Thanksgiving Mantel

We love Thanksgiving in this house! We never skip over the poor little holiday. There is plenty of time to enjoy Christmas so we take all of November to celebrate Thanksgiving (and my birthday, whoop whoop!). This Thanksgiving is the first in our new home so we actually have a fireplace and mantel to decorate.
J and I took the dogs for our usual hike through the woods and I couldn't help but get so excited with all of the beautiful fall colors. So I snagged a leaf or twenty two (haha!) and put them in some frames that I had around the house. I also saw some of the largest acorns I have ever seen so of course I started hoarding them in my pockets with my mantel in mind. Jimbo helped out too because he loves me even though I'm ridiculous :)
I also made a framed "Thankful" sign. I just used a frame I already had, some burlap, stencils, and red paint. It's simple, but cute. Everything else I already owned so this project was really cheap! Here is my simple and "thankful" mantel!

Sorry for the poor lighting. I'm only home when it's dark outside haha! I just love this mantel because it includes things from our first fall here in North Carolina in our new home. I can't wait to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families!

Charlotte, North Carolina

A few weekends ago we traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to meet up with Janette for the day! It is such a beautiful, clean city and we enjoyed walking the streets on the cool Fall day. It was absolutely beautiful out!

I know that this picture is blurry, but it's blurry because that silver SUV cut me off and almost killed us! haha!

When researching things to do in Charlotte, I found this grand opening of a restaurant that I thought would be fun to check out. The place is called American Roadside and they sell burgers. The food wasn't anything spectacular, but it was a nice atmosphere. There was a band playing and they had old cars and some motorcycles out front, which was fun for us to look at and dream about having!! 

Here are some views of the city:

Florida Represented!!

We also went to the Museum of Modern Art:

We saw our first protest as part of the "Occupy Wall Street":

It was an amazing day trip. And we even had fun on the drive home. We took a detour because of traffic and ended up going down some really pretty country roads. I love fall! I have never experienced fall as I have living here in North Carolina. It is truly amazing!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

You will need:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup ranch

1/2 cup buffalo sauce (any brand)

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cans (12.5 oz. each) white chicken breast, drained

Heat oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.

Mix in salad dressing, buffalo sauce, cheese, and chicken.

Bake 30 min. I wait until the entire dip is bubbling so it's nice and hot all the way through.

Delicious Pork Chops

Now that I have your mouth watering, I'll introduce you to this amazing recipe. It is inspired by Paula Deen's "Farmer's Pork Chops." You will need:

8 potatoes
1/2 onion
salt and pepper, to taste

White sauce
8 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 -2 teaspoon salt
1/2-3/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups whole milk

Chops
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons Lawry's Seasoned Salt
8 pork chops
1/3 cup vegetable oil

First, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Then, slice potatoes 1/4 inch thick. Put them in a bowl and cover them with cold water; put them to the side. 

Slice onion into thin slices and then cut them in half.

Grease a casserole dish (13x9inch dish) with butter (it is a Paula Deen recipe). Drain potatoes and layer half of them in the bottom of the casserole dish. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of potatoes in casserole dish. Layer half of the cut onions on top of the potatoes. 

Repeat process with remaining potatoes and onions. Cover potatoes and onions with white sauce (directions for white sauce below).

For the white sauce, melt the stick of butter (more butter for Paula) and then remove from heat.

Add flour, salt and pepper. Return to heat (medium) and stir constantly. The mixture will be bubbly and as you stir constantly it will become a gravy-like consistency.

Add milk one cup at a time, while still stirring. Bring to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1-2 minutes. Then let the sauce stand for 1-2 minutes to thicken up.

Cover potatoes and onions with white sauce.

Now you can either cover the dish with plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes or bake uncovered for 15 minutes. I bake it since the oven is already on and I still have to start the pork chops so I use the 15 minutes to do the chops. 

Mix the flour and seasoned salt in a shallow dish. Take each pork chop and lay it in the flour mixture. Completely cover both sides of chops. Heat vegetable oil and lightly fry each side of each chop. (I don't have any pictures of this step since Jimbo came home and started taking over trying to help haha!) Don't cook the chops all the way through since they will have time to cook in the oven. Remove chops from frying pan and put them directly on top of the potatoes in the casserole dish. Bake for 45-60 minutes (if you can wait that long!!).

Phew! That's it! It sounds like a lot of steps, but it really isn't complicated. It is all worth it because this recipe is so delicious! Enjoy!!