So something big happened this week! My little Sis turned 40! How did that happen? For the past few years I’ve been thinking about how to best celebrate this mile stone occasion. For my 40th birthday she planned a surprise birthday party for me! It was super special because I am not a party person so I would never plan a big party like that, but it was exactly what I needed and surprisingly, what I wanted and didn’t even know! She is a party person though, everybody likes her. Our whole lives I was the difficult one and my Sis, she is easy to talk to, a great listener, and a genuinely caring person. She obviously has tons of friends as everybody that meets her wants to be in her life. I bet if she was still living in Cochrane surrounded by her village, we would have thrown her a huge party! But she isn’t in Cochrane. She is in Kelowna and while she has been meeting new people all the time, she doesn’t have a BC village… yet. So for her birthday I planned some thing that she would never plan for herself! A weekend all about spoiling her! Good food, good wine, great company, lots of pampering, no kids and no worries!
Dad, J, my Bro, my In-Laws, Ninja and I all pooled our money together and planned an incredible weekend staycation in Kelowna.
I picked her up on Friday morning and we went wine tasting at Grizzli Winery and then we had a delicious lunch and “presents” at Quail’s Gate Winery!
Nine years ago when I was going through my Mom’s stuff I found this book. When I opened it up and saw the inscription I knew what I had to do. My Sister gave this book to my Mom on her 40th birthday. I kept it. I wrapped it up in my fire bag and kept it safe with me. For her birthday I gave it back to her in hopes that she would use it the same way Mom did, for fun. For herself. And with love 💛.
Then I was off to pick up my nieces from school! Ninja had picked up their dog the night before so once I got the Girls, we were set! My BIL picked my Sis up from the spa with Starbucks! They then got ready for a nice dinner at Oak + Cru. The next morning they had a good sleep in and my awesome BIL planned an amazing day for them! They went to the final party of Kelowna Beer Week at BNA Brewing Co., enjoyed craft brew, watched the Jays game (which really should’ve turned out better in my opinion 😒), and then dinner and a movie (vintage, The Thing circa 1982) at the new Bernie’s Supper Club & Cinema!
On Sunday they took a cellar tour and tasting at Mission Hill before making their way to our place for our family Thanksgiving dinner!
We had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner! I was feeling good! I was dreading this weekend all week because I knew how hard it would be but in the end, my body didn’t let me down and I felt good! We made a delicious dinner that we got prepped before hand and hosted our annual Thanksgiving hockey pool complete with charcuterie boards and cocktails! We had 13 people over for dinner to celebrate Thanksgiving, my Sister’s 40th birthday and my Dad’s 67th birthday! On Monday morning J had us over for a Brunch BLT bar! With our choice of bread, fruits, vegetables, delicious bacon from Doug’s Homestead, and cauliflower rings! unfortunately, SBean had come home from school with the stomach flu on Thursday and passed it along to everybody over the weekend! Poor SweetPea and Cabbage were looking rough when they left here and HBear even got sent home from school today after the flu hit her too!
Other than copious amounts of vomit, the weekend was a full-blown success! Happy birthday (today) Daddy-O! And happiest of birthdays to my little Sister! 40 is a good year! I truly do believe that women really come into there own at 40. At 40 you are less worried about what people think, more confident in what you can bring to the table, less judgemental, more ready to take on adventures, less time as somebody’s Mom and more time reconnecting with yourself and becoming an even more complete, YOU! I am so ridiculously proud of the woman you have become and I can’t wait to see what you do next!
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #297: Frustrated Incorporated HERE!
This year we hosted Thanksgiving for 13 people! 9 adults and 4 kids. I wanted it to be the most flavourful Thanksgiving dinner possible with the least amount of work! Because we were running the hockey pool before dinner I knew I would not have time to spend over the stove so I picked dishes that we could make ahead of time and reheat!
Bacon Mac and Cheese
Adapted from Spaceships and Laser Beams
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 pack bacon, cooked and crumbled, divided
16 ounces pasta, cooked according to package directions
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded & divided
1 cup mild cheddar cheese, shredded & divided
1 cupmozzarella cheese, shredded & divided
½ cup panko bread crumbs
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Peep the pasta pot! This pot is AMAZING! You can get it HERE!
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
In a medium saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of flour.
Slowly add 2 cups of milk to the saucepan, stirring constantly.
Reduce the heat to low and and whisk periodically until sauce has thickened.
Add the ½ cup of each of the grated cheeses. Stir until melted and smooth.
Remove from heat. Fold in the cooked macaroni pasta and bacon, reserve and set aside ¼ cup of bacon crumbles. Mix until well coated in the cheese sauce.
Next, coat a 9×13-inch baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour the macaroni and cheese sauce mixture into the pan.
Spread the remaining grated cheeses over the macaroni.
In a small bowl, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add ½ cup of panko bread crumbs and ¼ cup of the reserved bacon. Stir to combine. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the macaroni and cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Adapted from The Cafe Sucre Farine
¼ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 medium clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ tablespoons thyme leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon water
Combine all ingredients in a glass jar or container with a tight-fitting lid. Shake until all ingredients are mixed.
Pomegranate Prosecco Punch
Adapted from Our Salty Kitchen
2 cups pomegranate juice
1 cup orange juice
3/4 cup Cointreau
1 750 ml bottle Prosecco chilled
orange slices for garnish
pomegranate seeds for garnish
mint sprigs for garnish
Combine pomegranate juice, orange juice, and cointreau in a pitcher. Stir until combined. If making in advance, place into the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours.
Fill a rocks glass with ice, then fill glass halfway with pomegranate punch. Top off the remainder of the glass with Prosecco. Garnish with an orange slice, pomegranate seeds, and mint sprig.
Red Velvet Cake
14 ounces sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs room temperature
4 ounces vegetable oil
8 ounces buttermilk, room temperature
1 tablespoons white vinegar
6 ounces unsalted butter, melted but not hot
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon red gel food coloring
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 ounces unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
26 ounces powdered sugar, sifted
Preheat your oven to 335°F and grease three 6” x 2” pans.
Combine the eggs, vegetable oil, buttermilk, vinegar, butter, vanilla, and red food colouring in a medium bowl and set it aside.
Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix on medium speed until the batter is fully incorporated and smooth, scraping the bowl to ensure all the ingredients are evenly mixed.
Divide the cake batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the tops bounce back when lightly touched.
Cool the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then flip them out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Wrap the layers in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to a week. Pro-Tip: Wrapping the cakes while they’re still warm seals in all of the moisture, making them safe to freeze.
Cream Cheese Frosting
Place the softened butter in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on low until it is smooth and lump-free.
Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, mixing on low to avoid throwing powdered sugar out of the bowl.
Add the vanilla extract and salt. A traditional vanilla flavour from vanilla extract goes well with cream cheese.
Place the first chilled cake layer on a cake stand, add a large scoop of cream cheese frosting, and spread evenly across the cake layer. A chilled cake will be easier to frost with the cream cheese frosting.
Place the second layer of cake on top and repeat the filling and layering process.
Frost the exterior of the cake with a crumb coat to lock in those red crumbs. Chill the cake for a few minutes before applying the final coat.
Apply enough cream cheese frosting to cover the outside of the cake evenly.
I am so thankful. For everything that my life has given me. I am thankful to be surrounded by family. I am thankful to have wonderful friends. I am thankful for the food that we eat together, the laughs that we share, and for having had such a fantastic weekend. I am thankful for Ninja who woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning and cleaned up copious amounts of vomit only to turn around and go to work all day and then drive to Kelowna to pick up my Sister’s dog who ALSO vomited on the drive home! Thank you Ninja for loving my family as much as you love yours 💛. Happy birthday Kari and Dad! I love you both very much and I am so very thankful for you both.
