All week long I've been prepping for company. The Hubby has a group of guys he hangs with a couple times during the year for a weekend or few days. They shoot, drink, tell jokes, guy things. They were brought together several years ago by a mutual friend, one The Hubby went to high school with and the others worked with. He has since passed a couple of years ago. We wives have become good friends now too.
Back to the gathering...I spent the week in preparation, menu planning, grocery lists, timeline of prep...
The table I thought of a lot of decor ideas and drifting off to sleep one night I thought of the tiny antique salt cellars I have from my great grandmother and great-great granny. They are just gathering dust in my china cabinet so the idea was simple, snip off flower and place. GOODNESS, they were so cute and will be part of the Thanksgiving table in a few weeks.
The apple pie...oh the apple pie...I have not made an apple pie in probably over 20 years and I used to be pretty good at them. Unfortunately I only had enough flour for 2 crusts and I totally MESSED up and ended up with only one pie. I think I know my mistake, the crust was way too short and I needed more liquid, but, the biggest mistake was the oven too hot. So I burned the top of it. I was so mad, and here's another but, it was so flakey that it was delicious, despite the burned top. Honestly it was really good. Also, since I had extra apples I had already sugar and cinnamoned I decided, just in case the pie was not edible, to cook them. I tossed them in a saucepan, added a glob of butter and real maple syrup and cooked till bubbly. I served over vanilla bean ice cream. YUMMY!
I also served tossed salad, the pesto roasted potatoes and green beans, like my momma used to make with bacon and onion!
The main course was a jalapeno-cream cheese stuffed pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon. Oh Yes I did! I get them at our local grocer, Reasors in the frozen meat section. The one in the photo is cajun, stuffed with shrimp and andoule sausage, haven't tried it yet.
The entire evening was a huge success.
The next day was a baby shower for our baby Maximilian, coming in January. Trying to keep everything as normal as possible because we DO have a grandson arriving. It was so wonderful to see old friends and family, new friends and family for the occasion. I was THRILLED beyond thrilled to finally get to meet my new great niece. She is I think 14 months old and a cutie pie. 
Good grief I almost forgot Halloween...
