Thanksgiving 08

Last night, some of our friends and chris' parents celebrated Thanksgiving with us. The night before I made a few pumpkin cheesecakes and pies, then I spent the day preparing for the feast. There was a minor problem with the turkey though. When I took it out of the fridge and took it out of the packaging yesterday, there was a black spot on the leg and a green marking on it. So, I called the store where I bought it from, and they said not to eat it...and that they only had a few fresh turkey crowns (which is just the breast meat) available. However, in order to get these, I had to bring the turkey back to the store... so, I put it in a big black bin bag, hulled the huge thing (it was 9.80kg, an extra large turkey), and took it to Asda. To my dismay, they made me take the turkey out of the bag to show them what i was talking about. Gross! But, in the end I got 2 huge turkey crowns. I tried a new recipe using white wine, chicken stock, and bay leaves; you had to cook the turkey upside down. All I can say is...yum yum yum! The turkey was super moist and Delicious! I will definitely do this again; I am so thankful for all recipes! Anyways, we had a nice time, played a few games, and ate ate ate! Benji even dressed up as a little Indian. I love thanksgiving!!! I am so thankful for last night, but still miss my family back in America! I cant wait for 2 more weeks when I will get to see them!

SNOW!!!!

Today we woke up and our neighborhood was covered in snow! I am so excited, as I sit here nice and warm in our flat, with some music playing, snuggled up in my warm blanket! Snow is nice too look at when your indoors and warm = ). It makes me really excited for Christmas... and I'm sure by then I will be glad I'm far away from the snow and am in sunny southern California. But for now, I am enjoying the beautiful picture that my window is displaying.

Pumpkin Pie Candle.

Chris brought me home a surprise the other day... A pumpkin pie candle! I was so excited to light it, as it filled the whole room with a lovely smell of freshly made pumpkin pie. I cant wait till Thanksgiving! We also received a sweet pumpkin in our veg box. We kept it on display for awhile before turning it into curried pumpkin soup. Yum Yum. However, our new favorite is homemade butternut squash soup. It is so nice with a bit of cinnamon. I love fall, and all the colors and smells it brings!

Cute Photos

I just wanted to add a few photos I found on my computer of Benji. Enjoy.

Weekend Away...

This weekend, Chris, Benji and I headed down to Bishop Aukland for a lovely visit with Chris' parents. Chris had purchased some fireworks, so we were able to have watch a firework display, which both him and his dad prepared for us all to enjoy. On Saturday we all went for a short shop in town, purchased some eggs from a local free hold, and watched a matinee performance at the Sage called Prom Praise. The female vocalist and harp were some of our favorite moments of the performance. Later that night we enjoyed a much appreciated curry dinner...yummy. We were sad to leave this morning, but were able to enjoy lunch at some new friends of ours, Will and Jenny. Rebecka Joy was able to join us as well. We had a great time getting to know all of them better and was glad to be invited. What a great weekend.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

I know, from the title of this, it sounds disgusting. I was a bit scared making it, as I pureed the beetroot and poured it into the mix of nice dark chocolate. However, I must admit this cake was YUMMY. With white chocolate on top and a dark chocolate ganache, which I whipped up minutes before I had to serve the cake...it was great. The cake was super moist, and you couldn't even tell there was beetroot in it. I was inspired by the addition of beetroot in my organic veg box the other week. So, I found this recipe and am glad to add it to my collection. Maybe next time you visit the Parry home for a meal, you might get surprised by this wonderful cake = ).