What a busy week! I spent A LOT of time in the kitchen. And I wore my GORGEOUS new apron while I was in there. One of my friends over on MeWe custom made an absolutely amazing apron for me, and it is everything I have ever wanted. The quality…I cannot get over how well made it is. This thing is not falling apart or going to fray anytime soon, unlike what I’ve gotten at the stores lately.

Before I even got into the kitchen, I started with clearing out and reorganizing the mudroom. It was such a hot mess in there, with 20+jackets hanging, and about the same number of shoes in a pile on the ground. I didn’t get an after photo; heck, I didn’t even finish the whole thing, but trust me, it looks A LOT better than in the picture below.

Anyway…First on my kitchen to-do list were the Gramma Rolls. My mother decided she was going to make them, but she didn’t follow the recipe correctly, and put them to do the final rise in a cold oven, so they did not get as big and fluffy as they should. They still taste delicious, but she will not be allowed to make them in the future.

The secret is to coat them in margarine before you put them in the pan, and then do another good coating once you pull them from the oven. So. Good!!! Next on the list was my cornbread casserole. I did not post the recipe here, because…well…I don’t really have any measurements for anything. So, check out the video I made over on Odysee, to A. See my gorgeous new apron, and B. Watch how I make the casserole. This turned out AMAZING, as always. Over on MeWe, one of my readers commented on how she was looking for a similar recipe using honey and rosemary – you could totally substitute the sugar and crushed red pepper for honey and rosemary. I would probably still do the sprinkle of sugar on top, because I LOVE the little bit of crunch it adds.

Let’s see…what else is new? Oh yeah! My Dill, Lemon Balm, and Chamomile have all germinated. I did not get a picture today, but this is from Friday morning, when the Lemon Balm started to germinate. It is now growing so tall!

I had placed the Echinacea and Lavender in the fridge for a week, per some advice from more seasoned gardeners. Apparently they germinate better when the seeds are cold. So…we shall see how it goes. I’ll check in with you guys next week with my little greenhouse update.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family, so it was nice and small on Thursday. Little Man helped me make some decorations for the table: 2 Indian Feather Headresses and a Pilgrim Man Hat and Pilgrim Lady Bonnet. Little Man LOVED using the glue stick for the first time to glue everything down. If you follow me on MeWe, you got to see some of the pictures I shared from our projects.

Squatch drove down Wednesday, and is with us until Monday, when he has to head back Up Nort. Little Man is LOVING his time with Daddy. They’ve played dinosaur with a really cool dinosaur head mask Squatch made and brought down, and then they use some awesome dinosaur stickers to decorate an explorer hat. I love to see the big smiles on both of their faces, especially when they are cuddled on the couch together, reading a story.

The in-laws also drove down Wednesday, and stayed with MIL’s sister. We went over Friday to visit with everyone, and Little man had a great time. While I wish Squatch’s cousins were over with their little boys, I’m glad Little Man had the time on his own to play and explore. From what we heard, they were little terrors on Turkey Day.

Saturday morning was once again spent in the kitchen. The ginormous turkey carcass was set in the crockpot with water and the leftover celery and onion from the fridge to be turned into Turkey Broth. I added some salt and pepper to it, but other than that, no other seasonings. Broth I poured into ice cube trays to freeze, and the individual cubes are stored in ziplocs in the freezer now. I did the small cubes and larger ones, and even did a few gallon ziplocs, laid out flat. So, we’ve got plenty of options for how much turkey broth to use this next year. Will my parents use it? Who knows. If they don’t, I will just take the broth with me when we move out.

I also made some Cranberry Juice. We had Cranberry Mules on Thanksgiving, and I got 2 bags of cranberries for $4 at the grocery store, so I had a ton of berries left over. A friend on MeWe shared that she was making cranberry juice, so she shared the recipe. I just boiled them for a while in water, then smashed and strained the berries, tossing them back in. After another hour or so on a lower temp, I added some sugar (I don’t remember how much) to sweeten it a bit. Let it cook some more, and then strained it all out and into a glass pitcher.

Anyway – this week I recalled my love for baking and being in the kitchen. It was so wonderful to spend the time making breakfast for Squatch each morning. I cannot wait until we are reunited for good and I can get into our own little routine once more. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!