We camped. It was GREAT! We haven't been in a while. We hosted Thanksgiving, but ate early (noon) as my brother and SIL were going back to her parents to eat again that evening. Worked out well as we left late afternoon. We're within an hour of The Great Smoky Mts. national park and Cades Cove is one of our most favorite placess. Hubby had taken the camper up on Wednesday, so it was all set up. We took Thanksgiving dinner leftovers and had it all again Friday night. Took breakfast foods and snack type stuff (cheese/crackers, fruit, sliced ham, etc.) so other than warming everything Friday evening, I did no cooking. Temps were 60's in the daytime but quite chilly at night. Stars were amazing. We have heat in the camper and I had a set of flannel sheets and a warm blanket - so we were snug. We took lots of long walks/hikes,so hopefully worked off the extra calories. It was so nice to relax and enjoy the beautiful outdoors after a week of prepping and also dealing with a situation with my grandmother and her assisted living. Her roommate passed away and is has caused a bit of regression on her part. But anyway, it was just what we needed. Came home today and I'm in my jammies, taking it easy. House is clean, laundry is going and I'm just enjoying! We will decorate later in the week. Had thought to maybe put out the wreaths, greenery, etc. outside this afternoon but it rained earlier and still damp. Ann - I know you will enjoy tomorrow - have fun!! tina

Had "brunch" for lunch.Planned to go to Church but it was "froggy" out so decided to stay home.DD fixed biscuits,bacon and eggs over easy.Had supper about 2 hours ago.I know,way too late to be eating.DD made a hamburger ring that is delicious.She browns lean hamburger with chopped onions and garlic,salt,pepper and any seasonings you like.Sometimes she adds diced potatoes.You can put just about any vegetable you like in it.Open 2 cans of crescent rolls and place each roll together,overlapping each other in a circle on a pizza pan with the wide side in the center,leaving a hole in the center of the dough.Arrange the meat mixture in the center of the dough,top with shredded cheese of your choice.Pull the narrow sides of the crescent rolls over the meat mixture and press down.The meat should be encased in the dough.Bake at 350 until golden brown.Deeelish!

This thread is great...both the topic and IglooChic's stories! This is definitely a keeper (and maybe I can sneak it into the "Read Me" thread...???) On topic... In our old kitchen we had an eat-in kitchen that could seat 6 - if you didn't need to use the kitchen for anything else! Even just 4 became too many when our children outgrew the booster seats! (Both my children are very tall & long-legged for their ages...and probably will be as adults as well!) We also had a formal DR that only got used at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas...at least for eating. The rest of the year it was home to all our mail (junk & not-junk) as well as a sewing room when necessary and a place for my computer when I worked from home. This DR is rather small...13'8" x 11'1" and really doesn't have room for a large, formal DR set (table, chairs, china cabinet, buffet). Since we couldn't afford an addition on the house, even just the kitchen (which is what our KD really wanted us to do, but EXPO wouldn't let her...no modifying external walls, load-bearing walls, or roofs was their "rule"), and we knew we needed more table space for everyday as well as more counter & cabinet storage, it became a no-brainer (for us, anyway). We converted the Formal DR into what I call an "Informal DR/Formal Kitchen" dining space. We took down the wall b/w the DR & Kitchen to open up the DR b/c it was so small. We put in a peninsula b/w the rooms for some separation (we had seen another house in our development w/a similar floorplan remove the wall completely and the combined rooms looked like a bowling alley...we didn't like it at all!) We didn't want to give up seating in the kitchen totally (especially my DH since he likes to watch TV at breakfast), so we added two seats at the peninsula. Yes, the two seating areas are close (a little too close, if truth be known), but they're rarely used at the same time. We totally eliminated all other seating in the Kitchen and doubled the amount of counter space and cabinet storage. Taken together, these changes were a huge improvement on how our Kitchen & DR work and fit together in the rest of the house. I do find that I occasionally miss the DR "drop zone", but I'm trying to train everyone to use the "one touch" strategy...touch an item once & either put it away or throw it out...especially effective with mail, btw! I haven't been totally successful yet, but it's getting better. So now, we have: Two seats at the peninsula A DR table that seats 10 - 12 (or would if we had enough surviving chairs...it's an old, inexpensive set we inherited from my in-laws when they sold their house & moved into an apartment. The chairs are slowly breaking one-by-one and aren't worth fixing. Someday I'll have my "dream" DR set...but not until the kids are out of college...8 years from now *sigh* Well, not too heavy a sigh as I'm not looking forward to them leaving home!) I've gotten many, many compliments from family & friends about the new kitchen, the open feel both the kitchen & DR now have, and the fact that we now use all the rooms in our house all the time!

Patti, can you post your recipe? I need some new ones for the incoming students. One of them doesn't like cooked tomatoes, and well, a lot of things I cook have cooked tomatoes in them. Including tonight's meal: skinless boneless chicken breast topped with fire roasted tomato salsa, corn on the cob and lemon meringue pie. I was going to make some rice to go with it but it seems like too much food right now. I may make something else for the kids to eat when they get home, though. Lauren's in the park with friends and Alex just went to the movies. He's seeing The Last Airbender and wanted me to go but I really not that interested in that movie and I want to relax since I have to go back to work tomorrow.