happy thanksgiving!

thanksgiving is truly my favorite holiday. i love getting out the fancy china and setting the table. i don't so much enjoy the cleaning, but i do love the clean house. so nice to spend time with wonderful family and friends. sad not to be with family who couldn't make it this year. and the food!!!

we got up early yesterday and started right in. we were feeling so ahead of the game when we lost power about three hours into cooking the turkey...that's fine, we thought. we still have gas. it will be very romantic to dine by candlelight!  but then we were noticing that we weren't hearing the oven cycling. the burners still worked, but i guess there is a safety feature that shuts down the oven. great! fortunately the power was restored about 45 minutes later and all was fine.

i forgot to take pictures of the food in all of the excitement, but i did get an after picture that kind of says it all :) !

hope you all enjoyed your thanksgiving day!!

mmmmm, chocolate

last night for a special dessert, i made chocolate quiche. if you like chocolate, this is about the most delicious thing you will ever eat (in my opinion, of course!) it's also super easy to make, especially if you have a pre-made crust! here is the recipe:

CHOCOLATE QUICHE

make 1 pie crust (bottom crust only)

melt 18 oz. chocolate chips, cool slightly.

beat 1 3/4 c. heavy cream with

7 egg yolks.

beat til just mixed. beat in chocolate. pour into crust.

bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes!

deeeeeee-licious!

*****

remember to tune in tomorrow for a new and exciting giveaway!!!!!  happy friday night!

brian and rosco make pizza

we love making pizza, and we make a pretty good pie, if i do say so myself! rosco is  a  "big help" in the kitchen, always willing to do any taste testing and cleaning up whatever finds its way to the floor...

here is the recipe we use for pizza dough. it's from the cookbook "cucina simpatica" from the owners of  al forno in providence, rhode island. it's a great recipe and works best if you use a pizza stone. preheat your oven to 450 degrees with the stone in the oven.

2 1/2 teas. active dry yeast (i use 1 T.)
1 cup warm water
pinch of sugar
2 1/4 teas. kosher salt
1/4 cup johnnycake meal or fine-ground white cornmeal
3 T. whole-wheat flour
1 T. virgin olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1. dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar.

2. after 5 minutes stir in the salt, johnnycake meal, whole-wheat flour and oil.

3. gradually add the white flour, stirring with a wooden spoon until a stiff dough has formed. (i always make this in a kitchen aid mixer-much easier all the way around!!)

4. place the dough on a floured board and knead it for several minutes, adding only enough additional flour to keep the dough from sticking. (again, i do the kneading in the mixer)

5. when the dough is smooth and shiny, transfer it to a bowl that has been brushed with olive oil. to prevent a skin from forming, brush the top of the dough with additional olive oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place away from drafts, until double in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

6. punch down the dough and knead once more. let the dough rise again for about 40 minutes.

7. punch down the dough. if it is sticky knead in a bit more flour.

makes enough dough for 2 large pizzas!

yum! well worth the effort and fun to do! enjoy!!

new year's day

a good new year's day. fun party and triple chocolate cake!

took the pretty way home past the farm.

now reading in bed. ahhhhh.....

happy new year!!!

we finally have snow, and LOTS of it! yahoo! had a very cozy and relaxing weekend full of good food and lots and lots of knitting! i finished my hat (i believe you can find this pattern on spinning yarns' ravelry page as a free download. it's called "simone"). i really like it-it was worth the 4 looooong inches of knit 1, purl 1. NOT my favorite.

have fun celebrating tonight! we are staying home with some scallops and champagne and a movie. ( "moonrise kingdom"-have you seen it??? possibly my favorite movie ever!)

wishing you all a very happy, healthy new year!!!!!

***
btw, my earrings were made by my friend megan. find her at www.meganstelzer.etsy.com.

lazy lazy saturday

looking through my new cookbook for something to bring to a new year's day party. i'm thinking either the sesame cheddar shortbread (sounds delicious!) or the triple chocolate cake.

like there is even a choice.