such a gorgeous day outside that I headed to the BF's place to help him rake the yard, and then took a stroll through downtown.
Weekend
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| "Before" picture. |
The weekend seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. BF and I explored a large antiques show/fair and enjoyed talking with the vendors to learn the stories behind their ware. I also found a truly special piece for my living room (more on that soon!). I also decided it was high time to paint my bathroom. It was originally a nondescript shade of beige, but it will now be a light and airy cloud blue. I still need to apply another coat, but I can already tell that I'll love the new color.
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and a joyous Thanksgiving!
Yum! I love cobbler. When I have a piece of pie, I tend to leave the crust behind anyway because the filling is always my favorite part!!
ReplyDeleteI think the filling was really the star in this cobbler. I used a combination of local Granny Smith and Crispin apples, and the freshness of the fruit really made a difference. And it's probably just as well that there wasn't a bottom crust -- with all the calories consumed on Turkey Day, the last thing we needed was a rich, flaky pastry crust!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great Thanksgiving!
You may have heard, but I also had pie crust troubles and almost threw mine on the floor of my kitchen. I ended up using a new recipe that I found and it was awful. Crust wasn't holding together and then the mess ended up tasting like some bizarro shortbread cookie rather than crust. Thankfully, we have a forgiving family. I'm sure your cobbler was just delish :)
ReplyDeleteWow, you've been a busy girl!! Can't wait to see how your bathrooms turns out.
ReplyDeleteI DID hear that from my mom! How funny that we were both struggling with pie crust on Thanksgiving. I am determined to make it again -- and to get the crust right, this time! Hope you had a fantastic holiday -- I missed you guys!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jessica! I feel like the holiday went by in a flash. But I can't wait to get home tonight and apply a second coat of paint to the bathroom.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've been really productive recently! :) Hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Thanksgiving! Your cobbler looks delish and I love those Talbots flats!!! I'm in the market for some black flats, so I may have to check out Talbots before that great discount code expires tonight!
ReplyDeleteThe Faux Fur Cardigan is adorable. Any chance you could find one for me? Your Black Friday shopping stops are amazing. Wish I could have been there.
ReplyDelete