Wordless Wednesday ~ Thanksgiving

Creativity at it's best with Mini WEDGiTS Building Blocks ~ Review

I'm a huge fan of toys that inspire creativity.  All three of my kids have a fairly strong love for Legos and all of them loved building different intricate train track layouts with the Thomas the Tank Engine tracks.  As my boys get older, they are now 9 and 6, they build bigger and more impressive Lego creations but they find the plain old building block sets to be a bit boring and "babyish.  I was really excited to discover the smaller sized WEDGiTs for children ages five and up.  We were given the opportunity to try out the Mini WEDGits building blocks Dog Set.  My four year old daughter was the first to explore with the set and had a lovely time making what she calls "Professor Poopy Pants".  Why yes, I'm so proud .... and I'm quite certain that the preschool teachers love our family.... but the process she went through to put this together was quite interesting.  She clearly wanted to be sure she used all of the pieces and she had to play around a bit in order to build what she did.  I was definitely impressed.

The boys loved these.  They had fun building a variety of different things.  It was interesting to see how they experimented with the different pieces...

These blocks kept them busy for a good bit of time.  They created everything from a robot, to a man on fire and the great creation of the day......

~Super Bionic Spider ~

It does not surprise me that WEDGiTS have won a number of Best Toy awards.  They are available in a variety of sizes and I have to confess that I went out and purchased a set of the WEDGiTS To Go for Kat.  The $45 price tag was more than I would normally like to spend on a toy but since this really qualifies as more of a learning tool I felt that the investment was definitely justified.  I liked seeing the kids work with them, and as they all worked independently I could see each of them working through different problems in their minds.  The creativity and confidence building that a toy like this evokes definitely gets it listed in the "feel good" category!

*we were sent The Dog Mini-WEDGiTS for free.  We purchased WEDGiTS To Go

 set on our own.  This post is simply a description of our opinion and experience with the product.  

My Thanksgiving Plans ~ Apres Ski Cocktails from Sandra Lee and a Sweet Serenade by Joshua Bell (GIVEAWAY!!)

What will you be serving at your Thanksgiving table this year?  Even although we'll be snowboarding most of the day this year,  my Mom and I will be pre-preparing a few yummy dishes and a warm cocktail made from Sandra Lee recipes.  I've included excerpts of the recipes and a special treat at the bottom of this post:

Praline Sweet Potato Casserole – Side Dish

Prep 15 minutes Bake 45 minutes Makes 6 servings 

No-stick cooking spray, Pam® 

FOR THE CASSEROLE: 

3 cans (15 ounces each) cut sweet potatoes, drained, Princella® 

3 large eggs, lightly beaten 

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted 

1 can (5-ounce) evaporated milk, Carnation®, or 1⁄4 cup heavy cream 

2 teaspoons lemon juice, Minute Maid® 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, McCormick® 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, McCormick®

FOR THE TOPPING: 

1 cup packed light brown sugar, Domino®/C&H® 

1⁄2 cup all-purpose flour 

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) unsalted cold butter, cut in small pieces 

2 cups finely chopped pecans, Diamond® 

Pecan halves (optional) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with cooking spray; set side. 
2. To make the casserole, in a large mixing bowl, mash the drained sweet potatoes with a potato masher. Stir in the eggs. Add the butter, evaporated milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and pumpkin pie spice; mix until well combined. Spread into the prepared baking pan. 
3. To make the topping, in a medium bowl, combine the sugar and flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture is the size of peas. Stir in the chopped pecans. Sprinkle topping over the casserole. Garnish with pecan halves (optional). Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is browned.

Excerpted from the book, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Weeknight Wonders by Sandra Lee

Copyright © 2009 SLSH Enterprises, Inc. www.sandralee.com 

How yummy and perfectly Apres Ski does this sound?

Cinema Paradiso - Cocktail

Prep 10 minutes Cook 2 hours (Low) Makes 10 drinks 

2 cans (11.5 ounces each) peach nectar 

2 cans (11.5 ounces each) apricot nectar 

1 bag (12-ounce) frozen peach slices 

3 cups water 

1 cup packed light brown sugar 

1 cup bourbon, Bulleit® 

1⁄2 cup lemon juice 

1 teaspoon ground allspice 

2 cinnamon sticks 

Cinnamon stick 

In a 4-quart slow cooker, combine peach nectar, apricot nectar, peach slices, the water, brown sugar, bourbon, lemon juice, allspice, and 2 cinnamon sticks. Cover and heat on Low heat setting for 2 to 3 hours. Discard cinnamon sticks. Turn slow cooker to Warm heat setting. Serve in mugs with additional cinnamon sticks.

Excerpted from the book, Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cocktail Time, by Sandra Lee

Copyright © 2009 SLSH Enterprises, Inc. www.sandralee.com  

*Tip from Sandra: “Re-name your cocktails for a signature touch and serve them in an array of glasses in different shapes and sizes for a glamorous effect.  If you have a special album playing, review your song list and allow the song titles to inspire your cocktails, ie. Peach Cider can be turned into “Cinema Paradiso” to match the beautiful duet of the same name onJoshua Bell’s  new album At Home With Friends. Brilliant!”

If you frequent my blog you know that I am a proud orchestra geek and a big Joshua Bell fan.  I love his new album so much that I'm embedding a pop up audio player right here so that you can come here on Thanksgiving day and enjoy!

Pop Up Audio

You can read my review on Joshua Bell's album here and one lucky reader will win a copy of the album!  To Enter, simply comment and let me know what your plans are for Thanksgiving.
For extra entries you may tweet this:  

Visit @banteringblonde for yummy Sandra Lee Thanksgiving cocktails and Joshua Bell Home with Friends Album giveaway!  http://bit.ly/8bzpcl

Finally, you may also gain extra entries by standing on your head and be thankful for all that you have ;) -just be sure to leave a comment!  Winner will be chosen on Friday November 27th.

Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

"Mama?"

"Yes, baby?"

"You are beeeeootiful.

"AWwww, aren't you sweet?  Thanks baby."

"But Mama?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Why you have chinny chin chin wisker?"

Quotable Sunday ~ Thanksgiving

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy