Thanksgiving!

Thank you Google for letting me borrow this image!

Who doesn't love this time of year? I mean really, with so many different gatherings and yummy foods or treats to eat, what's not to love?

I am also thrilled beyond belief that I will be spending my first Thanksgiving in EIGHT YEARS with my extended family in Wichita. Can. NOT. Wait!

In honor of this big occasion, I decided to spend a little time making a couple treats to share with everyone while we're there. You know, to prove my "adulthood." ...or something like that.

So I decided to make some candied almonds and candied pecans. The almond recipe came from a friend and co-worker of mine in NC. Let me tell you, they are delicious! The pecan recipe came from....what else? Pinterest of course!

Because I lack the ability to do just one thing at a time, I decided that I could successfully cook both recipes simultaneously. You know, throw the almonds into the oven to begin roasting while I start putting pecan ingredients in my crock pot, then work my way back and forth until both recipes are completed.

I've always been amazed at my mother's ability to cook twelve billion things for a meal at the same time, and have everything done at exactly the right time and cooked to perfection. Sometimes I like to pretend I am as awesome as she is.

***Side note: I took photos all throughout this process to make sure everything was documented. However, when I downloaded them onto my computer, this is what they look like:

SIGH. Technology is NOT my friend lately! ***

Anyway, the almonds went into a cold oven (set on 350 for 12-15 ish minutes)

I had turned my crock pot on high about 15 minutes early so it was already hot, then put in an entire stick of butter and mixed it with 1 lb halved pecans.

Back to the oven.....which was smoking! Matt started running around our tiny apartment opening windows and fanning the smoke detector. Then I remembered accidentally dripping grease in the bottom of the oven a few nights back, and suggest that he just disconnects the smoke detector so the grease can just burn off. My plan has changed and I'm now cooking "smokey candied almonds" Fabulous.

Back to the crock pot to stir in 1/2 Cup of powdered sugar.

Back to the oven to stir the smokey almonds.

Crock pot.

Oven.

You get the idea.

Surprisingly in the end, both recipes turned out great!

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I sincerely hope you can all enjoy each moment you spend with friends and family over the next few days. What are you thankful for this year?


~SMurph~