Something happens to me when life gets busy and I get exhausted- I neglect my blog. I’ve been trying to blog about about being thankful and Thanksgiving and all that jazz for days now. I guess it’s a good sign that I was too busy actually thanking and eating (and SHOPPING!) to update you all.
It was a spectacular holiday for us. We had a low-key, small family affair here at home, made even more awesome by the attempted surprise visit from my sister. She and Scott weren’t able to pull the surprise off in the end, and I’m freaking grateful for that.
Because you know how when you get really pregnant and really tired and really lazy you just don’t give a shit what condition your house is in? You know how your bathroom could smell like a truck stop and your couch could be covered in dog drool and toddler snot and you just don’t care? You know how none of that matters to you because it’s just you and your husband and your kid who are going to see and live in it so what’s the big deal? Yeah. So the house was just. like. that. when my husband told me at 6:30 on Tuesday night that my sister would be in town in a few hours.
He watched my face for, what I would guess, was the look of joy and excitement he was expecting. Instead, I broke out into full pregnant lunacy mode and chided him for not telling me earlier so I could clean the house. “What? It’s clean. I cleaned it!” he claimed.
Let me just be clear that my husband “cleaned” by putting random assortments of items in various piles, stacked in places that don’t even make sense. Β So the guy threw some toys in some toy bins and stacked the junk mail, some magazines, and receipts, topped with a baseball hat on the bar. That does not a clean house make.
So then I had to morph into Psychotic Wife Of Doom again and clean for 2 hours, all while yelling at him to CLEAN FASTER! And at one point he was super seriously close to agreeing with me that we should stop after 2 kids. The pregnancy psychosis, it is strong with me. (When I think about what I am most thankful for in life, my incredibly understanding and forgiving husband is always at the top of my list.)
Anyway, we got the house clean, my sister arrived, my marriage survived another day, and a fantastic Thanksgiving was had by all.
We made a fantastic spread, including a brined turkey made with Martha’s cheesecloth soaked in butter and wine method, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin cheesecake, cranberry sauce, gravy and these…
Ever heard of green bean bundles? We hadn’t either until my dad met his ex-girlfriend. This was *her* recipe. And while she didn’t last (and has now been replaced with a totally awesome new wife), the bundles have remained, renewing my belief that everything happens for a reason, even dad’s ex-girlfriends.
I tweeted about them and so many people replied asking what they were that I thought I’d take a minute to show you how to make perfectly healthy veggies completely unhealthy and AWESOME with bacon and brown sugar.
So you need a bag of frozen WHOLE green beans, a package of bacon and some brown sugar. That’s it.
I cut the bacon in half. Then lay it on the cookie sheet and place 5 or so green beans in the middle. Like so…
Wrap the bacon around the beans, place seam side down, then top with brown sugar. Go ahead, be generous.
Then bake at 350 for 45ish minutes, depending on how done you like your bacon. We like our bacon pretty well done around here. Mmmm… wish I could dig into these with the rest of my leftovers, but they are the first to go every year.
The dinner was delicious, Kendall was adorable, Scott took 3rd in his age group at the local Turkey Trot while pushing a 38 lb toddler in a stroller, and I took full advantage of my sister by making her help me cook and craft this beauty…
It’s a DIY felt holiday wreath, made for less than $15! Love, love, love the way it looks on our front door. Tutorial coming this week, so stay tuned.
OH! And I almost forgot to mention we survived Black Friday shopping at 4 am with a 2 year old. Despite my husband getting pushed out of the way, and out of place in the line he waited in from 1 am by a mob of asshats at Target, missing out on the TV that should have been his, it was actually pretty fun. We snagged many a great deal and Kendall was arguably more pleasant to shop with at 4 in the morning than any other time I’ve taken him. It must have been all the holiday excitement… and the snacks… and the bribes.
And you?? How was it? Family drama? Turkeys on fire? Black Friday brawls? Spill it. Make me feel more normal.
Kendall is 2.5 and I’m 36.5 weeks pregnant. I wish I could say that gave me an advantage on Black Friday, but I don’t think people even noticed.
27 comments
First, you and your sister look so much alike it’s incredible. And you both look awesome.
Second, I think you owe me a new computer because I might’ve just ruined mine by drooling all over the keyboard and screen over those green bean bundles. Those are being made in my house next week.
Thanks! You. will. love. them.
oh dear god… I must go buy bacon and green beans immediatly. theyre like little bundles of heaven…
and LOVE the wreath! Cant wait for the tutorial π
Thanksgiving was actually pretty great this year. 2 perfect turkeys, half the family at our house, lots of laughter. π
I had my first Thanksgiving with me family in 12 years. It was pretty awesome. Especially since I got to see some family members for the first time in 12 years!
I could have done without the family friend trying to convince me that I need to come see her son.. who just got out of jail, and has a raging psycho alcoholic wife. It was creepy, and I’m pretty sure she was hoping he’d see me, and dump the wife. SO.CREEPY.AND.WEIRD.
And then there was the fact that I pretty much drank half a bottle of vodka by myself. (And amazingly did not get drunk.)
My parents do something similiar with aspargus (sp). Those look really good.
I did the midnight at walmart thing. I only needed one thing and I got there plenty early so I was able to get one. Then my friend was nice enough to get me a box of super cheap duplos.
I heard that our target was so packed, that you couldn’t even get in the parking lot. The line wrapped around the side of the building and along the parking lot. I sure hope they didn’t all think they were getting a tv. π We also headed to Michaels the night of Thanksgiving. We saw people at Best Buy at 5pm! Pure crazy if you ask me.
You and your sister look gorgeous! And thanks to you, I want to make green bean bundles right now but I’m on a vegan challenge and weirdly enough, bacon isn’t vegan. Crazy! But in two weeks, green bean bundles will be mine!
Dude – do NOT get me started on the husbands who stack piles of various shit in places that don’t make sense and then say “Look! I cleaned!” Actually, that shit stresses me out more than if he’d laid on his ass the whole day.
Last weekend we were having some friends over for dinner and then heading out for karaoke. We haven’t had people over in YEARS so I wanted things to be perfect, and these are usually the days where everyone can tell that my marriage is on the brink of failure by the time they arrive because I’m Wife of Doom and HH has spent the whole day being an asswipe. But that day we were headed to the grocery store and I looked him straight in the face and said “Okay, if you really want to get along tonight, and NOT end up wanting to kill each other, here is the secret: I need you to NOT move like molasses, do NOT stress me out, HELP me clean the house, and DON’T ask me where the fucking vacuum cleaner goes.”
We got home, he busted his ass cleaning like I have NEVER EVER seen, and we got along beautifully the entire evening. The next day he even got TWO rolls in the hay (that’s usually a bimonthly occurrence around these parts.) Later we were remarking how great of a weekend it was and I explained “See… all you had to do was help me out, and I put out.” It really is that easy to make me happy. Why don’t husbands understand that?
Aaaaanyway… you know how the rest of my Thanksgiving was. π I’m glad yours was delightful as well.
Well, if you want to know how to take unhealthy food and make it heart-attack inducing, artery-clogging good, then do what our family does: instead of those greeen beans you use, we wrap tiny sausages in BACON and coat in brown sugar. OMG. We call them “little bites of heaven” (because they are). I take them to every party I go to and they are GONE. So unhealty its almost embarrassing (come on, pork wrapped in more pork rolled in SUGAR?)but SO.DELICIOUS. Gotta love the South–we know how to take something completely normal and wrap it up in bacon, butter, or sugar, and make it a nutritionists worst nightmare. But at least its tasty! π
So how hard was that wreath? Because it looks hard and I really want to do that because I need one.
I remember that Thanksgiving pic of you and your sister when you were comparing bumps – yours from Kendall, hers from the turkey.
You two are gorgeous and do look alike and should take more fun pics, like wearing the same clothes and stuff, like a before and after pregnancy pose. π
Love the wreath, too.
I seriously thought that sister shot was one of you last Thanksgiving on the left, this thanksgiving on the right– to illustrate the “before” and “bump” comparison.
My 27 month old hurled various items across the dinner table repeatedly, trying to take out my stepmom’s crystal, until I took him downstairs and cried. I couldn’t handle the parenting corrections (“It’s because you make him stick to a routine.” What?) and also being 36.5 weeks pregnant and having a monster of a child for my first Thanksgiving at home in 5 years. Also, said monster took his first sip of wine, right in front of his father, who didn’t notice him going for the glass because he was talking to my brother. Sigh.
But yours sounded awesome!
I couldn’t figure out how to take my girl shopping, so my hubby went out early, came home with nothing. Then we went out and got some stuff later. Then yesterday he came home with a TV. He was SUPPOSED to be shopping for me. I have 2 tiny packages wrapped for me. Dammit. Argh. Anyway, we traveled for Thanksgiving and held (newfound treat) fruit snacks as bait for the ride up and the ride home. She whined the whole way, both ways. We both yelled at her repeatedly. So awesome, right? Gotta love 2 year olds!
First off, let’s get this out of the way here, you look marvelous! I’ve copied that green bean recipe for my husband & that wreath? I want to make one!!
Our holiday was very low key, I worked day shift so that another employee could have time with their family. Hubby cooked us a great meal:)
You look beautiful! And with green beans wrapped in bacon? My husband might actually eat them. Awesome.
You and you’re sisters are like twins! And those green bean bundles look delish!
[…] after! Β Then I also made green bean stacks found here. I also made a fabulous panna cotta for dessert, but have no pics of that. So we just relaxed all […]
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