Advent Adventures - The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

If you have been around a while,

you know that my family

cuts down our own tree...

year

after

year

after

year.

We have been doing it

since our oldest (now 9)...

so for 10 years!

Whoa!!

We even did it while living in Texas!!

  Seen here: 2011

And here:  2012

As you saw in the last post,

we decided NOT

to hike up to the 

NC Mountains 

for our tree this year

and opted for a local farm.

You also saw,

that we attempted to get our tree

by head-flashlights...

and it did NOT

work!

After the late night

tree hunting was a bust!

We headed back out,

bright and early the next morning...

The Hunters...

 Yes, 

this is the one mommy wanted.

But daddy 

claimed it was too tall.

Ok, daddy,

what about this one?

Nope, he says...

still too tall!

UGH!

I lack the "eye" 

that tells me exactly 

how big trees are. 

They look great in the field,

but the hubs always says they are too big.

So since I have to go short...

I like short and 

FAT!

 Ms Priss stopping to pose for the camera.

 Wild thing

NOT 

stopping to pose for the camera!

Then the ground,

or a blade of grass,

or his feet,

or all of the above...

stopped him.

We finally found our tree!

Then he decided to perch the littles IN the tree!

We did actually break a limb,

good thing we were taking this one home with us.

Then the cutting began!

This is a group deal.

We all take turns,

but daddy usually does 

95% of the work.

We all just really pose for pictures.

Haha!

We got it home,

And into the house...

Then the transportation wrapping came off!

And the decoration wrapping went on!!

That is a FAT tree!!

Let the Christmas Season Begin...(almost)

Hey - 

atleast I am up to December...

almost!

Thanksgiving weekend included multiple trips 

to Raleigh for us.

First, Thanksgiving Day,

Then, Saturday for the last

NC State Football game of the season

(which was a pitiful season so we

weren't really sorry to see it end)

The kids got a hold of some face paint...

and I didn't stop them...

but I didn't help them either.

Alexis chose green,

not sure why.

She looks a little 

Hulk-ish to me here.

Thankfully we weren't playing 

a green team!

Jackson looks a little scary

and 

zombie-ish...

 And Rico,

well...

I got nuthin.

This was taken after the game on the way home.

Since it was the last game,

and daddy's birthday weekend

and we couldn't get rid of our extra tickets...

we took the littles with us.

On the way home,

we decided to go ahead

start the Christmas season!

We headed to a local tree farm to get our tree!

We seriously,

seriously 

debated trekking to the NC mountains

to get our tree.

But, when we started 

looking at the limited time we had

we decided that 

it wasn't worth the extra money

to make the 5 hour drive

stay in a hotel

and 5 hour drive home

for a tree.

So we stayed local.

We headed out to

Daniel Christmas Tree Farm

We went straight from the game

and 

on the drive out there,

it was getting dark...

quick.

We were almost there

and decided we would give it a shot.

They outfitted us with a couple of 

head flashlights for the boys...

Then Mr. T decided he wasn't in the mood

to go Christmas tree hunting 

in the dark...

so he BEGGED to 

get back in the car

and 

GO HOME!

In order to keep the event a happy one...

we gave into the cranky monster

(and the fact that it was TOO dark

to properly hunt a tree!)

We headed home...

The start to our Christmas season

would have to wait 

One.More.Day

Thanksgiving Day - A Brief Pictorial

The festivities started off with a little 

spectator exercising

for Uncle Jack.

Here with the oldest 3 neice and nephews

Then the youngest 2 jumped in, including

his daughter in his arms!

Then we ate...

And took a few quick posed pictures:

from left to right:

middle sister - Courtney

baby sister - Melanie

adopted sister - Teena

(aka my bestie for almost 30 years!! - WHOA!)

me

our mom

Nana & Papa and all the grandbabies!

(This was the best of 13 takes!)

My daughter attempting to mimic my sister.

And the FIRST

photo of 

my folks,

my sisters

and 

I

in AGES!

Probably since the middle sis 

got married

over 5 years ago!

Then my middle sis, her hubs (Uncle Jack)

and their daughter took off

for his folk's house down the street.

So we settled in for some quiet time.

Then the crew that left,

returned with their entourage,

which included the godparents

of my two littles

(who also happen to be the middle sisters in-laws!).

Making real whipped cream (by hand) for desserts!

Lucy is taste testing for them.

Uncle Jack had previously worked out his legs

so he decided to work on his arms

(well one arm anyways)

The hubs blowing out his 

beautiful,

yet really dry,

Butter Pecan Birthday Cake.

Then we played our second edition of our
Thanksgiving Turkey Bowl!

quick huddle of "the other team"

victory dance?

(but we were on opposite teams)

Jackson hawking down his prey...

That was such a long day...

but so worth every minute!!

Thanksgiving Food - My New Favorite Pumpkin Pies!!

The 5th and final item

on my Thanksgiving cooking list

was

some yummy pumpkin pies!

 (that you can barely see in this 

picture of my little man,

raiding the Chex Mix 

- and all of the other pictures from the 

Chex Mix post)

I made 3 of them!

One or two of which are 

currently sitting in my outside freezer 

waiting to be eaten!!

For years I have used the recipe 

on the back of the 

Pet Milk can.

Pet Evaporated Milk Pumpkin Pie

but this year,

a sweet friend brought over 

a pie pumpkin

and 

we made some

pumpkin pies one afternoon,

just because...

(post-Halloween, pre-Thanksgiving)

I have always gotten rave reviews

from my Pet Milk pumpkin pies...

but these pies...

the ones that I was introduced to...

I am not sure if it was because it was

straight out of the oven

or what...

but they were INSANE!

And between

me and my 4 youngins

and 

she and her 2 youngins

we ate an entire pie!

Doesn't really sound that impressive

when I put it that way...

8 of us ate an entire pie...

it seemed way more impressive the day it happened.

I am not sure where this originate either,

but it was from a website...

so if I find it,

I will happily give credit,

but for now,

I will name it after

she who introduced me to it!

Sherry's Pumpkin Pie

1 9" deep dish pie crust

1 1/2 c pumpkin (or 1/2 cooked pie pumpkin)

1 1/2 c heavy cream

1/2 c brown sugar

1 tbsp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

(or ~2 tsp pumpkin pie spice)

1/2 c corn syrup

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

(1)

Preheat oven to 350°.

(2)

Combine flour and brown sugar.

(3)

Add brown sugar mixture & heavy cream to prepared pumpkin.

(4)

Mix in salt & spices.

(5)

Beat in corn syrup with a mixer.

(6)

Add eggs and vanilla - mix some more.

(7)

Pour filling into unbaked pie shell.

(8)

Bake for 50-60 minutes.

*Check after 30 minutes,

it crust is getting brown, loosely top with foil,

then remove for final 10 minutes of cooking

*Pie is done, when inserted knife comes out clean

or

if only the center jiggles when you lightly shake the pie.

(yep, that's a real thing!)

(9)

After pie has cooled slightly,

resist the urge to sit down 

with the entire pie

and a SPOON

and eat by yourself!

*Thanks for introducing this one to us Sherry!!

This was a TOTAL

HIT!!!

Final talley from 

what I personally cooked for

our Thankgiving feast this year!

HITS - 3

Turkey

Pumpkin Pies

Chex Mix

MISSES - 2

Upside Down Pecan Pie

Butter Pecan Cake

Totally counts as a win to me!

Thanksgiving Food - Chex Mix & Kooking Kids!

Item #4 on the EPIC

Thanksgiving cooking list 

is really not worthy of its own posting...

Chex Mix?

Really?!?!

It is not about the Chex Mix,

exactly,

it is more about the sweet baby boy,

EATING

the Chex Mix...

(sort of)

Mom makes huge batch of 

Chex Mix

Then she puts it on the counter

as she continues her

baking

and

cooking.

Only to turn around and find

her 3 year old

pushing the cooler holding the 

brining turkey (see last post)

around the kitchen.

He effortlessly maneuvers it

to right infront of the Chex Mix.

(and pumpkin pies - take note of those

these are the ONLY pictures I have

and they will be featured in the next post)

Back to the kid pushing the turkey in the cooler

around the kitchen...

Said freaking cute 

3 year old

hops up on the brining turkey

filled cooler

and starts to 

help his little self to the 

Chex Mix!

However,

I quickly discovered that he was 

sitting there 

PICKING

through the Chex Mix

and pulling out 

JUST

the pretzels!

See?

Stinker!

(Chex Mix - HIT (the pretzels anyways))

(Talley:  2-HITS, 2-MISSES)

While Mommy was cooking away in the kitchen,

my little people wanted to help SOOOOO bad,

but I was kinda in a groove

and 

politely (maybe not quite so politely)

declined their offer/request

of help.

Then it dawned on me!

There was an

Easy Bake Oven 

sitting UNOPENED

in our garage!

(gotten by Ms. Priss 11 months ago - sigh)

So again,

Jackson was head chef

and thankfully he can read!

So I let him at it!

The littles were his sous chefs again.

They seriously needed 

MINIMAL

help from mommy!

This was cute and I was super happy that

they were cooking too,

and not "helping" me.

However,

these are the smallest,

most pitiful excuses 

for baked goods I have ever seen!

I was quite disappointed in the portion

size.

There was quite a bit of effort for

literally a NIBBLE

of a "cupcake".

But they had fun.

Thanksgiving Food - Brined Oil-less (Infrared) Fried Turkey

#3 on our Thanksgiving cooking list:

Brined Oil-less (Infrared) Fried Turkey

No recipe links for this.

We have been 

working on our own 

recipe for a few years now.

The aforementioned 

sweet hubs,

bought a turkey fryer a few years ago...

quite a few years ago.

It always tasted pretty good 

and the crunchy skin,

YUM!

But the price of the oil!

$30 for enough oil to 

put in the pot,

to fry a turkey...

ONE TIME!

Ugh - we quit using it.

Then he was in one of the mega

home improvement stores

and saw an

"Oil-less Turkey Fryer"

NO WAY!?!

So of course he had to have it!

It was a birthday gift or Christmas gift

a few short weeks later.

And this thing is pretty neat!!!

We have always gotten rave reviews.

Then we got into brining 

our larger meats

(turkeys, chickens, pork butts)

before cooking them.

And let me tell you!

This turns out to be the 

BEST

turkey you have ever had!

Moist,

crisp skin,

tons of flavor!

We had 2 turkeys

this year at Thanksgiving,

ours was GONE!

The other...

remained.

Here is the big guy brining.

I think he brined for atleast 24 hours.

Our brine recipe is pretty simple

and 

mostly unchanging...

Turkey, Chicken, Pork Brine

1 c salt

1/2 c white sugar

water

optional add ins:

a healthy squirt of molasses

dried thyme

cumin

bay leaf (or 2)

granulated garlic

whole peppercorns

*I do not add ALL of these at the same time,

I usually mix and match depending on

my mood

(1)

Put all of the ingredients of choice in a pot.

(if you are brining a chicken,

use the pot you will be brining in)

(2)

Cover with about 2-4 c of water.

(3)

Heat to just before a boil

to allow the sugar and salt to dissolve.

(4)

Throw in a bunch of ice to cool it down QUICK.

(I don't have time to sit around and wait 

for it to cool down!

and you don't want to put your 

turkey or chicken in 

almost boiling water!)

(5a)

*If you are doing a chicken,

throw the rinsed and "hollow" 

chicken into your pot of cold brine.

Put a lid on it,

throw it in the fridge!

Let it go for about 12 hrs or so.

The longer it sits, the saltier it will get.

(5b)

If you are doing a turkey,

pour the iced brine into your vessel of choice

(cooler for us - see above pic)

then lower the rinsed and "hollow" turkey in.

Continue to add cool water until the

turkey is completely covered.

Then let this boy chill for about 24 hrs,

checking frequently to make sure there is still

ice in the cooler to keep the turkey cool!!

(6)

When time,

pull the meat out and cook it however 

you want!

Oil-less infrared fryer

Rotisserie

Baked

Roasted

Grilled (haven't tried this one)

Smoked

*You can add seasonings to the outside

of the meat before cooking. 

We use Lawry's Seasoned Salt 

on our chickens when we rotisserie.

For our turkey,

we slathered him with a sweet and smoky

dry rub...

Oh.My.Stars!

I have no idea where my husband 

found this recipe,

so I cannot give credit where credit is due.

We have now used this on 

turkey & pork!!

Sweet & Smoky Dry Rub

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar (you can use 1-1/3 cups brown sugar if you want)

1/4 cup Lawry's Seasoning Salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper (use 2 teaspoons black pepper if white not available)

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon powdered smoke flavor (optional)

3 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning

3 teaspoons Thyme

Then we liberally slather the outside with this!

And COOK!

We use this when we are smoking

or oil-less frying.

Unfortunately,

I was with my family when we were

cooking it

and 

was too busy visiting and running my mouth...

so I did not get an after picture.

Or any other pictures after 

the one of him in his bath.

Sorry.

We have done atleast 1 more turkey 

in the fryer since then.

We tried it in our rotisserie,

because the instructions say it can handle

a 12 lb turkey!

We beg to differ...

so into the fryer it went.

And was again,

AH-MAY-ZING!

So this is ALWAYS

a 

HIT!

(score is now 1-HIT, 2-MISSES)

If you try either the brining or rubbing above,

please let me know what you think!!