Friday {Thanksgiving} Favorites

Hi Friends :)  Do you know that this is my 900th post...crazy!  For my Friday Favorites I thought I would take the time to be thankful for our relaxing Thanksgiving (and a few other things in between).  

~  I am thankful that I was able to provide a meal for our family.  This year we decided to keep Thanksgiving low-key, stay home and have our meal here.  It was a very relaxing day...with yummy food :)

~  I am thankful for Kroger...for providing our delicious turkey.  Anytime I have a large meal with a turkey, for as long as it is offered, I will get my turkey here and let them do all of the work.

~  I am thankful for my laptop.  When I cook or clean the kitchen I like to watch shows or listen to music.  So, I can watch this:

 {Yes, I was catching up on Y&R}

...while I am doing this:

 ~  I am thankful for my new cooking utensils from Pampered Chef...they are bamboo.  I learned that wooden spoons keep a lot of bacteria but bamboo spoons do not.  Or as Rondell says 'I got scared into buying them.'  Maybe I did, but so far I love them.

~  I am thankful for Mrs. Keys (my good friend Melanie's mom) for sharing her dressing recipe with me.  And while I may or may not have added a little too much sage this year, it is by far my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner.  If you want the recipe you can go here.

~  I am thankful that Rondell was brave enough to light our fireplace before dinner.  See, we have lived in this house for over fire years and we have never lit the fireplace...gasp.  I just knew there would be something living in there, but all was OK.  Isn't it pretty?

 ~  I am thankful that the one "craft" that I ended up putting together was a big hit.  I love the everyone got involved.  It was a coloring sheet that I found online (thanks Erin) and there was a space on the side to write the things for which we are thankful.

 {Wanna know something about that handsome guy in the picture above...he got a new job!!  Talk about thankful :)}

~  I am thankful that we were able to slow down and enjoy one another's company (minus Caleb, who decided to spend Thanksgiving with his grandparents...but how wonderful that he has grandparents who love on him in that way...though he was truly missed).

~  I am thankful for Jamison's love for writing.  She is constantly writing a story or a news report.  Here she is presenting her "I am thankful" presentation:

 {Sorry for the blur}

~  I am thankful that the one new recipe that I tried was a hit:

I followed a recipe from Cooks.com (which I can't seem to find now).

I boiled my yams and then peeled and sliced them, placed them in a 9x13 dish and sprinkled them with cinnamon, nutmeg and some pumpkin pie spice.

I made a simple syrup (I like saying that) using 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of light brown sugar, and about 1/3 cup of water.  I brought it to a boil and stirred until the sugar was dissolved.

I poured the syrup over the yams & then added butter to the top.

I baked them @ 350 for about 30 minutes...basically until they start bubbling around the side.

YUM!

Share your Favorites...come on, it's fun :)