Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, Cranberries and Pecans

Since we had our Thanksgiving on Friday (due to the fireman doing fireman duties on Thursday) I wasn't all that stressed about cooking the meal.
We have all day, I thought. The fireman's doing the ham, I thought. No biggy.

Cut to around 2:30pm, the fireman and I got home from doing a tiny bit of Black Friday shopping and starting bread for a 3:30pm meal.

We ate around 5pm. Oh, well.

We decided on a ham, because we knew that we'd have had turkey already at the station and the boys would have it at their mom's. But they had steak instead and somehow? All I want is turkey.

A Tale of Four Pies

On Thanksgiving, the fireman had to work. So, while we planned our own Thanksgiving with all the kiddos on Friday, the girl and I also planned on going to the fire station on Thursday for Thanksgiving with our fireman and his crew. He happens to work at a 6 man house. Normally, there is just the captain, the engineer and the backend guy. But since his fire station has both an engine (water) and a truck (ladder and axes), his house is larger.

More guys = more trouble. Whenever you get a bunch of guys in one place with time on their hands, you have trouble. Now, they have reports and chores and are fairly busy with calls (depending on the district of the station), but in a 24 hour shift, they still have time for mayhem.

So, Thanksgiving at the fire station can be lots of fun. Besides, being cooked for, served and cleaned up by a bunch of guys. Total win.

Christmas Baking Giveaway!

It's here! It's Cyber Monday. I thought it would be fun to have a small giveaway for some fun Christmas baking.

I love Christmas. It's almost my favorite holiday of the year. Heck, I love all holidays. Any reason to do extra baking and get together with the family. Just another reason to have extra fun!

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

I don't know if you've ever had Gooey Butter Cake. Paula Deen has a recipe for it, and it's good, but the recipe I use came from a friend of mine. It was written by her husband's very German Grandma. It's delicious. It's practically sinful. You eat a small portion and feel like you need to run to church and confess.

This recipe is a version of that, plus pumpkin. It is the end-all of pumpkin desserts. You can quote me on that.

Chili Cook-off and Best Banana Bread

I have been baking up a storm!

I am sharing two foods today because I have so many to share!

At work, our building maintenance guy, Tom, came to me and said that they want to have a chili cook-off. Awesome, right? He wanted to know if we could have a prize for the winner. So, I talked to the boss and was allowed to purchase a giftcard for the winner.

We planned it for Monday, the 21st, so everyone could cook over the weekend.

Hot Cocoa Cupcakes and a Parade

*Hot Cocoa Cupcakes*

Saturday, our town had their annual Christmas parade. The youngest boy was in it with the high school band and the girl was in it with her girl scouts troup.

After that, the girl and I had signed up to do a She & Me event at a local church. It was a girl scout event, and a cupcake exchange! They were also having a cocoa tasting and some crafts.

Championship Chocolate Chip Bars

As a kid, my mom made us Magic Cookie Bars. They are the reason for my existence. I dream about them.

When I make them, I tend to eat half of the pan, then snack on it the next day until it's gone.

Obviously, I try not to make them often.

Magic cookie bars are like the layer bars with sweetened condensed milk and corn flakes. But I bastardize it by removing the pesky coconut and pecans, cause I never liked them as a kid.