VERY Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving Addition

Here are some new pics of the kitchen (although a mess) and the framing of the addition.

GREAT NEW RECIPE

Well, our new kitchen isn't complete, but it's usable at this point. The day that the backsplash was finished and the workers moved out, I came down with the flu and had to wait yet another week before I could 'christen' it! To my dismay, Foodie Dad got in there and tried it all out before I did!! Yesterday was the first day that I felt the ambition to do something and I decided to cook dinner. . .And I mean a REAL dinner! Luckily, one of Soy Boy's friends came by and I got the usual "Mom can he stay for dinner" routine & he did. . .it was a mini dinner party & I had a blast cooking (& eating it!). Love my new kitchen and can't wait until the addition is done and we're all put back together.

I found this recipe in the Williams Sonoma Thanksgiving catalog. It's a great kicked up version of scalloped potatoes. I made it with a big roasted chicken (put my new convection oven to the test) along with roasted Brussels sprouts coated in olive oil and some fresh thyme. I wish I really WAS having a dinner party cause it was a meal fit for a king! Very casual & rustic, but delicious!

POTATO-LEEK GRATIN

5 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 lb. leeks, white and light green portions, rinsed well, cut into 1/4-inch rings
1 1/2 Tbs. kosher salt
1 tsp. minced fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 cup heavy cream
6 oz. Gruyère cheese, grated
3 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
3 lb. russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices
3 Tbs. minced fresh chives

Directions:
In a 12-inch nonstick fry pan over medium heat, melt 4 Tbs. of the butter. Add the leeks and salt, stirring to coat the leeks with the butter. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leeks are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the thyme, nutmeg, pepper and cream and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Wipe out the pan and grease with the remaining 1 Tbs. butter.

Preheat an oven to 400ºF.

In a bowl, combine the Gruyère and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses. Layer one-third of the potatoes in the fry pan and spread one-third of the leek mixture on top. Sprinkle with one-third of the cheeses, then 1 Tbs. of the chives. Repeat the layering 2 more times, reserving 1 Tbs. of the chives.

Cover the pan, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the lid and continue baking until the potatoes are tender and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes more. Sprinkle the remaining 1 Tbs. chives on top. Let the gratin stand for 15 minutes before serving. Serves 8 to 10

HALLOWEEN

This year seemed a little different than other Halloweens. . .the kids really didn't make much fuss about it. . .we bought Soy Boy's costume in Target about a month ago & didn't pull it out of the bag in his closet until Halloween night! (Luckily, it fit)

Chunky Monkey was just a little tougher. . .went to take her to a SPIRIT store that comes into town each year, only to find out that it wasn't there! We traveled across a town or two to find one and spent about 2 hours trying on different BLACK outfits. . .has to be BLACK!! No pink to be found! Ended up geting the first one we tried on and we were on our way. . .that was about it!

Soy Boy even said that he didn't really even want to go trick or treating this year. . .I told him he's only 9 AND HE'S GOING. . .LIKE IT OR NOT! At the end of the night I asked him please to not grow up so fast!!

Halloween sure isn't what it used to be. . .the days of walking your butt off all over town to get as much candy as possible and homemade costumes has been replaced with $60 exact replica costumes complete with sound effects and lights. . .trunk candy. . .and carnivals with bouncy castles and 'take as much as you want' candy stands! The excitement of 'the hunt' is a thing of the past. . .I even had trick or treaters show up at my door last night with NO COSTUME AT ALL!! What is this world coming to??

OUR BIG AMAZING RENOVATION

(Disclaimer: Beehive5, keep these to yourself!! I know you follow, but want to surprise a certain other friend of ours. . .don't want her to see these pics!!)

Ok, I know that's the name of a show & actually, our reno is not that big. . .or even amazing. . .but it sure feels good to actually be doing it ~ FINALLY! We went through 8 months of having the house on the market. . .lots of lookers, but no takers. . .

A funny story. . .my prior post was us on a jet ski tour in Myrtle Beach. . .well on the way home from that vacation, literally, we were in the car on our way back. . .our realtor called and said that she needed to show the house immediately. She had a 'serious' buyer who's offer on a different house had fallen through & they had already sold theirs and needed to buy immediately & ours was on the top of the list! We should have been excited, but instead we panicked & got really nervous. We both felt scared that they would actually want to buy it & we decided right then and there that we would take it off the market & start doing the work on it that we had always envisioned doing. . .

A little twist that makes this store 'funny' is that our builder told us he had a friend who is also a builder in town working with him for a few months because business was slow for him. The first time he came, we all looked at each other like we had seen each other before. . .we finally figured out that he worked at the place where we rented the jet skis!!! He was one of our tour guides just 2 months prior to him now standing in the middle of our kitchen. . .coincidence? FATE~!!! We were meant to stay here. . .that's our story, anyway, and we are sticking to it!!

The plan. . .remodel the kitchen & add on 630 sq ft to the back of the house for a new family room & a play room for the kiddies.

So far. . .

installed granite

installed tile backsplash

new exhaust hood

new gas cook top

new oven

new dishwasher

Just waiting on the cabinets & having a hard time deciding on a paint color!

For the addition, the foundation is complete and we should start framing next week. . .the plan. . .to be in it by Christmas!!

Here are some pics of the progress. . .

The kids thought that the foundation going in was a sporting event. . .

Here comes the granite!!! A REALLY fun day!

Our builder installing the tile backsplash. . .& doing a wonderful job, I might add!

Our new gas, 5 burner cooktop! Thanksgiving HERE WE COME!