Lovin’ these cool, crisp, mountain mornings.  Ah, fall is in the air.  Once the kiddos are on the bus, I shall get cracking on another batch of apples. Crockpot applesauce today and then apple pie filling in a jar later today. Then school work, housecleaning, work, and whatever else needs to be done around here (never a lack of that!).  I don’t have any classes today at UNCA so that’s a nice little break.

Can you tell I’ve been hit with Spring Fever??????

Here are some fool proof instructions for planting potatoes. Hope this helps some of you.

Cut into pieces w/1-2 eyes each. All to dry and the cuts to callus over for a few days before planting. Sow pieces 18” apart and 3-4” deep with eyes up, in rows spaced 2 ½ feet apart. When plants are 5-6” tall, fill them up with soil to prevent exposure to light that will turn them green and inedible. Add a generous layer (10-12”) of straw or marsh hay to insulate the soil & keep the potatoes cool & moist. Keep them well watered, weed free & monitor for insect & disease problems.

For highest yields and best storage, potatoes should not be dug until two weeks after the vines are dead.

Our Tree of Thanks

The preparations for our Thanksgiving feast are well under way. Joe just went to his mother’s to pick up our extra long table. Last night the kids and I made our pumpkin pie. Today we’ve made the stuffing, a pumpkin cake, whole berry cranberry sauce, and toasted the nuts for the sauteed green beans. The kids have also cut out all the leaves for our Tree of Thanks which will be on display tomorrow. Everyone will write some things they are thankful for on the leaves and then hang them on the tree.

We’ve cleaned out the refrigerators (yes, we have two. With a family of seven, it’s pretty much a necessity!) to make sure there’s room for everything. The turkey is thawing. I’ve made what I hope is my last run to the grocery store. Things that need to be refrigerated are in the frig, just chillin’.

And we have such a beautiful to celebrate. The sky is blue and it’s in the low 60′s. Thank you, Universe!

What’s on yours?

Thanksgiving at the Kane’s

Turkey

Blackberry and Kahlua glazed ham

Sausage and pecan stuffing

Sweet potato casserole topped with mini-marshmallows (per Frankie’s request)

Sautéed fresh green beans

Jellied cranberry sauce

Homemade whole cranberry sauce

Caviar pie

Deviled eggs

Apple rings

Mandarin orange sections

Cresent rolls

Creamed onions

Gravy

Banana bread

Pumpkin ginger bread

Homemade pickles (dills and bread & butter)

Apple pie

Pumpkin pie

Berry cobbler

Pecan pie

Pumpkin cake

Oh, yeah, a big nap afterwards!

Thanksgiving 2008

Twas the night before the night before Thanksgiving at our house. We are cutting out foam board leaves to decorate our Thanksgiving branches with leaves filled with things we are thankful for. The kids are having a great time and are spending time thinking about those many things in their lives they have for which to give thanks. A special pondering and one we should all do on a daily basis, not just once a year. After dinner, we will make our pumpkin pie and a pumpkin cake (my husband’s favorite!). Tomorrow we will work on stuffing, homemade whole cranberry sauce and berry cobbler. We made our pumpkin and banana breads over the weekend. Our house shall be full on Thanksgiving day with our gang of seven, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, my mother, and our dear friends, Dawn and Thomas and their son, Jed. Looking forward to breaking bread with some very special people in our lives!

Each year, my daughter, Paige, and I make a Tree of Thanks for our table centerpiece.  It’s a craft idea I saw on familyfun.com years ago when Paige was a preschooler.  She’s now 14 and we still make one every Thanksgiving.  Here’s an image of what one looks like:

To make a Tree of Thanks, you will need:

- bare tree branch
- small flower pot
- art sand
- your choice of colored foam or construction paper
- permanent marker
- scissors
- ornament hangers or straightened paper clip

Fill your flower pot with sand and insert your bare tree branch into pot.  Cut colored leaves out of your colored foam or construction paper.  Push an ornament hanger or straightened paper clip through the stem of each leaf and hang on tree.  On Thanksgiving Day before we eat, we sit around the table and each write down something we’re thankful for on a few leaves and share those things with guests and family members before hanging our leaves back on the tree.

I love this tradition because it helps us all to slow down for a minute or two after the frantic cooking and before we eat and watch those football games or take those naps to take stock of what the season is all about.

I’ve made many pumpkin breads in the past, but tried this particular recipe last week from allrecipes.com and it is by far the best I’ve ever made.  It’s fast, easy, fills your house with a wonderful aroma and make two loaves which I guarantee you, won’t last long.

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2/3 cup water

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans. In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove. In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.