Favorite Time of Year...

...Aside from the absolute pouring rain and 46 degree weather outside, I LOVE the holiday season. Starting from, oh, say Hub's birthday which is in mid-September, I have Halloween decor up. Come Halloween, get those decorations down and it is ALL about Thanksgiving just a few short weeks away which I had the pleasure of hosting my first Turkey-day last year and felt it went pretty well so I volunteered again this year! Day after Thanksgiving, we are up at 5{ish} to head to the stores and see what deals Black Friday has in store for us! Last year we scored on what was supposed to be the TV for our bedroom but it ended up staying in the family room so this year we may be in search of a TV for the family room to get this TV into it's rightful home. Ok, I've digressed. Coming home from a shopping trip we.... pull out the Christmas decor! My favorite of all the holidays. There is just something about lights, cinnamon scents, fake snow, glitter, my cute snowmen, red and green and anything else Christmas-y I can manage to get my little paws on. Our house is always cozy with candles and the fireplace going, we love getting together with friends and family during the holiday season and just spending time together. LOVE.

Back to my original reason for this post as I let myself get carried away with my love affair with the holidays...Thanksgiving recipes!! I always have such a hard time deciding whether to stick with traditional types of recipes (i.e. cream of mushroom, green beans, fried onions...sliced yams, brown, sugar and marshmallows, etc. you get the idea) or venture out and try some new ones because let's face it, I love to try a new recipe! Let me start with Hub's most favorite side dish : green bean casserole {side note: once when we had been dating only a short time, he had a craving for green bean casserole and I really wanted BLTs for lunch. Solution=both. We knew right then and there that we were meant for each other!}
I like to not mess too much with this recipe but I came across this recipe on Food Network that looks like it just uses mostly fresh ingredients instead of using the ol' canned stand-bys. In all his glory, Alton presents us with this gem:

Best Ever Green Bean Casserole

Add some bacon to that and I think I have a winner! The only downfall I see with it is questionable day-before-prep. I will see about that.

Next up, the cranberry sauce. As a kid I was never a fan of cranberry sauce but growing up, I have come to realize the integral part a good cranberry sauce can play in the Turkey-Day meal. Mixing cranberry sauce with just about anything on your plate is going to bring instant pleasure and then to think about it with the leftovers, well...I'm just going to stop there. Another simple yet effective recipe courtesy of Food Network:

Perfect Cranberry Sauce

I am definitely partial to orange zest in my cranberry sauce and I will even throw in some walnuts from time to time. This year I may get super adventurous and add a little ginger. Yum!

This last recipe I am interested in comes from one of my staple magazines Woman's Day. It is a new recipe that I am excited to try mostly because I have never even cooked with leeks before!

Creamed Leeks with Parmesean Crumbs

Like I said, just like to add a lil' somethin' somethin' new to the mix! I could pretty much go on and on with all the recipes I find and try or want to try for Thanksgiving but I won't keep going today. Maybe tomorrow. 

What bout y'all? What are your favorites that just have to make it onto the table year after year? What are some new bites that you're dying to try this year?

Filling & Tasty Taco Surprise!

I find that trying new recipe after new recipe is so fun and educational, however I sometimes find myself getting away from my own "classics." Everyone has them. Your stand-bys. You know your family loves them, they are something you can (usually) whip up pretty quickly and sometimes if we are lucky, its something we can throw together with some basics we keep in the kitchen. I can't believe I haven't made this stand-by in awhile. It is a recipe I learned back in college and I used to make it quite frequently for the Hubs (then boyfriend) and his roommates. They all loved it and recently I got a call from one of our old roommates and he wanted the recipe to make for a gal he is dating! Love it!
Taco Surprise
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 45 mins
Feeds: 5-6

1 lb.      ground beef
1 pkg.   Taco Seasoning
1           onion
Brown hamburger in a skillet with onion. Follow directions on Taco Seasoning packet.

1          box Jiffy corn bread mix
1          can cream corn
1          can diced green chilies
1/2 lb.  shredded cheddar
1          jar of your favorite salsa
Follow the directions on the Jiffy cornbread mix while the beef is browning. Once the mix is mixed, add creamed corn and green chilies to the mixture and stir.
Grease a 13x9 pan, preheat oven to 400 degrees and now we will begin layering. Spread a thin layer of the cornbread mixture on the bottom of the pan. Make sure it is just enough to coat the bottom.

Then, add the beef on top of the cornbread layer. Add salsa on top of the beef layer. (I had some leftover black bean and corn salsa that I had made the day before for a get together so that's why you see those ingredients.)

Sprinkle your cheese over the salsa.

 Spread the rest of the corn bread mixture of the top of the cheese. The cheese may be peeking out in some spots but that's okay, it will all cook together.

Bake for 45 minutes or until the topping is golden brown. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes and enjoy!

There are a lot of variations to this recipe. For instance, I made a bigger version (an 11x15 pan) so I could freeze half of the pan. You can add more fixin's to your hamburger while it's cooking, more spices if you like spicy. I have added refried beans over the layer of beef before the salsa layer. We also top it with hot sauce and sour cream when we are ready to dig in. Be creative!