The Help

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving (duh) and although I was going to cook everything except for the state (ahem) green bean casserole, I am pleased to have three wonderful women helping with the cooking.

  Thank you Barb, Katie, and Rachelle for your help!



to brine or not to brine

that is the question.

It's t-minus a week before Thanksgiving (help me rhonda) and I still haven't decided if I want to brine my turk or slather it with a fresh butter and herbs mixture. I have been reading articles about people who LOVE their turkeys that sit in a bath all night, "I brine a turkey every year because it’s the right thing to do", says Pioneer Woman. On the other hand I have my uber-talented step-father, who just so happens to be a chef, and he says, "fresh herbs and slow cooking is all you need".

Oh brother. Somebody please decide for me before I end up buying two turkeys and doing both.
(My family did that once; one was smoked and one was cooked.  On the day it was a huge fiasco, but it's quite hilarious to think about now).

                                                      brine                    OR                    roast

either way, it better look like this:

 

OH BABY!



reading material

Help!

I keep picturing a beautiful winter evening curled up with a cup of tea (more like hot chocolate) and a good book to read...

So, I'm looking for a few book recommendations.

No HP, please!
Non-fictional OR fictional.
I like things to stay pretty realistic; nothing in space.
A good love story, perhaps?
My favorite book is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, fyi.
I do like the author Sophie Kinsella, but I think I've read most of her books.

thanks a million!

Welcome Hayden Putnam!

My brother and sister-in-love welcomed their first child into the world last night. 

Even though we are miles away, I could feel the excitement, 

love, and peace in Lance's voice. 

 Look at this precious little guy

So sweet. Congratulations, Lance & Jennie!

ALL our love!

Old Blue

We welcomed a new member to our family. 

Meet: Old Blue

1986 Ford F150 and his proud new papa, Mark  :)

What I like about OB:

    It fits in our garage. It has power locks and windows. It has mirrors on the visors. The leather seats. The seat belts.

What Mark likes about OB:

     It's blue. It's a truck. It's a ford.

We both LOVE it.

Yabba Dabba Doo!

Happy 50th Anniversary to The Flintstones!

(random note of the day)

If You Give A Girl A Blog

If you give a girl a blog, she's going to be very excited to post often.


After she posts a lot, she'll realize keeping a blog is more of a commitment than she realized.


Then she'll probably find other things to do than tend to her blog.


While finding other things to do, she'll probably get lost in other websites like Pottery Barn, The Pioneer Woman and Ann Taylor LOFT.


After looking at the websites for awhile, she'll probably hear her husband say something like "how's the post coming?" or "what's for dinner?"


When he asks these questions, she'll remember to go back to thepioneerwoman.com to find a recipe for dinner.


While making dinner, she will think how cool it would be to take beautiful pictures of everything she cooks and bakes so she can have an interesting blog.


Chances are that if she is thinking about her blog, she will probably want to go upstairs to write a post.


So it goes...
(not like Vonnegut)