SWEET YELLOW CORNBREAD

Happy Thanksgiving week to you all!    Thanksgiving kicks off the most wonderful time of the year.   The beautiful Holiday Season.   It is the time for us to all be thankful, grateful & joyful for the people in our lives.

The Holiday Season should be a time of rejoicing and celebrating the birth of Jesus.   It is a time for us to reconnect with family & friends.  It is time for us to all share a meal together and catch up.  It is a time for laughter, and for some of us, a time for crying over the ones that have passed in our lives.   My brother just passed a little over a month ago. This will be the first time is kids will be without him for Christmas.  I lost my mother the day after Christmas several years ago.  It seems like yesterday that it happened.  Hunter just lost his grandmother yesterday. When you lose a love one around the holidays it is difficult.

For Thanksgiving this year, I thought I would try a little something different to share with you on my Vine Segment.   It is so fun and easy to decorate your table with vibrant color fruits and vegetables.   Why not make the arrangement into a table runner?   Yes, and edible table runner.

First cover your table (especially if it is an outdoor table) with a plain butcher paper or something simple.  I use the butcher paper because when you are done, you can just simply fold it up and toss it.  You don't have to wash it or worry about it ruining.  You can also find a satin/silk by the yard at Walmart.  I use this for bridal, wedding showers, and other special events. It is also inexpensive and you can just toss when done or wash either way.  This beautiful fabric is what I used today since we were live in the new studios.  The new studios are gorgeous!

For the base of the table runner, I am using a variety of beautiful greenery (all edible).  I chose them based on their beautiful fall colors.   I seasoned the spinach and lettuce with ground black pepper and garlic pepper. 

Make sure and blend in items that contain vibrant colors of reds, oranges, purples, and greens.  You will find hidden in my runner a variety of colorful Brussels sprouts, carrots, snow peas, broccoli, and other vibrant vegetables.  For the center of the runner, I chose a beautiful head of living lettuce.  This is my favorite lettuce to eat on sandwiches or salads.  I also added a beautiful large artichoke.  It looks like a real air plant.  This gave the runner more depth and beauty.  

A variety of cheeses also add beautiful color.  As you know, cheese is where it can get expensive.   You can choose to use more expensive cheeses or stick with the basics.  I tend to stick with the basic and cut them into fun shapes using cookie cutters.  My family isn't much on strong cheeses.  You can also add in cheese balls throughout your runner if you wish.  I used mild cheddar and provolone for my pumpkins and reindeer shapes. 

I also added pumpkin bread, tarts, and a variety of chocolate bark and other fine chocolates.   These go perfect with salad.  I always add a gourmet nut selection. These are easy to pick up at your local grocery stores.  I find mine at Marshall's in their gourmet section.  They are affordable, and have a huge selection.  They contain nuts, cranberries, pomegranates, etc.   These are full of antioxidants, and add layers of color to your plates. However, I did use pretty little bowls for the nuts.  We have friends & family that are allergic to nuts.  I want to make sure and keep them separate for them.

I also blended in beautiful colorful carrots to add color to my edible runner.  Not only are they delicious and healthy, they are really pretty on your table. You can blend in whatever you like.  Make it fun and colorful.  Fold in beautiful red apples, oranges, tomatoes, grapes and other fruits you might like.   The outskirts of the table contained the small cornbread muffins, toasted bruschetta, blue corn chips, and pretzels.   

Of course, there was plenty of bacon.  Laura loves bacon.  Who doesn't love bacon?

For the dressing, I keep it simple and love the avocado oil dressings.   980 sauces are great to add to the dressing for extra flavoring.   They have great deals on their site at https://www.980sauce.com.  

A special thank you to http://980sauce.com/ for providing the wonderful sauces to top of our plates with.  These sauces are excellent. They have a wide variety to choose from to use as a sauce or marinade.  I love the Garlic Butter and Sriracha sauces, they are excellent on pork or chicken.   You can also add them to a vinaigrette base and use them as a salad dressing.   The cilantro is also excellent for your taco bars, etc.  Any that you choose, you want go wrong! In addition to being all natural and prepared with the freshest ingredients straight from their fields, 9°80° sauces have multiple health benefits.   

The sauces make an excellent Christmas gift for the chef, or chefs to be!   9°80° Sauces & Marinades are Authentic Latin-inspired sauces & marinades with ingredients grown in Panama with a southern flair.
They are running a special on the 4 pack on their site.   Be sure and check them out at https://980gourmetsauce-marinade.myshopify.com./collections/all  I will be sharing some recipes throughout the Holiday Season using these wonderful sauces.    Click here to see the sauces with the table runner on The Vine

The edible table runner came out more stunning than I imagined in my head.  This became the ultimate grazing table in a beautiful table runner.   This gives your guest a fun way to pick out and make their salad plates fun.  It was enjoyed by all at The Vine.   Be sure and check out my friends on The Vine each week Morning from 9-10 a.m. CST on CBS local Channel 11.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL EPISODE ON THE VINE 

Change of season, change of skincare.   With the Fall weather bringing cooler temperatures, the results can be dryer skin.    I am so glad to have teamed with to collaborate with AEDIT to bring temps, treatments & research for great skincare.   I am in love with their site and the dedication to research they bring to the table.

So goes our motto here at The AEDITION, and, with the hot and humid days of summer behind us, there is no better time to reevaluate what products we’re making room for on our vanities.
Fall’s sweater weather ushers in cooler temps and drier air, which means the lightweight serums and moisturizers you were using to combat summer’s tropical climate may not provide the level of nourishment your skin now needs. Oh, and if you took a break from some of your more sensitizing products (think: retinols, acids, and the like) because you had upped your time in the sun, now could be the time to reach for them again — and atone for those summer skin sins.
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So, when it comes to fall skincare, what are the non-negotiables? We went straight to the experts — in this case, the aestheticians and skin specialists that treat some of Hollywood’s most famous faces — to find out their must-have ingredients of the season, why they love them, and how to use them!

9 Aestheticians Share The Best Skincare Ingredients For Fall:

From hydrating hyaluronic acid to skin-smoothing retinol, leading skin experts share their top picks for the ingredients you should add to your skincare routine this fall.    Click here to view all the tips from the experts: