LET THE PREPARATION BEGIN....

And it begins...Thanksgiving preparations closely followed by Christmas decorations, altho I have heard quite a few people who are doing the Christmas decor first. I was even thinking about beginning with the Christmas decorating this weekend...IF I can convince someone to bring it all down from the attic! Do I really want to go thru that? Am I really ready to hear grumbling about getting it all down, THEN the choice words because most of the lights won't light up? Heck yeah...afterall, that is what its all about right? Us women see it as ohhh and ahhhh look how pretty this will look....not our men, they see it as I am about to cut every damned light out of this tree and string new ones! Oh Joy ! 

I am totally looking forward to having an entire week off. I know it will just fly by but that's okay...I am still looking forward to it. The early part of the week will be spent preparing for Thanksgiving dinner here at our house with my little family. I am really looking forward to that...all the fixin's! Turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potatoes, deviled eggs, green bean casserole, corn casserole, rolls and dessert! OH and let us not forget the wonderful gelled cranberry sauce (that only I eat). It will be a feast at the Hernandez house. Then the end of the week, we are trying to get away from it all for a couple of days...SO hoping that works out for us.

As most of you know or read today...Hostess Bakery is going bankrupt and shutting down ...no more Twinkies, DingDongs, HoHo's, Snoballs and O M G Donettes!!!!! Say it isn't so!!!What is this world coming to? I swear if Lil Debbie's ever shuts down, there will be mass rioting and it will not be nice (and that is just in MY family!) In all seriousness tho, it saddens me to see businesses shutting down after being around for so many years! This company will lay off 18,500 workers! That's just awful. I guess its a sign of things to come...God bless us all!

I will have a special overnight guest...bet you can't guess who it is! He has us wrapped around his little finger and has our hearts so full of joy! Cannot wait for him to get here!

Have a blessed weekend. I will leave you with a delicious recipe that you can make for Thanksgiving...everyone will love it...I promise!

CORN CASSEROLE

Ingredients

• 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn
• 1 (8-ounce) package corn muffin mix (recommended: Jiffy)
• 1 cup sour cream 
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, stir together the 2 cans of corn, corn muffin mix, sour cream, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven and top with cheddar cheese. Return to oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Let stand for at least 5 minutes and then serve warm.

November and Satsumas

November..how the heck did that happen? Seems like only last week it was January! I actually love November and Thanksgiving..it is such a humble month...the prelude to the excitement of Christmas and all it's glory. Sometimes I feel as though Thanksgiving gets pushed to the side. As I thought about that, I realized that I feel a lot like Thanksgiving...sometimes pushed to the side, forgotten, doesn't matter one way or the other. I know that's sad huh? Well I am happy to say that after last night I will not allow anyone to make me feel that way anymore...I will not allow myself to feel that way anymore. It wasn't a huge revelation, just a subtle reminder from a couple of special people in my life....you know who you are...thank you! So no more pity party, no more "hey what about me", no more "I feel so left out". The people in my life who truly loves me, knows my heart and that is what really matters. Will I stumble and falter again? Oh I am sure I will...but I will get right back up and move forward once again.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falls; for he has not another to help him up. Ecclesiastes 4:10

Don't forget to set your clocks back 1 hour when you go to bed tonight....

Since satsumas are abundant this time of year, here is a recipe for Satsuma Marmalade. Don't let it scare you..it seems rather simple. This recipe was adapted from here.

SATSUMA MARMALADE

Ingredients:

12 Satsumas

2 Lemons

7 cups Cold Water

Caster Sugar (see method for amount)

Method:

Wash and peel the satsumas. Slice the peel into thin matchsticks and the flesh into chunks.

Do the same with the lemons.Remove any large pieces of pith.

Place all the fruit and peels in a large saucepan.

Add the water. Bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and leave to cool for 8 hours or overnight.

When the mixture is cool and you're ready to move on, put a plate in the freezer.

"Why?" I hear you cry! Just do it. Martha says so.

Bring the mixture back to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes until the thickest piece of peel is tender.

Measure the mixture. Return it to the pan and for every cup of mixture add 3/4 cup of sugar. This is because all satsumas are different sizes, so a set amount of sugar cannot be given.

Bring the mixture to the boil and stir frequently for about 20 minutes. The marmalade is ready when you can drop the mixture onto the frozen plate and have it form a slight film when pushed with a finger (according to Martha). You can begin to tell when its done, it gets thicker and stickier and doesn't spread out straight away when put on the plate. Use your common sense here.

You're done! Refrigerate over night before serving.

Be proud, you made marmalade!