“And above all,
watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you,
because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.
Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl





Monday, November 20, 2017

Merry Monday, Turkeys,Toast and Books

It's time for our third


Are you ready for Thanksgiving?
We are..we got most of the shopping done for it last week, all we needed 
was the bread, the green onion and the celery, which, we bought today.
Do you have a special dish you make to go along with your dinner?
My mom always made the usual side dishes,
mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, cranberries,stuffing and rolls.
When she passed away, it was up to me to keep the tradition going
for my dad and my girls.
The first year was pretty difficult, I was dreading actually cooking it all, but I got the hang of it.
Now, it's a night we look forward to.
I start the night before, preparing the vegetables for the stuffing..
First we put on Christmas music..
Helena makes the toast..(as she always does)

 (2 years old)


(3years old)

'

I'd add more but I'll refrain:)
she has moved from toasting the bread to cutting up the vegtables though.

I usually put the turkey in the oven  at 5 am
then I go to sleep. I wake up and the whole house smells amazing!
It's ready by 1 or 2.
Something I really enjoy making is the green bean casserole.
I slice one small onion and fry it with some pieces of bacon
then I make the casserole according to the directions..
I add the onion and bacon pieces to the cream of mushroom soup before I bake.
It's fantastic!
On Thursday we went to our library's annual book sale.

 It's so cool, you can fill a grocery bag with books from their store for only 10 dollars!
We found so many really good ones,
I arrange them in the best possible way and we end up with at least 35.
This was one of the one's I was really excited to find..


Here's a few of the other ones...


I didn't even photograph the ones Helena chose!
We had a great time and even had a chance to go to the cafe and have some breakfast.


We made this garland out of felt for our dining room.


We also made some big felt turkeys but Peeves, our lovely craft assistant
decided to sneak into the room and
 lie on the freshly painted turkey faces.
I had to wash them off his belly.
Here he is drying off on the rest of the felt.



I looked everywhere for a turkey cookie cutter and just did not find one!
We ended up making some with a duck & flower cookie cutters..
This is regular sugar cookie dough.


Here are some made with the flower shape and hand rolled turkey bodies, lol
I wasn't impressed but it did induce many giggles from Helena.





I made some more ornaments.
These are made from
burnt out night light bulbs, Lisa Kettell Designs pixie doll heads,
pipe cleaners, glitter, ribbon, fishing line and tinsel.



you need hot glue to add ribbon the the top (metal) part of the bulb
add the pixie, hot glue fishing line (to display) then attach pipe cleaners to the back (for arms) 
wrap with a small amount of tinsel (skirt)
once this is done paint the hat with white glue and sprinkle with glitter.






This is what we created for our abandoned art project this week..
It's a felt leaf 'pocket'
it's securely glued all the way around and in the 'pocket' 
we put a couple of dollars.
There have been times when a dollar would've helped me so much..
I'm hoping someone can get themselves a water or a candy bar..whatever.
maybe it'll just make someone smile.
If you make this, you could add an inspirational quote instead of money.
or maybe a 5 dollar gift card to the 99cents store..
Helena asked me
what if someone that doesn't need it, finds it?
I told her maybe they will give it to someone who does.
I was able to get a picture of it..
We left it at a walking trail.



How chilly is it for everyone now?
We are getting some nice lows in the evening,low enough to make me crave a hot drink.
I've stopped drinking coffee for some reason.
I do that sometimes, 
But I never really get tired of tea.
I know of an incredibly awesome tea shop on etsy that has
a huge selection and guess what?
it's not ridiculously priced either!


Here's a few:

 'tame the tension'

it's a relaxing herbal tea


'Pixie Dust'

a tea to help you sleep.

'Not my mama's Merlot"
 It's wine flavored!!

She also sells essential oils, prepackaged tea bags or a monthly subscription box.
She is very sweet and will do all she can to get your 
order to you quickly and packaged beautifully.
There's a black Friday sale 50 % off, with just a $10 minimum purchase required.
Hope you go take a look, 
She even has one that is chocolate mint flavored and it's amazing!!


My daughter's recital went beautifully.
It was her senior recital, vocal performance.
We were all blown away.







This was immediately after
(Grace, Gabriella, and Helena)


She started singing at 18 months old
At 9 years old, she decided to sing opera
next month she is graduating from college 
Summa Cum Laude
We are very proud of her!



I hope everyone that is celebrating Thanksgiving this week 
has a beautiful, abundant time.
I count my blessings everyday
but I will definitely give extra thanks this year.


See you soon!!

11 comments:

  1. You have had a full week. I like the sugar cookies, lots of fun to play with.

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  2. Marfi, I know you must be so proud. Congratulations to Gabriella! Wow! Smart, beautiful, and talented!!! YAY! You scored some fantastic books at the libraty, My Friend. I love your little pixie ornaments, and the photos of Helena are so cute....does she know you posted them? ;P

    Thanks for the heads-up about the Etsy store. We love tea around here! I'm lining over there in a bit.

    Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

    xo,
    RJ

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  3. Hi Marfi! Wonderful post of mega-treasures, love those pixie ornaments..and that cat is so sweet, what an adorable soul! wow, gorgeous photos of your daughter, many congrats, very special. Thanks for sharing all of your heartwarming traditions and magic!
    HUgs
    Victoria

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  4. Where do I begin? I like your recipe for Green Bean Casserole. I make it using cream of celery since I'm not a big fan of mushroom soup, just mushrooms. I used to make some cheesy pearl onions as a side dish, but I haven't found any tiny onions since I moved to Kansas.

    You got a fabulous deal on those books. Much better deal than any I've gotten at book sales. I want to read that Collage book, too.

    You have two beautiful daughters you can certainly be proud of. Happy MOnday and Happy Thanksgiving, too. This message took so long because my keyboard is having a hissy fit and doesn't want to type.

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  5. We don't celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, but since I was sick for All Hallows' Eve this year, we'll have our Halloween dinner this weekend.

    Love the toast pics (especially that glorious grin). And thanks so much for sharing the recital pics, too.

    Have a very happy week.

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  6. Its great idea of Thanks giving. Its good that you are following your Mom's custom of cooking,All the best for that.Your daughter is gorgeous. Lovely pictures.
    https://clickbystyle.blogspot.in/

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  7. What a great post! And what a talented family, too!!

    Looks like you have everything organized and ready for the holidays!

    Have a blessed Thanksgiving!!

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  8. Beautiful, Beautiful post!!! Where to start? Helena is so cute!! Your food sounds so yummy! I'm coming over!! You scored on the books! Wow! I haven't stop laughing about kitty and your turkey cookies! LOL! Your little dolls are adorable! Love your grateful abandoned art! Very touching! Thanks for sharing about the tea! Your daughters are so beautiful!! Congrats to Gabriella! Big Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving!

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  9. I'm not a fan of turkey or green bean casserole. Not our food as my dad would say. I'm Italian so would rather have macaroni, eggplant Parmagiana. Can't convince Himself. This year, I'm making refrigerated French bread into turkey shaped rolls. Did a test batch at the beginning of the week. Today is pie baking day. Just an apple pie. Bought The Eldest a Tabletalk little pumpkin pie as she's the only one who really loves pumpkin pie. As Himself is on a restricted diet, I won't go overboard with the desserts. Love your do it yourself turkey cookies. The pixie ornaments are adorable. So clever. Congratulations to your daughter. And a lovely picture of the sisters. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

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  10. Happy Thanksgiving. I don't do much cooking for the day, but I do like your adaptation of the usual green bean casserole. I do make a green bean casserole but have never added onions in this way. Thx for the idea. You did a great job making turkey cookies! Family is always something to be thankful for. Congrats on your daughter's achievement :)

    You certainly struck it rich at the book sale.

    Our lows are in the 40s, chilly enough to welcome one of those lovely teas. They look so pretty :)

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  11. A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you and your girls and congratulations to Gabriella! With all her beauty, talent and brains she is certainly headed towards a wonderful career. Thanks for sharing the photos of her recital, she looked gorgeous and I'm sure she sounded great, too.
    Those pics of Helena are just adorable, I'm amazed that she could make toast when see was only two years old!
    Your unique turkey cookies made me smile and I had to laugh at Peeves! What would the world be like without bad kitties?
    Hope you're having a great weekend! Cheers, Sarah

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