Advent Event: 11 Days

Tonight we went to the annual holiday party at Fixtures.  My husband is in the construction business for large custom homes.  Fixtures is the place he purchases the appliances and plumbing fixtures for the houses he builds.  So basically the evening is a covet fest of things I would have in that dream house we most likely will build when we win the lottery we don't play.

Since I am a foodie, it is hard not to dream every now and then about the kitchen I would have if money were no object.  Drew does this too because he works around this stuff all the time; so together we have great plans for our dream kitchen.  A little ogling doesn't hurt, right?

To feel like a French gourmand.

Or if we felt like the Jetsons (it's a lift oven!).

In my opinion, the most practical option.

Love the hood!

See that didn't hurt at all.  Oh to dream!

Inspiration on Repeat

So Black Friday came and went and with it came Grace's initiation into our Black Friday traditions. 

Here they are:

• Discuss endlessly for weeks ahead of time how we are not really sure we are going to go this year because we really don't need anything.
• Go to CVS on Thanksgiving morning for pre-Black Friday shopping extravaganza (this gets me so excited that I am propelled through the rest of the day (including cooking and cleaning) by the high of getting so much for so little!).
• Drew checks out the paper while I cook and tells me the deals he sees as noteworthy.
• After all the guests leave and the dishes are done, I look at the deals and we sit down and decide where we are going to go and what we are going to try to buy.
• We go to bed and wake up EARLY!  None of this late night shopping for us.
• We shop a couple places and then THE REASON WE DO THIS EVERY YEAR: 

                             BAGELS!! 

Yes, we endure this whole Black Friday thing because all I really want for the day after Thanksgiving is bagels.  Not just any bagels, but the Gourmet Cheddar Cheese Bagel with plain cream cheese from Bagel Bistro.  Nothing beats it.  And as far as I know, you can't get a bagel over the internet.  Take that Cyber Monday!

So Grace got to experience all that for the first time, but I can just tell that her favorite thing was the bagels.  She is definitely her mother's daughter! 

But this year was really special because I got something at a great price that I have been wanting/needing for a long time: a food processor!

So, all these ideas are now spinning (pun intended) through my head of what wonders can be whipped up with this magical machine.  I am thinking pie dough and pizza dough because of the special dough blade.  Oh, and some carrot muffins.  And sliced veggies. 

Any suggestions of how to use my new machine?