Spicy Hot Chocolate

We put up our Christmas tree this Sunday. Sean is always worried that if we get the tree too early, it will be dead by Christmas, so we did some research on how to keep your tree alive. There are lots of strange suggestions online, ranging from hot water, to bleach, to aspirin. We're testing out the hot water theory.

I made some hot chocolate to keep us company while we decorated the tree, attempting to make spicy hot chocolate for the first time. Considering I didn't have cayenne pepper, I think it turned out pretty yum! We used up an old hot chocolate mix we had lying around, but I can't find it on their website anymore, so now I need to find an affordable/delicious hot chocolate mix to replace it. Any suggestions?

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving 2010! Everyone loves stuffing their faces with turkey, mashed potatoes, pie, and whatever else is around the table. We went up to the boogie-down Bronx to my grandmother's place to celebrate, as we always do. I have recently taken over turkey duty, and this was my 2nd year doing it. I'll have to come up with more inventive ways to cook this bird over the coming years. Ours was a standard herbed butter under the skin with veggies in the bird and in the pan. Gravy was made with the pan drippings and portabello mushrooms. It was pretty tasty if I can say so myself.



Anna did her usual baking for dessert - a pumpkin pie and an apple pie. The apple pie was really tall and had homemade crust and everything. We tried to figure out how to make it stay together when it is cut, but after we heated it up in the oven it wouldn't behave. But I'd rather have a warm pie than a cold pie. My mom made a cherry cheesecake, which is my favorite from growing up. We all had one of each kind of pie and then felt like we were going to burst.

Christmas dinner is the next big dinner, and we're also doing the main dish and dessert. Have to get to browsing cookbooks for something new!