Garden, Fall Edition!

It’s here! It’s here! The new garden from Harvest to Home is here! 
David and his assistant Ralph delivered the new container garden last weekend and I am SO excited! 


The great guys at harvest to home were kind enough to offer me a complimentary fall garden to replace the cucumbers from the summer season. Turns out no one expected those plants to turn in to Godzilla cucumbers and they sucked out all of the nutrients in the soil which is why they didn’t produce the way they were supposed to. It was really great of David to give me a complimentary garden and I hope to do him proud this go round.

First off, they provided me with some stuff to keep the caterpillars and other pests away. David was leaving nothing to chance and he WROTE ON THE BOTTLE the water to mixture ratios. He was taking no chances on a repeat of THIS.

The garden I chose was a cauliflower and broccoli mix. I am super excited to mix up some of my famous broccoli salad and to cook up some cauliflower with cumin cream sauce. Yummolicious!

Here’s some pictures of the plants.

Hi little guys, welcome to your new home. Good luck to you!

Turkey Day!!

Is everybody in the holiday spirit? I am! After spending a relaxing weekend up north with just Mike and I and the pets, I can hardly wait to get started on my Christmas shopping!

Thanksgiving this year Mike and I decided to try something different. We went up north, just the two of us and, of course, 3 dogs, 1 cat and a 2 car loads of food.

We kicked off the feast by by making a champagne turkey, well, sort of. We did a little bit of a hybrid of that recipe. We tried a dry brine along with some fresh herbs and the champagne turkey recipe. It was without a doubt the best turkey I have ever had! Sorry, mom. :-)

Here He is, ready for the final touches

Glug Glug Glug, Mike is getting our turkey drunk

There were six new recipes in the rotation this year so it was not your traditional Thanksgiving day feast. The first new recipe was a twist on sweet potatoes. We had chipotle sweet potatoes. I must admit, I am not a sweet potato fan but these were really good. I think I may be a convert. 



We also had a brussel sprout, asparagus salad. It had pomegranate seeds and bacon and almonds in it. It was really pretty. Definitely going to make it for Christmas Dinner. Plus, there's nothing like adding a little bacon to lower the nutritional value of your greens.

We also had two new types of pie, buttermilk pie and chocolate mousse. Delish. Both of the recipes were courtesy of my dear friend Suzanne who also provided us with a great turkey tetrazini recipe which I am excited to make with the leftovers.

I confess, we were a little ambitious with the turkey buying. I got a 14 pounder for just the two of us. I know, lots of left overs. Turkey sandwiches for everyone! I did make some turkey and sour cream enchiladas and we will be mixing up turkey tetrazini for dinner tonight.

And, because I am all about over sharing, I thought I would also post before and after pictures of our kitchen.

Yes, he did help clean up. I know, Husband of the year!

But I digest ha ha, I mean, I digress. This Thanksgiving wasn’t just about the food for us. Mike and I were so happy to be able to get away and spend some time just hanging out together. In our hectic lives we don’t get to do that as often. I did miss being with my family and it was a tough decision to be away from them but I am glad we did it this way this year. 


This was a great kick off for the holidays and now I am energized and ready for the season to begin!


Oh!! Check out cheapthrillsinaz.com Beth and I are posting about some great inexpensive gifts and holiday celebration ideas. I am excited to get some posts up there. I have found lots of cool ideas!