Happy Thanksgiving

Wow..... did we eat a lot?! And the more we ate, the more we ate.... why does this happen?

We had a great visit with Danny's family in their beautiful Sierra Home. They have some fabulous cooks in that family and the quantity of food never ceases to amaze me. Tom, a cousin, and his wife recently visited Italy and he shared a simple but tasty veggie recipe with us, that I want to share.

Sicilian Carrots


Nonstick olive oil spray
2 lbs
32oz Peeled baby carrots or regular carrots - thinly sliced
1/4 cup Extra-virgin olive oil - divided
1/4 cup Dried cranberries
3 tablespoons Pine nuts
9 tablespoons Basil leaves - cut julienne strips (medium)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Recipe Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Coat two large roasting pans with olive oil spray. Arrange carrots in a single layer on the pans, mixing with 2 tablespoons of oil. Bake the carrots for 30 to 40 minutes, occasionally stirring them so they don't burn. They should become soft and start to brown. Remove and let cool.
In a bowl, mix carrots with cranberries, pine nuts, basil and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil; refrigerate overnight.
To serve, let return to room temperature. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

We caught up with allot of old acquaintances and met some new realities too. We mourned one that passed on since last year, and we fear that our brother-in-law may not be with us next year. We also celebrated a 6 week old with bright auburn hair:) Such are family gatherings.... circle of life.

The teenagers took a jeep ride up to Bald mountain last night to see the valley from a lookout spot. The night was abit foggy to see, but, it was fun for them.

We hope and pray you had a blessed time with friends and family.

The Rescuer

Our 16 year old, Danielle, is quite the dog lover. She went to Walgreens for something and saw a dog crossing a busy street. She watched him carefully, then followed him to the parking lot of Me N Eds Pizza. Well, the dog found the trashcan and was quite content. But, Danielle noticed it had a cute Halloween collar, and thought, "this is no stray." She called for him, and when she opened the back of her suv he jumped right in.

Danny and I had just gotten home from dinner following his golf game. When she drove up with that look of concern on her face. She told us the story, and when she opened up the trunk out jumps this small 'horse'. oh my! that's a big dog. He was very gentle and calmly walked up to us looking for 'loves.'

She knew this dog had to belong to someone, so we immediately talked about how to contact the owners. Well, with no dog tags, just that cute collar with bells, there was no way to know who's dog this was. The weather had been a little rough lately, so we imagined he got spooked either from the Halloweenish night, or the thunder.

The next morning, we put signs around the area where she found him. That was all we could do since it was Sunday.

He got along wonderfully with our 2 dogs, even liked the cats. He wanted to be in the house, and went to the door when he needed out. So, we didn't have any house training issues, he just eats and drinks a lot.
Well, not until Tuesday did Danny finally realize that this dog seemed familiar for a reason. He knows who's dog it is..... our friend, Ray, who does home repair, and takes his 2 dogs with him. In fact, these dogs are so well behaved they walk around Home Depot during his shop. So, we gave Ray a call, and he was so happy to know his dog was safe.