Harvest Fruit Salad: Give Thanks

Today I am over at Whatever DeeDee Wants for her Give Thanks series sharing a recipe for Harvest Fruit Salad. This salad is an awesome and easy side to add to your Thanksgiving meal.

Head on over say hi and check it out.

Thanksgiving Thank You Card Printable

Saying thank you is always a good idea. 

I will let you know a little secret...I am pretty lame at writing thank you cards. I really want to get better. I want to make a better effort. I also want to teach those Little Men of mine to learn the gentlemanly art of writing thank you notes...you know Mr. Darcy like.

After all, we could use more Mr. Darcys in the world. Since I have four future Mr. Darcys I figure I should start working on it now.

Plus with it being Thanksgiving and all, I figured it would be an even better time to write out thank you notes.

I wanted to make some Thanksgiving color themed thank you cards.

I went over to PicMonkey and played around and made a couple of of cards. 

I wanted the backs to be just as cute as the fronts.

I can't decided which card is my favorite. I do love the back of this one.

I printed off the cards and cut them out. Then I sat my boys down and talked about who we were thankful for and why we were thankful for them.

Then we wrote out notes.

Sometimes the thank you was a simple little drawing.

I have put all the cards into a pdf and made them available to download.

Download Cards

Download and then print off the cards onto cardstock. Then cut out the cards, trimming the edges to about 4 1/2" by 7". Fold in half. Stack up. Get some matching envelopes (I couldn't find any in the right size, but I had to have this color).

Now you have a stack of cards. I also think this could be cute to set at each dinner plate on Thanksgiving day. Everyone could write a note of thanks before they eat some delightful turkey and stuffing.

Happy Friday Friends!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread with Cinnamon Glaze

Oh people.

Mercy me.

I really should stop making this bread. I say to myself, "Self, quit making this bread...aka quit eating this bread!"

Then I think, "I just have to. I mean it is pumpkin season. I only have a few more weeks to inundate my life with pumpkin in everything!"

How can you argue with that reasoning? You can't my friends, you just can't.

I am aware I have been both a little pumpkin and quick bread heavy this year. I explained my quick bread fascination last week when I shared a recipe for Double Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, so I won't go into it again. The pumpkin...well I think you know the pumpkin situation from the above completely normal conversation between myself and myself.

We made this for the first time for a party. I am not sure why I do that. That is why I use a recipe for the first time when I am taking it somewhere OR worse yet having someone over.

I mean if you take it to a party this is always other food to bail your food out if it is a disaster. Plus, if there are enough people no one has to know that you brought the sad little dish no on is eating.

However, if you are loony enough to make a brand new recipe on a day when someone is coming to dinner, then well you might be me. I mean there is absolutely no buffer. You can't blame it on anyone else. There is no other dish to bail your dish out. Then of course you have the repercussion of people joining a "Don't Go to Their House for Dinner" Club.

Good news though, it worked out for me this time.

The pumpkin flavor in the bread was perfect. Then who doesn't like cheesecake? Not this girl. I have made this bread with nuts and without. I personally prefer with the nuts, but Hubby prefers no nuts.

The kicker on this bread would be the cinnamon glaze. Woot!

Overall, um yes please. Loved it. Love it. I will probably make it ten one more time(s) before Fall is officially over.

If you are like me and are trying to squeeze in every bit of pumpkin baking you can before Winter, then I would think this would be a good recipe to put on your list. I would go ahead and trust me on this.

So yummy.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread with Cinnamon Glaze 
Nancy Creative

Print Recipe

Filling:
1-8 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bread:
1 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (I have done either, both are good)

Cinnamon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons half & half
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Garnish- 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour two 8" loaf pans. In one bowl, combine the filling ingredients. Beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside. In another bigger bowl, blend the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg and set aside. In another bowl (yes another one), combine the pumpkin, oil, eggs, and sugar. Mix well. Then stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture until combined. Fold in the nuts.

Pour half of the pumpkin bread batter equally into two pans. Then spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over both. Now spoon over the rest of the pumpkin batter over each loaf. With a knife stuck just in the top layer of pumpkin and the cheesecake layer, swirl the layers around to marble the top part of the bread.

Bake for 55-60 minutes, when a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pans for 10 minutes. Then remove to a rack. Let them cool a little bit more while you make the glaze. Mix the powdered sugar and half & half. Then stir in the cinnamon. It should be a glaze consistency.

Pour evenly over both loafs with a spoon. Sprinkle the nuts over the top. Let the bread finish cooling.

2012 Family Pictures

Forgive the picture heavy post.

The last time we had someone snap pictures of our family was when Little (who is 3 1/2) had been baking in my belly for only eight weeks.

So three years and one more little man later I think it was about time.

A family friend was more than willing to trade her time and talent for some homemade good treats, mayhaps a sewing lesson, and well...an afternoon of endless entertainment.

Thank you Christina you are the best.

Sorry for those who have already seen these. I just can't help showing of my sweet little family to you.

I know it might seem like a lot of photos, but this is literally a small fraction. I picked some of my favorites.

Thanks for indulging this Momma.

Thanks friends!

Seven Thanksgiving Projects

Thanksgiving is one of my all time favorite holidays. I love the spirit. I love focusing on gratitude. I love gathering together. I love traditions. I love putting together a menu. I love the simply elegance of setting the table for such a holiday. And oh yeah, I love turkey, potatoes, and rolls.

I have done a few Thanksgiving projects over the years.

I thought I would share them with you today. I have seven projects to show you that range in time needed to complete them. Several can be done with your kiddos. Some are for your Thanksgiving table. Then there are a few just for the house. There is even a hostess gift in there.

I hope you enjoy and that you find one or two things to put on your Thanksgiving project list. I have a few projects still in mind for this year. Hopefully at least one of them will get done.

For now, there are these projects to share with you.

1. Thumbprint Thanksgiving Place Cards

2. Framed Turkey Hand Prints

3. 10 Minute Place Mat Apron: A Hostess Gift

4. Thanks Banner

5. Mayflower Place Setting 

6. Thanks Pennant Banner

7. Simple Thankful Tree

Enjoy!
Thanks for reading!