Thanksgiving

This year Mister B's parents were in town for Thanksgiving (they live here, but are generally gone this time of year), so we had a full out Thanksgiving instead of our traditional Thanksgiving pizza (which I am pretty sure I have talked about in past blog posts, but you are likely to see it here around Christmas this year I think). That meant that his parents made all the major components, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and I got to contribute whatever I wanted. And what I wanted was sweet potato pie and buttermilk biscuits.


The pie recipe came from Joy the baker and was wonderful. The spices were subtle in a not just hitting you over the head with cinnamon kind of way, and although as you know I love all things pumpkin, it was a nice change from traditional pumpkin pie.

The biscuits were from Local Milk (prepare to see this blog referenced a lot I think, because I pretty much want to make every recipe she has) and they were fantastic. Buttermilky and flaky they were a hit at dinner, because I mean come on, who doesn't love a good biscuit?

As a Christmas present for Mister B I decided to make him a craft beer advent calender. We are both into good craft beers and this way he can have a new one every day up until Christmas. They are all seasonal or holiday beers of course! I decided to do this at the last minute yesterday so the packaging isn't the most creative, but think of all the fun things you could do with this if you planned further ahead. He was super excited, so I think it was the right decision.

The last few Christmases I have gone home to Oregon to be with my parents and Mister B has stayed here. This year I am staying in Arizona. So not only will it be my first Christmas in Arizona, but also my first Christmas with the fella in quite a while. Although I will miss all my friends and family back in Oregon, I think it will be nice to have a relaxing Christmas here. I have already started decorating. Hey, if I am going to be here I will make the most of it! 

I feel like maybe that paragraph was misleading because now you probably expect to see photos of the above-mentioned decorations, of which I have none at the moment. Instead here are some photos of things I am thankful for.

Cozy fires. I know it seems silly to have a fireplace in a place where you don't need to use it eighty percent of the year because it is a million degrees out, but I am telling you, even having it to use for that twenty percent is TOTALLY worth it. It just makes Christmas seems more Christmasy and takes the edge off cold nights.

Furrries. Mine like to get especially cuddly when it starts to get chilly, which is fine by me!

Haha, it is really hard to get LC to hold still for pictures unless she is asleep. Mostly because she just wants to rub her face on the camera. It makes for a lot of shots like this.

I am also thankful for cooking. I am getting more and more into it lately. It is just so relaxing and rewarding. 

I would say BBQ is one of the favorite foods here in this household. To that end I made pulled pork last weekend (from where else, but Local Milk) and let me tell you, oh man! I have made pulled pork before, but this recipe was even better. It got all blackened and crispy on the outside and the pork was tender and smoky. Mister B pulled off a big piece of the skin with some juicy meat attached and said, and I quote, "Oh yeah, I can already tell this will be the best thing I ever eat!" And let me tell you he was not exaggerating much. If you like BBQ go make this and you won't be sorry!

 Well I think that is all for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Cheers!