More about Thanksgiving

Yes, someday I will move away from Thanksgiving and on to the next season. But, I made A LOT of food this past week and would love to share it with you all. I found another great recipe here for my stuffing. I'm a Tofurky girl myself, so I figured I could go crazy with the stuffing as I wouldn't be digging into it. It was pretty much gone after the 1st helping of leftovers.

Ingredients:
12 ounces bulk sausage or 12 ounces sausage links
1/2 cup butter
3 cups onions, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
6 cups cornbread stuffing mix
6 cups bread cubes
1 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 cups turkey broth or 2 cups chicken broth
2 eggs

Directions:
1. Saute sausage until brown; remove from pan and cut into small bites.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter and cook onion, celery, and mushrooms over medium heat for 3 minutes or until softened.
3. Transfer sausage and veggies, including any butter that is left in the pan to a bowl.
4. Add stuffing mix, bread cubes, sage, thyme, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, pecans, turkey stock, and eggs.
5. Toss well and adjust seasoning.
6. Stuffing should be moist but not soggy. Add more stock if needed.
7. Transfer to a baking dish.
8. Bake in a 325 degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered until heated through and crust forms on top.
9. Or better yet stuff it into a big fat turkey.

I had plenty of stuffing here for my 18 pound beast and a full casserole besides.

**By the way, I did not have any leftover room in my oven for my Tofurky- so I cooked it up with onions and carrots on Saturday night for dinner. Served with a side of my new sweet potato recipe, I was set! That recipe will follow.

Oreo Balls (Reindeer Balls)

I call them Oreo Balls. My mom-in-law calls them Reindeer Balls. I think her name limits you to a small part of the year to enjoy these tasty little guys. Let's go with Oreo Balls and have them all year round. Sorry mom-in-law...

**I found the recipe here.

Ingredients:
1 package regular size Oreo cookies, crushed (I cruch mine using a zip lock bag and my rolling pin)
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 package white almond bark
1/4 package chocolate almond bark

Directions:
1. Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.
2. Roll into walnut size balls.
3. Chill for an hour.
4. Melt approximately 3/4 package of white almond bark.
5. Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white almond bark.
6. Allow to harden on wax or parchment paper.
7. Takes about 15 min.
8. While waiting, melt about 1/4 package of chocolate almond bark.
9. When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, decorate with drizzles of chocolate almond bark.
10. I just use a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner to drizzle the chocolate almond bark.

Ritz sandwiches

I made these for Thanksgiving. They turned out pretty well and seemed to be a tasty treat for the kids.

1 package of chocolate/white bark
1 box of ritz crackers
1 jar peanut butter
1 jar of marshmallow fluff

Lather one ritz with peanut butter. Lather a second ritz with marshmallow fluff. Put the 2 covered ritz crackers together to make sandwiches. Melt the bark in the microwave using 30 second intervals until well melted. Cover the sandwiches with the bark and let sit on parchment paper to cool.

**you can use both white and dark bark to make them more festive. I dipped mine in dark bark and used the white bark to swirl on the top for decoration. You could also use candies or sprinkles on top for a nice touch of flair.

Happy Turkday!

Yes, I said it... Turkday!

Well, we Fitchburg Nytes' (or maybe it's called Nyti as we are plural here) decided to start our day off with a kick. OK, not a kick but a good morning run. We participated in the 2011 Berbee Derby to get our energy levels up and running. We had a great time racing and motivating each other to a strong finish. We were all winners as we got to dive into the comforts of a home cooked meal afterwards to celebrate. There were a few sideline spectators cheering us on too (drinking Bailey Joes to keep warm). This is my type of run, as costumes are optional and everyone loves to show off their creativity.

showing some gratitude

As tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I would like to make a short list of those things in my life that I'm thankful for:

my son
my husband
my 3 amigos
health
happiness
yoga
walking in the morning
my home
a job
oven smells
my co-workers
pizza
diet coke
4 seasons
holidays
clean sheets
new kitchen area
music
good books
tv watching with my boys
family snuggles
baking
fresh paint
high tea
scones
farmer's market
new recipes
a good sweat
humming
a hot shower
company coming to visit