Friday Favorites Link Up

Hi guys! 

Hope you had a great Turkey Day!

I'm doing something a little different.

I'm posting on a Friday AND I'm participating in a Link Up!

Robyn's Favorite Fall Things of 2014!

I know, I know Fall is pretty much over for 2014

but below are 5 of my favorite Fall things from this year!

1. Fall Decorations!

I love holiday decorations in general.

But Fall ones are right at the top!

Just a small bit of what my apartment looks like.

Check out this post for a more detailed look!

2. Thanksgiving Food!

We literally had a FEAST 

and I can't wait to eat leftovers!

Yum! My Thanksgiving plate!!!

And that's not even everything we had.

3. Time with Family!

I have a GREAT family and I'm so thankful for them

every day, but especially during the holidays!!

I did a lot of the cooking and mostly failed at picture taking.

I took pictures of of the food (post on that coming soon),

and the awesome sunset picture with my cousin above,

but sadly no group picture of everyone! 

Big Fat Whoops!!!

4. Homemade Pumpkin Puree!

That canned stuff will do in a pinch,

but homemade is always best!

I posted this pic on Instagram the night I made the puree!

Try making it yourself! It's SO SO SO easy.

Roast the pumpkin, remove skin after cooking, 

puree with a tiny bit of water to thin and DONE!

5. Pumpkin Seeds!

How could I make the puree and NOT roast the seeds?

I mean, it'd be silly to let those babies go to waste!

I didn't carve a pumpkin for Halloween this year,

so I almost missed out on home roasted seeds.

But lucky me - I have a few more pumpkins that I had on display.

Which I'll soon turn into more puree and roasted seeds!

Now, head on over to Andrea and Erika's blogs to check out more of today's Link Up!

Decorating for Fall

Seeing that Thanksgiving is on Thursday - yes as in FOUR days from now,

I thought it was about time I showed you my Fall Decorations for this year!

I've said it before, and I'll say it many more times I'm sure,

but I really LOVE to decorate for holidays and have for years!

If you're interested, here and here are two post from years past. 

Now, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking!

All the decorations - waiting to be put in just the right place.

It feels like Fall as soon as you see my front door!

And continues right as you walk in.

The TV stand is festive too.

And of course the fireplace gets some Fall love too!!

I have small little touches of Fall...

In many different places...

Scattered around my apartment!

And the hallway is filled with falling leaves.

With a leaf garland over the den french doors.

The bathroom is festive too.

Some wheat, pumpkins and inspiration!

And you can't forget the cornucopia!

Sending you Thanksgiving wishes from me to you!

Check back soon for even more fun,

when Christmas takes over my apartment!!!

Caramelized Sweet Potato Rounds

Sorry for the lack of post recently folks.
I've been quite busy with work,
but I've also been busy working on new posts about some super tasty food!
And I hope to have a decoration post up soon too.
Maybe even a garden one too, but don't hold your breath...

Anyway, now that I've said my sorries, below you can read all about a super easy and amazingly tasty way to make Sweet Potatoes.

On Thanksgiving, someone showed me a recipe for Caramelized Sweet Potato Rounds and my mouth was watering at just the thought of them! I knew immediately that I had to attempt to make these sucker because I love sweet potatoes and they sounded simply amazing! 

The recipe I was shown called for baking the potatoes whole, slicing them and then baking as rounds. 

I didn't really like that idea and thought that baking them as rounds from the beginning would be easier AND faster in the long run. 

Take a look below at how easy these little things are to make:

The Goods:

Sweet Potatoes

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Butter

Brown Sugar

Baking Sheet(s)

Slice potatoes, brush on olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, flip and bake about 10 minutes more - until fork tender.

Spread butter on sweet potatoes and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake fore 5 to 10 minutes, flip, add more butter and brown sugar and bake about 5 more minutes.

Remove from pan with spatula.

I was right, it was both easier and faster! And they were just as delicious as I thought they'd be! 

Go make them - you won't be disappointed!!! 

Flower Bouquets in Mini Pumpkins!

I know this post is a little late for you to do this yourself this year, but keep the idea in the back of your head and make use of it in aboooooooooout 11 months! :)

I love having fresh flowers around, and I love decorating for the holidays so having fresh flowers IN a mini pumpkin vase totally works for me. If fact, thinking about it now, I wish I had made one for my Thanksgiving with Girlfriends!  I figured the idea would make a great hostess gift for Thanksgiving so I went to town creating one...

or maybe two...

okay I made THREE!

This wasn't super easy to do, but wasn't hard by any means either. It just took time to cut and clean out the pumpkins, cut the floral foam and place the flowers so the bouquet looks full! Check out the process below. 

Now try to remember to make these beauties next year. 

I sure hope I remember myself... HAHA!

Thanksgiving 2013

As I mentioned in this post, I wasn't going to be hosting again this year - but instead would be spending the day with some of my family a few hours South of Los Angeles. Even though I wasn't making the whole dinner, I offered to make a thing or two and was assigned an appetizer and a dessert.

And because I'm me, I made one additional little goodie too! 

I knew almost immediately what appetizer I wanted to make, but deciding on a dessert took a little more thought. My amazing brother is the one that gave me the great idea, but I put my own twist on it! 

So what all did I make?!?!

Curious aren't ya?

Okay...I'll tell you!!

I made...

Bacon Wrapped Bleu Cheese Stuffed Dates!

YUMMMM! These are SO good and I can never get enough. These little suckers even converted a couple people who weren't fans of bleu cheese or dates!!! They are so easy to make, super tasty and I'd absolutely consider them a success at Thanksgiving this year.

And my brother - he suggested a Pumpkin Cheesecake, which sounded great!

But I like mini/individual treats, so I made...

MINI Pumpkin Cheesecakes!
They had an amazing gingersnap crust and weren't too pumpkin-y. Just right in my opinion.

Now what about that other little treat?

Oh right...

These cute little things...

Peanut Butter Ritz Sandwich and Hersey Kiss Acorns!
A friend showed me a link with them around Halloween and I couldn't resist!! I made a batch for work earlier in the week and they were devoured. I knew then that I had to make some more to take for Thanksgiving!

After I finished getting everything prepped or made, I decided I should take a lil gift for the person hosting this year's Thanksgiving. I kept if festive and made the gift instead of purchased it!

Wondering again what I made???

I made...

Flower Bouquets in Mini Pumpkins!
(Look for a post about these real soon!!!)

How cute are these???

I was originally only going to make one for the host, but I had enough flowers so I made one for my grandma and a close friend too! I think they turned out great and I can totally see myself making these again!

Thanksgiving with Girlfriends 2013

I usually spend Turkey Day at a family member or close friend's home, but last year I hosted my very first Thanksgiving! I did almost all of the cooking myself and was exhausted by the end of the day, but I wouldn't have changed a thing! I had so much fun hosting that I looked forward to doing it again before the day was even over! 

I'll be honest - when people started talking about their Thanksgiving plans this year, I was a little sad that I wasn't going to be hosting again!  That is, until I decided I was going to host a very small Pre-Thanksgiving get together with a few of my close girlfriends.

After very little thought, I decided I'd make a few things, but have everyone else pitch in so it wasn't as much pressure on me. This year, I was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. My girlfriends were responsible for everything else. Take a look below at my fun Thanksgiving with Girlfriends!

A little decor.

The table all set for dinner.

Carving the turkey. 

The FOOOOOOOOOD!

The whole spread and a plate of deliciousness!

Everything came together so well and all the food tasted AMAZING! While I do like sweet potatoes, I've never been a huge fan of  the mashed sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows on top. After this weekend though, I think I've officially been converted to liking them and couldn't get enough!

Fall Holiday Decorations

I love decorating. I love decorating for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Fall in general. This time of year is one of my favorite times and I look forward to decorating when every October rolls around!

Take a look below at the set up so far this year! 

I've accumulated these decorations over the years and plan to keep adding to my collection!

Hosting My FIRST Thanksgiving!

I usually travel to see family for Thanksgiving, but this year I invited my parents to come visit me! They accepted and I was more than thrilled. I don't have a HUGE place, so I couldn't host too many people, but I decided to invite my grandma and cousin to come up as well!

The table all set.

In addition to hosting Thanksgiving, I did all the prep work and almost all of the cooking. It was a lot of work, but completely worth it! I have to give my mom the credit for the yummy gravy, and my grandma mashed the potatoes with some butter, milk, sour cream and seasoning.

ALL the yummy food!

Roasted Butternut Squash

French Bread Stuffing with Bacon

I LOVE stuffing...

but now I love it with bacon even more!

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Roasted Turkey Breast

It was SO moist and delicious! 

Green Bean Casserole

No Knead Clover Rolls.

I halved the recipe and STILL had a ton!!!

Potatoes Mashed by Grandma!

And Gravy made by Mom!

A holiday meal isn't complete without a Relish Tray.

My plate - YUM!!!

All in all, it was a VERY tasty meal and I can honestly say I look forward to doing it again!  Besides all the amazing food, I had one of the BEST Thanksgivings I've had in a long time.

My wonderful Thanksgiving guests!