What are YOU Thankful for?

I know this is a late Thanksgiving post, but it is never too late to be thankful. I am thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend which included, but wasn't limited to:

1. Tons of turkey.  Luckily we had some leftover to make Joe's leftover casserole on Friday; I thought that I might have to go buy a roasted chicken from the grocery store to stand in for the leftovers!  We also had some yummy ham and luscious crab.  It was delightful!
2. Nice, mellow time at my mother-in-law's home with the rest of that side of the family.  We missed those who couldn't be there!  And those we couldn't travel to go to be with.
3. Monkey's lovely centerpiece that added festive color to the dinner table.
4. Watching slides of Andy and his family when they were younger.  So much fun, and some laughs, too.
5. Black Friday shopping with friends...starting at 11p.m. Thursday night and ending at 10a.m. Friday morning.
6. Making Belgian waffles this morning with my new Black Friday waffle maker!
7. Seeing the next to the last Harry Potter film with the two oldest kids, and eating sunflower seeds through the whole thing to keep myself awake at the 9:15 show after staying up the night before and only napping during the day.
8. Monkey asking if they were going to get a "Lumpin Coal" from Santa for Christmas
9. Bri, Natty, Andy and I speaking in Church on Sunday...So happy that's over!
10. Hoping my Grandma is smiling down on us from Heaven this Thanksgiving!

The Humble Pear Crumble Pie

If you hadn't realized it yet, Thanksgiving is next week.  Next week.  NEXT WEEK!!!  I KNOW!!!  And you're welcome for the reminder.  Because in my world, Thanksgiving feels like it should be two months away still.  That being said, I'm gearing up for Thanksgiving dinner at Nonni's house.  We'll be celebrating there, and it will be a collaborative effort, with the turkey, potatoes, some pies and a jell-o cranberry sauce as my OUR responsibilities.  I'm putting the kids to work!

The rest of the menu includes ham, green bean casserole, yams and apples, salad and bread.

Heaven on a plate.

I've been the turkey roaster for the the past few years, including The Thanksgiving that almost wasn't, and I really enjoy it. 

I also really enjoy pie.  Any kind of pie.  And it's not because I love the crust, because I'm more than willing to give the crust up to Andy.  I think it's because Pie equals Love.  Homemade, comforting, gather round the hearth love.

This is one of our favorite pies.  It is similar to a Dutch Apple Pie, but mad with pears.  Any variety will work, but I used some locally grown Bartletts for this pie.  The pears take on an almost buttery flavor and texture.  Of course, that might also be from the stick of bUtter in the crumble topping.


Pear Crumble Pie

Use your favorite pie crust recipe.  I used Sylvia's Perfect Pie Crust recipe from Pioneer Woman, and it got rave reviews from the pie testers.
I am obviously not a pie crust perfectionist.  I don't have the patience to expertly flute the edges, and I usually have to do some patching after lifting the crust in, but the pie tasters care not about the aesthetic appeal of the crust as they're wolfing it down.

Filling:

3 Tablespoons sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
dash of salt
1 teaspoon of shredded lemon peel
3 Tablespoons lemon juice (basically the juice from one large lemon)
6 to 8 pears, peeled and cored, then thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon peel and juice.  Toss with the pears and arrange in pie shell.

 

I do not spend my time arranging.  The pears are dumped in and shoved to fit.

Topping:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)(I cube it up while it's cold and let it sit in the bowl til it is room temperature.)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I grate from a whole nutmeg and it's delish!)

1 cup flour

Combine the topping ingredients until it's crumbly.  Sprinkle over the pie filling.  Make sure you don't pat it down, it will make a crust and not a crumble.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes at 425.  Wrap the crust edges in foil for the first 1/2 hour then remove and cover just the crumble for the last fifteen minutes to prevent overbrowning.

 

I'm hopping to some blogs...

One thing about this little ol' internet:  There are tons of blogs to read!  It's like reality TV, but without having to eat bugs or vote people off.  Not that I'm opposed to either of those, just in the proper context.

In looking for some quality blogs, I've decided to join in on a blog hop hosted by Nicole at One Little Mister.  Her blog is family friendly and lots of fun.  It's easy to tell that she takes pride and spends some time on it!

So I'll be off doing some visiting.  You can tag along if you want!

Avocados...A contest entry

The Aztecs believed that avocados were a strong aphrodisiac.  I'm not so sure about that, but the avocado is one of nature's most nutrient dense foods.  I've been known to justify my over-consumption of guacamole by mumbling, "It's the good fat!" around a chip smothered in a glob of green goodness.

We love to eat avocados in any form.  I'd probably even try avocado ice cream.  We slice them onto sandwiches, dice them into salads and  mash them into dips.  They're delicious as a topping on ceviche or tossed into Cowboy Caviar (that's another recipe I'll have to post here!). 

All over bloggy-world I have notice the avocado contest.  Michelle at Scribbit has jumped in and is hosting a contest on her blog. 

Here is my recipe entry, a salad  made with avocado, shrimp, and citrus.  So refreshing!

Avocado in the Sea Salad

2 avocados, peeled and diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 bunch green onions, sliced, including the tops
1 lb. fresh or frozen already cooked shrimp (If it's frozen, let it thaw in refrigerator first. If they are a larger size, rough chop the shrimp before adding them.)
1 lemon, juiced
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together the avocados, tomatoes, green onions and shrimp.  Add lemon juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. 

That's it!  This tastes best if you make it several hours ahead of time.  Can be eaten as a salad, as a salsa, or to top a tostada.  You can even use the recipe as a base and add your favorite ingredients.  Sometimes I'll use red onion, or add diced cucumber, or diced red pepper or fire roasted chilies, or some jalapeno to spice it up.  Yum!

Sunday Soliloquy (when I'm really just rambling on to myself and trying to make sense of it all)...

Last night was Stake Conference, just for the adults, and of course babes in arms are welcome, too.

Love being a part of a group of people who are trying their best to be their best.

Our Area Authority, Elder Scott D. Whiting was here from Hawaii.  He said "Aloha!" when he got up to speak.  Love that!

He spoke about keeping the family strong, and doing that by having a) family scripture study  b)family prayer  c)family home evening.  Radical ideas!

He also said that our main objective, what this all boils down to, is to have the Spirit in our home.

Now, I've been thinking.  How can I do this?  I suffer from a debilitating need to set the bar too high.  I have great expectations, and when those aren't met, I crash miserably.  I expect my children to participate in the above three activities, and when they cause problems, I get really irritated and, quite possibly, I will sometimes even overreact!  (I know, it's hard to believe.  I also know that my mom is laughing when she reads this.)

But then, do I just aim low and be grateful for whatever amount of participation I get out of them?

Is there a happy median?

It is also hard to feel the Spirit when I feel stressed so much of the time.  And again, I admit that some of that stress is self-induced -- if I were more organized, some of it would disappear -- but some of the stress comes from the day-to-day worries about money and kids.  Those are really the two biggest anxiety-producers that I have.  So, if anyone has some advice, I'm open to it.  And I'll just keep praying, and trying to knock some sense into my kids.  Because the older they get, the less they have.