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Hi Reader,

Oh, did we had some blustery, rainy weather this last week. But that didn't stop us from having our scheduled date night where we had some great BBQ at a local restaurant and then saw the movie, Good Fortune, which I wasn't sure about from the trailer but turned out to be pretty good.

The rest of our week was pretty normal, which got me to thinking that I should take advantage of these quieter times by making what I can ahead of time for Thanksgiving. My sister sent out the family sign-up list this week so I know what I'm bringing and can start to map out what I can do (I also have some recipes I like to make every year for us to have leftovers).

Thanksgiving Recipes to Make Weeks Ahead

• Make & freeze uncooked Crumb-Topped Apple Pies.
• Make and freeze cooked Soft, Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls.
• Make and refrigerate Maple Sweetened Cranberry Sauce (it lasts a couple months, but you could freeze it, too).
• Make and freeze uncooked Cranberry Sausage Stuffing (our favorite - see below).
• TIP: Can't do right now, but something to think about: Cook wine-roasted turkey a day or two in advance, refrigerate, and then reheat it slowly in a crockpot covered with broth so it doesn't dry out (I've done this a couple times and it works great).

Lots of Thanksgiving ideas and recipes can be found HERE. And if you specifically want to plan your side dishes for this year, this is a great resource.

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Your Holiday Checklist Week 3

​The Holiday Planner can help anytime you start! Here is Week 3, but you can still check off things from the previous weeks (since we all won't use everything).

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In My Kitchen

In an effort to use less of the ziplock freezer baggies, I've tried a number of silicone baggies. I just haven't liked them. They've been hard to wash and turn inside out to dry, and really hard to zip close. There are types that have a separate closure bar-thing, but I've avoided those as just one more thing to keep track of or lose. And they were expensive.

But a couple weeks ago I googled "easy close silicone baggies" to see if there were any with good reviews and this set of silicone baggies came up, so I took a chance because it was a decent deal (10 different sizes for under $10). I was pretty impressed when they came that the silicone is soft and easy to turn inside out to wash. And in using them since I can say they are easy to close! Just about as easy as regular zip baggies.

Storage is an issue, as they don't fold down as much as regular baggies, but my plan is to occasionally buy sets to eventually reduce my use of regular freezer bags. What do you think of silicone baggies?

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From The Blog

​Good Things List No.90​ Using our fire pit regularly, easy DIY vintage linen cafe curtain, a new favorite overnight bag, six books reviewed and what I watched! ​ READ IT HERE! ​

​My FAVORITE Stuffing Recipe Updated​ I've updated this Oregon Cottage classic stuffing recipe with much clearer steps and info. There is one unusual ingredient here that may be controversial, but it really makes it special! ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

​This is my favorite concealer that I keep coming back to after being lured away by whatever the newest makeup brand I see is.😀 It's so easy to apply, blends great and doesn't sink in creases like some can (I use the 120 color). Most days my simple routine is a moisturizer, this concealer under eyes and random red or brown spots, and then this tinted sunscreen applied with a brush. I'm done in 5 minutes with a nice, light coverage.

When I started seeing candle warmers about a year ago, I was intrigued by the idea of longer-lasting, safer use of a candle with no flame. But the few I saw were expensive ($50!) and not really my style. We like a candle in the bathroom in the morning, so it needed to fit in the space, both in size and style. Recently I saw this cute candle warmer for $20 and I gave it a try. I do love it! It comes with a timer and 4 levels of brightness (the highest melts the wax fast and scents the whole lower floor!). We've learned that 2 hours on level 2 is perfect with just enough scent to be nice and not melt so much of the wax. The candle is lasting so much longer than when we lit it, too. The only downside is that it uses a special lightbulb, not a regular one (which is probably why it's smaller and cuter...). It came with two and I saw I can get 6 for around $9, but hopefully the bulbs last awhile!

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I hope you have a nice week ahead - thank you for reading and let me know if you have any thoughts or questions!

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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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