Happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Weekend!

Well, as you can tell, I've been really slack about posting over the holiday!  We've been busy, busy, busy!  But enjoying some time with family and friends. 

Did you hit up the stores for some Black Friday deals?  We did a little shopping.  Ryan and I actually hit Big Lots at 8:00 a.m.... only to find out that the deal we wanted didn't actually start until SATURDAY.  Oops.  Later on, I headed out with my mom, sister, and Sadie.  I did find a few goodies, but I can't share, because most of them are Christmas Gifts!  But I was totally excited to find a set of Spode Christmas Tree Highball Glasses at Marshall's!  I try to add at least one piece to my Spode collection each year.

So this morning I want to share a FABULOUS dessert recipe with you.  One of my favorite holiday desserts is bread pudding.  A few years ago, I was in Nashville and stayed at the Opryland Resort Hotel.  They had this amazing bread pudding with a Jack Daniel's sauce.  I thought about it for weeks and weeks afterwards.  So then I started looking for recipes online.

Sandra Lee, of the Food Network, has some wonderful bread pudding recipes.  I have made her Cinnamon-Raisin Bread Pudding with Cream Soda Sauce several times and LOVE this recipe... especially because it can be made in the crock pot.  But for Thanksgiving this year, I decided to try her Pumpkin and Maple Bread Pudding. 

You can click the link above for the recipe for this dessert.  The only thing I had trouble with was finding the Hard Sauce she mentions.  So I served it with whipped cream intead.  Just mix in a little cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg to make your whipped cream extra special. 

Here's a glance at the finished product...

I also made a big dessert tray with pumpkin mini-pies, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls, and Butterscotch-Oatmeal Cookie Dough Balls. 

The mini pie idea came from Hero Cake Pops.  Remember the day before Thanksgiving when I made those little pumpkin pie lollipops?  Well, I used that same batter for the mini pies.  So cute and delicious!

And the cookie dough balls came from my friend Diana.  Here is a link to both recipes.
--Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookie Dough Balls
--Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls
Diana has great detailed directions and photos to help you along the way.  I overcooked these twice, so I learned that these need to cook for 10 minutes in my oven and NO longer.  Otherwise, the inside doesn't taste like dough, but like dry cookie!

One of the most fun parts of Thanksgiving was watching Sadie and her cousins play in this enormous pile of leaves my father-in-law raked up for them.  They were in heaven!

Today we're having a few more fun family outings.  Hope you are yours had a wonderful holiday!