Taste of home

                If Thanksgiving break is intended for relaxation and time with family, mine definitely fulfilled expectations. I spent Thursday cooking with my mom and putting up Christmas decorations. Usually, my family puts off decorations until the last minute, but this year my dad and I had the lights up Friday, and my mom and I had the tree up by Saturday. I’m happy we’ll have the whole month to enjoy them, but was a little sad to leave my newly decked home for my apartment back at school. So, I added some cheer by putting up a few small trees, and Mackenzie helped me hang some lights.

               It's been a while since I've had the time to be creative, so I caught a bit of the craft bug this weekend. With a total investment of $5 at Target, I got enough supplies (along with odds and ends I had at home) to make fun, handmade cards. I was feeling as though it were a bit early to start on these, but I know the next few weeks will whiz by, so I enjoyed the crafty time while I had it. I still believe that something with heart and thought is always better than something bought.

                 My craftiness was not restricted to the Christmas cards. My mom was trying to figure out what to use as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner, and I remembered making this at history camp as a kid. Simply poke cloves into an orange for a air freshening decoration or ornament. I only had enough cloves for one, and did a pattern around instead of covering the whole thing.

                Now that things are cozy and festive, I’m mustering up the rest of my determination to power through these last two weeks. I keep reminding myself how rewarding it will feel when finals week is over. The taste of downtime and comforts of home are giving me the motivation I need to finish things strong.

My mom and I went through with the Turkey Trot 5K for the second year in a row

I'm no marathoner like my mom, but we pushed each other through

We had fun, and even beat our time from last year. I finished around 28 minutes.



          My mom made a beautiful turkey, and among helping with other things, I whipped up this easy cornbread. It came out delicious.  

Here's the recipe from Sparkpeople.com

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup yellow cornmeal 1/4 cup sugar 4 tsp. baking powder 3/4 tsp. salt 2 beaten eggs (or egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs.) 1 cup 2% milk 1/4 cup cooking oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combine eggs, milk, and cooking oil; add to flour mixture all at once. Beat just till smooth (do not over beat).

3. Spray pie plate with cooking spray and spoon in mixture. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or till done.

Makes 8 servings.

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user JENNTX77.

               Lastly, there were two birthdays this week. Happy birthday Mom and Monti!

Stay festive!
Love,

Annie