Friday, November 26, 2021

Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday

Apple Pie

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful because my daughter and I were together to celebrate it!

The day started off with an early morning phone call from my aunt, who called to wish us a happy Thanksgiving.  It really wasn't that early in the morning, except, having gone to bed around 3:30 a.m., I was still sleeping at 9:00 a.m. when she called!   LOL.  

I spent part of the morning finishing up the hot pad I had started sewing the day before:


Hot Pad Front

Hot Pad Back

The caroling lady was supposed to have been a stuffed toy/ornament and has been in my stash for a long time!  I am not quite sure how I came to have it in my stash in the first place!  I couldn't think of anyone who would appreciate a fabric ornament, but, didn't want to dispose of it, either.  Then, the other night, I thought it would do nicely for a hot pad, instead.  I appliqued it onto the plain blue fabric and then, sewed the hot pad.  I'm definitely going to consider this as a decluttered item!

The previous night's wind had knocked over the avocado plant and when my daughter and I went to set it back upright, again, we noticed that some of the purple mustard leaves had been snapped off by the wind!  We picked those and daughter added them to the salad she prepared for our dinner, later in the evening.

I started on the Thanksgiving dinner preparations in the afternoon, making the cranberry sauce, first.  Then, an apple pie, made with Granny Smith apples and my homemade all butter pie crust.  I had an opportunity to use two of my birthday presents from my daughter to make the pie - the mini food processor to blend the butter into the flour for the pie crust (so much faster than using two knives to cut in the butter) and the new silicone pastry sheet to roll out the pie crusts!  I decluttered the old pastry sheet I have had for the past 25 years (bought at a Tupperware party - that one was rather battered with a corner melted when it came too close to a stove burner that was on and cut through in places!)  

Daughter made the rice using a boxed wild rice and rice mix and after the pie finished baking, we increased the oven temperature from 350F to 400F and baked the frozen salmon fillet, which we seasoned with some lemon juice, salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder.  It turned out nicely.  We had some mixed Japanese mustard greens and mizuna cooked together in a dish called "namul" to go with our salmon and rice:

Thanksgiving Dinner

I didn't take a picture of the salad of mixed greens and cucumber.

Afterwards, we enjoyed a piece of pie, each.  

This Thanksgiving, I was thankful for:

- Having my daughter home and being able to celebrate with her
- The blessing of good health and being alive
- A warm and comfortable home
- Good food and plenty of it
- Family and friends 

My joyful activity was celebrating Thanksgiving with my daughter.

Today, Friday (Black Friday), I am doing laundry and relaxing.  We didn't do any Black Friday shopping (we rarely do, anyway).

Neighbor S sent over a platter of goodies through her daughter N:

Thanksgiving Goodies from Neighbors S and N

N had made the little round pumpkin pastries and apple pie; S had added the madeleine cookies that my daughter loves and some chocolates to round it off!  She also sent over some turkey!  I think there will be some turkey pot pies and/or turkey casserole, this weekend!  LOL.  

No big plans for the weekend.  Just taking it easy and relaxing.  

Hope everything is well with everyone who is reading this blog of mine.  Did anyone do any Black Friday shopping to take advantage of the deals?


12 comments:

  1. I can just imagine how delicious that pie was! Good idea for the potholder and another item decluttered creatively.
    I was with my friend this morning and she gave me birthday gifts including chocolates which I immediately opened so we could both have one!
    My only Black Friday shopping was in the grocery store, not too many deals there with the rising food prices but I was pleased to see that the green grapes were on special.

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. I wish I could share a piece of the pie and have a cup of tea with you. I'm glad you were able to visit with your friend and enjoy some chocolates, instead. :) The grocery store I have been going to is offering some Black Friday deals! It is the first time I've heard of a grocery store doing that! I will probably do a final month end grocery shopping pick up this weekend, although I don't need a lot. :)

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  2. The apple pie looks amazing (can you guess I've not eaten my breakfast yet?😊).
    I'm so glad you and your daughter were able to celebrate Thanksgiving together. X

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    1. Thank you, Jules. It was good to be together to celebrate the holiday. :) The apple pie was delicious! Now, go have your breakfast! :D

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  3. The apple pie looks delicious. I'll have ice cream with my slice please 😊 It sounds like you both enjoyed your Thanksgiving this year and it's even more special as you were able to celebrate together.

    I love the carol singing hot pad and very good use of a decluttered item. Well done!

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    1. Ooh, apple pie and ice cream would be great! I'll have to buy some ice cream (and make another pie) for you, though, because we have almost finished this pie! We did have a lovely Thanksgiving, made even more special, as you said, because we were together. :)

      The hot pad was a good way to declutter that one item, wasn't it? :D

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  4. Oh that pie looks good! I love apple pie.
    The hot pad turned out nicely. Glad you were able to use something out of your stash and turn it into something beautiful. Hope you have a good weekend!

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    1. Thank you, Sharon; apple pie is a favorite, here, too. :)
      I'm pleased with how the hot pad turned out! It was a good way to use something I've had in my stash for years!
      My weekend has been good, so far. I did some sewing, daughter did some baking, friends brought over dinner, and, tomorrow, I am planning to video chat with a friend and then, pick up groceries and maybe start decorating for the holidays. :) Hope you, too, are having a good weekend.

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  5. Your apple pie looks delicious. The hot pad is so nice, well done. I have never done any Black Friday shopping, if we need anything I buy it when it's needed. I like your Thanksgiving list and agree good health is everything and having the love of family and friends.

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    1. Thank you, Eileen; the apple pie is mostly gone, now! :D I like how the hot pad turned out, although the quilting line is a bit off on the back, but, that's OK. I have gone to the fabric and crafts stores on Black Friday, in years past, but, I'm not venturing out shopping these days! Our Covid numbers are rather high and even with the booster, I don't feel comfortable going about. Yes, good health is not to be taken for granted, is it?

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  6. I am glad you and your daughter had a nice Thanksgiving. And I'm so happy for you that she has been able to continue to work from LA and now be home for the holidays again this year.
    Your pie look delicious. Probably anything put inside of something called an all butter crust is going to be great :). I know I would like it.

    I'm still making things from leftovers. I made curried butternut squash soup which is something I usually make after Thanksgiving. I chop up the squash and a few potatoes and leftover Brussel sprouts (of all things) and cook it all for a while with some spices (mainly curry powder and cayenne) and a lot of broth - then I whiz it up with my hand wand and puree it.

    Yesterday I made a big thing of broth in the crock pot with half of the carcass. The other half is in the freezer to make more broth with in the future.




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    1. Thank you, Debra. We had a very happy and thankful Thanksgiving! Yes, so glad that my daughter is home!
      We finished the last piece of pie, yesterday! The crust recipe is basically 1 part butter to 2 parts flour! Plus, enough water to bind it. For the 2 crust pie, I used 1 cup (2 sticks) butter and 2 cups flour. I had a little extra pie crust dough left over and I froze that. I've another recipe which calls for only oil, instead of butter, but, my daughter doesn't like that crust as much as my all-butter crust! I wonder why? :D

      Ooh, I like the sound of your curried butternut squash soup! I might try that with the blue pumpkin that has been sitting as a decoration all this time (assuming it is still good!) I made a turkey curry with the last of the turkey I had in the fridge. I froze the rest of the turkey and the carcass for later! :)

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