What I'm Sharing: A Less Processed Life's Top 10 Recipes of 2013


It's the end of another year, and I can't help but reminisce over the last twelve months. With the help of Google Analytics, I thought I'd share with you A Less Processed Life's top 10 posts of 2013. As always, thanks for stopping by my little corner of the web!  








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What I'm Wishing You: Happy Holidays!


From our family to yours, best wishes for a wonderful holiday season! 


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Made From Scratch: Slow-Roasted Tomatoes


There is nothing more depressing than a tomato in the heart of winter. (Honestly, when it comes to tomatoes, I'm fully in the heirloom-tomatoes-only-at-the-height-of-summer camp.) However, sometimes you just need some tasty tomatoes when they aren't quite in season. (I'm looking at you tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwich.) I recently borrowed Gwyneth Paltrow's 2011 cookbook, My Father's Daughter from the library, and I had to keep myself from earmarking nearly every single page. I decided to start with her recipe for slow-roasted tomatoes, and trust me, they don't disappoint. Though I think the tomatoes are perfect, D actually complained that they tasted "too tomatoey." (Personally, I don't think that's possible; the tomatoes' concentrated flavor was delicious to me.) 


These tomatoes keep well for up to a week, so be sure to have a plan for how to use them before you get started (or just slow-roast only as many as you need). I found that these tomatoes worked quite well in a tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella sandwich. A picture of my TBM sandwich appears below; if you're watching your carbs, simply serve the sandwich open-faced. (Or, when cut into small squares, the open-faced sandwich melts would make a rather tasty appetizer!)


Slow-Roasted Tomatoes (printer-friendly version)

8 vine-ripened tomatoes
fine sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Slice each tomato in half horizontally. Place each tomato half seed-side up on the prepped baking sheet. Sprinkle the tomatoes with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Lightly rub the olive oil into each tomato.
3. Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 3-5 hours, or until they are almost completely dried and are lightly caramelized on the edges. 
4. The roasted tomatoes will keep in an airtight container for up to a week. 

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What's For Dinner: Cast-Iron Roasted Chicken


I have to be honest. This recipe made a ginormous mess in my oven. Gi-nor-mous. (I'll explain below what you can do to minimize the mess.) But ... BUT ... the resulting chicken was so delicious. The skin was perfectly browned and crisp, the meat was incredibly moist and flavorful, and let's face it, the presentation of a whole roasted chicken in a cast-iron skillet is kind of fantastic. I would definitely consider making this recipe again ... but maybe after first covering the interior of my oven entirely in aluminum foil.

But perhaps I can skip wrapping my oven in aluminum foil if I just adjust my cooking technique slightly. I think my major error was adding some vegetable oil to my cast-iron skillet, fearing that the chicken might stick. However, since our cast-iron skillet is well-seasoned, I could have skipped that step, thus avoiding a whole lotta oil splatter all along the top, bottom, and sides of my oven. Of course, when roasting a chicken, some mess is expected, but my mistake caused a mess that was much larger than it needed to be. Learn from my mistakes! And, one more handy tip: baking soda with a little water is a life-saver when it comes to cleaning the interior of your oven!

Cast-Iron Roasted Chicken (printer-friendly version)
makes 4-6 servings

1 three-pound organic chicken
3-4 springs fresh thyme
1 lemon, cut into quarters
1 small white onion, cut into quarters
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
herbes de Provence

1. Place a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet on the middle rack in the oven and preheat to 475 degrees.
2. Remove the giblets (if necessary) from the cavity of the chicken. Pat the body dry with paper towels.
3. Place the chicken on a cutting board. Use a sharp knife to cut the skin connecting the legs to the body. Spread each leg until the joint pops and the leg lies flat. (See a video of this process here.) Insert the fresh thyme, lemon quarters, onion quarters, and garlic cloves into the body cavity of the chicken. Drizzle olive oil over top the chicken and gently rub it into the skin. Season with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence.
4. Carefully remove the hot cast-iron skillet from the oven. Place the chicken in the skillet, breast-side up. Lightly push down on the legs so that they rest completely on the bottom of the skillet.
5. Roast the chicken in the oven for 40-50 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the thigh reaches 165 degrees.
6. Remove the skillet from the oven, tent the chicken with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Carve and serve. 
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What's On the Side: Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes


Okay, enough with the sweet treats (for now...). Let's talk savory dishes today. On Monday, I made  maple-glazed wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets for dinner. To counter the sweetness of the maple glaze, I wanted to serve a side that leaned on the spicy side of things. I first heard about this recipe for chipotle mashed sweet potatoes on the Alton Brown podcast; Alton discussed it as one of his favorite sides to serve alongside a Thanksgiving turkey. I filed the recipe away as something to try in the future -- so here we are a few weeks later and I finally had a chance to give the recipe a whirl.

The flesh of a sweet potato can vary from light yellow to bright orange. As you can see in the image above, the sweet potatoes I used were of the light-yellow-fleshed variety. Though one variety of sweet potato make look different from another, I don't find there to be a drastic difference in flavor. In this dish, the sweetness of the potatoes are perfectly complemented by the smoky spiciness of the chipotle peppers. In fact, the chipotle peppers add such a smoky flavor that D asked if I had added bacon into the mix. (Nope!)

Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes (printer-friendly version)
makes 4-6 servings

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 whole canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped fine
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from can of peppers
1/2 teaspoon salt
salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1. Add about 2 inches of water to the bottom of a large sauce pot. Bring the water to a simmer, then add to the pot the steaming basket with the chopped sweet potatoes, top it with the lid, and steam the potatoes until fork tender, about 20 minutes. (If you don't have a large sauce pot, you can steam your sweet potatoes in two batches, as I did.)
2. Place the steamed potatoes in a large shallow bowl. Add the unsalted butter and mash with a potato masher. Then add the chopped chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, and salt and continue mashing until fully incorporated. Season to taste with pepper and additional salt if necessary.
3. Serve immediately.

(adapted from this Alton Brown recipe)

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What I'm Giving: Crispy Double-Chocolate Peppermint Bark


Okay, okay, I know -- yet another indulgent recipe? I promise we'll be back to our normal posts full of healthy and nutritious recipes as soon as possible. (Or at least as soon as the holidays are over...) When I saw this recipe posted on Shutterbean, I knew I'd have to give it a whirl -- I couldn't help myself, it looked so good (and, spoiler alert, it tastes just as good as it looks, perhaps even better!) -- and once I made the recipe, I knew I had to share. Plus, this crispy double-chocolate peppermint bark is super-easy to put together, making it an ideal last-minute gift for any of your foodie friends. Just be sure to use the highest-quality white and semisweet chocolate chips that you can get your hands on. Trust me, you can definitely taste the difference.


Crispy Double-Chocolate Peppermint Bark (printer-friendly version)
makes at least 30 pieces

16 ounces (about 1 1/2 bags) high-quality white chocolate chips (I recommend Guittard)
2 cups puffed rice cereal
1 cup high-quality semisweet chocolate chips (I recommend Guittard)
6 candy canes, unwrapped and crushed (place the candy in a plastic bag and bash it with a rolling pin)

1. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place the white chocolate chips in a large heatproof bowl and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between cooking times, until the chocolate has melted. Stir until smooth.
2. Add the puffed rice cereal to the melted chocolate and stir to combine.
3. Turn the white chocolate-rice mixture out onto the lined baking sheet. Use a spatula to spread the mixture into a large rectangle.
4. Add the semisweet chocolate chips to a small or medium heatproof bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments to melt the chocolate and stir until smooth.
5. Spread the melted semisweet chocolate evenly over the white chocolate mixture.
6. Sprinkle the crushed candy canes evenly over the semisweet chocolate layer. Place a piece of parchment paper over top the candy cane layer and press gently to ensure the peppermint pieces stick to the chocolate.
7. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and chill for 20-30 minutes to set the chocolate. Remove from the fridge and break into pieces. Store the candy in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

(adapted from this Martha Stewart recipe)
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What's Baking: Coconut Chai-Spiced Cookies


As my profile notes, chai lattes are one of my favorite things. Given that my favorite version comes from Starbucks (don't judge me), I don't get them as often as I'd like, since our nearest 'bucks is an hour's drive away. Sure, sure, I can buy the Tazo chai mix and make myself a chai latte at home, but it's just not the same! Lately, I've been on a black tea kick at home, and my new favorite is Zhena's Gypsy coconut chai black tea -- it is SO good. (I've had the best luck finding it at World Market, if you're interested.)

Since I love the combo of coconut and chai in a tea, I thought I'd give a tea cookie version a try. These shortbread cookies are gently chai-spiced, crunchy, and delicious. And given their firm texture, they are  perfect for dipping in a hot cuppa tea.

Coconut Chai-Spiced Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes about 3 dozen

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of ground black pepper
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
white/clear sanding sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Spread the shredded coconut on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Place in the oven and toast the coconut until golden brown, about 8 minutes, stirring half-way through the cooking time. Remove from the oven. Once cool, place the toasted coconut a food processor and process until coarsely ground.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, and black pepper. Set aside.
3. In an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the salt and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture in two batches. Then stir in the toasted coconut.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gather it into a ball and then flatten into a disk. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least an hour or up to 48 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 325. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Roll out the dough until it is about 1/4-inch thick. Use a 1 3/4-inch to 2-inch fluted cookie cutter to cut the dough into rounds. Set the rounds on the prepped baking sheet about one inch apart. Sprinkle sanding sugar over top each round.
6. Bake the cookies for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden in color. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week.

 (inspired by this Smitten Kitchen recipe)


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What's Baking: Thin Mint Cookies



Let's keep the blog's cookie theme going this week, shall we? Today's post features the cookies I baked for the 2013 Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. This event, which is in its third year, brings together food bloggers from around the world with one mission -- to swap delicious cookies. This year, the swap again partnered with Cookies for Kids' Cancer to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

Each participant was matched with the names and addresses of three other food bloggers. Our instructions were to send each of our matches a dozen cookies; in return we'd receive a dozen cookies from three different bloggers too. I received delicious billionaire cookie dough bars from Christina of Stracciatella, chocolate chunk eggnog cookies from Erin at The Spiffy Cookie, and chocolate mint cookies from Meagan at A Zesty Bite. They were all delicious and I have to admit, none of them lasted very long in our house. I may or may not have had to hide the last billionaire bar from D.

My three batches of cookies went to Mindy of Home-Baked Happiness, Ellen of In My Red Kitchen, and Nicole from The Marvelous Misadventures of a Foodie. I had a tough time deciding what cookies to bake for this year's swap. The only "rule" was that we were to bake a cookie that we hadn't featured on our blog before. One of the first food blogs I ever read was Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbooks, and I'm still an avid follower today. Back in 2007, Heidi published her first cookbook, and it's still one of my favorites. I've been meaning to try her thin mint cookie recipe for a long time; this cookie swap provided the perfect occasion to finally give the recipe a try. I followed Heidi's recipe almost to a T, except I used dark chocolate melting wafers in place of the semi-sweet chocolate the original recipe calls for. 

Long story short, these cookies are amazing. (I hope my recipients agree!) And they are just as good -- nay, better! -- than the Girl Scout version. I was a little nervous about my chocolate-dipping skills (it's kind of hard, y'all!), but luckily I think they turned out okay. And, bonus, the slightly catty-wampus chocolate coating does assure everyone that the cookies were in fact homemade! Personally, I like to store these cookies in the freezer -- in my book, there's nothing better than a chilled thin mint cookie. I think these cookies also get better with time; after a few days, there is definitely some additional depth to the mint and chocolate flavors. So if you can, let the flavors meld away before digging in. (If you can wait that long!)

Thin Mint Cookies (printer-friendly version)
makes about 3 dozen cookies

For the cookie wafers:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg white
1 cup unsweetened (and non-alkalized) cocoa powder (I used Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder)
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

For the chocolate-peppermint coating:
16 ounces dark chocolate melting wafers (I used Ghiradelli brand)
1 1/2 teaspoons organic peppermint extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attached, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add in the powdered sugar and cream until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Stir in the vanilla, egg white, salt, and cocoa powder.
3. Mix in the flour until it is just incorporated -- the dough should be smooth and not grainy or powdery in appearance.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough a few times to form a ball.
5. Place the dough in the center of a sheet of plastic wrap and flatten it into a disk. Cover the dough with the plastic wrap and freeze for 20 minutes.
6. After the dough has chilled, use a rolling pin to roll it out into about 1/4" thickness. To prevent the dough from sticking to the rolling pin, it helps to sandwich the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap.
7. Use a round or fluted 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to cut out the cookies and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (I baked my cookies in three separate batches.)
8. Bake the cookies in the oven for about 10 minutes. Heidi suggests baking them until "they smell of deep warm chocolate, with toasty overtones" -- you'll understand what she means when you bake them.
9. Remove the baked cookies from the oven and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
10. While the cookies are cooling, prep the chocolate coating.
11. Melt the chocolate, either in the microwave in 30 second increments (stirring in between), with a double boiler, or with this simple method). Stir in the peppermint extract.
12. Cover a clean baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Carefully dip each cookie into the melted chocolate (I used a fork) and gently turn the cookie to cover it entirely in chocolate. Gently shake the cookie to allow any excess chocolate to drizzle off before placing the coated cookie on the prepped baking sheet.
13. After all the cookies have been dipped in the chocolate, place the baking sheet with the cookies into the fridge or freezer to set the chocolate.
14. The thin mint cookies can be stored in an airtight container kept at room temperature or in the freezer.

(lightly adapted from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson, also online here)
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What's Baking: English Toffee Bars


One of my favorite aspects of the holiday season is baking cookies (to the detriment of my waistline, I'm afraid). Back in the day during my childhood, our typical Christmas cookie output included roll-out sugar cookies, cookie-gun (aka spritz) cookies, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter blossoms, just to name a few. One of my favorite decadent cookies that my Mom would bake were English toffee bars. What's not to love about a rich shortbread cookie topped with melted chocolate and nuts?

Luckily, my Mom included the recipe for English toffee bars in the cookbook full of recipes from friends and family that she put together as one of our wedding gifts. I only made one slight change to the original recipe by subbing in chopped hazelnuts for chopped walnuts (honestly, I think any chopped nut would do). Though these cookie bars are relatively simple to put together, they taste like you spent all day in the kitchen. And since the recipe makes 24 bars, there are plenty to share ... and plenty to stash away at home, too.

English Toffee Bars (printer-friendly version)
makes about 24 bars

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I like Guittard)
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (leaving an overhang on the narrow ends) and set aside.
2. With the use of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until well combined.
3. Add in the flour in two batches, stirring between additions, and then mix until smooth.
4. Turn the dough out onto the prepped baking sheet. Use your (clean!) fingers or a spatula to press the dough into a large rectangle, about 1/4" thick. (If you are using a typical baking sheet, the dough will not completely fill the pan.) Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
5. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the baked dough. Use an offset spatula or thick knife to spread the melting chocolate evenly over top the cookie. Sprinkle evenly with the chopped hazelnuts.
6. Place in the freezer for about five minutes to allow the chocolate to set and then cut into bars. (The chocolate won't be completely set, but letting the chocolate harden slightly will make the cutting process less messy.) Then place back in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow the chocolate to set completely if you are in a hurry, or if time allows, just let the bars cool on a wire rack.
7. Store the bars in an airtight container at room temperature.


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What's For Dinner: Hearty Beef and Bean Chili


It is bitter cold up here in the Northwoods (though not quite as bone-chillingly cold as it is for our friends in southeastern Wyoming, where windchills have been hovering in the -30s of late). When temperatures take a nosedive, I find one of the best ways to warm up is by eating a bowl of hearty chili. This week's chili recipe features lean ground beef (I prefer to purchase grass-fed or pastured beef), though you could easily sub in ground chicken or turkey. (Or just double up on the beans if you want a vegetarian version.) Whether you like to eat the chili as-is or topped with cheese, plain Greek yogurt, or freshly chopped onions, you've got both a warming and filling meal on your hands.

What are your favorite meals to eat when it is cold outside?

Hearty Beef and Bean Chili (printer-friendly version)
makes four servings

1 pound 90% lean ground beef, browned
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1/2 medium red pepper, diced
1/2 medium orange pepper, diced
1 8-oz can low-sodium tomato sauce
1 15-oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can reduced sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
pinch red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Optional toppings:
fresh cilantro
shredded cheddar cheese
cubed avocado
plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
chopped onion

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Drain the beef and place in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker bowl.
2. Add the onions into the skillet and saute until lightly brown, about 3-5 minutes. Add in the diced red and orange peppers and saute for an additional 1-2 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onion mixture to the slow cooker bowl.
3. Stir in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, and vegetable broth into the slow cooker. Add in the ground cumin, dried oregano, smoked paprika, chili powder, and pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
4. Place the lid on the slow cooker bowl and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. Before serving, season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Serve the chili with toppings such as fresh cilantro, cheddar cheese, or plain Greek yogurt.
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What's On the Side: Cranberry-Orange Sauce


I have to admit that one of my favorite parts of the Thanksgiving dinner back in the day was opening the can of cranberry sauce and hearing the satisfying "splort" as it slid out of the can onto the serving dish. These days I like to make my cranberry sauce from scratch, leaving me with a splort-free Thanksgiving. However, the taste of freshly-made cranberry sauce is about a million times better than the canned stuff, so I think it's all for the best. On a recent edition of the Alton Brown podcast, Alton described his recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, and I liked that he used honey as the sweetener rather than granulated sugar, as I've used in the past.

So, upon arriving in Ohio on Thanksgiving Eve (is that a thing?), I set to work making up a batch of cranberry-orange sauce, as it needed at least six hours to chill in the fridge. I kind of messed up when making the sauce, as the recipe states to first simmer all of the ingredients except the cranberries, while I tossed everything into the pot at once; however, my sauce turned out just fine, so I've written the recipe below describing how I made it.

Though cranberry sauce is most often associated with the Thanksgiving dinner table, there's no reason why you can't eat it at other times of the year, too. We're blessed with an abundance of organically-grown cranberries here in Wisconsin; since they freeze well, I like to buy plenty of extra to last me through the year. (And what doesn't go into sauce will definitely find its way into a loaf of cranberry-orange bread!)

Cranberry-Orange Sauce (printer-friendly version)
makes 8-10 servings

1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup unsweetened 100 percent cranberry juice (not cocktail)
1 cup honey
1 pound fresh cranberries (about 4 cups), rinsed
orange zest for garnish (optional)

1. Add the orange juice, cranberry juice, honey, and cranberries to a 4-quart sauce pot and heat over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries have burst and the mixture has thickened.
2. Pour the cranberry sauce into a serving bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let set in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
3. Add freshly grated orange zest on top of the sauce before serving.

 (lightly adapted from this Alton Brown recipe)

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Weekend Shenanigans: Tgives Edition

 {turkey and some counter clutter}

This Turkey Day, D and I made the 12ish-hour drive down to Ohio to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Somehow, after tense negotiations, I found myself in charge of roasting the bird. In years' past, D has taken control of turkey duty, but he opted out this year. For my first turkey-roasting experience, I followed Ina Garten's recipe for "perfect roast turkey," and dare I say, it actually did turn out perfectly. Perfectly browned, perfectly moist, perfectly flavorful. Score one for my team! In addition to the turkey, I also made savory dressing (aka stuffing that is cooked separately from the bird), including one "normal" version and one gluten-free version for Ashley, my sister-in-law. My Dad was in charge of his wonderfully-lumpy mashed potatoes, my brother Chris made a delectable sweet potato dish, and we also had homemade cranberry sauce (recipe later this week), yeast rolls, green beans amandine, a raspberry jelly salad I dubbed "raz-matazz" from Dorothy Lane Market (where our locally-grown free-range turkey also came from), and our entire meal started off with a fresh fruit salad courtesy of my Mom. Whew! Oh, and then for dessert we had a delicious gluten-free pumpkin spice cake that Chrashley baked as well as slices of apple pie from Costco. Yeah, I should definitely find my way to the gym this week ...

{filling up our plates while D carves the turkey in the kitchen}

I'm not one for Black Friday sales (I'd much rather sleep in). But later on Friday afternoon D and I headed out to check out a few local furniture stores (just to get a feel for what's out there; one of these days our home will be fully furnished) as well as a trip to Ikea to grab a few essentials.

{ikea!}

On Friday night we headed out to dinner and then back home to celebrate my brother's birthday, which was on Sunday.

{happy birthday!}

Though D and I originally planned to leave Saturday morning, we ended up staying an extra day, since it is such a rare occasion when we are all together as a family. In the afternoon, my Mom, Ashley, and I hit up a few local craft shops. If you're in the Fairfield, Ohio area, I highly recommend a trip to Art On Symmes -- there you can find room upon room of great handmade items for sale.

In the afternoon, D, Chris, Ashley, and I went out for a little sibling/in-law bonding at the Wise Owl Wine Bar in West Chester. Their extensive wine list, along with a few nibbles (cheese, meats, fruit, and crostini), perfectly complemented our conversation.

Back at home, we all gathered for dinner and a movie -- in our case Tgives leftovers and The Heat.

Following breakfast on Sunday morning, it was officially time to hit the road for the long drive home. Which included a lot of cornfields. Like, a lot a lot. We opted to take the southern Illinois route via Champaign-Urbana and Bloomington to avoid the mayhem of Chicago traffic, and both our drive to Ohio and back were characterized by free-flowing traffic and no back-ups. Yay!

{endless cornfields}

And now, back to the Real World! I hope you had a good Thanksgiving -- did any new dishes make it to your Thanksgiving table this year? 
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