Oh Thank Heaven

When I try to get witty with the post titles, it either turns out great or is a complete bust.  The title of this post most certainly falls into the latter category, but it does remind me of the Seven-11 jingle...

Anyways, I wanted to provide you all with a recap of the Thanksgiving weekend.

For me, it started a little earlier than expected as my client directed told everyone to leave at 1pm.  We (the contractors) stayed until around 2pm, when the last Federal employee left, then we had no option but to leave since contractors are not allowed to be in the building without a Federal employee.  A rule that pseudo-frustrated me when they announced it, but worked to my advantage this time around! :)  So I was picking G$ up at work by 3pm and we started our Thanksgiving weekend a few hours early.  Sweet deal.

For Thanksgiving Day, my parents hosted an extended family gathering at their house.  To include my immediate family, G$'s parents, G$'s sister, brother-in-law, and nephew, and my sister-in-law's parents.  We brought Kairo, who had a blast running with my parents' dogs in their backyard.  Yes, a fenced backyard separated from the house only by a sliding glass door - also known as an apartment-dwelling-dog-owner's dream! :)  Potty trips could not have been simpler.  Whenever we get a house, we will need to work on where Kairo is allowed to tinkle.  We may or may not have had a tinkle-on-deck situation... 

We did a pseudo-potluck for Thanksigiving where my mom handled the turkey and some veggie dishes, and the other families brought appetizers, veggies, homemade rolls, and desserts.  Everything was delicious!  I tag teamed appetizers with my sister in-law A$.  I made two recipes which were both very simple and very easy to make, so I thought I'd share them with you. 


Bacon Wrapped Dates

Recipe modified slightly from here.

 Ingredients

• 1 (8-10 ounce) package pitted dates
• 4 ounces almonds
• 1 pound sliced bacon, thick-cut or applewood smoked (I actually used the center-cut, maple flavored bacon.  Apologies, I'm drawing a blank on the brand.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slit dates. Place one almond inside each date. Wrap dates with a half to a third piece of bacon, using toothpicks to hold them together.
3. Bake for about 17+ minutes, or until bacon is evenly brown and crisp.

Baked Brie with Honey and Pecans

Recipe modified from here.

 Ingredients:

• Brie - I cut off the white stuff since it's bitter tasting
• Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
• Honey
• Pecans or walnuts, chopped
• Apples, slice - I prefer Gala

Directions

1. Preheat oven to temperature on package. 
2. Place half the crescent roll piece on the bottom of an oven-safe dish - sealing the perforated lines.  
3. Place brie on top.  
4. Sprinkle pecans over the top of the brie then pour honey over the pecans.  
5. Use the other pieces of the crescent rolls to wrap them to "seal" the brie inside.  
6. Bake according to the package directions - may need another few minutes to brown the crescent roll.  

Easy peasy.  And both were huge hits!

<3
K$