Giving Thanks



The past week has been so wonderful!  I love Thanksgiving and all the delicious food and warm camaraderie that accompany it.  We had a picture perfect “friendsgiving” with our good friends in Santa Fe.  Everyone brought something delicious – chipotle seasoned turkey and gravy, homemade stuffing, green bean casserole (hot dish if you’re from the north country), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, apple pie.  Did I mention there was wine and Baileys?  I’m so thankful to have met such a great group of friends here.

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty impressed with my own contributions to the Thanksgiving feast as well.  I baked my Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake that is probably the yummiest thing to every come out of my oven.  It was a little lopsided this time around, but just as delicious!  I also made some homemade walnut-crusted wheat bread and baked cranberries with apple and coconut.  I could eat these every day!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Cake (photo from Recipe Girl)

Walnut Crusted Wheat Loaves (photo from Taste of Home)

Baked Cranberries (photo from Taste of Home)

I roasted a 15-pound turkey earlier in the week because I got it for free at the grocery store.  Needless to say we had a lot left over, so I made some pesto grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches with turkey tortilla soup for the weekend, and a four cheese turkey pasta bake for a potluck tomorrow.  Turkey is tasty in everything!

What made Thanksgiving weekend even better was that my dad came to visit!  It was a great weekend of site seeing, picture taking, beer drinking, and meeting of the Santa Fe friends.  We listened to some impressive jazz music at El Meson on Friday, saw the Circus Luminous show at the Lensic on Saturday, and hiked Aspen Vista Sunday morning.  Kua loved getting some extra attention.

Lighting of the Christmas Lights in the Plaza

Lensic Performing Arts Center

Agave Lounge

Hiking Aspen Vista

Oh, and how could I forget the most exciting news of the week… I got engaged!  Full story to come soon, but for now let me just tell you that the proposal was perfect and my ring is GORGEOUS!  We’ve already started diving into wedding magazines, making a guest list, and creating Excel spreadsheets for the budget.  I can’t wait to start planning!

Post-proposal champagne toast on the Hyde Park Circle Trail


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