Coexistence…what the farmer does with the turkey – until Thanksgiving.  ~Mike Connolly

Me & Holsters ready to run the Turkey Trot in Latrobe 11/22/12

Today, we participated in our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Mom made the feast, assisted by me and Kyle.  This year, Kyle wanted to make homemade pies, including the crust.  His comment was, “Aunt Heather it will be better making them ourselves so they’re fresh and it’s healthier ’cause we won’t have preservatives in our pies.”  Now how can I argue with that?  He was right!  Not to mention we both enjoy cooking together.  Last night we went to work on the desserts, making a pumpkin (mom’s favorite) and an apple crumb (Kyle’s favorite), plus a coconut mouse brownie dessert, courtesy of Pinterest.  A little nontraditional but a nice change.

Kyle helped my mom with the stuffing by ripping up the bread.  Actually, let me clarify, he had to cut the bread into perfect cubes.  Ripping the bread haphazardly like mom is not in his nature.  He was also in charge of making the punch and setting the table.  My goodness he is getting big!  Even Nicole made a comment about Kyle’s first experience at Thanksgiving, just like it was yesterday.  (sigh)

Kyle was rolling the dough… the pie dough 11/21/12

I stepped out for about an hour to run in the Turkey Trot.  Kyle was relieved when I didn’t make him join me, but I think next year things are going to be different.

Instead of fighting the holiday traffic, the plan was for Nicole to wake up early today and drive in.  Except, Nicole slept in and got a late start.  I really thought she was going to miss Thanksgiving dinner, but alas by the grace of God she made it just before we were ready to sit down and pig out.  Our standard crew gathered together, mom and dad, Nicole, Kyle and Uncle Denny (mom’s brother).  Plus let’s not forget the rest of our family, Scooby, Seven and Storm, her first Thanksgiving.

Anyway, like most families there are popular topics of conversation that fly around the table.  On a side note dad commented, “Gigi makes the best turkey and stuffing around.”  Followed by Kyle confirming this statement and adding, “Pappy, Gigi makes the best in the world!”  Too cute!   Well as the conversations continued, this year included our trip to Forks and the time Nicole went turkey hunting with dad.  This story is so appropriate for the national holiday, I have to share.

It was Kyle’s idea to make the pies, including the pie dough 11/21/12

One year, when Nicole was in her early teens, dad took her turkey hunting.  Please keep in mind I wasn’t there so my information was heard from the those that were present, Nicole and dad.  Both versions are similar and yet slightly different.  Basically, the story goes like this.  A turkey flew past dad and Nicole while they were hunting and landed in a nearby tree.  Letting Nicole have the honor, dad told her to shoot the turkey.  Nicole’s reply was, “That’s not a turkey, turkeys don’t fly”  Needless to say the bird took off, probably hearing the conversation and laughed all the way to another tree, high up in the air.  By the time they got home, dad was beside himself because he couldn’t believe that someone really wouldn’t know that turkeys can in deed fly.  Ryan, who pretty much lived at dad’s side in the woods for all hunting seasons, just laughed.  Once my Uncle Sonny and my cousins Chad and Jeremy caught word of the story, they teased her about it until everyone forgot about it.  Not me!  Personally, I don’t think that story ever gets old!

As I brought up the story again while we all feasted on turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, dad just chuckled and rolled his eyes and said, “Yes”.  A little turkey humor for a day devoted to serving up Turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. The gravy boat made its appearance.  Although we couldn’t find it at first, I thought Nicole hid it from me.  But it was found and all was right in my world.

Read more on our Traditional Thanksgiving!

Read our trip of Forks from the beginning.

Pre-flight – Twilight Pilgrimage Prequal

Forks or Bust! – Twilight Pilgrimage Part 1

Rain Forest, Forks, Beach…all in a Day! – Twilight Pilgrimage Part 2

More Forks & Port Angeles – Twilight Pilgrimage Part 3

Seattle – Twilight Pilgrimage Part 4

Coming Home – Twilight Pilgrimage Part 5

I’m not an amazing cook. But I can follow a recipe!  ~Rachel McAdams

Some may know what Pinterest is, and some may have heard of it, while others have absolutely no idea.  With the booming age of social media, there are sites popping up all the time.  For the most part, I really don’t pay attention to every little change and introduction of a social media site into the vast social world.  If I did, I wouldn’t have any time to blog and use the social tools that I do enjoy using.  However, there is one that has struck my fancy, and I have really adapted into my daily routine.  Pinterest!  It’s simply a social sight of pinning pictures and videos to your digital cork boards, just like being a kid again.

As a child, and even into my high school years, I would go through magazines and tear out pictures of dresses or shoes, and pin them to my cork board hanging on my bedroom wall.  In addition, I pinned recipes and ‘how to’ instructions.

Pinterest is the same concept, except you can have multiple themed boards, as many as you want, named however creative you can get, and it’s all digital!  Not to mention, instead of a single magazine, the entire internet is your resource.  How cool is that?  Plus, you have the option of uploading and linking your very own pins.  Love it!  As with a social site, the ability to “share”, “re-pin”, “comment” and “like” is available.  You can follow others of like interest, and your boards and pints are linked to other social sites for distributing information.

Kyle wanted to make his own hero sandwich 2012

Being in marketing, I tend to see trends early, and I will admit, I do sometimes partake on the latest and greatest.  This time I did.  Statistics change, now-a-days more rapidly than ever, but I still like to read the analyzed data.   After all, numbers never lie, and with summarized data, it’s sometimes easier to understand the focus of the social tool or the particular direction it’s moving toward.  When it comes to my clients, I do try to practice what I preach.  Pinterest is, as least as per the most recent numbers, 80%-90% women.  However, a majority of the purchases made on there are from men.  Not that I want to keep throwing numbers out there, but I find this fascinating, “66% of Pinterest users are aged 35 and older, compared to 64% of the US internet audience.” according to Marketing Charts.  Pinterest themselves stated, there are 20,000 items pinned on Pinterest every day.  Estimated numbers from AppData.com, state the two-year-old site has 11.7 million active registered users.  Wow!

So how did this almost too simple idea of themed digital cork boards come to fruition?  According to my “trust worthy” site Wikipedia, Pinterest was developed in December of 2009, then went into a closed beta test in March 2010, and in March of 2011 they launched their app.  Needless to say, Pinterest is pretty new to the scene, but growing leaps and bounds thanks to Ben Silbermann, Paul Sciarra and Evan Sharp, the founders.

Now why this dissertation on Pinterest?  Thanks to an article I read on Mashable, according to RJ Metrics, “17.2% of all pinboards are categorized under Home, followed by Arts and Crafts (12.4%), Style/Fashion (11.7%), Food (10.5%) and Inspiration/Education (9.0%). Of those, food is the fastest-growing category.”  I did read another article that stated recipes have clearly taken the top spot on the Pinterest pins, but unfortunately when I went to look for it, I couldn’t find the article to back up that claim.

As with all things on AuntHeather.com, all roads lead back to Kyle.  I want to tell and story about the impact of Pinterest and naturally it involves one little 11 year old boy.  I know I’ve mentioned that I used to have Kyle pick out recipes in the cookbooks, and we’d make whatever he wanted.  The only catch, he had to read me the recipe and measure out all the ingredients.  This was one way to reinforce reading with Kyle, especially when he went through a spurt of I HATE READING!.  It was also great practice with measuring and math skills, always a favorite of Kyle.  Who am I kidding?  I love to cook too, and to hang out with Kyle.  Win, win for me.  Little did I know, that Kyle would develop a love for cooking AND enjoy it!  I guess that’s a win, win for him too!

Now I’m getting to the meat and potatoes of the story.  Recently, a friend of mine, Kelly, was talking about making recipes that she found on Pinterest.  Last weekend, she was sending me some good ones to try, and she wanted to start making different recipes.  This conversation reminded me of Kyle, because we started to do the same thing.  In fact, Kyle has steered away from the old fashioned hardbound cookbooks, and tends to jump on my Pinterest account for recipes.  Yes, I said he goes on my Pinterest, and yes he has the password to log in.  What can I say, the kid owns me!  I don’t mind in the slightest.  Kyle knows to go to  board, and scroll through the pictures of the deliciousness.  It’s funny how our way of cooking has changed from even a year ago.  We still pretty much follow the same system of Kyle reading off the ingredients and directions, and I assist him with measuring and mixing, and he still gets to pick out what he wants to make.

Homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies, courtesy of Pinterest

Sometimes, Kyle uses my phone and jumps on the Pinterest app to search for different recipes he wants to try.  He is too much!  Usually the re-pins are sweet treats, although he surprises me with casseroles and low calorie or natural fruit dishes.  I’m not saying I’m any better with my own sweet tooth, but I do try and limit the dessert recipes made.

It’s amazing how our daily lives have changed, children are no longer pulling out the old cookbooks from generations past.  They are downloading them and cooking other family recipes online.  In one respect, I miss the use of a good old fashioned cookbook, but then again how can you beat the wealth of information and options at your fingertips.  I guess it doesn’t matter as long as the traditions are passed down, new traditions are started and shared, and cooking brings the family together.

See the recipe for the Oatmeal Creme Pies- Puppy Problem Called Seven.

Dogs are wise.  They crawl away into a quiet corner and lick their wounds and do not rejoin the world until they are whole once more.  ~Agatha Christie

Rescuing Seven from the pound seemed like a good move.  Not only did it benefit the dog, but it gave Scooby a playmate and a new addition to the Piper household.  This was about a year ago, which he was already almost a year old at the time.  Sure there was an adjustment period, especially where Pudd’in was concerned, but everyone seemed to work it out and the harmony of the house was whole again.

Now Seven seems to be going through his terrible two’s.  He is out of control, jumping on people and getting into complete mischief.  This weekend was the perfect example of what I’m talking about.  I will first tell you about the sleeping arrangements.  For the past few months, when I sleep at my parent’s house, Seven anticipates my actions and jumps into bed before I can and won’t get out.  He is like a log spread out over the entire bed.  In recent days, so I’ve let that one slide and now the route includes Pudd’in, Seven and now sometimes Kyle, for reasons I have no idea.  Great full bed!  Then when I sit in the chair in the living-room, either reading a book or watching TV, Seven feels the need to jump on me.  Jumping up a little for some attention I can handle, but he literally jumps halfway across the room and lands in my lap with his paws like baseball bats slamming my chest.  He doesn’t even care if Pudd’in is on the arm of the chair or who may hurt.  I get it, all this might be just for some attention and love, I can almost excuse these actions as a child in need of attention.  Good or bad attention is still attention.  I have been through this before with Kyle, so I understand the signs, but some actions are not excusable.

On Saturday, Kyle and I took our weekly hike through the woods with the boys (Seven and Scooby).  Now on their defense they have been really good with the walks, listening to me when they are too far away, and coming when I call.  Great!  Just to give you a comparison between the dogs.  When Scooby’s running towards you, he will zip right past you without taking you down.  He may get really close when he whizzes past, but as long as you don’t make any sudden movements he will not hit you.  Seven on the other hand, will run you over like a freight train, and leaving you like a hit and run victim.  He does not care who he plows down.  As Kyle and I started to make our way down the hill, which is a tricky path since there are a lot of loose rocks and it was icy on the flat stones where the water had once ran, I noticed that Seven was out of my line of sight.  Naturally, I called Seven and he came, however, he shot out like a missal.  Just as I turned my head to see how to avoid the racetrack he was headed on, I saw him collided with Kyle.  Poor Kyle, his feet flipped up into the air while Seven crashed through like a tornado.  I can’t believe Seven would just run into him like that!  It wasn’t like there wasn’t enough room, cause there was, at least three people could walk on the path side-by-side comfortably.  It was like he just wanted to knock him over!  After that incidence we made it home and the dogs were being good, until we decided to make oatmeal cream pies.

Every once in a while, Kyle and I enjoy making something new together.  We both enjoy cooking, and I will admit, since I opened my account I do like to review different recipes and save them for later.  Well, since I showed Kyle my board and some of the recipes, he has wanted to make something new.  After we got back from our walk, Kyle said, “Hey Aunt Heather, I have a good idea, let’s make something new.”  Well, how and I resist?  We looked on my Pinterest board and he commented that he wanted to make the Oatmeal Cream Pies, which I have always wanted to make since I saw them.

As we retrieved the ingredients, both dogs kept getting in our way, but nothing out of the ordinary.  We finished making the first part of the batch and had to immediately taste the final product, still warm.  They were awesome!!  In the meantime, I let the cookies cool on the counter and me, Kye and dad were watching TV in the living-room.  Gigi was at the store.  Note the Oatmeal cookies were cooling on the parchment paper they were baked on.  As we sat there, both dogs were playing with news toys, courtesy of dad.  Just then, I heard the parchment paper moving.  It was coming from the kitchen.  At that moment, I looked around and saw everyone in the house in the same room except for Seven.  Dad called Seven and he didn’t come flying into the room.  He doesn’t realize that I’m pretty quick and I flew around the corner of the kitchen to see him with his head down, trying to escape to the laundry room.  Immediately, I saw all but two cookies GONE!  He ate just about the entire batch of cookies right off the counter!  Really?  Yep!  I was so made at him.  He still had his shock collar on and I did zap him, which I try never to use.  Then I put him in his cage and walked around like my mom, ranting and raving like a crazy person.

Seven stayed quite in his cage trying not to draw any unwanted attention for at least an hour.  Then I let him out.  He humbly walked out and joined us in the living-room.  He was good, well naturally since he was in serious trouble.  Not long after, Seven was at the door crying to be let out.  Couldn’t image that, a dog with a weak digestive system who can only eat dog food without getting an upset stomach all of a sudden needing to go out after eating a dozen Oatmeal Cream Pies!  Without hesitation, I let Seven out to do his business.  Then I realized he was out for a while, I forgot about him.  As I opened the door on the porch, I saw Seven run down the steps with his head down and his tail between his legs.  It didn’t register what had just happened, but then it hit me, Seven tore open the garbage mom had set on the porch to be placed in the trash can at the end of the driveway!  I yelled, obviously, and Seven squeezed between me and the house to get back in, running straight to his cage.  As if self punishing himself.

What a stinker!  Is this a phase of going through the terrible two’s?  Or is this in retaliation for something else?  What to do with Seven?  I can tell you Kyle felt sympathy on the dog.  After he got in trouble with the Oatmeal Cream Pies, Kyle slipped his water bowl in the cage with him, like he was suffering in the kitchen for that hour.  Then Kyle came to me to take some responsibility for Seven’s actions.  He said, “It’s not his fault Aunt Heather, I left my stool next to the counter.”  I couldn’t believe it, Kyle was trying to elevate Seven’s punishment.  At this point I was still mad, I said, “No it’s not your fault, it’s not like you left the cookies on the floor!”  Kyle retorted by saying, “But he used my stool to get up to the counter.”  I kinda laughed, because that was not true, Seven is tall enough to merely lift his head and he can reach the counter.  Ahh is it man’s best friend or the other way around?  Love Kyle’s heart!

Here’s the recipe I got from Blooming on Brainbridge site. Make them, they’re great!

Oatmeal Cream Pies

• 1-1/4 c. butter (softened)
• 1 c. brown sugar (packed)
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1-1/2 c. flour
• 3 c. oats
• 1 egg
• 2 T. vanilla
• 1 T. soda
• 1/2 T. salt
• 1/4 T. cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Beat butter and sugar till creamy.  Add egg and vanilla and mix well.  Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup and level with flat knife edge.  Combine flour, soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir. Add oats and mix well.  Add the butter mixture and blend well.  Drop by rounded tablespoons 2″ apart.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.  Leave in pan and cool 2 minutes.  Put cookies on wire rack to finish cooling.  Spread 1 tablespoon cream filing between two cookies.

Cream Filling

• 1/2 c. butter (softened)
• 2 c. powered sugar
• 1-2 T. whipping cream
• 1 T. vanilla

Combine all in medium bowl.  Beat on low till mixed well.  Then beat on high till light and fluffy.

ENJOY!