The One Wherein I Say Yummy a Zillion Times

I went up half a pound this week to 304. Not sure what that's about, but I think it might be bloating, because I snuck a peak at the scale the night before and was at 301.5. So...next Tuesday will tell.

I'm cooking all day today, getting ready for Thanksgiving. I'm going to give you the recipe for my absolute favorite holiday sidedish.

Red Cabbage, Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad

1/2 head red cabbage, cut in strips
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 T salt
1 T Dijon mustard
1 t prepared horseradish
pinch each of cinnamon and allspice
1/3 to 2/3 cup crumbled blue cheese (depending on how much you like blue cheese)
1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts

Prepare the vegetables and put them in a big pot with the rest of the ingredients, except for cheese and nuts. Bring to a boil, stirring often. Reduce to a simmer, cover and leave it alone for an hour. Make sure the cabbage is tender, but not mushy. Cool thourghly. Mix together cheese and nuts. When the cabbage is cooled, mix in cheese and nuts.

Seriously yummy stuff. And good for you, too!

I'm also making Mexican bean salad today, because it's a thousand times better the next day. It's pretty damn good the same day, so you can imagine how delicsious it is when the flavors have time to mingle.

I watched Paula Dean on the Food Network the other day making Sweet Potato Balls. Funny name, but they looked fun, so I'm giving them a try. For some reason the picture on the website is less than appetizing, on the show they looked really good. It's just baked sweet potatoes mixed with the yummy sweet potato things, then wrapped in a ball around a big marshmallow, rolled in coconut and baked. I'm making the balls (giggle) tonight, then rolling and baking tomorrow.

Lastly, being the gourmet that I am...I'm brining my turkey this year. It's sitting in a cooler filled with vegetable broth, spices and brown sugar as we speak. I was worried about the kinds of things a mama worries about when considering leaving poultry out of the fridge for two days...but the bird is defrosting beautifully and the ice I dumped over it still hasn't fully melted, so I think it's fine.

Oooooooh...I love Thanksgiving!

My dad is getting married on December 16. His wife-to-be lives in Panama City, Florida. I'm flying with him the day before, for the wedding. I haven't been in a plane for ten years. Sad, but true. Not only do I get to fly somewhere...I get three ENTIRE DAYS with no kids. I'm going to try to hit some thrift stores on Sunday before I come home. Maybe I can find some neat vintage that will end up paying for my trip.

P.S. I just made the Sweet Potato Balls. They look weird on the internet because sweet potatoes are white, not orange. I swear, I had no idea. I've eaten sweet potato pie before, and it was orange. Strange. Anyway, they look yummy, the potato part is scrumptious. I can only imagine that rolling them in coconut and baking them will make them better!