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Hi Reader,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday and your weekend is shaping up to be a good one! We trekked to a fun tree farm yesterday with some of our other family members (third year in a row - we all get a tree, hot cider, a few ornaments and then head to a nearby family member's house for a lunch of warming soup and good conversation 💜), so I'm all set to get all the decorating goodies out for this year.

I'll share a bit more on my Christmas decor plan below, but first I want to share a few timely recipes. I know I shared my full roundup of the best thanksgiving leftover recipes, but I wanted to highlight a few (and I can't believe I forgot about the breads you can make with cranberry sauce!) you may have missed. I'll also share the leftover dish I make every year right here for you that (but isn't on the website). 😀

My Favorite Thanksgiving Food Leftovers

• Turkey & Bones (don't toss the bones!): I think I've made turkey noodle soup every year for probably 20 years.😂 For some reason it's better to me than chicken (or maybe it's just different which seems special🤷‍♀️), and it's so warm and comforting.
• Cranberry Sauce: I love these crumb-topped little loaves and muffins to both eat and give - AND the fact they use up leftover sauce. If I still have some left, I'll use it for the filling in these crumb bars instead of apple butter and add them to the cookie bags I'll be giving.
• Dressing, Turkey, Potatoes, and more: My favorite dinner "stack" recipe:

1. Mix leftover dressing with an egg (about 1-2 cups per egg or so - you want it coated evenly). Spread the mixture evenly in a waffle maker or panini press and cook until crisp.
2. Meanwhile, heat up leftover potatoes, turkey, gravy, and any vegetables.
3. Lay crisp dressing waffle on a plate and layer the potatoes, vegetables, and turkey on top.
4. Pour gravy over all and dollop with a bit of cranberry sauce if you'd like. Yum.😋

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Your Holiday Checklist Week 6

​The Holiday Planner (click for immediate download) can help anytime you start. Here is week six's checklist to help keep us on track.😀

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Christmas Decor

This year I'm going to lean in to a gold color scheme (you can see some other themes I've used through the years here). I always have some gold and the past few years it's been silver, gold, and white, so it's not a crazy change, lol. But I saw a tree in a magazine with wide gold ribbon, so I bought a roll of 20 yards (this ribbon with subtle velvet gold on one side and bright gold on the other that I will try and not show😂) and plan to weave it in and out of the tree. I'll use gold for the table and bring bigger touches of it throughout the house this year.

It will still go well with my other things, especially the knitted wool stockings, cable blanket and garland I made a few years ago. I either recreate what I did the previous year or try to add 1-2 new things to my existing decor just to keep it a little interesting for me.😀

I'll share more once I see how it's looking! What about you? Are you decorating the same or adding something new?

From The Blog

​Simple 4 Ingredient Butter Mints​ It's still amazing to me that you can make your own candy in just minutes with a few real food ingredients.💜 ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

​11 Breads to Make with Leftover Cranberry Sauce​ Loaves, muffins, scones, and even a savory cheesy pull-apart bread. You'll want to purposely make more cranberry sauce than you need once you see these! ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

A Few More Things

​A beautiful calendar​ I've enjoyed this pretty floral calendar my friend, Mary, created so much I bought one for a gift this year. 😀 Each month has a hand drawn illustration of a flower and some information about it. This is a wonderful, unique gift idea! See Calendar on Etsy

I wanted to highlight the email I sent out this past week with lists of my favorite kitchen items and other random things I love using - did you see it?

​If you missed it, you can read it by clicking here.

I'd love to know if you've used any of these, what you think of the lists and I really would love it if you shared the things with me that have made your life easier, more beautiful, or fun, too (just hit reply)!

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Thank you for reading along and being a part of our simple homemade life community!! Enjoy this first week of December.😀

Know someone who'd appreciate this? Forward it along!

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Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

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