Thankful for Family!

Early morning helpers preparing the 22-pound turkey while watching the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade on the laptop Pop-Pop set up in the kitchen.

We even had a period of large white snowflakes fall from the sky to add to the festivities inside.

 

Everyone but Erin and her family were able to be together this day.

Extra special to have our Spanish guest, Aldara, join our family!

Always a Silly face pic!

 

Too many little ones to be in the dining room now-a-days. 

But they didn't mind at all.

Our family always holds hands while giving thanks for our blessings

 Brenna requested a turkey leg days ago.  I think her eyes were bigger than her stomach!

 Adults in the dining room

 Ready to E-A-T!

Photos for their Christmas Cards

Loving Mommy

Loving Daddy

Brad and Jill

A tired group ready to head home

To All Ye Pilgrims

Something we made this way back when homeschooling Abbey and display it each Thanksgiving.

the following proclamation was made in 1623 by the first Governor of the Colony, Governor William Bradford, two years after the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth:

To all ye Pilgrims,


Inasmuch as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, squashes and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as he has protected us from the raids of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience; now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with ye wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Plymouth rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving 

Psalm 95:2

Visiting from NY

Abbey woke to lots of giggles and laughter this morning

Tickles and wrestling are what aunts do best with little nieces that arrived late last night .

And introducing someone new who also traveled over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house...

RUDY

Rudy is a five month old apricot color Yorkie-poo.  He is sweet, playful and a lot poofy!

I don't think I have ever seen a little puppy quite like Rudy.  He sort of has a little monkey face.  I think it looks like you should unzip his thick coat and let the real puppy dog out.

He is much loved! Except by Raider who isn't thrilled about having this fur-ball wanting to play with him and take his toys.  Raider, I was hoping you would be a nice host to your new cousin (or is that nephew).

Brenna and Ryan loving Rudy

Well, it's back to the kitchen for more peeling and chopping of celery and onions and parsley and yams and cauliflower and cranberries and nuts and apples and beans and.......................

TWD ~ Rugelach

This week at Tuesday with Dorie is a Rewind one meaning we could post something we already made or make something the group made that we missed.  Since I am the last baker to sign on I had a lot of choices.  All of the baking I have done I never made Rugelach and thought they looked and sounded good.

I do love these little pastry cookies.  They are not as sweet as I thought they would be even with a dried fruit  filling, a spreading of jam and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.  I love the flaky pastry with the fruit and nuts inside.  I substituted chopped dates for the chocolate in the original recipe.

Rugelach
Baking From My Home to Yours 
by Dorie Greenspan

 For the dough
4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the filling
2/3 cup raspberry jam, apricot jam or marmalade (I used raspberry on half and apricot on the rest)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts or almonds)
1/4 cup plump, moist dried currants (I used cinnamon raisins that my sister gave me and I had never heard of before)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips (I did not use chocolate but substituted chopped dates)

For the glaze
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cold water
2 tablespoons sugar, preferably coarse sugar

Method:

For the dough 
Let the cream cheese and butter rest on counter for 10 minutes ~ you want them to be slightly softened but still cool.

Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine for 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds. Do not work the dough too long that it forms a ball on the blade.
Turn the dough out,gather it into a ball and divide it in half.  Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. (Wrap airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

To make the filling
Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or microwave until it liquefies. Mix sugar and cinnamon together.
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (Silicone baking mats are great for rugelach.)

To shape the cookies
Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.
 
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. 

Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the chopped chocolate and half of the currants. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.

Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles. (The easiest way to do this is to cut into quarters, then cut each quarters into 4 pieces.)

Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each triangle becomes a little crescent.

Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (The cookies can be refrigerate overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.)

Getting ready to bake
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

To glaze
Stir the egg and water together. Brush a bit of the glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar.
Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden.
Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

 To see what other bakes did this week, click button below.

still blooming

Spending most of Saturday raking tarp-ful after tarp-ful of dried, crunchy, brown leaves to the curb (for the third time in just about as many weeks) it was a pleasant sight to see these soft pink (Knock-Out) roses in the garden.

We know any day they will succumb to autumns frost and will be gone until next spring.

Until then, we are enjoying every last bit of beauty.

Dear Valerie @Composition Life said these roses reminder her of a song and kindly sent the lyrics and link to a beautiful video of the song being performed.

 

 (music Thomas Moore (1778-1852) (lyrics Sir John Stevenson 1761-1833)

'Tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming all alone,
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone.
No flower of her kindred,
No rose bud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes,
Or give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one,
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go sleep thou with them;
'Thus kindly I scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow
When friendships decay,
And from love's shining circle
The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie withered
And fond ones are flown
Oh! who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

 

Celtic Woman performing Video link 

 

Joining Mary @Little Red House for Mosaic Monday!