Well, well, well….it has been a long time! There has definitely been a lot going on around here and honestly, I just can’t keep up! I did want to get back to blogging now that I have some time on my hands. That is a whole other story that we can talk about at a later date. But for today I just wanted to come in…chat a bit…and talk about the upcoming Holidays.

I know that I can’t be the only one ready for some excellent food next week. Some good ole comfort food. Some stick to your ribs, fill your belly until you can’t stand it, go back for more, down home good cooking!!! Y’all got your stretchy pants ready? I do!!!

So…what y’all making???? We share duties so that one person doesn’t have to cook it all. Hubby and I usually go to His Mom’s for lunch Thanksgiving Day with the kids and his sister, and then for dinner that night We have my daughter and her family and My Mom over. This year we are going to be smoking ham and turkey! The last couple years we have just ordered from Honey Baked Store but we decided this year to do the meat at home, which is what we have always done, we just took a break for a while! I will also be making the dressing for both meals and baked mac and cheese!!! I love some baked mac and cheese! Really…this should be called Cheese and Mac….coz it is cheeeeeeezy! I will also be baking some pies! Planning on making my cornbread for the dressing tomorrow and just sticking it in the freezer until I need it next week. Here is a pic of Thanksgiving past…

YUMMY!!!! Doesn’t that just make you want to….I don’t know….slap someone?!?!!??? That’s the mac and cheese on the other end…I told you it was cheeeezy!

While we are on the subject of food and cooking…do you have an Instant Pot? Yes…Instant Pot…not Instapot. Most people call them Instapots…I don’t know why, anyway. Do you have one? Do you use it? I do and I LOVE mine!!!! I use it all the time!!!

And I do mean…ALL THE TIME!!! I cook in it at least 3 or 4 times a week. The thing is…everyone thinks you can only cook the things that are in the Instant Pot cookbooks. That is SO NOT TRUE! I cook all of my usual stuff….I just use the Instant Pot. You can adapt any recipe that you love. It is so easy! There are different settings for different things and it really does make it easy to adapt the recipe. I think a lot of people are intimidated by the electric pressure cookers and so they just don’t get comfortable using it. These are not the old time pressure cookers that you have to be worried about them “exploding” in the kitchen. There are safety features on there that were not available when Grandma was using hers! I tell you, meat comes out tender and still juicy, soups and stews have much better taste, you know how soup tastes after you have warmed it up a few times….just like that right off the bat! So if you have an electric pressure cooker take some time and get to know it….use it…become it’s friend….you will be glad you did! My word of advice though is this….please DO NOT EVER SIT IT ON THE STOVE!!!! I have seen so many times in the Facebook groups that I am in, about someone sitting it on the stove, either while using it or when it is not in use, and somehow the burner gets turned on and melts the pressure cooker. You have been warned! You’re welcome!

I am going to wrap this post up, but before I do I want to share with you a couple of things for the Instant Pot that you really shouldn’t be without. You can click on the picture and it will take you to WalMart.com where you can purchase them!!! (And if you do… it will pay me just a little bit too!)

If you use your Instant Pot…you have already figured out that sometimes the seal will retain a scent of what you cooked in it last. So it is a good idea to have an extra seal on hand. Especially if you cook both savory and sweet in your pot. You sure don’t want you cheesecake tasting like spaghetti sauce!

And then there is this little gem…

It is a steam diverter! I love mine!!! It fits over the pressure valve so that when you want to release the pressure the steam won’t blow straight up and into the bottom of your cabinet! Why didn’t I think of this? You just want to make sure you put it on before it comes up to pressure that way you aren’t trying to put it on and having steam escape and possibly burn your hand.

There are many different accessories you can get for your Instant Pot and I will share some more in another post coming soon!

Now that my stomach is growling from all of this food talk, I am gonna end this post and go try to figure out what we are going to eat for dinner tonight! Everyone have a wonderful evening and I will be back with another post real soon!

See ya soon,

Jo