Friday Five Senses

 

Hello Friends! 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrated it yesterday). As I continue to work on more aftermath clean up from all of our fun yesterday, I decided to take a little break to check in with you and do a quick post. My friend Sandra, whom you can find at the blog Diary of a SAHM, sometimes does a 5 senses post, so I originally got the idea from her. So here's my 5 senses check in this afternoon:

HEAR

I can hear Christmas music, as that's what I've been listening to as I do the dishes and clean around the house today. We put up one of my trees right before Thanksgiving - with only lights on it. No other decorating yet. But it sure got me in a Christmas mood.

FEEL

I can feel the warmth from the sun as it's been streaming in the windows this afternoon. It's so warm on my skin when I'm right in a sunbeam. It's pretty mild out...even though there's still a little bit of snow left on the ground. 

SEE

Other than the one Christmas tree...I see all of my Fall decorations still up around the house. I'll be working on taking these down over the next several days. Wrap them up and tuck them in bins, cleaning as I go, and I will slowly start putting up all things Christmas and winter holidays. 

SMELL

As I sit here at the table, I can smell the roses in this gorgeous arrangement Matt sent me for Thanksgiving. I love the perfume roses give off. Sweet, but in a soft way. So fresh smelling....and to me they just smell old fashioned. Like of a time long ago - in such a romantic way. This was such a beautiful centerpiece for yesterday.

TASTE

As I sit here I can taste the mug of hot apple cider I heated up to sip on. This could really be part of smell too - as it gives off such a spicy aroma. It tastes sweet of apple and bits of orange... and yet really spiced too with flavors of clove and cinnamon. Just a hint of brown sugar. It's pretty in the pitcher I poured the leftovers into with some of the clove studded oranges dancing around in it. I'll soon be making the winter version I call wassail. That will have even more spiced fruity flavors with cranberry, orange, lemon, cinnamon, clove and star anise. 

I hope you enjoyed this little senses break as much as I have. I encourage you to take a moment in your day and pay attention to the senses being triggered by what's going on around you. It's kind of a nice practice for living in the moment. I hope you have a fun and blessed weekend ahead. 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday Friends!

For those that celebrate Thanksgiving this week, are you getting all set? I can't believe how fast it's crept up on me. I've been making all of my lists and picked up the 1st part of groceries. Going to go get the final fresh ingredients today. I've put my turkey in the fridge to thaw and I'm digging out my tablecloth and nice napkins. I'll be hosting my Mom, my Bro and SIL, my kiddos and Matt. Love the cozy time with loved ones 💗 Do you have big plans?

And how was your weekend? It was a nice one here. We had a cozy Chinese food and cribbage night in with the C's on Saturday. And did all of our usual Sunday things, including going for a walk with Ruby because it was a little warmer out. 

We also watched Spirited on Apple tv - a holiday movie with Will Ferrel and Ryan Reynolds. It was really good!! And it got me in the holiday mood. I think Matt is going to help me get my living room tree up tonight. I'm only going to put up the lights and not decorate it yet. But it's a cumbersome one and it will be nice to have that part done. I still have all of my Fall decorations up and that's how it will be until after Thanksgiving. But I think I may put my candles in the window that I do for the Christmas season too. And I've been listening to Christmas music of course! 

😊 🎄 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

yogurt, coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

chiropractor, groceries and errands, out with friends, taking my Mom and step Dad for medical appts, all the thanksgiving prep and fun

THINKING ABOUT:  

All the holiday thoughts: thanksgiving ahead, Christmas prep too.

CURRENTLY READING

 Enough Already by Valerie Bertinielli

ON THE TV TODAY:

  DWTS,  Survivor, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam, Shark Tank,  Ghosts, The Rookie, Miss Scarlet & The Duke, The Crown, 

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - creamy lemon spinach ricotta ravioli, caesar salad (HF didn't make last week)

TUESDAY - out with the C's to dueling pianos at jazz lounge & will eat there

WEDNESDAY - easy night so I can keep using dishes to a minimum (maybe order in?)

THURSDAY - Thanksgiving

FRIDAY - making homemade turkey soup

**thanksgiving meal: turkey, dressing (regular and making a sausage, apple & craisin one with keto bread for Matt), mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, homemade cranberry sauce, broccoli salad, brussels sprouts (Matt loves these and helping with the cooking this year!), corn, fruit salad, crudite (like pickles, veggies, cheese slices etc), rhodes dinner rolls, homemade pumpkin & pecan pies (including homemade crusts), ice cream and whipped cream, drinks, apple cider & coffee 

 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

go out for a night with Matt and friends, put up tree with lights and christmas music (decorate after thanksgiving)

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

My lovely blogging buddy Deb at the blog It's Always Something made this adorable "pumpkin pie" and I was able to talk her into sharing it with me (wink wink) and I'm going to fill it with some little treats and a thankful note and put at each place setting. I think doing some little thankful gesture can always be a sweet thing for this holiday. I saw on social media where someone had even used a brown craft paper as a table cloth and folks could write thankful things all over it. 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Had a buck and doe visit my backyard this weekend.

thankfully it's going to warm up a bit now, 

as there have been some chilly nights lately

I made an egg bake this weekend, Polish style (with polish sausage and veggies and cheese). Matt and I love everything topped with sriracha mayo these days! 😋 

My girl (#15) in action this past weekend in her hockey tourney

the bay has a good layer of frozen on it already

some thanksgiving moments in my home 

I was visited by some turkeys in the backyard again this past weekend. I felt for this poor turkey - it's not good to have a limp this close to thanksgiving! Lol 😉 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflict in the Ukraine and other areas of the world living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and anymore shootings!  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain or fear... that God bring them comfort and peace. 

 For everyone celebrating to have a very safe and healthy and Happy Thanksgiving. 🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Have a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving dear Friends! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Gingerbread Truffles and Lemon Ricotta Dutch Baby

 

Today I thought I'd share a few yummies that are good for this holiday season. A fellow blogger said she was intrigued with a Dutch Baby recipe from my Hello Fresh that week - and I thought I'd share the link to that recipe and another one I recently made from Hello Fresh that was a wonderful treat! It would be perfect for Christmastime. It was these gingerbread truffles. I baked up a spiced cake mix (although Hello Fresh had me add a few ingredients, including fresh grated ginger). 

Then scoop out all the soft middle of the cake (save hard edges to just snack on 😉 ). Put the scooped cake in a bowl and scoop out TBSP sized amounts into your hand and squish together. Then roll into balls. 

Roll each ball into a cinnamon sugar mixture and place on a plate. Make up a cream cheese frosting and put into baggie and pipe onto balls. Sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Keep chilled. 

They were amazing! That fresh ginger was a game changer. You can find the full list of ingredients and instructions by clicking here. If you get Hello Fresh I recommend getting this as an extra on one of your weeks. 

And if you click here you can find the full recipe for this Dutch Baby Hello Fresh recipe as well. I didn't take pics when I made it - but it was SO delish!! 😋  And really easy. Something that would be really good for a holiday brunch. 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday and new week to you Friends

How was your weekend? They always seem to fly by around here.  It was another fun one though! Saturday night Matt met another couple that I'm good friends with and we went out with them (& the C's too) for dinner. We went to a restaurant a little ways out of town and it was snowing and so pretty and cozy. Lots of laughs and they loved Matt and vice versa. 💕 And then Sunday after church we did some shopping and ran some errands. And then watched the Pack actually pull out a win this week. Woo hoo! And Matt made us his keto crust taco pizza and it was amazing!! 

It's been snowing soft light snow here a lot today (not accumulating a lot though). I've been getting things done around the house that I didn't accomplish this weekend. Also, working on my thanksgiving menu and lists. As well as a few Christmas gifts and preparations too. It's all coming so fast! How are you coming with your holiday plans ahead?

PS: I have some recipes to share and will post Cooking Thursday, as well as Wednesday Wonder, later in the week. 😉 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

cutie orange and coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

chiropractor, post office & other errands, thanksgiving list and shopping, hair appt, deep clean projects, hospice work, bring in print to be framed

THINKING ABOUT:  

Christmas gift ideas (I've done quite a bit of shopping already), Thanksgiving prep and menu (hosting 7 or 8 this year) 

CURRENTLY READING

I think I started this one and had accidentally set it aside - so right now reading Enough Already by Valerie Bertinielli

ON THE TV TODAY:

Great British Baking Championship,  DWTS,  Survivor, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam, Shark Tank, Handmaids Tale - almost done, Ghosts, The Rookie, Miss Scarlet & The Duke, The Crown, Love is Blind

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - brown sugar bourbon pork chops & apples meal kit I didn't make last week

TUESDAY - my friend Mari's (of marislittle corner blog)creamy chicken soup recipe (thanks Mari!), BLT sandwiches, fruit

WEDNESDAY - pork and pepper enchiladas (w/ low carb wraps) with pico de gallo & lime crema (HF meal)

THURSDAY - creamy lemon spinach ricotta ravioli, salad (HF meal)

FRIDAY - BBQ ribs, buffalo mac & cheese, & coleslaw (HF meal) - may have this over the weekend instead if we go out for dinner & to a Christmas parade with friends

 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

read, watch a movie with Matt, hang out with kiddos

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

I had made up some butterscotch chip banana bread batter last week, and then remembered I had these cute molds. So I made them and with the leftover batter I made some mini loaves. 😋 

Matt's version of watching football. Lol Only kidding - he took a little Sunday nap but then cheered on the Pack of course! 

Getting ready to go in in the oven. Matt makes a keto crust with almond flour, cream cheese, egg, and mozzarella cheese & seasonings. It's so good! 

Ready for toppings! 

😋😋😋

Just last week - empty deck and looking bare and very November, and then this week....

Getting a thin layer of ice on the bay and a pretty white blanket.

It makes me think holiday thoughts and I picked up this neat old embossed German calendar top when Matt and I shopped in an antique store one of our first dates last year. I'm going to bring it in to be framed like a nice Christmas print so I can hang it for the holidays. 

And I may have found these cuties over the weekend to add to my living room couch this year. I'm thinking touches of red in general this year. And I love how they're very northwoods and the old trucks makes me think of Matt. ♥️ 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflict in the Ukraine and other areas of the world living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country. For anyone sick, suffering, in pain or fear... that God bring them comfort and peace.

 For overall healing in our world. 🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Have a cozy and wonderful week ahead! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.