Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!!!! How was your "preparation" day? Did you make some pies? hehe. I sure did!

But first, I slept in. hehe. Till around 9am. Then got ready for the zoo. Kari and her kids, and my kids and I were gonna go to the zoo today. Because we had the pass, and because my kids SURE needed out of the house. hehe.

I let Jake walk around on his own (he had a phone to stay in contact), and he did WONDERFULLY by himself. That child is such a loner. He absolutely loved it - hehe.

The kids and I hung out in the African exhibit until Kari and her kids got there. We snapped a few pictures of the lions.

And then noticed that one got up and moved closer to the glass. So the kids went by the glass window, and were sitting real close, looking at the cool lion. So I got my camera ready, snapped a picture, and the cat decided to attack the glass! And I caught it on my picture. I think it scared Jimmy pretty bad. He was DIRECTLY in front of it. hehe. Poor kid!

We swung by the Mirr Cat exhibit before finally catching up with Kari and kids. Here's a few pics I snapped before heading back to the lions.


We caught up with Kari, and all wandered around for a while, looking at this and that. The kids were all about a FAST trip. I think they just had a lot of "coupped up" energy to burn. hehe. I was afraid I was gonna lose someone, they were all going so fast in different directions. I KNOW I didn't have this many problems keeping them all together when Captain America was there...hmmm....

We would periodically bump into Jake, and he'd tell me all the cool things he'd seen. He always had a big smile on his face. He loves his independence. :)

And then we went and watched the sea lion show. The kids liked it :)

And then we walked around some more. Here's the reptiles

And Eme and Jake on an elephant (ha!)

Josephine and Tom on a tiger

Check out this CooL zebra table we found. hehe

The island of spider monkeys was pretty cool. I think it was one of Jake's favorite parts :)

We got to the zoo at 10am, and by noon, we were ready to head out. We drove over to the McDonalds that Captain America and us had gone to on Veterans Day, which we will now refer to as "The Zoo McDonalds'. hehe. It's not at the zoo, but down the road, closer to our house, from the zoo. hehe. But I like to name things.

I let each kid have $3 for lunch, and everyone was happy :) And of course, we posed for lots of silly pictures!






I wanted to get a picture of Jimmy's eyes, because they were the same color as his gray/green sweatshirt. Well, he said "You have to take a picture of my butt crack first". Whaaaaat? Where did that come from. Strange kid...

But then, I DID take the picture, so maybe strange kids come from strange moms, right? Earlier in the day, he was debating with me about how many days a week he HAD to wear underwear. "Mom, why do we have to wear underwear everyday???". Sigh...

We stayed at McDonalds until around 2:30 or so. And it was a ton of fun. Kids playing nicely, Kari and I chatting, and avoiding all the baking I was gonna do when I got home. hehe :) I really do enjoy baking, but sometimes it's hard getting started :)

We eventually headed back home, and I got to work. Kids did their chores, and I started in on baking. I gathered most of the ingredients I needed, and I was ready :)

Ready to bake!!!

I had bought 4 frozen pie shells, and was planning on making 2 pumpkin pies, 1 pecan pie, and one other baked pie. Then a pumpkin mousse pie, and MAYBE a cheesecake. But I ended up with 9 pies total! Whaaaat? hehe.

And even if that's not 9, I did make 9. I'm getting tired, and I can't remember what I cooked. LOL!

And in the middle of cooking all my pies and a 30 minute shopping trip for more supplies, I made a cheeseball, a veggie tray, 18 hard boiled eggs for deviled eggs, and dinner for myself and the kids. Pfew! AND, I washed most of the dishes that I'd been using.

And I took a lot of pictures, and I'm gonna blog them AND the recipes :) Cause I'm just nice like that. hehe :)



Pumpkin Pie

Yeah, just follow the directions on the back of the Libby's canned pumpkin. It's the BEST! I won't eat store bought pumpkin pie ever again. Not worth the calories - hehe.

Pumpkin Mousse Pie Dessert (makes 2):

1 box of Pumpkin Dessert, Jello No Bake.

Use the bag of graham cracker crumbs, plus
2 Tbsp sugar
5 tbsp melted butter

combine, and press into a pie pan. Then repeat, except this time, use a package of graham crackers, blended, for the 2nd pie pan. Still add all the butter and sugar and such.

Then, make the pumpkin dessert part as directed. Mix plus 2 1/2 cups of milk. Blended. And divide that between the 2 pies.

Then prepare a box of pumpkin pudding, using the mix, and 1 3/4 cups cold milk. Add in 1/2 container of cool whip. Divide between the 2 pies.

Topped with remaining 1/2 container of cool whip. Sprinkle with chopped chocolate chips and walnuts.

Chocolate Mousse Pie:

1 package graham crackers, blended in the blender
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp butter, melted

Combine, and press into a pie pan

Combine:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Blend together

Add in 1 cup powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

And mix until smooth.

Now, in a separate bowl, whip 1 1/2 cups of Heavy Whipping cream until peaks form. Then fold that into the chocolaty mixture. And put that over the graham cracker crust in the pie pan.

I melted some chocolate chips, put it in a snack sized ziplock bag, cut the corner, and drizzled it over the pie. Looks SUPER tasty :)

Pecan Pie

Put 1 cup chopped pecans into the bottom of a frozen pie shell.

Combine 3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Pour mixture into pie shell, and bake at 350 for about an hour.

Cherry Pie

Open can of cherry pie filling, and pour into a froze pie shell.

Combine 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, melted. And you'll have enough crumble topping to cover like 5 pies. hehe. Just sprinkle part of it on the pie. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do with the rest of it... Maybe save it in the fridge for cupcake/muffin toppings?

Cheese Ball

Combine all in a large bowl

2 packs cream cheese, softened
1/2 finely diced onion
1/2 package finely diced green onions
2 packages of Budding Original Beef (yeah, it's that SUPER thinly sliced luncheon meat)
2 tbsp (at least) minced garlic
1 package fiesta blend shredded cheese

Form into a ball

Chop 1 cup of pecans, and roll the ball on the pecans, until completely coated. Refrigerate. Serve with crackers. My kids LOVED the taste I gave them.

Extra Key Lime Pie

Make a graham cracker crust (see above directions)

Press into a pie pan (yeah, I used a 8 inch square pan, cause I ran out of pie pans...)

Empty the contents of 1 can of Key Lime Pie filling into a bowl, and combine with the zest of 1/2 a lime, and a bit of the lime juice. Stir, and pour over the crust.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 package cool whip with the zest of 1/2 a lime, the juice of 1/2 a lime, and 2 packets of True Lime, Crystalized Lime Substitute (someone inherited it to me, I have NO idea where it came from, but I found it in my cupboard. hehe)

And you know what, it kinda turned it into a butter consistency. And it was tart, but GOOD. Very limey, but very tasty. And it was hard to spread, but I managed. I put a little bit more zest on the top, and a few sliced limes in the corner, and it looked and smelled good. I have no idea how it tastes, but I'm hoping it's good - hehe.

Apple-ish Pie

This recipe is from my new CT member, Sharon. OMHeavens, it smelled WONDERFUL!

In a sauce pan, combine 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 1/2 cup of sugar. I set my daughter to work constantly stirring it. Not a fun job, but it needed done :)

Line the bottom of a 9x12 pan with a package of refrigerator crescent rolls. Mine fit PERFECTLY in the bottom of a disposable cake pan.

Thinly slice 3 apples (I used my apple cutter to core and cut it, then diced it (leaving the peels on)) and place over the crescent roll layer. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Pour 1/2 the butter mixture over the apples and cinnamon.

Cover the apples with another layer of crescent rolls (package #2). and sprinkle with more cinnamon. Then pour the remaining 1/2 of the butter mixture over the crescent rolls and cinnamon.

Now, here's the cool part. Open a can of Mt Dew (Yeah, I used Diet Mt Dew), and pour over the top of the whole thing. I couldn't quite use a whole can, because my pan was pretty shallow, but it was the majority of a can.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. OMHeavens, it smelled good! I SO wanted to taste it - hehe :)

And all of the left over pies (or pieces of pies!), we'll have for our Saturday party :) See, I have a plan for the 9 pies :) Cause a family of 7 should NOT consume 9 pies in one day - ROFL!


And here's me, FREAKIN' tired :) The kids and Captain America watched part of Star Trek (the newest one), and Lord of the Rings. And Eme and I baked. And then the little kids went to bed (I think around when I was apple pie-ing), and Jake and Tom and Captain America watched Lord of the Rings. And I finished up cooking, and sat down to blog.

And here I am, at 10:52 pm. Jake and Tom went to bed after Lord of the Rings got over. Captain Americafell asleep on the couch (hehe). I put in an episode of Glee (double hehe). And now that I'm done, I'm trying to decide if I wanna make my Watergate salad (pistachio pudding, pineapple, marshmallows, nuts, etc) and deviled eggs. I still don't know if I'm gonna do it or not....

Tomorrow, I need to wake up somewhat early to start the 15 lb turkey (already defrosted, thank goodness!), green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, brown and serve rolls, and maybe or maybe not eggs and salad (depending on my motivation now - hehe)

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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A super cool layout by Sharon! You rock, my friend!