Gratitude Not Attitude

I decided that I wanted to continue the Thanksgiving Day theme for my dinner with my guinea piggers.  We didn't have more turkey - I think everyone is pretty much turkeyed out after Thanksgiving but I did want to continue the thankfulness idea.  Hence the name of the dinner - Gratitude Not Attitude.  Well let's face it, us girls can have a LOT of attitude at times!!

Anyway on with the dinner.  First was the table setting.  These are branches I picked up from the back yard - always good if you can decorate from free!!

I know, it looks a bit bare and rustic but go with me on this - wait till the end! You'll see my vision!!

The meal was centered around sour cream.  I know - you're asking yourself what does sour cream have to do with Thanksgiving?  It doesn't - they just had a really good sale at Shaw's and I had coupons!! Had to use the sour cream up!!

So dinner we had Beef Stroganoff and Vegetables with Sour Cream Sauce.

This was not just my serving!!

Hard to see the veggies but they were broccoli, cauliflower & carrots

For dessert I made chocolate cake with sour cream and no it was not from a box!! It was covered with chocolate fudge frosting (also not from a can!) and I topped it with a squirt or two of whipped cream (yes from a can). 

Very rich tasting!!!

Before we started eating I told the girls about the theme and that I needed them to express their thankfulness for their fellow guinea piggers.  We each took leaves from the table and wrote one of the guinea piggers name on the front and what we were thankful for about them on the back.  Then we took raffia and hung them on the tree!! Now see our centerpiece.

Thankfulness!!

 

Although there were only 4 of us at the dinner (Danielle, Sharon, Colleen and me) we did manage to fill the "tree" with lots of gratitude!! P.S. Keep your eyes open and you will see how thankful we were!!

So I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and I hope that you are able to continue the attitude of gratitude all year long!

Candied Jalapenos!!!

Sorry about the delay in posting anything - I was away on vaca in AZ!!!  Arizona is so beautiful this time of year especially since at home on the east coast they had snow while I was enjoying 80 and 90 degree weather!!  Every time I go to AZ now I always bring home fresh tortillas - we pick them up while they are still warm from the store.  They are fantastic and make for a great meal each time.  This time I not only brought home fresh tortillas but also jalapenos - 3 lbs. that is!!!  I had read on The Pioneer Woman's blog about Candied Jalapenos (Cowboy Candy) and knew I had to try it. You start with 3 lbs. of fresh jalapenos.  I should have taken a pic of the peppers before I sliced them.  They were bright green, firm and large - nothing like what we get around here!  I sliced them all and put them in a bowl to begin the canning.

Yup - seeds and all!!

Next you cook them with sugar, vinegar, turmeric, garlic, celery seed and cayenne pepper.  Only 4 minutes!!!

The smell was incredible

Next they go into the lovely little canning jars.  I must admit that I did sneak a lick off the spoon when it was all said and done.  The syrup is sweet and hot - very weird but deliciousness!!!

 After they are in the jars you boil the syrup a little longer then pour the syrup in the jars and process the jars in boiling water for about 10 minutes.  I ended up with 14 jars of peppers and 1 jar of syrup.  The syrup I'll use on some mexican chicken or maybe add to a mexican tortilla soup!!!

A pyramid of sweet and hot!!

I think next time I will probably cram a few more peppers into each jar but all in all there are plenty of peppers in each jar.  Some of you can look forward to getting these little babies in your Christmas baskets this year!! Here's the recipe just in case you would like to give them a shot yourself.  http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/canning/candied-jalapenos-cowboy-candy/