Monday November 21

Good Morning!  Thanksgiving week has arrived.  It is a rainy, foggy day here in Maryland but the temperature is up to about 57 degrees.  I am off today to the grocery store to buy all my ingredients for Thanksgiving Day.  I have my turkey thawing out in the refrigerator already but wanted to wait to get fresh vegetables.  Tomorrow is pie making day.  I'm making a regular pumpkin pie, a chocolate pecan pie, and a BFC friendly pumpkin cheesecake.  I think that should keep everyone happy.  In the late morning of  "pie making day" I have to pick my son up from college and bring him home.  Wednesday I will clean the house and get everything ready for overnight guests.  Unfortunately my husband has still not finished the window install project.  He is down to sanding down the drywall mud (yeah, dust everywhere!!) and then painting.  Nothing like adding just a hint of stress to the holidays.

Over the weekend three of my sons and I went to a train expo at our local agricultural center.  I LOVE minature train sets and so do they!  The expo had a few train gardens set up but mainly they just had train enthusiasts buying and selling trains, parts and accessories.   I always set up a train under our Christmas tree complete with a little Christmas village.  Last year our train engine was having trouble so we were looking to find a replacement.  I am telling you that the people that are really collectors and train enthusiasts must have a lot of money, because the stuff was expensive!  We had fun going through all the rooms and looking at the vintage pieces, but we did not find a replacement.   My one son said that the train expo had the most old men he has every seen gathered together in one location!  I think I was one of the only females walking around in there.  It was still a fun day!

I wanted to tell everyone that I tried Jeri's recipes for the orange pound cake and for the spicy almond crackers, found here Orange Pound Cake Muffins and here Spicy Almond Crackers. Both of these recipes are really good!  I didn't have any orange extract or real oranges so I made my muffins with maple extract and a little more truvia than in her recipe. They were the best muffins yet in my opinion.  Tasted like the real deal!  The spice almond crackers were also delicious and make a very nice snack.  I broke mine up and put them in a little tupperware container and they lasted about a week.  I think I might make a batch as a BFC friendly snack for Thanksgiving, and maybe sprinkle some shelled pumpkin seeds on top.

I've gotten some really good ideas and recipes from these blogs!  It has been really helpful in keeping this diet interesting!  Hope everyone has a great week!