Domestic Geek

We weren't going to cook a Thanksgiving dinner this year since we weren't going up to Homestead North. First we were going to go out to eat, but we forgot to make reservations. Next, we were going to get a pre-cooked dinner from Whole Foods, but I couldn't get Marcus to make a decision about which one to get until the day after they stopped taking orders. I ended up cooking a dinner, anyway, which was a bit of a pain as all of my stuff is up in South Dakota and the kitchen in the condo is tiny. I think I managed pretty well. The only things I couldn't make were the cheesecake and my shrimp stuffing. I broke down and bought a pre-made pumpkin pie, too.


BONUS: Since I love this picture so, here's last year's Thanksgiving picture taken at Homestead North:

I was at Whole Foods again today before I went into work (I find I've been doing that to procrastinate going in - I really hate going to work these days), and I saw this magazine.

I must remember to pick this up after the holidays. I really missing cooking and the few recipes I've tried using beer in them have turned out pretty good. This magazine intrigues me.

Hope everyone out there in American Blogland had a Happy Thanksgiving. For the first time in five years, I didn't have to work on Thanksgiving, so for that I am extremely grateful. Preparing the Thanksgiving meal is one of the highlights of my year. I love to cook, but with just Marcus and I, I rarely get to go all out.

This year's menu included:

• Free range fresh turkey procured from Sunflower Market


• Mashed potatoes and gravy made from this recipe on The Pioneer Woman


• Broccoli/Cauliflower with cheese sauce (the cayenne pepper was a nice addition)


• Shrimp Stuffing (I had to use some stuffing I got at Sunflower since Kellogg's discontinued their stuffing a while back)


• Peas (Marcus always has to have these)


• Buttermilk biscuits


• Corn muffins


• Cranberry Orange dressing


• Pumpkin pie

Despite being sick, I managed to get quite a bit done this weekend.

On the crafty front, I finally got around to sewing the watch band for the iPod Nano that Dad and I got for Marcus last Christmas. I swore I'd get off my duff and get it made before this Christmas and I did it with a more than a month to spare.



I've been getting into making amigurumi lately. The first one I ever made was a Yoda for my desk at work. My most recent one is this cute little pumpkin pie:



I also finished knitting a dish cloth that was a test knit for a friend of mine. No picture yet as she has not yet released the pattern.

I made a really yummy dinner on Sunday night. Beer can chicken (free range) with sage, thyme & rosemary stuffed inside, baby red potatoes & broccoli with oregano, olive oil & sea salt and corn muffins. All organic, of course.



We had to board up the skirting where a raccoon tore into it to get under the house. I hate raccoons.

I got all the bedding washed, got the dishes caught up, bathed the rabbit and cleaned her cage, made a sketch for this week's Team Housewares golf poster...whew. Too bad the work week started again and is cutting into my productivity.

I have been wanting chili and cornbread for a few weeks now, but every time I had planned to make it, something came up. Well, today I finally had the time and the universe didn't throw any monkey wrenches in my plans. Except for having to pick up some more whole milk, I already had all the supplies (like I said, I've been trying to do this for a while):



Except for the chili powder and the bay leaves, everything I used tonight was organic, which made Marcus extremely happy. Who knew you can't find organic chili powder? Weird, huh? Even used grass-finished bison for the meat. YUM! Marcus is feeling a little under the weather and since I can't get him to drink my cough remedy with the vinegar and cayenne pepper, I upped the garlic, cayenne pepper and chili powder a bit.

The corn muffins turned out to be the best ones I've ever made. I used a recipe that I found on the Food Network web site: Honey Cornbread Muffins. These things were so moist. It must be the whole milk. Will definitely be making these again soon.



I'm so glad its Fall, I love being able to make stuff like this for dinner!