Holiday gift ideas

Edible gifts? 

Advantages: no wrestling crowds at the mall; can be done at any time, eg late at night after lab, when your mind is still racing and you can't fall asleep.

Cranberry Jam:

Cranberries, grated apples, fresh lemon juice, and sugar. I love my candy thermometer for this. The book Joy of Cooking also came in handy, especially when sealing the jars. Sealed, jams can be stored up to one year. I used my printer to create the labels, and used sheer red ribbon for the bow. This will go well with the scones mix (later post)

Pecan pralines make great stocking stuffers and thanks to my candy thermometer, no more guessing

Southern Thanksgiving

Don and Lindy came to visit from Alaska. Since they flew in on Thanksgiving Day, we decided to have a low key dinner at the house. On the menu:
Oysters Rockefeller *my first time shucking oysters!* broiled with chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, melted butter, and Parmesan cheese.
 Served with lemon, Tabasco, and butter on the side - they were gone very quickly




Chicken and Andouille gumbo - I apologize for the picture :(








Crawfish and sausage cornbread dressing









I forgot to take a picture of the bread pudding with whiskey sauce - it looked like the one I made last year.

 I tried to play with some of my ingredients for centerpieces. I liked the cranberries and lemon. I love the bamboo stem (from Ikea :))

We ate, drank, and had leftovers to take to work the next few days.