Thanksgiving

I attempt to write a food blog and it appears as though thanksgiving slipped right past me. Such is the life of a law student. I cannot wait until next year when I can actually enjoy the holiday instead of going through a to-do list for exams in my head (in past years it was actual information but I am a 3L and that means I am even WORSE than a college senior).

I spent some time the last week of classes browsing through cooking sites and blogs trying to come up with a new twist on our more traditional Thanksgiving. 3L remember? I found  two recipes I thought looked good. One was a total success, the other nearly caused my father to kick me out of the house.

The Good
We always have two cranberry sauces, one plain, one orange. This year we had three. Excessive yes, but it is just SO delicious. Epicurious had this amazing fig and port wine cranberry sauce that was to die for. Seriously, a little sweet, a little tart. I now want to cover everything in it. Goat cheese, ice cream, a pork loin...mmmmm. Sometimes the texture of figs bothers me but this was ok because the cranberries were pretty firm as well.

Photo from Epicurious.com

The Bad
Turkey. Everyone has a favorite recipe. But that can get boring. We have tried the whole fried turkey thing (nearly became a statistic in burning down the house), tried a lemon turkey (no one could eat it, epic disaster), and this year we tried a butter herb turkey. They recipe looked great. Granted, I didn't really read the directions, why bother? I wasn't the one cooking it and I was in class I needed to play on Facebook pay attention. The short story is the turkey took a LOT of fresh herbs, butter and time, and it ended up tasting like, turkey. But not particularly good turkey, just turkey. And the gravy that took 4 hours to make was gravy. Granted it was very, very, very buttery gravy.

Photo from Epicurious.com

The Ugly

Every family has that desert that someone ALWAYS makes. Ours is a bourbon pecan tart. I have made it countless times and for some reason (insanity) I was actually craving it this year (see being a 3L makes you do weird things). About half way through the process I realized I had never actually rolled out a pre made crust made the shell. EPIC FAIL. I had already wasted one pie shell so I just figured I would make a pie version. Not so delicious. Thankfully mom made mini Mississippi mud pies with lots of kaluha sauce and they were delicious. Sadly there is no picture of them as they were devoured immediately. 

Photo from CookingLight.com

Updates!

I am really bad at this whole blogging thing, good thing I only have a few readers (and I appreciate all of you!)

A week or so ago I made some caramel apples (sadly not with the apples we picked) and they were delicious! It was my first attempt at making caramel and I think it was quite successful, so successful I didn't get any pictures. Boyfriend thought the caramel was a little too buttery but I think it went very well with tart granny smith apples. Although,  I will admit that if I was making caramel for the sake of caramel I would reduce the amount of butter I used.

We are coming up on Thanksgiving (one week! eek) which also means I am getting very close, scary close to finals. BUT that also means that the new Harry Potter movie comes out soon! I am debating dressing up for the midnight showing (yes I am going to the midnight show, yes with a group of law students, don't judge).

Thanksgiving also signals the beginning of specialty food. It also signals the beginning of my stress eating. Boyfriend swears by the white fudge covered oreos. I can't get behind those but the gingerbread graham crackers are calling my name.

I will be heading over to my parents to help with Thanksgiving dinner and will try to get some good pictures and recipes. I attempted my first turkey two years ago and it was beautiful if I do say so myself! Granted it looks a little burnt but that just all the buttery goodness.

More later (with pictures, promise)!

Need: Vacation to Recover from my Vacation

This post is well overdue. Our trip to New England was such a whirlwind of activity it took me a while to recover. Here are some of my favorite memories. 

Cheering on Wesleyan Crew at the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Connecticut. 

Picking my first apple!

Beautiful pumpkin.

Some very fun gourds.

Craft beer sampler at the People's Pint.

It is finally getting cooler here, sweaters and boots here I come!