Post Holiday Recap

I can't believe that it's December already.  I know it sounds so cliche, but really, where did this year go?

Last week was a busy one here in our house.  I began my food preparations Monday evening with cinnamon coffee cake loaves. The recipe is from an older Betty Crocker cookbook and passed along to me by my dear friend Catherine.  I have been unable to locate this exact version online so I'll share it in another post. It's definitely blogworthy.

My parents arrived on Tuesday to help start the holiday baking.  Dad prepared both homemade French bread and Parkerhouse rolls while Mom made a cherry pie and a pumpkin cheesecake. Everything was made from scratch with lots of love and the taste reflected it.

Because the rest of my family (minus Jay, Colleen and Fin) were arriving on Wednesday I needed to put on my big girl panties and pretend to be Catherine and/or my other dear friend Kelley, both of whom are very comfortable cooking for crowds.  I made three different lasagnas for Wednesday night's meal.

Pioneer Woman Best Lasagna Ever

Taste of Home Seafood Lasagna

Julia's Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna


Honestly, I could not begin to pick a favorite.  They were all fabulous, if I may say so myself.  My mom made a delicious salad with three types of homemade dressings and we used Dad's French loaves for garlic bread.  No one walked away from the table(s) hungry.

On Thanksgiving we had our usual carb-fest which includes turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dressing, Aunt Ellen's corn (another recipe I need to share), green bean casserole, candied sweet potatoes and my dad's rolls.  It was carbohydrate overload but oh, so very delicious.  We ended the evening with pie. Lots of pie.  In addition to the two my mom prepared, my sister and her daughter brought with them homemade apple and bourbon pecan pies.  Meg and my youngest nephew, who are not pie lovers, opted for s'mores over the propane chimney.  (Here in Florida it was in the mid 70s but they didn't mind.) Again, no one walked away hungry.

Friday's evening meal was prepared by my parents and my oldest nephew Clay. Once again we feasted on carbs but it isn't a family gathering without our homemade chicken and noodles.  (Refer back to this post for more details.) Again, oh so very, very good.

With all of the cooking/baking going on all week I was not able to fit my "famous" pumpkin bread into the mix.  While everyone loves my bread, I think it's my nephew Ben who looks forward to it the most.  He is becoming quite a baker in his own right so I let him in on my "secret recipe."  We spent some time Saturday morning baking a double batch of mini loaves.  I packaged up three loaves to send home with him which I am sure are probably history by now.  :-)

We had a wonderful visit.  The only thing missing was Jay and his family *insert sad face here* but we are looking forward to their visit at Christmas.