It Started Like This.....

Thanksgiving-2011! We adore our Thanksgiving traditions with our Olsen Family. We begin like this.......watching the Detroit Lyons football game. Come as your are---pj's, sweatshirts, pillows, blankets, slippers, etc. Touchdown's, you score chocolate delights...YUM! When the opposing team scores....someone draws a slip of paper out of a bowl and we have to do whatever it says on the paper....we ran laps, danced, etc. Always fun.

Table clothe art, after the football game.

Here are the results, before dinner was served buffet style.

My husband drew this around his table setting.

And, he drew this around mine....oh, good. You get a chance to see my dinner. It was so good.

When I cleared my plate from the table, I found this......yep, he is a good catch and all that goes with it.

We adore our traditional desserts. We have divine fudge over to the far left upper corner....can't miss the fabulous chocolate cake.....pies---need I say more? Well, a little more. L to R, coconut cream pie (with a bottom layer of nuts, butter and brown sugar), apple crumble pie, and double layer pumpkin pie (theirs a whip cream, cream cheese, sugar layer hidden beneath the pumpkin). This has to be served buffet style so that you can have a little of each. It is a must!

We then, settle ourselves down into the cozy couches and watch a fun movie to top off our Thanksgiving day.

Love the holiday season. Wonderful memories from Thanksgiving with those near and far....loved all the email, texts, phone calls and conversation from before, during and after the holiday weekend.

Happy days to you and yours! xo

Happy-After-The-Holidays!

Simple Christmas beauty!

Love when my daughter brings home a large Poinsettia from work each year. It is gorgeous.

Sweet little Christmas baby. Such a little doll.

Hauling in the tree from off of our property!

HA! Loving that face.

No matter how old you are, Christmas is still full of surprise, delight, love and warmth.

Such a good time for our family...oh, with a special phone call from our daughter who is serving a mission for our church. So great!

We "still" have only had one good snowstorm this winter season. Just enough snow for tractor sledding.

Good times!

Sorry for the blurrrrrr! But, loved the chance to play tennis a few times.

Jenna held her own against the boys!

And....there had to be time for PIE! Made a graham cracker crust. Can't see it in this picture, but, the sugar sparkled in this crust. It baked up so nicely...very pretty!

Yummy first layer. 4 ounces cream cheese, 1 T sugar, 1 T milk. Mix with a wire whisk until smooth. Then, add in 1 and 1/2 cup of cool whip. Pour and spread onto crust.

Next, mix together 1 cup milk, 1 can 16 ounces canned pumpkin, 2 boxes (4 serving size) of instant vanilla pudding and pie filling, 1 t ground cinnamon, 1/2 t ground ginger, and 1/4 t ground cloves ( or I use 2 t of pumpkin spice).

Put in fridge for a good 4 hours before serving....if you can wait that long-ha! Doesn't always happen that way at our house. So delicious.

More holiday happenings and fun to come. Was such a nice 2 weeks for us all!

Happy 2011 to us all!

Let's Make PIE!!!!!!

Double Layer-Whipped Pumpkin Pie

Wanted to share this wonderful recipe with you all today. It has been my daughter, Kristen's, favorite Thanksgiving Day pie for...hmmmmmm.., well, around 17 years. It is really something and makes up so easy.

Sorry I do not have a picture to show, but, we won't be making and baking our pies until tomorrow evening. Thought to post this just in case any of you are looking for a traditional pie, with a new twist. Friends who are not big fans of pumpkin pie, will actually eat this. It is a winner.

Here we go....

Using a wire whisk and large bowl, mix 4 ounces of softened cream cheese, 1 Tablespoon milk (or 1/2 and 1/2), and 1 Tablespoon sugar, until nice and smooth. Gently, stir in 1 and 1/2 cup of thawed Cool Whip. In a pre-baked pie crust, that has been cooled, spread this layer onto the bottom of your pie crust.

Next......

In a bowl, pour 1 cup cold milk, 1 can (16 ounces---or 2 cups) plain pumpkin, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves...mix. Now a little fun...use 2 packages Jell-o Vanilla Instant pudding (the 4 serving size boxes). Mix all this together, still using a wire whisk. This all gets nice and thick. Spread this over cream cheese, etc. layer. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

Hope some of you will be able to give this wonderful pie a try. It is well worth the effort.

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