Thanksgiving Dinner, Disappointing Colby, Cherry Bounce and Tidbits

I hope everyone is having a nice week! We had our big Thanksgiving Day yesterday and I went all out with the food! So much so that my body was aching last night from being in the kitchen all day, but it was so worth it! For an appetizer, I made my Fried Stuffed Olives with Blue Cheese and we opened the Colby cheese that I'd made in August. The olives were fantastic but the Colby was a bit sour at the finish. I'd read the same thing on the Cheese Forum, a few other people who used the New England Cheese Making Company's recipe were also disappointed. Oh well, it's not bad, just not great. We'll still snack on it, but I hope my other cheeses are MUCH better!!

Here are some photos of my decorations. I really love the holidays with Alex, we are making such lovely memories. :)

I can't wait to have a real dining room one day! The "breakfast bar" is fun, but with big meals, we had to improvise with my painting table hosting the spread:

The cheese may have been disappointing, but THIS was definitely not!! This was my first turkey dinner that I made completely from scratch! Well, you know, I didn't raise the turkey or grow the cranberries, but you get the point!

All of my recipes come from the Williams Sonoma cook book called "Thanksgiving". It's pretty awesome. I made their Roast Turkey with Citrus Pan Gravy. I stuffed the turkey with Bread Dressing too, using my No Knead Bread - we have so many leftovers! For my first turkey, I cooked it perfectly I must boast! It was so juicy, the gravy was great and the stuffing reminded me of my grandma's. :)

The side dishes were mashed potatoes, Braised Mushrooms and Carrots, and Cranberry Sauce which I made on Saturday to let all the flavours mesh together. Success! I was lucky enough to find fresh cranberries at the market the other day when I got my little pumpkins. Speaking of that...

I took Mama Pea's advice and went ahead to make some pumpkin purée from those little pumpkins - even though they weren't labeled "pie pumpkins". Worst case scenario was that the pie would have tasted icky.

Far from it! :) This was my first pumpkin pie from scratch! See my little pumpkin cut outs? :) I made the Creamy Pumpkin Pie recipe  and oh my oh my...it was great.

And because I wanted to feed my insanity have a back up pie, I also made an Apple and Pear Pie. I followed the recipe for apple pie, but I had some pears ripe, so I mixed them in and it tasted wonderful.

With Alex's homemade whipped cream, it was a really delicious dessert. I think we're having pumpkin pie for breakfast today with our coffee! :)

We decided to open the "Cherry Bounce" that we made in July. Oh my gosh...it was so sweet and delicious! But it is made with Rye Whisky so it had a strong finish, it was a glorious surprise. Next summer when the cherries are on sale again, we're going to load up and make a lot more of this bounce! My pal Susan made this as well, I wonder Susan, have you tasted yours yet?

Of course, everyone benefited from the 10-pound turkey! :) We are all adjusting very well to the new dogs. They are starting to really enjoy being part of the pack. I think that we can actually pull this off! Makes me very happy. :)

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Just a few more tidbits...

Do any of my fellow Canucks remember the cooking show "Wok with Yan"? I used to love that guy! I don't know if the show aired in the States or not. He always had a new apron that made a little fun of the word Wok. He was so much fun to watch and I found this cookbook at the thrift store a few weeks back. I'm going to make Chinese food for New Year's I think! :)

We had 5 little cucumbers left from the garden, but haven't been eating them too much, they taste a little bitter for some reason. Anyway, I didn't want to compost them, so I made some quick Bread and Butter Pickles. We'll try these in a few days. 

Same thing with the cherry tomatoes...we have more than we can eat at the moment as the garden dwindles. I found a recipe for Pickled Cherry Tomatoes...we haven't tried it yet, but I do hope they turn out yummy! 

I also got 30 jars of apple sauce canned. I HATE throwing things out, and I LOVE preserving food! Speaking of food, I'll end this post on a slight rant...

Looks good huh? I made a tortellini with Spinach and Mushroom Sauce a few days ago. The sauce was excellent. The pasta, however, tasted like cardboard. Honestly...it was supposed to be a "gourmet" tortellini that we bought at the store. Alex is convinced they add shredded paper to the recipe...store bought pasta is now on my blacklist and I'll be making my own from scratch now. This tortellini was supposed to be filled with Ricotta - we couldn't even taste it! What's on your blacklist these days?? I think mine consists of nearly EVERYTHING now.

Life Is Giving Us Lemons

But they really are the sweetest kinds of lemons. :) This is Stella and her little boy Pavlov. Most of my Blogging friends know them by now. We have a friend who had to leave the country for his father's funeral. He was supposed to be back Monday. Long story very short, he may not be back at all. It's complicated and very emotional, very worrisome due to finances...and really? How can we really stay sane with five dogs and three cats in our rental?

We HAVE to. We refuse to give these two to a shelter, they are sweet dogs and we will somehow manage. Plus they look great in Alex's hats! :)

I always take pictures of my little Jack-rabbit in a hat, so we had a little fun last night! Caring for so many animals is challenging. I've really missed my regular blogging and my hobbies. I know there is a way to get back to our routine...I just haven't found it yet.

Goofy Marlene and Big Girl Charlie look pretty slick don't they?  You know, I haven't even had time to respond to the comments on my last post and you were all so sweet! :)

Waiting for dinner, as they all "take their place". We finally got all five of them to stay put while we get their dinners going! They are all very smart pooches! I feel like I'm neglecting the poor cats these days, the dogs take up so much of my time, energy and focus.

I did find time to can 38 jars of tomatoes though! FINALLY the tomatoes were a good price, so late in the season. I am currently working on 40 pounds of apples for apple sauce. I'm really enjoying the canning process!

I've wrapped my Camemberts and they are now aging for another month and a half.

I started a "Baby Swiss" cheese too. The "baby" just means it ages less than a Swiss! Actually if I want to be all proper and legal, it's an "Alpine" cheese. I didn't make it in Switzerland so I shouldn't really call it a Swiss. I guess it's like trying to call a sparkling wine made anywhere other than the Champagne region of France a champagne! I don't think the cheese police are monitoring me...so I'll call it a Swiss lol. This will be ready in early 2018.

Check out the "cheese cave"!! Minus the Swiss, I have 10 cheeses aging! The Colby and Dry Jack will be ready to try in the next few weeks...and my first Cheddar on Halloween!

To cheer myself up I went to the market this morning and got some little pumpkins and decorative gourds. Monday is our Thanksgiving and I have a massive dinner planned for Alex and me and our eight fur-kids lol...insanity.

I miss catching up with everyone! Besides some emails and recipe sites, I haven't been online in a week. I hope I can find a way to get back to my routine really soon because it's weighing on my spirit a little bit. I'm wishing all of my Canadian friends a Happy Thanksgiving! Despite the stress, I'm SO thankful for my life, my home, my relationship and my fur-family. We will find a way! :)

Baking Day and End of the Summer Garden (sigh)

On Thursday I had a little energy...go figure! I picked some very nice tomatoes and cucumbers and made a Bruschetta. It was extra sweet because of the cherry tomatoes and tasted lovely on my homemade No Knead Bread! 

I had some eggs to finish up so I made my Sausage and Tomato Frittata for dinner. 

I also found a recipe for Feta and Chive Savoury Muffins in my Taste of Home cookbook. They turned out well, but a little bland. Next time I'll add more chives. I guess the "Award Winning Recipe" label is very subjective!!

For our sweet tooth, I made a batch of Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies from Martha Stewart's website. I used white chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks though. They turned out delicious but completely melted while cooking...melted, not sure how to describe it, but they kind of amalgamated and flattened, and turned into one big cookie! 

I wanted to make sure we had plenty of snacks during the next few days since I'm kind of overwhelmed with chores to do.

Despite how busy I've been with the dogs, it felt WRONG not making any cheese this week, so I made a quick Microwave Mozzarella. This cheese is SO fresh and yummy and super easy to make. We've been snacking on it the last few days.

Alex said we should age this cheese. I said, "it's supposed to be eaten fresh and we can't age it." He asked "why not?" Why not indeed! I was just always told fresh Mozza cannot be aged...but why not? So...this is one day in the cheese cave drying it. I sealed it today and we have an experiment on our hands! I've successfully aged the Traditional Style Mozza, so I'm going to wait a month or so to see how this little bundle ages!

The Camemberts smell divine and are getting mouldier and mouldier each day! By the end of this week, I'll be wrapping them and they'll sit for another 4-6 weeks before we try them!

Since Thursday, we have had freezing temperatures overnight and frost. I decided today to pick the last of the tomatoes, ripe or not. And the last 4 mini cukes. The veggies that aren't ripe will sit on the window sill for a few days so we can salvage them!

The summer garden is done. What can I say? It's been a bit disappointing, but I can only blame the weather this season. I did learn a lot for my first container garden though. These two pumpkins are still green and may possibly be orange-ish in a month's time for Halloween.

THIS is my prize pumpkin though! She's well on her way to orange-hood! :) 

I don't think I'll be participating in this week's Year of Projects post on Sunday; nor the Scribble Picnic post on Wednesday...I'm just off my rocker with the dogs and Monday's impending shopping trip! I did a full pantry and freezer inventory yesterday. I have 24 of 31 meals planned (including our Thanksgiving!!)...the next step is to finish the meal planning, make my shopping list, check the flyers, write the final shopping list with estimated costs...then sit back and have a glass of wine...patting myself on the back lol!

This week, I must also clean up the dregs of the summer garden and prepare for my winter garden. We have to get some plexiglass for cold frames, build some raised beds to keep the garden as protected as possible, and put them all together. I have to plant my garlic too. For now, the pumpkin patch will stay put until November.

And during all of this I'm hoping I can make a Swiss cheese and start some much needed slippers! It's getting darn cold out! I will miss all of my Blogger friends over the next little while, and I will catch up with all of you next week. I love my routines, and reading blogs each morning while I sip my coffee is such a pleasure - MUCH better than reading the news and social media! Oh...and there's the dogs too...oh my, how did my simple quiet little life get so hectic all of a sudden???...like I said, I'm off my rocker!!!

Scribble Picnic: Radio...Glorious Mold On My Cams! 😀

This week's Scribble Picnic theme is "Radio". Does anyone get my reference??? This was the first thing I thought of when I read the word "Radio":

That's Orson Welles broadcasting his infamous dramatization of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" in 1938. I'm too young to have heard it live, but Alex and I have listened to this several times on Internet Radio and we just love it. My painting is part watercolour and part acrylic. Visit the link above for other people's ideas! Keep that imagination going and don't forget to watch the skies! :)

Look at this...we managed to get all five dogs "taking their place" while we set out their food dishes! You'll notice our guest Stella (to the very left) and our Charlie (to the very right) both on leashes. Both female alphas are not fixed and there has been lots of grumbling between the two of them all week so far...we have to separate them, sigh. Oh well, not everyone gets along right? Our friend will likely be back before Canadian Thanksgiving to pick his dogs up. Despite the tension between the gals, having five dogs has been a lot of fun! :) Each dog has their own personality and sweetness to them and they are very endearing.

Even the three cats seem to be okay with our two new house guests! :) They're more concerned about how they can get to the chickadees in the trees!

I don't think there will be any new cheese making in my near future though! The dogs are really taking up most of our time. But look at my Camemberts!!! One week after making them, look at all that fun bloomy white mold forming on the sides! It's hard to capture what it looks like on the tops and bottoms, but the sides DO tell the story!

Nancy asked for my Baked Spaghetti recipe. I usually post all of my recipes don't I? I guess I missed that one! :) I just follow my recipe for Tomato Sauce, cook the pasta and mix it with the sauce, then put it into the dishes and load it up with Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. It's hot when I put it in the dish so I just broil it until the cheese is all melty and brown! Very delicious! :)

Doggie Breath and Tidbits

After Saturday night's all-nighter getting the dogs all used to each other, we spent most of Sunday in bed watching Westerns. But...we managed to get ALL FIVE dogs up on the bed with us, I know, it's really cozy (hmmm, that should read "crazy"!)...I have two legs under there somewhere and so does Alex lol...At one point Oscar the cat braved the little spot he could find, but didn't stick around long enough to be photographed!

Check this out...I just took a picture of my little froggie thermometer on the porch...it's 43 degrees in the shade. This is weather we should have had from May to August!! I'm on the porch by myself in my bathing suit taking very good advantage of some quiet alone "Rain time". All the pets are inside with the A/C on (yes, Sam, I caved lol!!!). Being in the valley of the Laurentian mountains, there is also always a humidex, but I have no idea what it is and I really don't want to know! I just know that my normally straight hair is now an afro of sorts...no picture required lol!

We are coming up on "monthly shopping day" next Monday so I have a bunch of cookbooks next to me and I'm starting my meal planning for the month of October. I've done so well the last year with monthly meal planning and grocery shopping that I actually have a really good supply of chicken, beef, pork and fish in the freezer! A year after starting this adventure, I'm cutting October's grocery bill by two thirds because I don't really need all that much food! Wonderful isn't it? Hard work DOES pay off! :)

One of the cookbooks I got at the thrift store had these little tidbits as part of the instructions, I thought it was funny!

I can't imagine turning the oven on tonight so I took the slow cookers out and I'm making two chilis. One with beef and spices for Alex and one with chicken and no spices for me (recipe: Rain's Chili). I was up AGAIN just before 5am, sigh...but I guess it was a good thing today because I got the chilis going before it got really hot.

I'm really taking advantage of this weather...before I know it, I'll be smack into six months of THIS:

Happy Monday! :)