Thanksgiving | Kitchen Casual

I think everyone knows my feelings about Thanksgiving. I just love it. And tomorrow at this time, I will be surrounded by my entire family, enjoying everything the holiday has to offer.

It has been an exciting year for both Eric and myself. We moved. We both got new jobs. We traveled a lot. I started this blog. I have a lot for which to be thankful.

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you who have read this blog over the past few months. I don’t do it to gain tons and tons of readers. I do it because I love food and I love writing about food and if someone out there finds ones of my recipes, makes it and likes it, then my job here is done.

So THANK you Kitchen Casual readers. I hope all of you and your families have an excellent Thanksgiving.

1) I love cheese. I could never be a vegan because I could never give up cheese. We usually have at least five types of cheese in our fridge at any given time. I like to have options. Which is my new obsession is cheese remnants.

I get mine at my local Kroger but I’ve seen them at Whole Foods as well. It’s a little slice of cheese usually left over from a bigger chunk that retails for about $1 to $2. It’s great for if you are making a cheese plate for a party or just want to sample some new cheese. I discovered bellavitano just a few weeks ago and my life is better for it. The ones I get also come with little blurbs about the cheese. It’s a cheese lovers dream!

2) I have been a coffee drinker since college. I used to not care for the taste, but once you find yourself staying up all night writing papers, you learn to love it. I used to just buy whatever Folgers or Maxwell House was on sale, but I’ve learned that I should be treating myself to good coffee since I enjoy it so much. I just bought this New Orleans Dark Roast from The Fresh Market and it is so, so delicious.

3) The bag of Halloween candy I bought for trick or treaters included some good stuff — Reese’s Pumpkins, mini Hershey Bars, York Peppermint Patties. But the leftover pieces I’ve been enjoying the most are the Hershey’s Cookies and Cream Bars. I haven’t had one of these in years but I now remember just how delicious they are. I’m going to have to hide the rest of I they will be gone before the end of the day today.

4) Something else I picked up from Fresh Market this week (can you sense a new trend?) were some delicious apple chips. I’ve always been a fan of apple chips, the crispier the better. I bought some awhile back at Costco that were more chewy than crispy, but the Fresh Market ones are just the right amount of crispness. Now that I have my new fancy mandolin, I might try to make some of my own. Anyone have a go to recipe for apple chips they want to share?

5) Today is November 1 which means my favorite holiday is just a few weeks away. I have always loved Thanksgiving more than Christmas, possibly because I have been food obsessed for as long as I can remember. I’m biased by my mom makes THE BEST Thanksgiving dinner around. I hope to make one as good as her someday, but right now, I stick to my role as crescent roll maker. I’m going to spend the next month daydreaming about her sweet potato casserole and perfect stuffing. Mmmmm.