Happy Stretchy Pants Day (aka day after Thanksgiving)!

Good morning! Are you all wearing leggings today?  I am! I'll probably be wearing them the rest of the week too.  Who needs skinny jeans, it's officially the holiday season! Eat, drink & be merry!*

How was your Thanksgiving?  It was my first Thanksgiving with J's family, so it was a little nerve-wracking even though it went great.  It's just hard integrating into someone elses family traditions, and letting go of your own.  Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday, I don't dislike it, but it was a little easier to let go of my family traditions for Thanksgiving and embrace his family food fest.  

I thought everyone had the same food for Thanksgiving, and maybe it's a Greek thing, but I was a surprised (and glutinously a little sad) that there where no mashed potatoes and gravy, instead they had roasted potatoes, still delish.  Or maybe I just missed my own family, so the lack of creamy potatoes was a reminder of how far away everyone is.  Big events always make me want to call my family a million times a day.  I think I talked to my dad 3 or 4 times on Thanksgiving.

Anyway, back to food...the stuffing was rice rather than bread, which again, was so incredible, but I was shocked at how much heavier my family Thanksgiving is.  They had a ton of food too, an enormous turkey, lamb, a gazillion veggie sides, but for the most part they were veggie based and light.  Maybe the heavy meal is an American thing.  The good news was that after I ate, I was stuffed but I didn't feel like I had a brick in my stomach, lol.  Maybe it's why Greeks live so long.  

Since it was my first Thanksgiving with them, I had to make a good impression so I was definitely agonizing over what to contribute the entire week leading up to Thanksgiving.  I knew I was going to make my famous rolls, but I originally planned to make individual apple bourbon pot pies. That idea was scratched when the guest list kept changing.  I was so worried I wouldn't make enough, or I'd make a lot and no one would eat it.  So I went with a pear with candied lemon peel pie.  Both turned out incredible, but again, bread isn't the focus of the meal like it is at my house, and only a few people ate rolls with dinner...more left overs for me.  

The pie was a Martha Stewart recipe, and it was surprisingly easy...except the lemon peel candying, which isn't terribly difficult, it was just time consuming.  I think in the future I'll make a big batch of the lemon peel and then save it in an airtight container ahead of time.  Then the pie will be a breeze.  Also, Martha had the pie served with this fancy butter crust, but I don't have a food processor, and didn't want to chance it not turning out, so I just used a pre-made Pillsbury one, and it tasted amazing.

On A Roll - Friendsgiving

Tuesday night we had a pre-Thanksgiving Friendsgiving, and for me Thanksgiving is all about the sides.  It's about the roasted vegetables, the stuffing, the rolls.  Oh, yeah, the rolls.  My dad is famous for these rolls, they only come out 3 times a year because they're kind of labor intensive (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter) but everyone always stuffs themselves with them whenever they make their rare appearance.



Since my dad is across the country, I decided to try my hand at these rolls...such pressure! Not only was I raving about them to friends before attempting myself, but I had a lot to live up to in order to protect the family name.  I'm kidding, but not really.  These rolls are famous in my circle. 

So, after an emailed recipe and multiple phone calls discussing logistics, I was off.