Fabulous Food Friday

Do you still have turkey leftovers, are you getting tired of turkey sandwiches?

Well, let me come to your rescue! Today I'll be showing you how to use phyllo dough to turn ordinary leftovers in to an extra special meal that tastes as impressive as it looks.

Don't be afraid of the phyllo!!! If you've never used it before there are a few things to keep in mind.
• It's found in the freezer at the grocery store (near the pie crusts and frozen desserts)
• It will need to be thawed in your refrigerator overnight
• It dries out fast, so wrap up the unused phyllo and keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

To start out, remove enough phyllo dough (I used about 4 sheets) and store the rest in the refrigerator. Starting with the bottom layer, brush on melted butter (or use cooking spray) until you have layered all the layers with butter.

Next spread on your leftovers. I put mine in rows, starting with the mashed potatoes, stuffing and then turkey.


Over the leftovers I added a sauce too keep it moist. Sauce: 1 cup sour cream combined with 4-6 T Dijon mustard. I used Sara Lee Garden Pepper Trio Dijon Mustard with jalapeno peppers and it was yummy! Next, fold over top and bottom edge and brush on an egg wash over entire exposed surface. This will keep it from drying out while you are working and it will help "stick " it all together.

Using a sharp knife, cut the phyllo starting at the leftovers all the way to the edge of the phyllo. Do this all the way down on both sides (about every inch to inch and a half). Now you have strips which you can fold over towards the center, alternating sides. (my camera batteries went dead, so I don't have a photo of this step!)

When all the strips have been folded into the center, brush over the entire top of the phyllo with the egg wash.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes and you're done...

Now pair with some leftover cranberry sauce and a salad and you've got dinner!

Adventures in my Kitchen

This
weekend it was do or die for my Hood River apples. Several had already gone bad. I borrowed the canner from my mom and on Sunday afternoon, I began canning apple pie filling. I hadn't made this recipe for pure goodness in about 5 years or so and I was a little rusty. I had to process my second batch twice to make sure that the lids were sealed nice and tight. The syrup from my first batch didn't thicken up quite right, so I hope it will still make a good pie. I'll be more confident next year and hope to make twice as much.

Thanksgiving Details

The Kid's Table

On Monday I got a wild hair and decided to make some fun kid's place mats. I had seen similar ones at Pottery Barn, but never could justify ordering them...On Tuesday as I was cutting them out, I realized I was crazy...then by Wednesday I was wishing I just ordered them from Pottery Barn. They turned out better than I anticipated...you can see a more detailed photo on my Paper Capers craft blog.

The Grown-up's Table
No cute place mats here, but lots of fun pumpkins.

The Thanksgiving Spread
Our Dinner
Warm Jalapeno-Artichoke Dip served with Whole Grain Mini Bread Rounds
Rolls with my yummy homemade Pumpkin Spread
Veggies and Dip
Green Salad
Green Bean Casserole
Andrea's homemade Cranberry Sauce
Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Gravy
Mom's homemade Stuffing with Cranberries and Apples
I tried Pioneer Woman's recipe for Sweet Potatoes (*highly recommended!)
Andrea's amazing Turkey
and what Roush holiday would be complete without Aaron and Tami's Pink Stuff!
Andrea also made a Pumpkin Pie and a Lemon Meringue Pie, but we were too stuffed to eat dessert.

Here is the yummy cranberry sauce.

Sweet Potatoes (photo from Pioneer Woman Cooks)

Andrea made a really good turkey...mmmm!

The Roush Family Thanksgiving
When we all get together, there are 10 adults to squeeze around the table. Sadly, we don't own a very large dining table (and there is always about 3 different pairs of mismatched chairs), but it makes for a very cozy get together.
Mom and Dad (with his broken arm!)

Alyssa and Dan

Chucky, Tami and Aaron
John and Andrea
and their baby, Brandon's first Thanksgiving:
mmm...celery!

Toni and Chucky...oh, I mean Dan and Chucky. (Toni couldn't make it because she had to be to work at 3:45 am for the Black Friday Sales)

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I was driving home from Sharon's house I caught Mt. Hood looking mighty spectacular.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Mine was crazy busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The only way for holidays not to be hectic is to eliminate spending time with one family or another, but then we feel like something is missing.

Wednesday night we went out with Greg and Christina to Claim Jumpers. I ordered the macadamia nut crusted halibut and it was to die for...so good with the coconut sauce and rice...and the monster eclair we all split for dessert was also amazing...a feast for the tastebuds, for sure!

Everyone was able to fit around Sharon's new table.

This afternoon, my sister Andrea came over to cook the turkey and help me out in the kitchen while I was eating Thanksgiving lunch with Dan's mom and his siblings.

By the time dinner was ready, the kids were already in their dress up clothes.

I left early to get everything set up for my family to come over for dinner. It was great to spend time with everyone who could make it today/tonight and I would love to elaborate, but I have plans to get up early for Black Friday sales! I'll post more details tomorrow.

Welcome to the end of the Oregon Trail!

No, it's not really a covered wagon, but it may as well be.

Actually, I would rather it was a covered wagon, because then I could hold on to hope that someday it would move. But alas, this greenhouse isn't going anywhere... Instead we are stuck with this GIANT eyesore which now blocks the natural scenery in our front yard.

Our neighbors are really smart, very considerate people, that's why it baffles me that in all their 13+ acres, they chose the front corner that meets up with our yard. In all fairness, our neighbor did call the day after it went up to apologize, saying he didn't realize it would be this obtrusive. In hindsight, Dan and I are kicking ourselves for not speaking up when they broke ground...but I guess we didn't realize the impact until it was too late.


Here is our new view just steps from our front door...every time we see it, we get a little miffed inside.

Update: I just had a talk with one of the neighbors (who brought over pumpkin bread too!!) and she said they plan to plant a hedge to block the view...so that will help out a lot, I think.

Foggy Fall Day

We've been having some really fogy days this week and I thought I would share a couple pictures from around here:

Fall Fun at School

Today was picture retake day and I was having Natalie's pictures re-done. Being the photo Nazi that I am, I offered to volunteer today in the class in hopes that I would be able to help Natalie feel more relaxed as she got her picture taken again . (In her original pictures, her smile looked really forced.) As luck would have it I got in on the Artist in Residence Day.

Here is Mr. Verdoorn teaching the first graders some painting techniques. It was so great to see all the wonderful things they can learn by having a local artist come in and work with them.

All the students were instructed to illustrate their interpretation from one of the phrases in the book "Owl Moon."

Then they got to use the techniques Mr. Verdoorn (artist in residence) taught them using special dyes that come from New Zealand.

Afterward I got to sit with her class during lunch. Natalie, of course was a total goof ball!

Right before my first surgery, I was able to help out at Zander's preschool for their Teddy Bear Olympics. It was lots of fun, but boy was I tired afterwards!

Here is a photo from "Pajama Day" at Natalie's school.

Natalie liked going to school in her pj's!

Hood River Apples

A beautiful view of Mt. Hood on the way to Hood River.

The kids all got to ride to the orchards together inside the Mickle's motorhome.

One of the first things we did was take a hay ride tour of the orchards. We got to get out and everyone picked an apple to eat on the return trip.

Here is Natalie holding one of the larger varieties of apples they had at Kiyokawa Orchards.

Poor Ryan just couldn't get the wheel barrow to move.

Our traditional "family playing on the tractor" pose.


Zander liked tasting the different kinds of apples.

Lots and lots of pears and apples to make yummy treats with.

Halloween Festivities

As you know, I like to have fun with the holidays...I tucked this little surprise inside Natalie's lunch box today. It's a jack-o-lantern pin I got from Hallmark. I surprised the boys with theirs at lunch time too. (the other stuff in the package is fall leaf confetti.)

The kids feasted on jack-o-lantern sandwiches. Hayden couldn't believe his eyes...can this really be candy on my sandwich?

For the past month I have been saving Starbucks Frappuccino bottles so I could make these bottles of Halloween treats to pass out to teachers, friends and neighbors.

After Natalie came home from school, we got ready for some trick-or-treating fun! The local stores were passing out candy, so we got a head start before heading out the movies. We went to see Ratatouille, then went trick-or-treating in a local neighborhood (since our road doesn't get much foot traffic.)

Here 's the Disney gang: Cinderella, Sheriff Woody and Mickey Mouse!

On the way out the door, Natalie showed Dan the "fancy" jewelry I let her borrow. She told him "mom did a lot of finishing touches." I thought it was such a cute/funny thing to come out of her mouth.
I was so glad Hayden had a nice long nap today and actually didn't mind wearing the gloves and hood. A few days ago he would have nothing to do with them. I guess it can be challenging to use "cartoon hands!"

I was so excited to find this costume on sale at the Disney store for Zander. For the past year he has been wearing his old Woody costume which has been too small from the get go. It rides up in places where cowboys don't like it to and the sleeves and legs were way too short. Last year's Woody costume was all one piece. This year he got a much nicer costume with boots, a bandanna scarf, a holster for his gun, a sheriff's badge, a belt buckle a vest...and a hat. It's a size 7, so he should get many more dress up days out of it.


The kids had fun trick or treating in the shopping center. Our Papa Murphy's pizza was giving out mini tubs of cookie dough and McDonald's was giving out bags of cookies.

We got our picture taken at Damascus Chamber of Commerce.


While out trick or treating, we ran into our neighbor Clare. The other picture was taken at Ryan and Sarah's house.
Natalie and Zander fell asleep on the way home. I got them in bed and brushed their teeth while they were still sleeping...and they didn't even wake up!