Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Pecans

Now if you don't normally like sweet potato/yam dishes but this delicious dish will convert you like it did me. Now I'm liking more and more sweet potato dishes. This is by far my favorite though. My sister in-law Jessica found this recipe and she just happens to be the best at making it (at least compared to me). I love, love, love this dish! Thanks for introducing it to me Jessica, and thanks for making it every year at mine and Kerby's request! Pics of all these items will be coming after Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:
4 1/2 lb. sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. whipping cream
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp salt
2 to 3 c. tiny marshmallows
1/4 c. pecan halves, toasted

Directions:
1. Peel sweet potatoes and boil in water in large pan until soft. Let cool.
2. Mash the sweet potatoes, my sister in law uses her Bosch mixer (I really need to get one, then I'll be able to make this better).
3. In a small saucepan combine butter and whipping cream; cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a simmer. Fold into the sweet potatoes along with the maple syrup, nutmeg, and 1 tsp salt. Transfer to a 2-qt baking dish.
4. Sprinkle marshmallows on potatoes. Bake, uncovered, 12 to 15 minutes or until marshmallows are golden brown. Sprinkle toasted pecans. Serve immediately.

Nutrition facts:
Makes 8 (1/2 c.) servings
Each Serving contains 255 cal, 14 g fat, 33 mg chol, 670 mg sodium, 30 g fiber, 2 g protein.

Make Ahead:
Up to 1 day ahead, prepare through Step 3. Cover and refrigerate. To reheat, bake, covered, in a 350º F oven for 55 min., stirring once. Increase oven temperature to 450º F. Uncover and proceed with Step 4.

Kerby's Birthday!

Today is Kerby's birthday, in the almost 12 years we've been married I've never woken up early and made him breakfast before he's gone to work. I've only done it if it's been a weekend and we're home and not visiting family for Thanksgiving. So, I decided to do it today. He leaves for work at 5:20 so I got up at 4:30 and started cooking biscuits and gravy. It didn't turn out all fancy or anything (too early in the morning) but it was yummy. I asked the kids last night if they wanted me to wake them up at 5:00 to eat breakfast with him and give him his presents. Of course they wanted to so I woke them up. They were super excited to do that! After trying to wake Skylar up a few times I decided to let her sleep. Kerby was surprised to wake up to the smell of sausage and biscuits. Kerby is the best father and husband a family could ever have! We are so lucky! Kerby's very good at spending time with his family! We love you Kerby!
He got lots of little fishing things and some of his favorite snacks and a gift card to one of his favorite stores The Sportsman's Warehouse.

Biscuits and Gravy


Kadin and Levi thought it would be really funny if they wrapped his presents in purple Tinkerbell wrapping paper! They got quite a laugh out of it!

Turkey Napkin Holders

Today the kids and I made turkey napkin holders. This was really fun and easy. Maybe we'll have all the kids on the farm in Nevada make them when we go for Thanksgiving.

Here we are with our turkeys!

These are the items you'll need, scissors, glue stick, brown, red and yellow paper, wiggly eyes and a Thanksgiving napkin.
Cut a strip from the brown paper, cut a neck and head from the red and a beak from the yellow.












Glue the eyes and beak onto the neck












For the body make a small circle about an inch around with your brown strip of paper












Glue the head onto the body












Fold your napkin like a fan, fold up the bottom a little (I actually ripped the bottom of the napkin a little bit and folded both sides up so the feathers weren't leaning to one side)












Place the napkin inside your round circle. Cute huh?


Kids having fun making their turkeys!

Julie & Zumba

Tonight I'm thankful for Julie! I'm thankful that she introduced me to Zumba. The first time I went to Zumba I was so embarrassed and felt so uncoordinated but now I don't really feel embarrassed, I feel like I can do anything when I'm at Zumba. It's revitalizing and makes me feel more confident about myself. When I have a stressful day, Zumba is what helps me wind down and feel better. I am still uncoordinated but I love it! So fun! Come with me, Michelle and Nany are awesome instructors!

The Hunger Games - OFFICIAL Theatrical TRAILER

Here's the movie!
I stole this from Tina's wall, I am so excited for this movie! If you haven't read the books yet you really need to!

The Hunger Games Trilogy

These books are some of the best books I've ever read. I'll warn you now that I do not think the last book has the best ending, there definitely needed to be more. Definitely worth the read though. All in all they are very good books though, I can't wait for the movie!
They are written by Suzanne Collins, "The Hunger Games", "Mockingjay", and "Catching Fire" are the names of the books. They are an excellent read, very intense. They made me angry and sad because of what was required of these children. If you haven't read them you need too! I've got all 3 if you want to borrow them (if you live nearby) I'll add you to the list.

Pumpkin Pie

This is my favorite pumpkin pie! I've tweaked a recipe and made it perfect (to me). Although last time I made it was for bunco at my house and I forgot to add the water, but it was still yummy, it just seemed fluffy.

Ingredients:
Small Pumpkin
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves (or none at all is fine too)
1 c. hot water

Directions:
Cut pumpkin in half w/o stem. Scoop out seeds and strings. Place cut down on foil lined baking sheets. Most recipes say to cover with foil but I don't, it cooks much faster without it. Bake @ 350 for 45 min to 1 1/2 hrs, just till the flesh is soft enough to scoop out easily. Cool. Scoop out flesh & mash (I use a Tupperware Quick Chef, anything with a blade will work better than just mashing it). Mix together 1 1/3 c. smooth pumpkin, the sweetened condensed milk, egg, and all seasonings. Pour into a 9" pie shell. Bake @ 375 for 55 to 65 min.