Thanksgiving Recipe Trials + Falling for Fall

I think it’s safe to say that all of us workin’ folk are happy for the short week ahead, amiright?

It’s technically a four day week for me since I am on call at the hospital for an entire 24 hours the day after Thanksgiving…that means no Black Friday shopping for moi. I’m okay with that though; I’ve never been one to enjoy large crowds and chaos.

But I do enjoy cool and sunny weather. I guess I was wrong about the rain because after about three days of it, we’re now back to beeyootiful.

Fall

It was so pretty that I wanted to spend the entire weekend outside but I had some work to tend to in the kitchen.

Since all of our family is back in Florida, we will be spending Thanksgiving with a group of friends here in California and it’s a potluck so I wanted to try out a few recipes ahead of time to make sure they were worthy. And of course, to post last minute on the blog. ;)

I tried making braised collard greens using this recipe but I added shallots and used vegetable broth instead of just water.

Collard Greens

They tasted amazing but were a bit too laborious for the small amount of servings. I might try to skip the blanching step next time and see how they turn out.

I also made a vegan sourdough stuffing along with Erica’s mashed butternut squash {so.unbelievably.good.} and it made for two very happy bellies.

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The stuffing and the mashed butternut squash were both delicious so that’s what I’m bringing on Thursday. If you are looking for an easy and unique side item to make, you should definitely check out Erica’s recipe. We both loved it, like, a lot. I can’t wait to share both of them with everyone.

A long day of work in the kitchen was then rewarded with some cozy cuddling by the fireplace and a fresh batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies.

fire

p.s. I cannot be trusted with those cookies.

Then on Sunday we fit in some playtime with a certain stinky someone.

Coco 0

I originally wanted to take her hiking with us but my time in the kitchen took longer than expected so we had to stick to our neighborhood for some exercise.

Fall 4

As familiar as it is, I still love walking just around the neighborhood during this time of year.

fall 5Coco 1

After spending pretty much every single fall in Florida, the change in seasons here make me swoon. Especially the pomegranate trees…

pomegranate

They’re just so darn cute.

In fitness news, I managed to squeeze in a Body Attack class on Saturday morning that was taught by a new-to-me instructor {since giving up my gym membership earlier in the year} and he is amazing. He just has that infectious energy that makes you push yourself and I loved every second of it. It’s amazing what the right instructor can do for a class, you know?

I hope everybody had a great weekend and I’ll see you with a last minute Thanksgiving recipe tomorrow!

 

Are you cooking for Thanksgiving? Do you have all your recipes planned already?