Leona Lane

PHOTO FRIDAY | HOMEMADE

Hopefully all of you had a fantastic Thanksgiving and are enjoying a wonderful, relaxing Friday. We don't have any plans for shopping, so Matt & I will be lounging around the house eating leftovers and watching Apple Cup.

Our photo prompt for this week is "homemade"... perfect for Thanksgiving, yes? In my photo you will see my homemade stuffing and cranberry sauce, which were my contributions to our family Thanksgiving. I already mentioned I was making this on Monday, but thought I would report that this recipe turned out AMAZING. Everyone loved it.

Here is Renae's photo - I finally got a picture of the crescent rolls baked and ready to eat! They were delicious and super puffy today! Turned out perfect, plus I swear, everything tastes better at Grandma's house!

And here is Sarah's photo - Per tradition, Renae, Rachel and I got together on Wednesday and whipped up four pumpkins, 2 apples, and a blueberry pie. And the above mentioned crescent rolls. Well, I made pumpkin filling, and they did the rest. But I must say, they turned out pretty darn well! 

We love to see everyone's photos each Friday on Instagram! Feel free to take a photo of something homemade (can be anything!!) and upload it using the #photofridaywithleonalane. Enjoy the weekend!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving is here! From all of us here at Leona Lane, we hope you have a wonderful day filled with family and friends, and eat LOTS of good food! We're so thankful for you, our readers! There is definitely always something to be thankful for!

This chalkboard was inspired by this printable!

Renae's House Tour - Part I

Today, we're excited to be sharing some pictures of my new place! As most of you probably know, Joe and I moved from my hometown this summer to Seattle. We lived with family for awhile and then found a lovely little house to rent this fall that is closer to work. It's been nice having our own place again and we've been enjoying getting back into a routine.

We've been unpacking and organizing since September when we moved in, along with the help of my folks (thanks Mom and Dad)!! We've been feeling so grateful for our families this year, we literally couldn't have pulled it off without them. The place is finally feeling like home - the boxes are to a minimum, as well as all the unsorted piles! Yay!!  

When we found this place we were sold on the outdoor space for the cat (and us), the open floor plan, Joe was pumped about the gas stove, and I was excited about the fireplace and all the windows! It's just right for us.

Our main living area is one big open space. Right inside the front door we have some hooks for purses, aprons, and extra coats. A little shelf for odds & ends, spare keys, sunglasses, outgoing mail, etc. And a thrifted green trunk below to coral extra shoes. 

To the left side of the door is our living room, we have a little gas insert fireplace that is cozy and helps keeps the house extra warm - which is great since I'm super cold blooded. I keep my records and record player on the mantle along with some vintage cameras and candlesticks from my Grandma.

The barcart is a another more recent find that balances out that corner of the room and frees up some kitchen cupboard space. The ocean painting and old frame I had in our last house. It's nice to have pieces of our old place with us, reminds me of all the good memories from our first house.

On the right side of the door is the little dining nook and our kitchen. Joe is super stoked to finally have a gas stove and we both love the open floor plan. It's hard to tell in the picture but the kitchen is a really soft sea green with a clearish glass tile back-splash! We do a lot of cooking and baking, so we're grateful to have a decent sized kitchen! Hanging light tutorial here

We've been trying to keep the counters clear for the most part but we do have a few bulk canisters out, as a well as some spices and olive oil next to the stove. Most of my airplants live over the kitchen sink, but they're slowly spreading to the rest of the house. I can't believe these little guys have been alive since February! 

And one more from this side. The hammock chair is my fav! It's getting way more attention than it ever did on my back porch. Possibly the most comfy seat in the house :) Hope you enjoyed Part One of my house tour!

 

A Pinterest Thanksgiving

Only two days until Turkey Day! I work tonight, then I'm planning on spending some quality time with Renae and Rachel making lots of pies and rolls tomorrow. Then even more family time on Thursday, I just can't wait! I love Thanksgiving so much! It of course really won't ever be the same without Grandma, but this year we're celebrating at her house again, and it is going to be oh so bittersweet! 

Today I thought I'd share with you my 'Pinterest Thanksgiving.' Basically, if I had a huge kitchen, and all the time, kitchen gadgets, and skills in the world, I'd cook this up! But, alas, I don't. But a girl can pretend, right? :)

For starters, Turkey! It's not Thanksgiving without a turkey. Now I have never made a turkey, and I don't know how well it would turn out... So for now, I'll leave that to the older and wiser family members. But don't these turkeys look amazing? This first site has some good tips on 'what to know about turkey cooking.' Goodness knows I could use that!

This second turkey is from A Beautiful Mess, one of the blogs the three of us follow! Someday I'll cook a turkey as pretty as these ones!

For a main dish, Ham is also a delicious choice! I actually made Nate and I a small ham the other night, and having never made one before, I must say it turned out pretty well! Here's a recipe for Honey Glazed Ham that looks delish!

I'm not a big stuffing person, but this vegetarian recipe caught my eye. Wild and brown rice with apples, pecans, and cranberries... Now that sounds delicious!

And the cranberry sauce... As I get older, I'm developing less of a dislike for all things cranberry... Maybe this year I'll make it my goal to actually have some! I'm loving the sounds of this Cranberry Pear Sauce!

 

This baked risotto from ABM also looks amazing.. maybe I'll whip some up tomorrow! It's got asparagus and rice, therefore its healthy, right?

Of course, our traditional crescent rolls are a must! You can see Renae's post here for the recipe. 

What about dessert? There are SOOOO many options! We usually have a variety of desserts, from pumpkin pie to cheesecake.. Here's a couple that would be fun new ones to try:

Caramel Apple Cheesecake from ABM! Looks super yummy!

Or some Ice Cream Milky Way Brownie pie? Hello. Yesssss please. 

If you're making pies this year, what about adding a little fun to your crusts? I loved the ideas on this website!

If you're looking for more recipes, check out Jenn's Paleo Pumpkin Custard, and Renae's Famous Pie Crust Recipe! I also obsessed over this post from A Beautiful Mess, 40 Thanksgiving Recipes!! I hope you have as much fun preparing Thanksgiving dinner as we will!

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THANKSGIVING PLANS & "PALEO" PUMPKIN CUPS

Just like Renae shared last week, I am so excited for Thanksgiving! It's one of my very favorite holidays. After all, what can be more fun than a holiday centered around tons of food, family, friends and thankfulness? (Oh, and football, of course.)

This year we plan on joing with Matt's family for Thanksgiving. He and his brother are frying a turkey! I am apprehensive and excited at the same time. I am planning to make this bacon & bourban stuffing and will probably make some yummy cranberry sauce from scratch as well. After dinner we are joining with some friends for a dessert-eating event and an ugly-sweater contest! Should be lots of fun, and I will for sure take lots of photos! We wont make her wear an ugly sweater, but Matt wants to find a "First Thanksgiving" onesie for Lucy!

A couple of years ago I was very strict on the Paleo Diet, and I hosted Thanksgiving that year. (Blogged about here.) I learned how to cook a lot of "Paleo" desserts that year and realized that I really liked them. (I use quotation marks because desserts aren't really Paleo...) One of my favorites I found were these Pumpkin Custard Cups. I got the recipe here. I thought I would share the recipe today. I hope to make more of these to take to our dessert-eating event! Enjoy!

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Paleo Pumpkin Custard Cups

Ingredients:

1 can coconut milk
4 large eggs
1/2 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange ramekins in a towel lined 9x13 pan. (Original recipe calls for ten ramekins and two 9x13 pans. I don't have that many, so I improvised with different sizes.) At the same time, boil a full kettle of water.

Heat coconut milk in a saucepan on low, until the milk steams, but not boils.

Whisk together eggs & maple syrup in a large bowl.

Slowly (!!!) add the heated coconut milk into the egg & maple syrup mixture and continue to whisk quite briskly.

Add the pumpkin, vanilla, spices and salt and mix well.

Fill the ramekins half way with the pumpkin mixture and then add the boiling water into the 9x13 pan. Cook for 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

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I totally recommend this recipe, even if you aren't really "Paleo!" I would suggest taking a look at the original website because her photos and instructions are awesome. Also, you will have some leftover pumpkin in your can, and I recommend using it for this recipe. Another "Paleo" favorite!

Notice those boxes of tea in the background? Those are from Trader Joe's. They are both cute & delicious and Matt and I have been loving drinking them lately.

Thanks for looking! Hope you all are as excited as me for this upcoming holiday. :)