Thanksgiving 2013, the old and the new

I have been lucky to grow up in a family that loved and celebrated the holidays and instilled in me a sense of the importance of traditions. My mom would work her tail off cooking, baking and entertaining family and friends--all while working full-time and raising three kids--and somehow made it look easy. And although I may not have shown my appreciation then, I now find myself wanting to do the same things for my family. When I have the energy. That is once or twice a year.

This year I hosted my husband's family at my house. Every year we do something different for Thanksgiving, sometimes spending it with friends, sometimes at my in-laws' cabin. I hadn't done Thanksgiving at our home in East Nashville ever (is that possible?) so it was high time.

This turkey tureen from the 50s? belonged to my mom. 

I had a lot of fun preparing, baking and cooking. Mostly the baking.

I admit it. I went a little crazy with the pies this year. Not that I don't always go a little crazy with the pies (last year I think I made 8) but my oven broke at the end of the summer and it took me two-and-a-half months to fix it. I, mistakenly it turns out, thought this was a sign that it was time to buy a new one. We are planning to remodel our kitchen fairly soon, so I started to do some research and look at options. Then I found out that the ovens of my dreams cost between three and five THOUSAND dollars. I called the repairman instead.

With my oven back in action, I had pent up baking energy that needed to be released just in time for Thanksgiving. Since I love to bake, I usually end up doing the pies. Plus, I was also doing the turkey and a few other things too, so I started planning early.

Following in my mom's footsteps (she was an extremely organized planner), I set out all the serving dishes two days before with a note on what would go in them. Before you start making fun of me, and believe me I know it's crazy -- I used to make fun of my mom for this--but I realize now why she did it. Not only is it fun and it gets you in the spirit, but it allows you to see what you have and what you still may need. And then I go thrift shopping to find it. For example, I needed a gravy boat and a coffee server and found both at Goodwill, along with some cool little glass bowls for cranberries and a glass dish for apps. Score.

Organization overload?

Cool thrifted vintage Pyrex coffee carafe.

I decided to try some new things instead of the old standards, like a collard green gratin that is sure to reappear in future years. I was also inspired by a beautiful spread on non-traditional Thanksgiving pies in the November 2013 issue of Saveur magazine. I decided to try three of them. I love trying new things, especially when it comes to baking.

Instead of pecan and pumpkin I made a chocolate-ginger-chess and a pumpkin-maple brulée (in the end, though, the brulée part never happened but it was still delicious).

My secret to pie dough is in the combination of shortening and butter-- and I do it in the food processor so it's fast. But chilling --both the dough before rolling for at least an hour and the crust, in the shell and crimped, for about 30 minutes-- is the single most important way to achieve a pretty-looking pie.

The salted caramel apple recipe (adapted by Saveur from Four-and-Twenty-Blackbirds in NY) was the perfect combination of sweet and salty, fruit and spices and called for a teaspoon of Angostura bitters added to the apples. At first I thought this was strange, but it was actually genius. I had never heard of that but I'll be adding it to all future apple desserts.

I love the lattice crust, even though it made me have to think too hard when putting it all together. After making and filling the pie, the recipe calls for making a caramel on the stove top (sugar, water, butter and heavy cream) and then pouring it over the apples. If you think "that's overkill" or "it's not worth the extra work," think again. It was amazing. Then brush the crust all over with an egg wash and sprinkle both sea salt and Demerara sugar over the top. It's a dramatic pie that tasted as good as it looks.

Some traditions are meant to be broken. I don't think I'll host Thanksgiving again next year (my mom used to do it every year). It's soooo much work and maybe I won't have as much time on my hands as I did this year. But I will probably bring the pies.

This little girl got her own personal pumpkin pie. She ate so much of it she got sick. Oops!

A new "big girl" room

Over the weekend I had one of my redecorating, rearranging, cleaning and organizing frenzies. I have them every once in a while and when it occurs, everyone better clear out because there is nothing stopping me.

I had been looking at pictures on this blog that I spend way too much time looking at. I have mixed feelings about decorating and home blogs. I like them because they help me to get inspired and I love looking at the way people decorate their homes. But I hate it because afterward it always gives me an unpleasantly anxious feeling that I need more stuff, more money and a better, bigger, nicer house.

When that happens, first I close the computer. Then I get to work. I love re-purposing and moving around the stuff I already have so it looks new and different. Sometimes I buy one or two small things to accessorize (I'm a big fan of getting new pillows), but mostly I pride myself in doing the change-ups without spending any money. And sometimes, I even get rid of stuff while I'm at it, which is a real bonus.

My first big project was the nursery three years ago --really a space that was going to be a walk-in closet before we found out I was pregnant. Daniel finished working on it a month before she was born, we painted it pale yellow and I decorated the whole thing for a few hundred bucks using mostly thrifted, garage sale and flea market items. It turned into a darling little room for her and I loved doing it.

Our house has been a work-in-progress since we bought it six years ago. We've remodeled two bathrooms plus added a wall of built-in closets in the bedroom and then, June's nursery. But it's a small, open, Craftsman style bungalow that presents many challenges since all the rooms basically connect to one another. There is not much of a sound barrier anywhere and not really a second bedroom, not ideal for families. Which is why I am constantly changing things and moving furniture around to make it work.

my sweet, hard-working husband

Now my baby is a little girl--soon to be three (sniff sniff)-- and she's been asking for a "bigger bed." She never really slept in her crib and when she was 20 mos. old we took it out and replaced it with a toddler bed. She loved that but lately I could hear her at night thrashing around and hitting the sides all the time. She was getting too big for it. Also, I would like for her to be able to get up on her own (she's an early bird) and just play with her toys or look at books for a bit before I have to get up. Yeah, right.

June's new room was our living room until recently, then it became her play room since not much could fit in her bedroom. Now I wanted to move her in there to sleep too. But I wanted it to be special and look different for her, even though my budget right now was about zero. And I didn't want to wait.

I got to work and moved everything around, got rid of a small couch that didn't get used in there, put away a bunch of toys that never got played with and generally cleaned and organized the space. Daniel had taken June to the zoo so I could work like mad without interruption. 

I had bought the old iron bed at the flea market a long time ago and it was up in the attic. I bought the bedding and pillow at Ikea a year ago. The cotton twill curtains were all thrift store finds.

 I made a little reading nook, and a space for drawing and painting in front of the window.  I used all the existing curtains but moved some around since I now had to cover the two french doors separating the room from our current living room (This should be interesting at night. I also just ordered a sound machine). The dresser was in the nursery (used to be changing table) and I switched out the drawer pulls for some pastel crystal ones. Good storage bins are key and I already had these. The rug was my single purchase --$10 on clearance at TJ Maxx.

After my day's work it turned out really cute and when June got home from the zoo she said "I love my new room!" The transition was a little rough for her the first night, and made me a little sad because my baby is growing up too fast, but change is good.

I still would like to move to a bigger house someday. But for now, we are fine in our little "spatially challenged" bungalow. It's cozy and I feel good about living simply and with less because our space forces us to do so. It curbs my shopping tendencies too. And I've gotten really good at sourcing great things at local yard sales, flea markets, antiques and junk shops. Daniel will tell you I'm no Mrs. Cheap. But still, I am pretty resourceful. And it just feels good to make do with what you have.

Next project: turning the old nursery into a fab new office/hideaway.