Post Thanksgiving Post

Nothing much to report here, but wanted to check in.

Our Wednesday-before-Thanksgiving tradition lives on. It was wonderful spending time with my Dad, Bonus Mom, and two family friends. Logan was his usual adorable self and the life of the party. I had some turkey (in small bites and covered in gravy), mashed potatoes, and the most amazing cranberry orange relish I've ever tasted in my life. De-lish!

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Thanksgiving Thursday was great, too. It was so nice to see my mom and brothers, and my Aunt being back home was the icing on the cake. (Or the {homemade} whipped cream on the {homemade} pumpkin pie?)

I ended up choosing Paula Deen's pumpkin pie recipe. My edges got a little brown because I had to crank up the temperature to get it to cook in time for us to leave the house. The 50 minutes suggested turned into more like 65-70 minutes. The only other thing I changed was to add in about 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and I was generous with my measurements of the cinnamon and ginger. The pie was a HUGE hit - every bit of it was eaten! I didn't even get a bite of it to taste for myself. Womp womp. 

The whipped cream recipe is from Cook's Country. The Hubs and I are slightly obsessed with America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country, and watch the shows every time they're on PBS. I have made several of their recipes in the past (including this whipped cream for a 4th of July Strawberry Icebox Pie) and they have all turned out really well. 

Unfortunately, CC is stingy with almost all of their recipes and makes you pay for a "subscription" to see them. Lucky for you, I have a trial membership and can pass this recipe for no-fail, absolutely-the-best, you'll-never-go-back-to-the-stuff-in-the-can, homemade whipped cream on to you.  

Cook's Country Homemade Whipped Cream

4 oz. softened cream cheese

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

1 cup heavy cream

Directions: On medium speed, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth (approx. 30 seconds). With mixer running, add cream. Whip until stiff peaks form (approx. 2 minutes). Keep refrigerated. 

And that's it! Easy peasy and so worth the extra 5 minutes. The cream cheese really adds a great hint of flavor to the whipped cream and keeps it from being nothing but sweetness. I totally recommend you try it. 

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And after all that, I weighed in at 256.0 this morning. Not an official weigh-in, but having no restriction and two Thanksgiving dinners in two days? I am astonished at the loss. I'm trying really hard to keep it that way for next Wednesday's official weigh-in. 

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving if you celebrated it! Did you make anything that you're particularly proud of? Did you have any unexpected food failures? Let me know!