Sitting Back

The last time I took a picture of food with a by-stander (other than my husband or forgiving friends) around, I got laughed at... and so misunderstood! As such, you get no pictures of our tasty eats from this past Thanksgiving spent with Chris' family down in Wilmington, NC.

The menu, however, I can describe in fond detail:

• homemade cranberry sauce - tart and gingery!
• pecan-cornbread stuffing - turns out I like all kinds of stuffing... delicious!
• sweet potatoes - slightly sweet and caramelized
• homemade gravy
• perfectly mashed potatoes
• green bean casserole - oldie but goodie
• traditional turkey - if it ain't broke, don't fix it

Let it be known, however, that I had not one hand in the preparation of any of these dishes which took me way out of my comfort zone; usually when there's food being prepared, I'm in the middle of it. But this time, we were told our only job was to eat... so we did just that.

While we did thoroughly enjoy the complete relaxation that being with family afforded us, we also took advantage of being in cute Wilmington and the great weather on the water! One morning, Annabelle and I took a walk out along the Intracoastal Waterway, just steps from the house and I stopped to admire the absolute peace and calm and breath-taking scenery.

On our way back home, I was trying to be artsy... and here's the outcome.

Friday night, we all headed to Airlie Gardens for the first night of their Christmas celebration, Enchanted Airlie. It was beautiful and a perfect start to the Christmas season. The most incredible part about the gardens is without a doubt the majestic Arlie Oak; my picture is laughable but this towering tree dates back to 1545 and is a truly a sight to behold.

The bottle trees were so festive - it's hard to tell exactly what's going on in this picture but one group of trees in the gardens was decorated with various colored lights gathered in all different glass bottles creating a really cool effect.

I could have spent hours looking at the model train "world" that they created; I particularly liked watching the miniature ski-lifts going up and down the mountain. *yes, it's the little things!

I will admit that I started to get used to merely being an assistant in the kitchen; guess it's good to have a little time off every so often.

Have no fear, though, I've already been baking away for Christmas and should have my submission for Susan's 2nd annual Eat Christmas Cookies ready shortly. I've also been spending a bit of time thinking of a memorable and delicious brunch menu for a festive Christmas Eve brunch that I'm hosting for my family - and I figure there's no better place than here to beg for suggestions!

The only thing left before Christmas really kicks into gear is Army-Navy... and not a moment too soon! We're off to Philly this weekend to hopefully see Navy continue its recent domination of the great rivalry.