cooking

Unfortunate + here we go!

Thanksgiving is TOMORROW!

I am giving thanks that my dad is okay right now. Last night he was driving home from work and a tar truck spilled tar all over the PA Turnpike (40 miles worth of it) and my dad drove through it, unknowingly. The tar got stuck and wrapped around all of his tires until he couldn’t move his car at all. This happened to tons of other people driving to see their family or just traveling home from work. My dad’s tires are ruined and we’re not sure about the undercarriage of the car, but he is lucky because some cars ended up being totaled; it was crazy. My mom and I wanted to pick him up, but we couldn’t because we would have got stuck too. How unfortunate. He made it home late last night and I’m so glad! Here is a picture of one of his tires:

Tar all over the tire :/

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As I said in my last post, I am going to be cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my boy’s family. Today I baked for hours. I wanted to have most of the baking done so that the turkey can cook all day.

I baked an apple pie.

I baked a pumpkin pie.

I baked chocolate chip cookies.

Tuesday night I did a “practice round” of mashed potatoes.

They came out good 😉

Other things I did to prep in advance: set the table, cut up onions and celery for the stuffing, prepped the turkey (took out the giblets + seasoned and oiled it), and made a list of what time I will put things in the oven, etc. for tomorrow.

I feel pretty ready, I guess :p … we’ll see!

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If I don’t post tomorrow, I hope you have an amazing Thanksgiving with family, friends, and good food! <333333333

Giving thanks for hobbies

[This is the 3rd installment in my giving thanks series.]

I suppose that giving thanks for hobbies is kind of strange, but once  I thought about it, I realized that life would be pretty dull if we didn’t have any interests aside from work or school.

Have you ever had one of those days where nothing went right? What do you do after one of those days?

When I have a terrible day, I like to go home, pull out a favorite recipe, and cook or bake something that I love.Just punching some bread dough… you know… it relieves stress..

I find a kind of peace in chopping vegetables or measuring flour. I hardly think, I just do menial tasks that I enjoy. Soon enough, I find myself relaxed, calm, and able to look back on the day and just let it go.

[Other hobbies that are cathartic for me include scrap booking, reading, walking my dog, jumping on my trampoline like a crazy person, running slowly, reading my Bible, writing in my journal, and swimming.]

The “finished project” of a task like baking or cooking is so wonderful-food! I love to pull a cake out of the oven, frost it, and then eat it. Mmmm. The feeling after a run is so awesome and I love looking back on scrap books I have made or journals I have written in.

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I think everyone would be so much more stressed out if we didn’t have hobbies or special interests as an outlet for emotions.

* So today, I am thankful for hobbies-for all the joys they bring, and for the stress relief that comes with doing things we love. *

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Are you thankful for hobbies? What relieves stress for you?