Frying Up Some Thanks

I sort of lucked out with this week's starter topic: Thanksgiving Break. For a lot of people Thanksgiving is synonymous with turkey, mashed potatoes, naps on the couch and football. In my family - not so much. Growing up, holidays tended to be a bit more formal for us. Dresses with tights kind of formal. ...and no football - which is pretty much sacrilege in Dallas since I'm pretty sure the Cowboys patented the Thanksgiving Day game.

So, now that I have my own little family I'm excited to start a few of our own traditions. The first being Thanksgiving dinner at our sweet little house in the O.C.  Potatoes will be mashed. Football will definitely be watched. Turkey might even be fried.

I'm also excited about making the house a little more festive for the occasion. This caught my eye earlier today from At Second Street:

image source: At Second Street

I love the fact that we have a mantle and I really haven't dressed it up for anything as of yet. This banner (instructions here) seems like a nice touch and should (fingers crossed) detract from the 52" flat screen looming above it. Though a few pumpkins, pilgrims and leaves might help.

Oh - and about the turkey. Word on the street is that frying is not as much of a hazard as I once thought. [Of course Diet Coke and Mentos once seemed pretty innocuous, too.] So it looks like the fam and I will be off to purchase a turkey frying kit at some point tomorrow. Or maybe we go with this guy from Amazon:

Bayou Classic Turkey Frying Kit

If we do go the frying route, we are definitely getting one of these, below. Moving forward, I will demand that all of my meals be injected with flavor.

Is it wrong to inject the turkey with bacon flavor?

Maybe it might be best to buy a spare turkey? A test bird, if you will. We shall see how this all unfolds.

Is this thing on?

The thing about blogging is that one should try to make it a habit. Otherwise....well. I think the date of my last post is a little telling. I can't say this is surprising from someone with a bookcase peppered with half-finished journals. This time, though, I think I have a pretty valid reason:

Pacifier not to scale

Meet Will. Will was due to arrive in May of 2010 - Mother's Day to be exact. Except that's not at all what happened. This little guy decided to drop in early on April 17, 2010 at 6:22 p.m. For the two of you reading this (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!) you know the story well, so I won't recount all the details. I'll just say that - despite the small schedule change - it was an awesome experience that I'll be happy to relive again when the time is right.

For those of you doing the math I'll save you some time - Will is now just shy of his 7 month "birthday" and sweeter than ever.

Sweet kicks

As for the blog - I'm giving myself an assignment:

• One post every week for 6 weeks
• Topic starter - whatever's trending on Twitter for Dallas on Friday nights*

...but for now, I leave you with my latest obsession. Like everybody says - it's exactly what it sounds like - damnyouautocorrect.com

*...because I will be home to check it, peeps. At like 7:30. After eating a somewhat balanced dinner and putting my baby to bed. Parenthood - word.

Snow Day!

Yes, I'm blogging about the weather. It's noteworthy, though. We just don't get snow like this in Dallas. Well, until now. Check out this accumulation - it's got to be a solid 5 inches at least!

Now for the un-fun aspect of snow-slick roads in an area of the country more prone to flooding and Indian summers. This is my car parked on the street because I couldn't get back up the driveway.

 

...and this is my car after being hit while parked on the street because I couldn't get back up the driveway.

...but it could always be worse.

Family Heirlooms

With our first baby due in May of this year I'm really anxious to eat better food and make more conscious shopping choices about food. Here's a sampling of my recent reading list, which should give you an idea of what I mean:

• The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver and 
• Real Food for Mother and Baby, by Nina Planck
  

I was lucky enough to grow up with a fairly substantial vegetable garden in the backyard for at least part of my life and I vowed to give it a go once we finally had a backyard to call our own. After pouring over seed catalogs for the past three months I knew I'd hit paydirt when this arrived in the mail:

This is the latest catalog from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds based in Mansfield, MO.  The catalog is beautiful and the accurate and quirky descriptions make selecting seeds so much fun. On top of that, not a single seed varietal comes from Monsanto or ConAgra - not even the corn!! My two favorite picks? Moon & Stars watermelons and Royal Hillbilly tomatoes.

Last night I started my seeds indoors in hopes of growing transplants for this spring. I'll post updates as things start to sprout. My plan is to do raised beds and I'm considering the Square Foot Gardening method per Mel Bartholomew. I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried it (especially in Texas).

Last but not least, even the seed packets look pretty!! Wish me luck...

Walk of Fame

Welcome to House on Hollywood. We're a laid back couple that just happened to do things in a fairly traditional way. First came love back in the hallowed hallways of North Texas University. Then came marriage in April of 2008. The baby carriage is set to arrive in May of 2010.

Follow us as we navigate the land of DIY home renovations and repairs that go hand in hand with being the proud new owners of a 1925 Tudor on Hollywood Avenue in Dallas, TX. Our plans for the next few months include a nursery design and trying our hand at raised bed vegetable gardening. This all promises to get a little ridiculous as I get more and more pregnant. Hey, at least I was persuaded to forgo the backyard chicken coop...that is for now.