The Best Thanksgiving Recipes
Some new takes on traditional Thanksgiving fare including a few new vegan recipes, too!
Thanksgiving is coming, and I have been making notes and thinking about our menu this week (on my meal planning pages in The Nice List Christmas Workbook, of course!). A few friends got together and decided to do a recipe exchange, so I have a bunch of great recipes to share with you! Whether you are looking for some new Thanksgiving traditions or need to infuse some excitement into your favorite standbys, here are some wonderful and simple Thanksgiving recipes to make your holiday table particularly special.
Let’s start with dessert — because why not! My family is SERIOUS about pumpkin pie, and I’m probably risking my inheritance, but I’m sharing our incredibly delicious pumpkin pie recipe with you, my friends! Enjoy!
Desserts
The World’s Best Pumpkin Pie
Our family is serious about pie. This is our favorite.
3 Ingredient Pumpkin Fluff
A yummy pumpkin treat from Cait at Cait’s Cozy Corner.
Sweet Potato Pop Tarts
Nicole from Our Robin’s Nest has a new take on a classic.
The Turkey
I will tell you, I always do my turkey following Alton Brown’s brined turkey recipe. I have used it dozens of times, and it never fails. So for all things turkey, trust Alton.
Vegetables
DAIRY FREE GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
a vegan take on a Thanksgiving classic from Jenna of The Urben Life
Sides
Cranberry Fluff Salad with Pineapple
Jen Cowan of And Hattie Makes Three swears by this delicious treat
Sweet Potato Casserole
A vegan version for Team Marshmallow from Nicolle of Our Tiny Nest.
Here’s hoping your holiday is a safe and healthy one!
Make Your Holidays Merrier!
The all-new version of The Nice List is here!
The All-New Nice List is here!
Introducing The Nice List All Year and The Nice List Christmas Workbook!
THE NICE LIST: PAPER EDITIONS
The Nice List includes two separate notebooks:
The Nice List All Year: a gift-giving tracker to last for years to come
The Nice List Christmas Workbook: a planner for the entire Christmas season to keep you organized and help bring a little sanity to your holiday season
Both are available individually or together as a bundle and are designed to be used in a traveler’s notebook or independently.
FREE GIFT WITH PURCHASE:
The Nice List books are designed so that they can be used in a traveler’s notebook -- a simple way to keep them together. For a limited time we will include a FREE handmade, upcycled traveler’s notebook with each purchase of The Nice List Bundle (while supplies last).
THE NICE LIST CHRISTMAS WORKBOOK INCLUDES:
How to Use The Nice List
How to Use The Christmas Workbook
November Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
December Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
Weekly To Do Lists for November and December (undated)
What Sparks Joy for You? Setting priorities for the holiday season
Budgeting worksheets: to establish a budget for your Christmas season — and for each gift, too
Coupons & Codes: tracker for holiday sales and discount codes
Giving Lists: to help you prioritize where you spend your money and on whom
Thoughts on Thoughtful Giving: ideas for gift giving and reducing the stress of the holidays
Thank You Note Tracker
Holiday Card Tracker
Menu Planners
Baking Planners
Shopping Lists
Blank pages for notes and planning
With a little planning and some careful thought before a gift is ever purchased, The Nice List can help you keep Christmas from spinning out of control and help you find the perspective you need. The Nice List helps you set deadlines to avoid high shipping charges and has a tool for tracking all of those promo codes and sale codes that start to flood your email inbox, too.
The Nice List All Year gives you a place to track all of the gifts you give the loved ones in your life -- not just at Christmas time. It is designed to be used for multiple years and can be purchased separately if you have more than 15 people in your life to track.
THE NICE LIST ALL YEAR INCLUDES:
How to use The Nice List
How to use The Nice List All Year
Giving Records for 15 people covering multiple years
The Nice List All Year is also designed to be used by anyone -- not just people who celebrate Christmas. From Hanukkah to Lunar New Year, Kwanzaa to Eid, and birthdays, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and more -- record every gift you give and make notes for coming occasions, too.
Plus, when you use The Nice List All Year year after year, you develop a record of your gift-giving, so you never give the same gift twice!
A BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS PLANNER
Not only is The Nice List a beautiful planner, but it also comes with online tools including an extensive giving guide with gift suggestions in every budget for every person on your list — parents, inlaws, kids, friends, teachers. We have suggestions for them all and exclusive discount codes as well.
I love the Christmas season so much I have written what my husband described as my “love letter to Christmas” — The Nice List!
Order your copy of The Nice List today, and give yourself the gift of a very organized and holiday season!
All-New Version of The Nice List Coming Soon
The Nice List is coming soon — with lots of changes and great updates!
Happy Fall! I hope wherever you are the season’s changes are welcome and rejuvenating. I am delighting in the fact that I am wearing an Owl and Ember sweatshirt as I write this. Did you know we have swag? We do! It’s cute, and cozy!
Owl and Ember gear is available in a wide range of colors and sizes — all sporting our cute little owl of inspiration!
You may be wondering, “What the heck is Owl and Ember?” Let me enlighten you! Owl and Ember is a joint venture with my dear friend, Holly Kennedy. Holly, @messymamaholly, is a graphic designer and creative thinker. We worked together for years when I lived in California, and about 9 months ago, we decided to make good on our long-held promise to “do something together someday.” Right now, Owl and Ember is a small sticker and stationery shop on Etsy, but we have big, big plans! We recently bought a Risograph printer -- a Japanese technology which is perhaps best described as a printing press that silkscreens paper. That’s completely inaccurate, but the end result is yummy, artsy printing on toothy paper and a handcrafted product.
The Owl and Ember owl combines the wisdom of planning with the spark of creativity.
Our first joint venture: the publication of my Christmas planner and journal: The Nice List. We have outsourced the printing of The Nice List for years, but the pandemic made that cost-prohibitive and unpredictable. For 2020, we only produced The Nice List as a digital edition, and we were filled with trepidation as we readied the files for 2021. In fact we were all ready to send them off last summer when it became clear that we needed an alternative.
So in that moment of frustration, we opted for a huge change both in design and in production. We redesigned The Nice List which is now two separate volumes:
The Nice List All Year: a gift-giving tracker to last for years to come
The Nice List Christmas Workbook: a planner for the entire Christmas season to keep you organized and help bring a little sanity to your holiday season
Both are available individually or together as a bundle.
The all-new editions of The Nice List Christmas Workbook and The Nice List All Year
We are so excited about this change, and we hope you are, too! The Nice List will now be available in three different formats: print, digital, and as a printable PDF.
The Nice List is, at its heart, still the same tool for reducing stress and increasing the joy of the holiday season. But if you have used The Nice List before, you’ll notice some key improvements:
Two Notebooks: we divided the functions of The Nice List into two separate volumes.
The Nice List All Year is exclusively gift tracking and is designed to be used for many years. AND you don’t have to celebrate Christmas to use The Nice List All Year -- it is designed for anyone who ever gives gifts!
The Nice List Christmas Workbook is an even better planner for the holiday season. It includes shopping lists and meal planners, gift tracking for one season, gift giving suggestions, a Christmas card list, thank you note tracker, and so much more! You’ll need a new Workbook each year, but they are undated, so they are simple to restock.
More Blank Space: while we loved working with artists to illustrate The Nice List, we learned that many people wanted more blank space. So for those of you who love to add stickers and washi tape, drawings and notes, there’s plenty of room for that. And for those who like a cleaner, clearer page: this is for you, too!
A Traveler’s Notebook Insert: some of you are probably devotees of the traveler’s notebook format already, but if you aren’t, this is one of my favorite new features of The Nice List. The new notebooks can fit into a traveler’s notebook-style cover. So, you can, for example, keep your copy of The Nice List All Year in a cover and then switch out The Nice List Christmas Workbook each year -- or even keep several workbooks together for reference if you want! There’s so much more flexibility now!
Eco-friendly: with our new printing capabilities, The Nice List is now printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks. They are also not being shipped from overseas, so we have dramatically reduced the carbon footprint of our product. Additionally, we are choosing shipping materials with the environment in mind, too. And with the longevity of The Nice List All Year, you’ll be consuming fewer resources as that piece can be used for many years to come. Plus, The Nice List Christmas Workbook is fully recyclable if you desire.
Less Expensive: one of the other advantages to taking our production in-house, is that we can reduce the price of The Nice List. Both The Christmas Workbook and The Nice List All Year will be $10 each with a $20 bundle for a set of two. Additionally, we will be able to offer discounts if you order 3, 5, or more sets of the bundles. That’s good for everyone!
In all, I am thrilled with the newest iteration of The Nice List, and I hope you will love it, too! It is a tool intended to help you find more peace and joy each holiday season while preserving memories and organizing your time as well.
The Nice List will be available to purchase on November 3, 2021 with pre-orders for people on my mailing list starting on October 30!
Plus, we have a free gift for early orders while supplies last. More details on that to come!
So, get ready for the best holiday season yet! And watch for the pre-order information for The Nice List. You don’t want to miss it!
We are Building A Greenhouse! Fall 2021 One Room Challenge
We are building a greenhouse! Join in the fun!
The One Room Challenge is here again, and this time we are building a greenhouse! You can check out all of the details and follow along on the One Room Challenge page. Be sure to sign up for the weekly ORC updates, too!
Thanks to my sponsors for this round!
Update: Our Stock Tank Pool One Year Later
How do we feel about our stock tank pool after a year? Pretty awesome!
As the COVID-19 pandemic began, my husband and I looked ahead at a long, sad, dry summer and decided there was just one thing to do: build a stock tank pool. I’d been angling for one for several years, but he wasn’t convinced it would be enough to satisfy our swimming needs. So here we are more than a year and almost two summers later, and I’m happy to report: a stock tank pool is perfect for us here in Colorado!
Now, having lived in California and Texas and other states with long, hot summers, an in-ground pool is perfect for lots of people. But in the four years that we have lived here in Colorado, we have had snow as late as the last week of May and as early as Labor Day weekend. So… having a big, expensive pool simply doesn’t make much sense for us here.
Our stock tank pool was a very reasonably-priced option — before the price-gouging and supply problems began. I’ve been watching prices, and I see that supplies seem to be easier to find now and prices have come down considerably. Phew! I also have noticed that several people have begun installation businesses in various parts of the country, so if a DIY pool isn’t in your skill set, there are others who can help you. But the DIY option isn’t hard, so don’t be scared of attempting it yourself, either.
So, what did we do differently for year two with our stock tank pool?
Change to a Reusable Filter with Filter Socks
So, first let me say: this pump has exceeded all of my expectations. It has now worked beautifully for two summers, running 24/7 for months on end with no issues. I am really impressed! Last summer I used the disposible, paper-based filters which work very well. But even with washing them out and reusing them over and over again, I was concerned about the waste involved and the fact that they really aren’t recyclable. So when I saw an ad for Orca Filters — “the last filter you’ll ever buy,” I read the reviews and then bought one.
Does it work as well as a paper filter? No. Not without a filter sock. We have had days of cloudy water which we never had with a paper filter. The filter sock helps with this, but it’s not perfect either. However, the filter socks are essentially small stretches of pantyhose material, so they can be washed over and over again rather than being thrown away. I just hose off the Orca Filter every few days, put on a clean filter sock, and all is well. I collect the filter socks together and then throw them into the washing machine
So I would give the Orca a mixed review: it is better than throwing away filters, but it just doesn’t keep the pool as clean and clear.
Expand the Pad Around the Pool
We have an old, cracked concrete pad where a hot tub once stood. The hot tub is long gone, but the pad — located just off of the patio — was a natural spot for the stock tank pool. Last year we placed it on the pad and just enjoyed it. But this year, I wanted to plant around the pool, so once it was scrubbed out and in place, we framed out a bed of gravel around the pool. This serves two purposes: it gave me a place to place the green planters I made, and it also keeps the weeds at bay. With all the splashing that happens in the pool, weeds and grass grow partiucularly well around the pool!
A larger perimeter of gravel, gave me a little more control about what was growing. Less bindweed. More tropical plants. Someday I’ll cover that gravel with a few inches of pea gravel so it is more attractive, but this gravel was free — we have tons of it in the front of our house, so we are working to repurpose it around the house.
Add Barrel Planters
I wanted large planters filled with plants to surround the pool, but large planters are expensive. So I bought some 55 gallon barrels (food grade) on the Facebook Marketplace. They were $16 each, and we made two planters from each barrel. I painted them each a deep green, and filled them with tropical plants!
Tropical Plants: Lots of Them
We live in Colorado. It’s not the tropics — by any stretch! But the pool creates a little microclimate that’s just a bit more humid, and I wanted color and blooms around the pool. So I ordered canna lilies, caladiums, hibiscus, and gladiolus to plant in the new planters around the pool. I wanted to create a little tropical paradise — even if we can’t go to Hawaii. The canna lilies have some nice height to them, too, creating a screen around the pool which, when you are soaking in the pool, provides some privacy.
Build a Cabana for Changing
It might sound crazy, but we are building a cabana next to the pool as a changing room. This will actually fulfill a few functions. First, it will give us a place to change and to rinse off before and after swimming. There will be a small heated shower, too, as well as hooks and a bench for changing. It also gives us a bit more privacy in the pool — blocking off sightlines for our closest neighbors. It will also help to screen the air conditioner and other utilitarian parts of the backyard that no one wants to see when swimming.
Online Summer Camps for Kids 2021
Just because your kids are staying home doesn’t mean they have to be bored. Check out these great summer camps online for kids all the way through high school!
Last summer I found some incredible online summer camps for kids. Bambino had a wonderful summer of activity and learning and fun — all of which allowed my husband and I to have a relatively productive summer, too. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we have decided that online camps are the way to go again this summer, and I’ve found a variety of great places to recommend — some we did last year and some are new!
One of our favorite places to do summer camp has always been at museums. And museums often rely on summer camp admissions to fund their education and outreach programs for the year. So I’m delighted to be able to support some of our favorite museums again this summer!
And a bonus: you can do camps at museums all over the country! Just make sure the times work for your family. I almost registered Bambino for a camp on the East Coast before realizing that it would start at 6 am our time — that would never work for our family, but it might be perfect for yours!
This list isn’t comprehensive, but if you are looking for online camps for your kids, this is a great place to start. Check with the museums in your area (or farther away) to see what they may be offering as well as your favorite:
Universities and colleges
Private schools
Public schools
Arts organizations
Museum & Arts Camps Online
Charles M. Schulz Museum | California
Last year Bambino took several drawing classes at the Charles M. Schulz museum, and they were FABULOUS! He was enthralled and active for hours, giggling and producing super-fun artwork! He particularly loved classes taught by cartoonist Joe Wos who was both entertaining and instructive. I listened in and was truly impressed by both the instruction and the cartoons they produced. Bambino has spent the year since creating his own cartoons, too. It’s been wonderful! The Charles M. Schulz Museum has several offerings again this summer. Just remember: they are in California, so adjust the times as necessary for your timezone!
School of the Art Institute of Chicago | Illinois
You know that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when they are wandering through the museum… THAT’s the Art Institute of Chicago. It’s one of the best art museums in the world, and I suspect their summer of online art camps will be exceptional, too. They have online offerings for kids as young as 4 years old — all the way through high school. They also have adult classes, too. And there’s a Family Camp which I’m really interested in — spend a week doing art with your kids with someone else being in charge!
Met Opera Global Summer Camp | New York
So the Met Opera isn’t technically a museum… but last year they offered a FREE camp all summer! I’m leaving this here in hopes that they will do the same again this year. Each week focuses on a different opera starting with Hansel and Gretel. There are discussion sessions, a craft session led online, and then opportunities to watch the opera. For the budding musician in your home, this is an amazing opportunity! There are two meeting times for different ages, and some of the Met’s stars are coming as guest artists, too.
I want to do this summer camp!!
The Loft | Minnesota
The Loft is a venerated institution in Minnesota dedicated to writing and writers. This summer all of their programming is online, and they have some incredible options for kids all the way through high school. Some of their programs are offered in conjunction with the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, too. So fantastic! Their class list includes creating picture books for young writers and writing ACT essays for high school kids — and everything in between! Oh, and they also have great writing workshops for adults, too!
Joslyn Art Museum | Nebraska
For the second summer, the Joslyn Art Museum is offering some online camps for kids of all ages. Their selection is somewhat limited, but the camps look fantastic, so scurry over to sign up before they are all sold out!
Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts | Pennsylvania
If they didn’t start so early in the morning for us, Bambino would be doing a bunch of these camps! If you are on the East Coast or Central time zone (or if your kids are naturally early birds), PAFA’s offerings are fantastic! Their range of camps for kids 6-14 includes a Disney drawing camp, painting, illustration, and fundamentals of graphic design. PLUS, these are such a value for the money. The camps largely run from 9 am - 3 pm EST and are quite reasonably priced. They even offer a payment plan!
San Jose Museum of Art | California
From their website: “Our campers will get a rare glimpse into working artists' studios for live demos, tutorials, studio tours and Q&As. Artists Diana Al-Hadid, Kathy Aoki, Kathryn Otoshi, Hayal Pozanti, Jason Sturgill, and Imin Yeh will be guest artists during each week of camp! Several of them are featured in SJMA exhibitions, South East North West: New Works from the Collection and Break + Bleed.”
Every week has a different theme, and they have guest artists as well as a STEM consultant who provides an art + science lesson each week. Awesome! Their schedule is great, too. You could enroll your child in camp for either mornings or afternoons all summer long, and every week will be different.
The Bronx Zoo | New York
Seriously, people. This sounds amazing! From the website: “Our Wildlife Camp Online is full of fun and learning about the world of animals, nature, and science. During the week of camp, campers will engage in counselor-led engagement and self-directed activities including up-close animal encounters, virtual exhibit and behind the scenes visits from all of our WCS zoos and aquarium, chats with our staff, hands-on science projects, crafts, and songs. Some of the activities will be scheduled at specific times and others will allow your child to engage in them at the pace that works for your child.”
California Science Center | California
The California Science Center is a fabulous museum, and their online camps sound really fun. All classes are led by trained educators and include “Interactive virtual tours of exhibits, live demonstrations, and exclusive question and answer sessions with our on-site scientists and animal care staff!”
Sounds amazeballs!
The Library Foundation of Austin | Texas
Writing is such an important skill for kids, and summer is a fabulous time for some intensive creative writing work! Last year Bambino did a Badgerdog session, and it was WONDERFUL! He is already signed up again for this summer. The Library Foundation offers some incredible writing camps for kids all the way through high school. They are affordable, too! Offerings include a poetry and film workshop, Screenwriting 101, Mythology, Slam Poetry, and the famed Badgerdog Creative Writing Summer Camp.
If only parents could sign up…
Cleveland Museum of Natural History | Ohio
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s virtual camps this year are for grades 6-12. They offer both a medical camp and astronomy camp, too. If you have middle and high school students, here’s a great opportunity for STEM learning over the summer!
Frankly, we had such a wonderful experience with online summer camps last summer, and sadly some of our favorites are all in-person this year. I hope museums and other organizations consider making online options a permanent part of their offerings. It allows kids from all over the country to take advantage of their resources! Last summer Bambino attended camps in California, two different cities in Texas, Colorado, and Minnesota — all from our home in Colorado.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. If your local school or museum or university is sponsoring programs that are amazing, leave a link in the comments! Let’s all help each other and help our kids have a wonderful summer — safe at home!
And share this link with anyone you know who has kids at home this summer!
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Documenting Your COVID-19 Experience
Ideas for documenting and preserving your COVID-19 experiences.
Here we are, friends, a year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on where you live, it may be longer than that for you. For our family, our pandemic experience started just over a year ago with a final trip to the grocery store, a new refrigerator, and the end of in-person school. I’ve been thinking a lot about the changes that have happened over the last year, and that led me to develop a project I’m excited to share with you:
The Stay at Home Club: a COVID-19 Journaling Project
Whether you are a regular journal keeper or a complete novice, this is a historic opportunity to document your experiences for yourself — and for posterity.
This journaling project is very simple. All you need is a blank book, something to write with, and the PDF of questions and prompts — a free download which I’ve created to help you. Our family is working on the journaling project together. I want to include everyone’s perspectives and experiences. But this could be a solo project as well.
You’ll find all of the details at the link below. It includes some videos that can help you get started, a few photos of what we have started, and suggestions for supplies, too.
Not only is this an exciting project, but it is also my first collaboration with Owl and Ember! Owl and Ember is a new enterprise I am beginning with a dear friend, Holly Kennedy. We are starting small — an Etsy sticker shop — but we have really big ideas!
The shop just launched, and we have the cutest COVID badges for The Stay at Home Club! How did you earn your crafting badge this year? What about cooking? Check out The Stay at Home Club badges and all of the cute stickers at Owl and Ember by clicking the link below!
Be well! Stay safe!
XO
Angela
Happy Valentine's Day
Valentine’s Day is coming, and I have lots of fun Valentine’s projects and DIYs for you to make this cheery holiday even more so! Check them out!
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