In Pictures: Thanksgiving dinner

Wow. It's been a while. I've been super busy. And I moved. And I have had some serious cook's block. It was bad. But, I've been cured! How? It was simple, really. All it took was two days of cooking for Thanksgiving- every foodies favorite holiday!

Day 1 was for baking:

Pumpkin cookies with butterscotch chips were quickly made into ice cream sandwiches.

That's the beginning of an apple tarte tatin which, along with the cookies, are courtesy of Joy the Baker. If you haven't checked her out you MUST. I want to bake with her and be her friend.

Day 2 was for everything else:

Stuffing with apples and Black Forest ham. A new (and delicious) recipe!

Brown sugar glazed sweet potatoes. You really don't need dessert when you have these.

I turned these butternut and acorn squash into a creamy and dreamy soup! MMM.

And FINALLY...the main event...Bacon wrapped turkey. That's all I have to say about that.

Sweet Sunday: Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are perfect. Now, I know everyone has an opinion on the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Chewy or crisp? To me the perfect chocolate chip cookie is a little bit of both. Slightly crisp on the outside but soft and chewy in the middle. And that's exactly what you'll get from this recipe. I found this recipe on the Food Network website years ago and have never made one adjustment...it's that good. In fact, one of my friends declared them "the best chocolate chip cookies ever!". Let me know what you think!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

from foodnetwork.com

makes 32

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 12 ounce bag of semisweet chocolate chips

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. fine salt

Place two racks in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Melt butter and let cool lightly. Whisk sugars, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients with a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate chips and stir again.

Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. Wet hands slightly and roll the dough into balls. Space the cookies two inches apart. Bake until golden but still soft, about 10 - 12 minutes. Let cool.