Pumpkin Spice Latte

I knew I wanted to make a special Thanksgiving Day breakfast since we decided not to do anything fancy this year for dinner. I came across a recipe for a Pumpkin Spice Latte and knew that it would be a perfect complement to the Pumpkin Spice Scones I made recently. My family loves pumpkin flavors just as I do, so I thought this would be a great way to start our day!

The recipe was so simple and so comforting! I am not a big coffee drinker, but if it tastes like pumpkin, I'm game! I really couldn't believe how good this was. If you haven't had a chance to try out the Pumpkin Spice Scones, now you have even more of a reason to!!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

(adapted from You're Gonna Bake It After All)

**I tripled the recipe because I knew I wanted more than one cup. The recipe for one cup is listed below.**

1 cup strong coffee
2/3 cup (5-ounce can) evaporated fat free milk
1/4 cup pure pumpkin puree
1 to 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (the original recipe calls for 1/8 teaspoon of either, but I wanted a stronger flavor so I added a bit more and used both.)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground cinnamon

Optional toppings:
whipped cream
sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice or freshly ground cinnamon

Combine coffee, evaporated milk, pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and freshly ground cinnamon over medium-heat in a saucepan. Heat until very hot stirring occasionally.

Carefully pour into mugs. Top as desired.

Before you run off to make your morning latte :o) I wanted to share with you that my Thanksgiving Day dinner at Cracker Barrel was FANTASTIC! My in-laws were even shocked at how tasty it was! We did have to wait about 45 minutes to be seated, but we didn't think that was too bad. The food was so delicious and the portions were huge!! We got turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, one side of your choice, cranberry salad, biscuits, a drink and a piece of pie all for $8.99!!! So if you are every looking for an alternative or just don't want to go through the hassle of making that big meal, check out Cracker Barrel!!

Thanksgiving Ideas

I have neglected my blog :o(

I have been so sick and I haven't felt like cooking or even looking at food :o(

I am still pretty miserable. I have this awful dry, non-productive cough that just won't go away (and especially won't let me sleep at night). It sucks!

That being said, I have no recipes to share with you, however, I thought I would share with you some ideas that I used last year!

Last year I had the pleasure of hosting Thanksgiving at my house for the first time. It was the first time I had cooked a meal like that, and I loved it! We had so much food and everything went so smoothly! Check out my Thanksgiving Tablescape idea here. The hubs family all came down for the holiday so we had a good amount of people, but not a lot of space. Needless-to-say it wasn't very fancy, but it turned out super cute and everyone loved it!

I made Rachel Ray's Apple Cider Turkey from her Thanksgiving issue of her magazine last year, but I couldn't find the recipe on her website to share with you. It was delious! The gravy was out of this world good! If you have that magazine laying around at home you should definitely consider trying out that recipe!

I had several desserts, one of them being this Carmel Apple Layer Cake (A Rachel Ray Recipe, it was a Racheal kind of holiday last year!). It was very delicious!

I also made another holiday favorite (a recipe from a dear friend of mine) Pumpkin Dump Cake. If you want a recipe for this holiday season that will WOW a crowd...this is it my friends! This is one of my Sister-in-laws favorites, so I have to make it every holiday!

I also wanted to share with you some ideas for that leftover ham or turkey you may have.

--For leftover turkey try out this recipe for Creamed Turkey over Biscuits.

--For leftover ham try out this recipe for Broccoli, Ham, Mac and Cheese Soup (oh man was that delicious!)

This year, the hubs and I are staying low key. Our precious Heggy is having her surgery today so she will be recovering and we will be busy babying our baby! ;o) My in laws are coming into town, and we have decided to not have a fancy feast but to instead have our Thanksgiving meal at Cracker Barrel! I am actually quite excited about going...you get Turkey and Dressing with Cranberry Salad, choice of two sides and a piece of pie for a ....drum roll please... $8.99! I couldn't make Thanksgiving dinner for 4 people for that price! Plus it's Cracker Barrel so I know it will be delicious!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Be sure to give thanks to what you are thankful for. I look forward to sharing some exciting recipes with you soon. I hope my Thanksgiving Ideas/Tips were helpful! Happy Eating!

My Thanksgiving Tablescape

This year, the family decided to come down and have Thanksgiving at our house. This was actually the first Thanksgiving my husband and I have hosted at the house!! I also took it upon myself to make the turkey (which was a first for me) and I will post about that later!! Everything turned out great and I can't wait to share all the recipes with you!

With all the family coming down, I wanted to do something special for my tablescape. So this is what I came up with...
We had to bring in a long table to have extra space, so our table isn't too fancy...and nor are the plates LOL! Anyhow, I was in Yankee Candle awhile ago and bought 2 large Harvest Candles, 2 Autumn Wreath votives (which I placed in glass jars) and they also had those festive looking confetti leaves! I also bought fall napkins and Indian Corn to help bring it all together!

For the name tags, I just wrote each name on a leaf and placed it on the plate! Everyone loved it and the house smelled amazing!!! :o) I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving...I will be posting my recipes shortly!