Bake My Day!

Ashley and I work together at Bar Lubitsch.  I've known her for over three years and not only is she a wonderful Bartender and Friend she's an incredibly talented Host who is very well-known in the On-line Cooking Community as she's had multiple shows airing on YouTube, Snapchat, and also Verizon.  Ashley invited her other friend, Nicole (who also works at Lubitsch with us) and I to be a part of her 'Bake My Day' show presented on YouTube and sponsored by Nestle Tollhouse.

We filmed at the end of Summer for a Thanksgiving-themed episode where Ashley was baking White Chocolate Pumpkin Macadamia Nut Cookies.  We talked about 'Friendsgiving' which I've become quite familiar with out here in LA since I usually go home for Christmas, so getting back to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving was out of the question.  I certainly wish I would have gone home for it this past year...I'm sorry I couldn't surprise you like you wanted me to, Mom, but I'm really glad I was able to talk to you and tell you how thankful I was for you.  'Friendsgiving' is where your friends get together and celebrate the Holiday with some of the traditional fixings while bringing new treats into the mix as well.

It was such a fun day on-set, joking around with the girls, eating some tasty cookies, and celebrating Thanksgiving just a couple months early.  Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday because it's about being thankful, spending time with family and friends, and is one Holiday that is pretty much all about the food!  And you all know how much I love to eat :D

Check out our episode posted above and I hope that you decide to try some White Chocolate Pumpkin Macadamia Nut Cookies on your own...but don't eat all the chips like I do!

Thanksgiving Karaoke & Friendsgiving

With Thanksgiving being this past week I decided to group together our Pre-Thanksgiving Karaoke with Friendsgiving on Thursday!  Let's start off with Karaoke on Wednesday...

Bon Jovi "Shot Through The Heart"

No Doubt "Don't Speak"

Celine Dion "Power Of Love"

Journey "Separate Ways"

This past week we had Pre-Thanksgiving Karaoke so I had people sing songs or artists that they were thankful for.  We had a big crew of people come through so it was a super busy night!  I'm thankful for Bon Jovi, a band I remember hearing as a young girl while I would have sleepovers with my best friend in grade school, and for seeing them perform Live on 'The Ellen Show' years ago with my roommate, Ashley.  I'm thankful for No Doubt as they were the first alternative band I listened to, introduced to them by my brother, I remember many Summers skateboarding and rollerblading in the driveway to their music.  I'm certainly thankful for Celine Dion, a powerhouse, and one of the first Karaoke tapes I had, that I started singing to when I was younger.  My new song that night, "Power Of Love" was the first song I had heard of hers.  I always loved Journey, but I truly fell in love with their music when I was at a Summer picnic in Wisconsin and listening to a Cover Band play all genre's of music.  The female member took the lead on 'Separate Ways' and it's been one of my favorite songs ever since.  It gave me the confidence to sing songs by male artists and try music I would have never sang before.  It was a really fun night of great music, thankful friends, and celebrations.

For Friendsgiving this year I went over to Jamie's for a fabulous Foodie meal!  I had made fresh Cranberry sauce flavored with Orange and Bourbon.  I'll get the recipe up here on my blog just in case anyone wants to try it for the Holidays!  I also did my Crock Pot Lava Cake which was perfect and molten.  There were appetizers, a salad course, your traditional Thanksgiving food: Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Green Beans, etc with a fabulous spin to all of it.  Everything was amazing and each course was paired with wine and was so delicious.  We all watched Football and also played some "Taboo" as well.  Of course, Thanksgiving isn't complete without watching a Christmas movie so 'Home Alone' it was!  With all the food, I knew I was going to have a Thanksgiving feast a couple more times before the weekend was over :)

Heading over to Jamie's for Friendsgiving, Jamie and a delicious Goat Cheese and Crostini, Lily working on the Green Beans, a full plate of Thanksgiving food, Ben working on a drum stick under Edward's watchful eye, and this gorgeous red that was smooth and had lovely cherry notes...Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is definitely my favorite Holiday...it's about spending time with family and friends, eating incredible food (make that a lot of incredible food), watching Football all day, and being thankful for everything in your life and what's yet to come.  I wrote this blog two years ago and it's still spot on and a fabulous reminder of everything I have to be thankful and happy for: http://lyndseywegner.blogspot.com/2013/11/happy-thanksgiving.html  What's your favorite part of Thanksgiving?  Do you have a specific food or tradition you do every year?   I'm certainly thankful for all of my readers...I appreciate your support and love!  Happy Holidays!