The Best Thanksgiving Recipes
Some new takes on traditional Thanksgiving fare including a few new vegan recipes, too!
Thanksgiving is coming, and I have been making notes and thinking about our menu this week (on my meal planning pages in The Nice List Christmas Workbook, of course!). A few friends got together and decided to do a recipe exchange, so I have a bunch of great recipes to share with you! Whether you are looking for some new Thanksgiving traditions or need to infuse some excitement into your favorite standbys, here are some wonderful and simple Thanksgiving recipes to make your holiday table particularly special.
Let’s start with dessert — because why not! My family is SERIOUS about pumpkin pie, and I’m probably risking my inheritance, but I’m sharing our incredibly delicious pumpkin pie recipe with you, my friends! Enjoy!
Desserts
The World’s Best Pumpkin Pie
Our family is serious about pie. This is our favorite.
3 Ingredient Pumpkin Fluff
A yummy pumpkin treat from Cait at Cait’s Cozy Corner.
Sweet Potato Pop Tarts
Nicole from Our Robin’s Nest has a new take on a classic.
The Turkey
I will tell you, I always do my turkey following Alton Brown’s brined turkey recipe. I have used it dozens of times, and it never fails. So for all things turkey, trust Alton.
Vegetables
DAIRY FREE GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
a vegan take on a Thanksgiving classic from Jenna of The Urben Life
Sides
Cranberry Fluff Salad with Pineapple
Jen Cowan of And Hattie Makes Three swears by this delicious treat
Sweet Potato Casserole
A vegan version for Team Marshmallow from Nicolle of Our Tiny Nest.
Here’s hoping your holiday is a safe and healthy one!
Make Your Holidays Merrier!
The all-new version of The Nice List is here!
The All-New Nice List is here!
Introducing The Nice List All Year and The Nice List Christmas Workbook!
THE NICE LIST: PAPER EDITIONS
The Nice List includes two separate notebooks:
The Nice List All Year: a gift-giving tracker to last for years to come
The Nice List Christmas Workbook: a planner for the entire Christmas season to keep you organized and help bring a little sanity to your holiday season
Both are available individually or together as a bundle and are designed to be used in a traveler’s notebook or independently.
FREE GIFT WITH PURCHASE:
The Nice List books are designed so that they can be used in a traveler’s notebook -- a simple way to keep them together. For a limited time we will include a FREE handmade, upcycled traveler’s notebook with each purchase of The Nice List Bundle (while supplies last).
THE NICE LIST CHRISTMAS WORKBOOK INCLUDES:
How to Use The Nice List
How to Use The Christmas Workbook
November Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
December Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
Weekly To Do Lists for November and December (undated)
What Sparks Joy for You? Setting priorities for the holiday season
Budgeting worksheets: to establish a budget for your Christmas season — and for each gift, too
Coupons & Codes: tracker for holiday sales and discount codes
Giving Lists: to help you prioritize where you spend your money and on whom
Thoughts on Thoughtful Giving: ideas for gift giving and reducing the stress of the holidays
Thank You Note Tracker
Holiday Card Tracker
Menu Planners
Baking Planners
Shopping Lists
Blank pages for notes and planning
With a little planning and some careful thought before a gift is ever purchased, The Nice List can help you keep Christmas from spinning out of control and help you find the perspective you need. The Nice List helps you set deadlines to avoid high shipping charges and has a tool for tracking all of those promo codes and sale codes that start to flood your email inbox, too.
The Nice List All Year gives you a place to track all of the gifts you give the loved ones in your life -- not just at Christmas time. It is designed to be used for multiple years and can be purchased separately if you have more than 15 people in your life to track.
THE NICE LIST ALL YEAR INCLUDES:
How to use The Nice List
How to use The Nice List All Year
Giving Records for 15 people covering multiple years
The Nice List All Year is also designed to be used by anyone -- not just people who celebrate Christmas. From Hanukkah to Lunar New Year, Kwanzaa to Eid, and birthdays, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and more -- record every gift you give and make notes for coming occasions, too.
Plus, when you use The Nice List All Year year after year, you develop a record of your gift-giving, so you never give the same gift twice!
A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS PLANNER
Not only is The Nice List a beautiful planner, but it also comes with online tools including an extensive giving guide with gift suggestions in every budget for every person on your list — parents, inlaws, kids, friends, teachers. We have suggestions for them all and exclusive discount codes as well.
I love the Christmas season so much I have written what my husband described as my “love letter to Christmas” — The Nice List!
Order your copy of The Nice List today, and give yourself the gift of a very organized and holiday season!
Chocolate Snowball Cookies
an easy and delicious Christmas cookie with just the right amount of chocolate
I love a good Christmas cookie exchange! TCHO Chocolate sent me some of their delicious chocolate yesterday, so here's my contribution to the #TCHOCookieExchange -- a virtual celebration of the taste of the season! Just don’t eat these powdered sugar confections while wearing black!
This is my own chocolatey version of a Snowball, but instead of a chocolate surprise in the center, the whole cookie is chocolately-delicious. We jokingly called them "Dirty Snowballs" today while we sampled them -- but the name might stick!
𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀
Makes 36 cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
1 3/4 c. flour
2 c. chopped pecans
1/4 c. TCHO unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. TCHO drinking chocolate crumbles
1/2 t. salt
Powdered sugar
1. Mix together all ingredients in a large bowl until it is well-mixed. Cover tightly and chill for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 325° F.
2. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
3. Remove dough from the refrigerator. Roll dough into uniform balls of about 1 tablespoon full each. I use a 1 T. measuring spoon to make the balls even. Place balls on prepared cookie sheets evenly spaced apart — about 2 inches.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Immediately transfer balls to cooling racks.
5. When cooled, fill a small bowl with powdered sugar. Roll each ball in the sugar to coat. You could mix in a few tablespoons full of cocoa powder for even more chocolate deliciousness!
Enjoy these with a little TCHO Drinking Chocolate — they are perfect dipped into the thick chocolate drink!
TCHO Drinking Chocolate
(much like a thick Mexican hot chocolate)
6 tablespoons boiling water
6 tablespoons TCHO Drinking Chocolate Crumbles
Boil the water in a small pan on the stove. When it is boiling, slowly add the TCHO Drinking Chocolate Crumbles while whisking swiftly with a small whisk or a handheld milk frother (my favorite). The boiling water melts the chocolate perfectly!
Serve in espresso cups.
The One Room Challenge Begins!
Exciting news! The Fall 2020 One Room Challenge has begun! Check out all of the details!
You can get all the details on the One Room Challenge and my projects here:
I hope you will stop by!
XOXO
A
Family Game Night
Recommendations for Family Game Night including all of our favorite games
Happy quarantine! I hope you all are well and are staying healthy.
I have lost track of the days and the weeks. I just know we have a few weeks of school left and then we will be entering a summer unlike any we have ever encountered. Yowza! But we will get through it together.
One of our new favorite parts of quarantine is Family Game Night — even on school nights! After dinner we all play a game, and I’ve collected a list of our favorite games together to share with you! I hope they give you some ideas for family fun together!
It’s almost time for gardening here in Colorado. In fact, this weekend I’m getting my annual dividend of compost from our compost service — fresh compost delivered! Hooray! I’m so ready to dig in the dirt — but I have some weeding to do before that comes. Phew! That’s my project for the next few days. And then I’m going to put in veggies and flowers in our raised beds. We also need to freshen up the Dinosaur Garden! I’m excited to get that cleaned up so Bambino can play there again.
I hope you are wearing a mask. Remember: my mask protects you; your mask protects me. If you need to make a mask, here are my recommendations. I finally got a few rolls of shop towels, and I’m happy to report that they make easy filters in these masks.
Be well! Stay safe! And stay home!
XOXO
Angela
Happy Valentine's Day!
A round-up of simple and inexpensive Valentine’s crafts, ideas, and decorations!
Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and I have gathered a few projects to help you celebrate this holiday of love! Enjoy!
I have simple, homemade Valentines to make:
I have ideas for simple Valentine’s decor…
And some easy Valentine’s Day projects using a Cricut, too:
I wish you all the happiest of Valentine’s Days! Love and joy to you!
The Thoughtful Giving Guide is Here!
The list of the most thoughtful and useful Christmsa gifts for everyone on your list is now available!
I have been searching all year for unique, useful, and thoughtful gifts, and they are now collected together into one place. The 2019 Thoughtful Giving Guide is here! Enjoy!
Budget-friendly gift suggestions for everyone on your list! Lists include:
My Favorite Gifts | Gifts Under $15 | Gifts for Mid Modern Lovers | Gifts for Children | Books to Give Gifts to Make | Wines to Give | Bubbles for the New Year
Valentine's Day Decoration Ideas
Vintage-inspired Valentine’s Day decor using milk glass and vintage Italian glass as well as flowers, paper garlands, and DIY mailboxes. Inspiration for simple but elegant Valentine’s Day decor including homemade elements.
Hello! I hope you are doing well — staying warm and cozy! We had lots of snow this week which made for some fun creation time. Our house is all decorated for Valentine’s Day which has been a fun project. I have three Valentine’s Day projects to share with you this week!
First up: our favorite homemade Valentines! Bambino painted these last year, and they were really fun to do — and basically free!
I also have instructions to make this crazy-cute and really easy Heart Garland and Love Bunting! I made this for our mantle, and I love how it turned out! I’ve included files to download in PNG and SVG formats.
And finally for those of you who have a Cricut or a Silhouette, I have free file downloads to make these awesome Valentine’s mailboxes! We love them, and they are the centerpiece of our dining room table this week. Check it out!
And if you just want to peep at our decorations, feel free to check out the photo album…
Wishing you all a great week and a happy Valentine’s Day!
XOXO
Angela