Kitty Deschanel

In keeping with the theme of the last 5 months, which deserves a depressing blog post of its own, I expected this Thanksgiving would be a disaster. A depressed person does not make a great party host. Still, we borrowed tables and chairs and made plans for a large family gathering. Menus were printed. I bought these plates on clearance at Macy's last year. Aren't they delightful? The little pumpkins are from Cost Plus World Market. This year, the menu doubled as a place card. (Side note: I put extras aside for next year...and just now realized they say 2019. Whoops!) Keeping an eye on the news, it seemed many people across the country were having their holiday plans affected by storms. We were no exception. Half of our overnight guests arrived. SN's parents were able to make it through the wintry weather but his brother and our sister-in-law had to cancel. The drive from Nebraska was too treacherous.  As far as an excessively wiggly Olive was co

Hello, my bloggy friends. I have a HelloFresh complaint and believe they are pulling a scam. Yours truly came *this close* to falling for it.  Maybe scam is too harsh of a word. Sneaky? You can decide for yourself. The fact that there are so many Hello Fresh complaints online does seem suspicious. Update:  Google is totally filling my site with Hello Fresh ads now, ugh. Also, since posting this  Hello Fresh complaints  article yesterday, I've already received this message from a reader: "I did order from Hello Fresh previously and was not charged what I was originally told (or thought I was told). Also, the food from them was anything but fresh and they refused to do a refund, only doing credit - even for the overcharges! So basically I ended up being out of money thanks to them." My main complaint about Hello Fresh has to do with their promotional rate, which seems like it is set up to be intentionally misleading (more on this below). Despite so many people complainin

My husband thinks I'm crazy for having two Instant Pots. (If you've watched my Instant Pot explosion video, you may agree.) With a large crowd for Thanksgiving this year, including a pregnant vegan (!), I've been researching the best Thanksgiving recipes that can be cooked in an Instant Pot . From turkey to pumpkin pie, it seems there is nothing the Instant Pot can't handle. So my husband is right that my growing Instant Pot collection makes me crazy - crazy like a fox. Instant Pot Recipes for Holidays You don't want to take the chance of having a Thanksgiving disaster when serving guests, so I have strict rules for a recipe to be included in this compilation: the dish must have at least a 4.5-star rating and a minimum of 30 reviews. We're going to be eating well during this year's game of Thanksgiving Bingo ! Most of these holiday recipes can be made in advance. If you don't have an Instant Pot, put one on your Black Friday shopping list

Three years into hosting Thanksgiving, SN and I have learned a few strategies for making the holiday meal (and the time spent before and after the meal because, let's face it, there's a lot more to a family gathering than just the meal) a success. I print elegant menus like the ones at my favorite restaurant . I print funny and interesting food-related quotes and facts, which I scatter along the table. (Julia Child has some great ones. “Always remember: If you’re alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who’s going to know?”) My most popular Thanksgiving printable has to be Thanksgiving Bingo cards. Featuring gems such as "Was part of a prolonged awkward silence," "Played bartender," and "Forgot someone's name," it's the perfect conversation starter. The first person to complete their card wins a prize. When the table has been set, I place a Bingo card on each plate, accompanied by a little pencil.