Chorizo and eggs with peppers for breakfast...yum!

cranberry pear chutney

Mostly shopping and prepping for the upcoming week. We'll pick up the free range heritage turkey tomorrow (I sound like a commercial!) and get all the other bits and bobs to be ready for the big cook that begins on Wednesday. We're also doing all of our Christmas cookies over the Thanksgiving weekend, so we have to stock up on ingredients. This is a tradition of ours from a long way back--Thanksgiving is a long weekend of cooking and eating and eating and cooking--my favorite holiday!

We're having some friends over tomorrow for dinner. Menu will be homemade pizza (pesto/tomatoes/shrooms, tomato sauce/pepperoni/salami/onions, and swiss chard/artichokes/parmesan), green salad, broccoli slaw, and a fall fruit crumble. If we aren't buried in leftovers on Sunday, I might make some Thai beef curry.

My Thanksgiving prep was calling to make reservations. ;)

This weekend I've started off by trying to make individual portions of lasagna to freeze for some quick meals over these next few busy weeks. Of course, for me, an "individual portion" is usually pretty hardy. What I learned is, if you watch what you put in it (and maybe omit meat) lasagna isn't as unhealthy as I once believed. Victory!

French onion soup and kale chips for dinner tonight. Have to start making pie dough and do my pre-Thanksgiving shopping!

Thanks for the useful thanksgiving tips. I'm baking pumpkin pancakes for breakfast all weekend long (http://www.topholidayrecipes.com/easy-pancakes.html). My kids love them! I'm going over to my sister in law's house this thanksgiving so I won't be baking too much. However, I will bring over a dessert. I'm thinking either cranberry pie or pumpkin cheesecake!

Still in the process of cleaning out the fridge and freezer so last night was denver omelettes, roasted broccoli and roasted taters. Tonight we are headed to a crab feed but insofar as cooking is concerned, I'll be making some turkey stock tomorrow, cubing up my buternut squash, drying out my bread for stuffing and then making my cooked cranberry sauce over the next couple of days. Actual meals eaten in our house the next few days will be of two varieties: easy and pulled from my freezer.

Making some chicken stock, assembling and freezing apple strudel for next Sunday's family Thanksgiving lunch for 10, and baking pecan pie tartlets to take to our cycle club on Thursday night :)

Today: I'm thinking spinach and mushroom omelets for lunch, probably polenta with mushrooms and broccoli with garlic bread for dinner; for me but not my beet-hating spouse, I might add a side of roasted beets with candied pecans (both of which are all made and ready; I like to cook ahead for easy meals around Thanksgiving). I'll also blanch and freeze some farmer's market kale and make up a batch of pie dough.

Sunday: pie time! I'm making a double batch of pumpkin pie, one for the family get-together Monday, two minis to freeze-then-bake for our Second Annual Pajama Thanksgiving at home, and one mini to take to my mother, who is not hosting the holiday meal (so she won't have leftovers) but who lovvvvvves pumpkin pie the next day. I'm also making a mini-blueberry pie just for me. I'm also making a pumpkin gingerbread, which is dairy-free for my lactose-intolerant SIL.

Canadian Thanksgiving was ages ago!

Although I will be packing a wintry hot-picnic for the Toronto Santa Claus Parade; hot chocolate from an untested Pierre Herme recipe, and very tested gingerbread cookies - squirrel shaped!