Cheers, Mom & Dad!

I was having a rough day yesterday. Just tired, and feeling a little blah. Nothing too bad, but my husband sensed I needed a few minutes so he sent me to the store for some essentials.

I happened to drop a jar of pizza sauce (not an essential on the list, but ON SALE), and it was embarrassing. A boy and his dad saw, and tried to make me feel better by joking about it. They were nice.

As I pulled up behind them in line, the boy - probably 10-12 years old or so, ran over and grabbed a paper towel from the front of the store, where they keep them for people wanting to dry off or disinfect their cart handles. He approached me, knelt down on one knee, and asked if I minded if he cleaned off my shoe, as I head some pizza sauce on it.

I totally teared up. I didn't even notice I had sauce on my shoe. I didn't try to clean it off myself, and he just saw and wanted to help. He noticed, and then asked me if he could help me. This 10 year old boy was wiping the pizza sauce off my shoe, because he wanted to. His grandpa didn't prompt him, he didn't do it begrudgingly... he just wanted to help me out.

On his way out of the store, another mom walked in carrying a baby on her hip. The boy's dad cheerfully greeted them, saying something about how rainy it was outside, and the little boy piped up: "Hey, I love your hair color!" The mom looked so surprised and pleased. I bet he made her night, too.

SOME KIDS, you guys. And some parents. Some people are just doing it RIGHT.

Cheers to all you, raising polite, loving, kind-hearted kids. It's no easy job, but that little boy restored my faith just a bit last night.

Lazy Girl's Guide To Thanksgiving: Slow-Cooker Turkey Soup with Lemon & Sage

I had a bag of leftover white/dark meat turkey sitting in my fridge, and we are turkey'd out. I knew I had to do something with it, so I sat down to search for a crockpot turkey soup recipe (or at least, outline) that I could use with just stuff I had in my house. That meant getting creative, crossing my fingers, and hoping my omission of a few ingredients, replacements of others, and cutting corners on steps would turn out.

I just took a little taste of what I have so far, and it's... a win. Like, a major one.

Slow-Cooker Leftover Turkey Soup with Lemon & Sage
Now, i'm no food blogger. And if you're a sucker for exact measurements - here is the original recipe I basically butchered into something unrecognizable.

• Leftover turkey (I had white meat + 2 legs and a wing looking thing. I dunno)
• Small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• A couple carrots
• A couple leaves of fresh sage
• Dried thyme
• Himalayan pink salt
• Cracked Pepper
• Poultry seasoning of some sort. You could probably even use a chicken bullion cube? Why not.
• Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 cup dry white wine. I didn't have any, so I just used what I do have - sherry.
• Half a lemon. Plus the juice of the other half before discarding
• 6 cups of broth/stock. I used 4 cups of store-bought chicken bone broth, and 2 cups leftover chicken broth from my fridge.

The directions on the original say to cook the garlic, celery, onion, carrot, but ugh. Nobody got time for that. I just diced it and threw it in the slow cooker with all the turkey I had. Added some diced fresh sage (because I had no bay leaves or fresh thyme and I loooove sage), DRIED thyme, lots of cracked pepper and pink salt, some poultry seasoning my husband has on hand because I have no idea what it is, a couple shakes of Worcestershire, a cup of wine (is that a lot of sherry? Meh. Not sure. Tastes good today), half a lemon, all the stock. Cooked on low overnight, but it only says to do it for 6 hours or so.

This morning, I removed ALL bones, bone shards, skin... took a few minutes, mine broke down like crazy. Then I added in a 1/2 cup of fregula, because I had it on hand from a Blue Apron recipe I never did. I don't even know what fregula is, but it LOOKS like Israeli couscous, and that's all that matters, right? It's some sort of small, pearled-looking pasta. You could probably sub 1/2 cup of quinoa or rice, too! Or whatever noodles you love. MAKE IT YOUR OWN.

Let me know if you try it, and what substitutions you make.

The only thing that sucked was fishing out the bones, skin, and shards of bone.... I'll probably do that a few more times before serving.

Soup looks really dark in this pic, but I think because this was a small bowl?
And I am no professional photographer, let's be real.

Working Wish List

I say working because I'm still brainstorming. I feel like there isn't anything I truly need this year, but I'm really happy to put together a dream list of pretty things that would look excellent in my house and on my counters.

These things just make me happy. I wouldn't say most of these things are actually on my list, but if I was to stumble upon any of these items under my tree, I wouldn't be mad at Santa.

BLANKNYC 'Easy Rider' Faux Leather Moto Jacket • Blank NYC
Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder • Laura Mercier
S'well Elements White Marble 25-oz. Reusable Bottle • Swell
Diptyque - Baies, Roses And Figuier Set Of Three Candles, 3 X 70g • Diptyque
KitchenAid KSM152PS Artisan 5 Qt. Custom Metallic Stand Mixer • KitchenAid
BP. Tuck Stitch Cardigan • BP
Copper Flatware
Bumble and Bumble - Surf Foam Spray Blow Dry, 150ml • Bumble and Bumble
Cuisinart CSB75 Smartstick 2 Speed Immersion Hand Blender • Cuisinart
My Family Cookbook
T3 Micro BodyWaver 1.75 Inch Styling Iron • T3 Tourmaline
KitchenAid® Artisan Stand Mixer KSM150 • KitchenAid
S'well Reflective Rose Gold 17-oz. Reusable Bottle • Swell
Jo Malone London Pomegranate Noir Travel Candle, 2.1 oz. • Jo Malone
Hunter 'Original Refined' High Gloss Rain Boot (Women) • Hunter
Sugar Paper® Blush Weekly Planner Agenda, 2017
Ridge Hill Pan Set (10 PC)
adidas Women's Superstar Casual Sneakers from Finish Line • adidas
Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge • Real Techniques
Utility Mixing Bowl Set • west elm
Oribe - Aprés Beach Wave And Shine Spray, 300ml • Oribe
Truth Serum® Vitamin C Anti-Aging Collagen Booster\t
NikeCourt Tennis Classic Ultra LOTC (Paris) Women's Shoe • Nike
Calphalon Classic 6-qt. Stainless Steel Stock Pot with Lid • Calphalon
Farberware Classic 8-qt. Straining Stock Pot • Farberware
Topshop Moto 'Leigh' Ripped Skinny Jeans • Topshop
Adidas Gazelle Original Snake-Embossed Sneaker, Black/Crystal White • adidas

What's on your Christmas list this year?