East Meets South: November 2014

This year Lucy and I, and a group of our college friends that still live locally celebrated the official 2nd Annual Friendsgiving. It's a tradition that many people around the country are embracing, though how it took off remains a mystery. I figured there must have been some sort of sitcom origin, but apparently Friendsgiving just kind of happened organically. And why not get the chance to eat incredible food more than just once a year? Celebrating with friends for one meal and family for another means double the wholesome goodness of sweet potato casserole and stuffing, and plenty of opportunities to try out those Pinterest recipes you've been hoarding up all year.

This turkey, provided by our wonderful host, Alison, was everything you can imagine. Bacon saturated goodness. It honestly didn't even need gravy, which is praise you can't often give to turkey. I'm avoiding cooking turkey for Thanksgiving again this year (waay too much responsibility) but in my brief online investigations it seems the key to great turkey is a healthy use of butter and cutting a few slits in the skin of the breast with these bacon weaves over the top to let the bacon juices seep into the turkey as it cooks. Plus a leftover turkey and bacon sandwich makes for an even better Black Friday meal.

Whenever I need to cook for a lot of people and can't risk spectacular failure (I'm very much still learning my way around the kitchen still), I turn to the best safety net of cooking on the internet -- the Pioneer Woman. Her recipes are pretty much fail-proof in my experience because she uses simple ingredients and a ton of butter (which makes everything taste better, even if it slightly overcooked). This year I opted for her Smashed Potatoes recipe and it was both easy to make and delicious.

Ingredients:

5-10 small red potatoes (I used 10 because we have a large group)
8-10 strips of bacon
1 stick of butter
2 whole green onions, sliced
3/4 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 French Fried Onions

Directions:

1. Cook your potatoes, either in the oven or with a microwave zap depending on the amount of time or other things you have to do.
2. When your potatoes are close to being done in the oven, or while you are microwaving, fry your bacon in a pan until crispy, then remove and set aside on a paper towel to soak up excess grease.
3. In a large bowl, take your freshly cooked potatoes (peelings still on!) and begin smashing with a potato smasher until you have a good consistency. Chunky is good here for extra-heartiness.
4. Cut your stick of butter into a few slices and soften in the microwave (just a few seconds will usually do), then fold into your potato mixture.
5. Slice up your 2 whole green onions into small slices and then add to mixture.
6. Crumble your bacon strips and stir them in.
7. Add sour cream, salt, and pepper to taste. Taste away -- it will be hard to resist.
8. Add you french fried onions last so that they retain their crispiness! Serve hot and enjoy.

The final product from the Pioneer Woman -- she is a much better food photographer than I am! via

So after all of your cooking and subsequent eating, the best part of Friendsgiving is that you are hanging out with your friends of course. In our case, that means a lot of fireside wine to be enjoyed.

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Do you have any Friendsgiving traditions that you would like to share? Please leave a comment with any recipes or advice you have to make next year even better!

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Decorating for Thanksgiving

decor 6:00 AM

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Pajama Party

Christmas gift ideas 7:00 AM

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Hanging around the house with nothing to do and nowhere to be is one of my favorite hobbies. When you don't get to enjoy those moments often (I don't think most people have the luxury of boredom in today's world), being bored is this almost nirvana-like state of mind. If I can get that peaceful and quiet feeling, I like to live in it as long as possible. Long intro for one simple truth- I love button down pajama sets because they make me feel like my life is leisurely.

You remember this, right? via

Maybe it all started in my America Girl days, where the catalog always showed a happy little girl holding her Molly doll with matching red striped PJs. They put that image in every magazine that came out year round, but it just felt so quintessentially Christmas to my little girl's mind that I began associating red striped pajamas with Christmas, and thus with how Christmas makes you feel as a young child. Full of love and cookies and movie marathons on the couch with hot chocolate. Who here wouldn't want to rekindle those feelings, even as a grown woman?

Jess from New Girl has amazing pajama style if you watch regularly.
Also she looks a lot like Molly if she had been a real person and grown up. Which really
completes the pajama circle here, right? via

Well lucky for you, pajama sets aren't just for Molly dolls and your grandmother. They have been coming back with a vengeance thanks to fashion bloggers who like to photograph themselves drinking coffee with a table spread of gold knick knacks and magazines around them. "Just enjoying coffee in my expensive satin PJ's and loving life, guys." Yes, these images are the reason I bought my first set of satin pajamas earlier this fall. And I love them and feel both comfortable and so chic whenever I wear them.

I have to say I am really thrilled with my original pajama purchase: these Morgan Taylor satin pajamas from Macy's (I got the solid navy but I think those floral ones are great too!) They are priced great at under $35, and despite the affordable price tag, they are exceeding expectations (lots of wear and no signs of destruction).

Want to explore the world of pajamas available? From classic Ralph Lauren plaids to satin florals, I've put together a few options for you to explore for your future Christmas gifting plans.

Shop this post via the links below. Most items are on sale right now, so don't miss out if you are looking for pajamas this year!