We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We upheld all our traditions and had a new guest at our table. It was the first Thanksgiving Dave’s mom had ever spent with us and it was a joy having her here!

Just a few of our many Thanksgiving day traditions: Dave and the kids hike Pinnacle Peak while I get the turkeys into the oven and onto the grill. I always make two turkeys, not that we ever feed more than six people, it is just what we do! My dad arrives to cut up the giblets for the gravy. I make two pans of gravy, one with giblets for my dad, Dave, and this year, for his mom too. And another pan without giblets (Yuck!) for me and the kids.

We play games outside in the warm Arizona sunshine.

Dad brings the Beaujolais Nouveau, our traditional Thanksgiving wine. Connor and Marissa help me serve, get everything onto the table, and clear the plates between courses. Then they cheerfully help clean up until the last dish is dried and put away. And I’m not being sarcastic when I say cheerfully, that they are the best!  To finish it all off it, at the end of the meal, my dad always says, “You done good.”

Yes, there is a lot to be thankful for and grateful for!

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The second installment of Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen.

On the second day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:
Cranberry Citrus Vodka
and a bottle of Tomato Dust

This crimson cranberry vodka is easy to make, just a little time-consuming because you must poke each cranberry to open it up so it will impart its goodness into the vodka. But it is time easily spent.  I used a wooden skewer and did the chore while I watched television. I was done in no time.

Make whatever quantity you want, but I can share with you that 3-pounds of fresh cranberries, 2 lemons, 2 limes, 3 tablespoons sugar, and a 1.75-liter bottle of vodka will make three 1-liter bottles of Cranberry Citrus Vodka.

You need to put this together at least 2 weeks before you plan to use it or give it away. When giving as a gift, it would be ever so thoughtful to include a Crantini recipe card with your gift. The recipe for the Crantini is at the end of the post.

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With Thanksgiving only a few days away, I was thinking that this might be a nontraditional but lovely way to serve a small turkey for a party of two or four. Mind you, I would not be able to bring myself to do it, I need my traditional roast turkey, but for a very savoir-faire sort of hostess.

Otherwise, it’s just a perfect winter heartwarming and hearty dish to serve at a dinner party or to your family on a special night.

When a recipe calls for a whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, the eight pieces consist of the 2 wings, 2 legs, 2 thighs, and the breast that is cut in half to make two pieces. The back is not used but is the perfect piece of chicken to use to make chicken broth.

To cut a chicken into pieces, you begin with either the wing or the leg and move it around until you locate the joint.

Cut through the skin and through the joint, which the knife slides through quite easily. If there is a lot of resistance, you’ve hit the bone, so move the knife to one side or the other until you located the joint. Easy, once you get the hang of it.

Finally, if it looks like I have a ton of chicken and a double amount of polenta in the photos below – it’s because I do. This was the main dish I taught at my first class in the three-week series at Les Gourmettes last Wednesday night. Obviously, the recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

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When one of my two brilliant children was young, he or she thought that when someone said, “Open Sesame” they were saying, “Open Says Me.”  I won’t reveal which one of them it was, but how cute is that?!

Open Sesame is the magical phrase in the story of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” and it opens the mouth of a cave in which forty thieves have hidden treasure.

This asparagus recipe is magical and your brain will be telling your mouth, “Open Says Me” when you make it!

This was one of the recipes this past Wednesday night at the first of my 3-week series of classes at Les Gourmettes. That’s why you’ll see a photo of several plates lined up. They were still awaiting the chicken and polenta… a recipe I’ll post in a day or so.  The asparagus and accompanying mayo were a big hit. And… it’s “easy breezy” to boot!

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Today is the first installment of my Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen.

For the next five weeks I’ll be posting gift ideas for you to make for your friends and family.

The First Day of Christmas Gift is a byproduct of any recipe calling for peeled tomatoes. It is made from tomato skins, which would otherwise be tossed away.

Tomato dust or powder is so simple to make that a recipe isn’t really needed. Plus it’s a fun little thing to have around the kitchen.

I first tried to grind the dried peels in a food processor, but that did not get them into the fine dust I wanted. A spice grinder was the perfect fit.

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The tomato tart recipe I am about to give you is probably different than the tomato tarts you are used to. Generally a tomato tart looks something like this.

It makes for a light refreshing summertime meal.

The tart recipe I’m about to give you is for the fall and winter. Hearty and immensely flavorful! It may seem like a bit of work, but the steps are leisurely and all steps can be done ahead and then assembled just before you’re ready to serve.

It makes two 8-inch square or 8-inch round tarts. Alternately, you may make individual tarts, as pictured below. The dough will make about 10  individual tarts and you may have a bit of filling left over. The oven temperature and baking times remain the same, no matter the size.

As an added bonus, tomorrow I’ll be giving you a “recipe” using the tomato peels. It will be my first installment of “The 12 Gifts of Christmas” – so do not throw out those peels!

Also, I will apologize in advance for the photos – I was having some camera issues and didn’t know it until I loaded the pictures onto the computer.

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When you read all the recipes on here, do you ever think to yourself, “I wonder if Linda ever makes something that tastes just horrible? Or if she tries a recipe that just doesn’t turn out?”

Um… Yeah! Of course, it happens!

Let’s say I create a dish and it just isn’t all that. Well, guess what? We eat it but it doesn’t show up here.

Or if I see something on the web, let’s say on Pinterest, and I think, “Oh that looks So Good! I’m going to give that a try and post it for my readers.”

The same thing, if it’s good, I share.  If it’s not, I don’t. Well, that’s about to change…

Let me share with you a little story about yesterday’s epic fail:

I’ve been planning on doing a series of recipes called “The 12 Gifts of Christmas” – you know, food gifts from your kitchen. There was this particular recipe I saw on Pinterest and it appeared to be the perfect fit.

Here is the LINK to make Maple Cream, also known as Maple Butter. Go check it out and then come back here.

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It’s rather late in the day for me to be posting, but it’s not too late to remind you as if you need it if you’re hosting, that Thanksgiving is next week!

I know! Wasn’t it just last week Halloween?!?  It’s early this year, so don’t let it sneak up on you.

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After working for two solid days on the “Treasure Party” – aka our neighborhood yard sale, I am beat! Dead tired! I didn’t get out of my PJ’s all day on Sunday. In fact, as I type this post, it is 7:30 on Sunday night and I am back in bed.

I went to sleep at 8:30 on Saturday night (the sale day) and didn’t wake up until 8:30 on Sunday morning. Twelve hours was still not enough sleep and I had to take a nap on Sunday afternoon. I never nap. Naps are for wimps. So, yes, I admit, much to my dismay, I am now officially a wimp.

We set up all the treasures on more than 3 dozen large (8-ft, 6 ft, and 60-inch round) heavy folding tables. We initially had to squeeze all those tables under the back patio and in the garages (because of rain) and then I got up before the crack of dawn and we moved them all into the yard and spread them out on the open patio for the sale.

Then there was the 4-hour sale itself. At times there were lines of people at the checkout and other times it was just the neighbors hanging out and chatting it up.

Next, it was time to clean it all up and break down the more than 3 dozen tables. Then Connor and I hoisted all the tables that were left at our house into the back of a truck and hauled them around the neighborhood to return them to their rightful owners. Finally, I put my yard back together – moving all the furniture that had been pushed to one end of the patio, to make room for everything else, back to their correct spots. By the late afternoon, I was feeling like a wrung-out dirty dishrag.

That is a lot of physical labor and a lot of hard work!

Aside from all that, the sale was really fun and we did pretty darn well. The remaining items are shoved and smashed into the third stall of our garage awaiting the Salvation Army pick up later this week.

After eating take-out for the three or four days leading up to the sale, I thought I’d better at least make an attempt at dinner for my guys on Sunday night. Thankfully, Connor agreed to go to the grocery store and pick up the two ingredients I needed to make this crock-pot dish, the epitome of an “easy breezy” meal.

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These bacon and olive-based appetizers aren’t the prettiest plate on the table but with their hint of curry, they are sure to be the most popular!

Many thanks to Barbara Fenzl, who demonstrated this recipe in her classes last month at Les Gourmettes. She agreed to let me share them with you.

Bonus  –  They are so Easy-Breezy!

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