On Wednesday, we hit up the supermarket early to avoid the crowds and so I could get started on my baking. When we got home, Munchkin napped and I managed to get both my Pumpkin Cheesecake and Carrot Cake done while he slept. I also ripped up the bread for my stuffing. I have to share the recipe with you guys, because it is so good and was the only thing that did not leave leftovers. After Tommy got home, we went to Toys R Us to buy birthday gifts for Arianna, Tommy’s goddaughter, who turned one on Turkey Day!

We woke up on Thursday ready to cook.  I brined my turkey on Wednesday morning in a mixture of water and apple cider with spices, fresh garlic and bay leaves.

Before the bird went into the oven, I spread a mixture of butter and spices under the skin to make sure it didn’t dry out during baking. I also basted the crap out of the bird and I have to say, that I think it paid off becuase the meat was juicy and delicious. We also had mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, green beans with pumpkin seeds, pearl onions with peas and carrots, sweet potatoes, butternut squash with spinach, craisins and mandarins, mushroom stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce with ginger and a pinapple glazed ham.  Basically all the foods that will lead you to laying down on the couch with a food coma shortly after. For dessert we had my Pumpkin Cheesecake and Carrot Cake along with some cakes that my cousin brought from the bakery she works at.

My favorite thing on Thanksgiving it the stuffing, so I’m going to share my recipe that I’ve used for the past few years.

Mushroom Stuffing (adapted from Rachael Ray)

• One and a half 1-pound loaves white bread, cut into cubes
• 1  bunch of celery with leaves, coarsely chopped
• 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 8 oz. packages white mushrooms, sliced.
• 3 tablespoons poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water.
• grated Parmesan cheese.

Preheat the oven to 250°. Scatter the bread cubes on a baking sheet and bake, tossing occasionally, until dried but not browned, about 40 minutes. Let cool. Increase the oven temperature to 350°.  In a large, deep skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Mix in the celery and mushrooms and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Stir in the salt, pepper and poultry seasoning until thoroughly combined. In a large bowl, toss the bread cubes with the beaten egg mixture. Add the vegetable mixture and toss until well combined. Spoon the stuffing into 2 buttered 3-quart casserole dishes, top with Parmesan cheese and bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes.

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Friday was Black Friday, so of course we had to do some shopping. We didn’t stay up all night or get up at the crack of dawn, but we did manage to get some awesome deals anyway. We started off at Kohl’s and hit up Toys R Us, Sears and Burlington before calling it a day. I got a Rachael Ray Casserround, some towels, gifts for the kids from next door and Alex’s babysitter, and a pair of new flats for myself. I also left with $60 in Kohl’s cash, so I’m planning on going back to get a new coffee maker.

After shopping, we got home and rested a bit because we had a big party to go to on Friday night, Arianna’s first birthday! They had the party at an Italian Restaurant and the food was amazing. Munchkin also discovered a love for calamari. I put some on my plate and went to get him a mozzarella stick, only to find him chowing down on the calamari on my plate. His food choices never cease to amaze me. He couldn’t wait for the cake to come out and almost died when he had to wait for them to take pictures and cut the cake.

Saturday and Sunday were relaxing days. Since the weather was gorgeous, we went to the Long Island City peirs on Saturday night so Munchkin could run around and play at the playground. We also found a great Mexican place, which I think may just become our go to Mexican restaurant.  Vamos al Tequila is a traditional, family run, little hole in the wall place in Greenpoint.

The portions are huge too, so we had enough to take home and have for lunch on Sunday.

We finished off our Sunday watching Pretty Woman and eating edamame and Coldstone Ice Cream, but not together. It was a great break from real life, but now I have to get into lockdown mode and start studying. Finals are less than two weeks away and I need to kick some butt.

Have a great Monday!

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you get any good Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals?

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I started the day off with was eggs for breakfast.  It had been a while since I made dippy eggs and I enjoyed every bite.  After that, I did some studying for the last time in at least three months! I’m super excited to be almost finished.

Halfway through studying I got hungry so I threw together a quick wrap to hold me over until the boyfriend got home from work to make dinner.  The wrap consisted of turkey, marinara sauce and shredded cheese which I melted together in the microwave.  It was really delish.

Grilled Pizza
For dinner, we decided to make grilled pizza which was inspired by Courtney from Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life.  While everything went smoothly for Courtney the first time she made it, our experience wasn’t that great, but delicious in the end, nonetheless.  I started out by roasting our veggies in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.  I tossed them will olive oil and salt and pepper before they went in. Since the actual pizza doesn’t stay over the heat long enough to cook the veggies, you have to roast them to prevent having totally uncooked veggies on the pizza.

I bought Pilsbury thin crust pizza dough because we were going for a crispy crust, like a brick oven pizza which we both love.  I rolled the dough out on a piece of tin foil and it was ready to go onto the grill.

While the recipe said to keep the dough on the grill for 3 minutes on high, we learned that 3 minutes really means 3 not 5 and that high is too high when grilling pizza, at least on our grill.

After a good deal of scraping, we salvaged the crust, covered it in sauce, cheese and toppings and threw it back on the grill to melt the cheese. We also cooked out other crust, the right way.

Even though it may look a little burnt, you could barely taste it.  I hate it when my bread is toasted too much, but I really didn’t mind this.  The sauce and cheese totally overpowered the burn flavor. 

After dinner we ran twenty thousand errands.  We went to the beer store, 99 cents store, supermarket, car supply store, Borders and Starbucks! I bought cheesecake supplies to make Tommy a cheesecake for his graduation.

I also bought the Hunger Games and I am super excited to start reading it.  I’ve heard so much good stuff about this book and I hope I love it as much as other who have read the series do.

At Starbucks, I got a coconut mocha frapaccino and it was flippin delish.  I rarely get fraps because about halfway through the drink I start feeling too cold and don’t feel like finishing it.  Yes, I am a bit strange. Someone on twitter tweeted that they’re obsessed with the new frap, so I had to try it and I’m glad I did!

After we got home, I gave munchkin a bath and started on the cheesecake.  I can’t wait to try the bad boy since I didn’t get a taste of the last cheesecake I made.

Today is another super busy day! I’m meeting up for a sushi lunch with the boyfriend because he needs to get his last sushi fix before being away for a whole month.  I have to finish packing for my trip to Philly this weekend and I have to pick up a few more graduation related things to surprise the boyfriend.  After I get through all of that, I have to get to school to take my four hour Civil Procedure final at 6pm.  After I’m done with the final I’ll be hopping in my car and driving to Philly.  I just hope I don’t fall asleep along the way! Wish me luck!

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