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Buckle up! This is going to be a long one!

Ahhhhh November ,,,, cooler weather, leaves turning, folks are pulling out their Uggs and gearing up for Thanksgiving and the SUPER organized, type A people have already started their Christmas shopping lol. This month’s newsletter is CHOCK FULL of Thanksgiving tips and hacks to keep you from going crazy, recipes, awareness causes, business holidays and even some Christmas ideas … I told you to buckle up right????? LET’S GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

November Holidays and National Days

● Entrepreneurship Month! (Entire month of November)

● Stress Awareness Day (November 2) Stress Awareness Day

● Sandwich Day (November 3)

● Daylight Savings Time Ends (November 6)

● World Kindness Day (November 7 - 13) WORLD KINDNESS WEEK - November 7-13, 2022 - National Today

● Vanilla Cupcake Day (November 10)

● Veterans Day (November 11) Honoring Those Who Served: 11 Ways to Celebrate Veterans Day

● Thanksgiving (November 24)

● Black Owned Black Friday (November 25) Google | Black Owned Friday

● Small Business Saturday (November 26) Small Business Saturday

Women’s Entrepreneurship Day - November 19

● Let’s just debunk the myth that says men are the highest percentage of business owners and entrepreneurs. Here are some statistics:

● There are 114% more female entrepreneurs in the US today than 20 years ago.

● There are 12.3 million women-owned businesses in the US.

● 90.3% of women hold micro-businesses more frequently than 82.3% of men.

● On average, women’s companies grow by 84% compared to men-owned companies, growing by 78% since starting.

● There are more than 2.5 million African-American women-owned companies in the US.

● Businesses owned by women of color employed 2,230,600 people.

If women-of-color-owned businesses matched all women-owned businesses’ revenue, an extra $1.2 trillion would be added to the US economy

Now Let’s Get To The Tips and Hacks!

The Stress:

Whether you’re cooking your first Thanksgiving dinner or have been the go-to host for years, it can be stressful to be the one in charge. Some family members may have dietary restrictions like veganism, they don’t eat pork or they’re on a new keto diet. Others might tell you they’re looking forward to a meal exactly how Big Mama used to make it, which puts on the pressure. Even if you’re not sweating your menu, Thanksgiving logistics can leave you feeling exhausted.

The Solution:

Preparing Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of work, and not everything will go exactly according to plan. If you can accept those two realities, your ability to sit down to dinner with a genuine smile on your face will rise significantly.

Waiting Until The Last Minute

The Stress:

THIS RIGHT HERE BURNS MY BRITCHES!! Whhhhhhhyyyy do some of you wait until the day before or the day of to go food shopping???? I will never understand that. You’re running around, sweating, hoping that there are turkey’s left, fussing at the person on line in front of you because they’re taking too long to pay for their groceries, mad in the parking lot because you can’t find your car, cursing your kids out when you get home to “help with these bags”, prepping and then cooking the food. Again … whhhhhyyyyy???

The Solution:

STOP DOING THAT! First of all, there’s Instacart so you don’t have the hassle of going shopping yourself. But if you just HAVE to see and touch the food personally, do half Instacart for the big, heavy items and shop for the rest yourself. There are tons of dishes that you can make ahead of time and freeze. Trust me … it tastes just as good if not better when you reheat it.

Here’s a list of what you can make and freeze:

● Sweet Potato Casserole

● Homemade Cranberry Sauce

● Soups

● Gravy

● Mashed Potatoes

● Stuffing

● Macaroni and Cheese

● Pumpkin Pie

● Apple Pie

● Collard Greens

● Turkey

● Ham

Reading Recipes

The Stress;

Trying to follow a recipe you pulled up on your phone. Sure, you can keep your favorite Thanksgiving recipes pulled up on a phone or computer screen, but then you’ll have to deal with your device’s sleep mode and toggling between screens. And cookbooks on countertops are bound to be in your way on Turkey Day.

The Solution:

Print out the recipes and tape them at eye level on your cabinets

Running out of room in your oven

The Stress:

Trying to reheat everything at the same time and not having space to do it

The Solution:

Utilize everything you have in your kitchen to either cook food or keep food warm. The Instant Pot, your crockpot, a thermos, a cooler, a rack and sternos etc. Also try to use square or rectangular shaped dishes. It will give you more room and you can stack them. You can use aluminum pans with lids or if you want to be a little more fancy, these are what I use https://amzn.to/3FnvWJR

Recipes - Stuffing Muffins Makes 24 muffins

Ingredients

*1 12oz bag of bread stuffing

*1 cup of dried cranberries

*2 cups of butternut squash diced (can

be fresh or frozen)

*3 celery stalks diced

*1 medium red onion diced

*½ each green, red and orange peppers

diced

*1 tbsp each rosemary, sage, parsley

and thyme (can be fresh or dried)

*1 cup corn (can be canned or frozen)

*½ tbs of red pepper flakes

*2 cups chicken stock (you can use homemade stock or better than

bouillon)

*1 package of italian turkey sausage

*1 stick of unsalted butter total

*2 or 3 cloves of garlic diced

*1/2 cup oil (olive, canola, avocado)

*2 eggs

*Kosher Salt

*Black Pepper

*Muffin Tin

*Skillet or saute pan

Directions

Preheat your oven to 375

Spread your butternut squash on a sheet tray. Using HALF of your oil, sprinkle over the butternut squash. Add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper and roast for approximately 10 minutes, until golden brown. Once they are done, set it aside.

Break up your turkey sausage and add it to your skillet over medium/low heat. Break up the pieces as they cook to make them as small as possible. Once cooked, set them aside.

Chop all of your veggies (peppers, onions, garlic, celery), To the skillet, add the remaining oil and HALF of your butter. Once the butter has melted, add your veggies. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Sautee for five to six minutes.

Chop all of your herbs

Open your bag of stuffing into a bowl and add the squash, sausage, veggies, herbs, dried cranberries, corn and red pepper flakes.

Add one cup of your chicken stock or water to start and both of your eggs.

Mix WITH YOUR HANDS. Those are THE BEST tools in the kitchen. Just make sure they’re clean lol or wear clothes. The mixture should be more on the wet side but still firm. If it is too dry add your stock a little bit at a time until you get the right consistency.

Spray your muffin tin and fill each cup with the stuffing mixture. Fill each slightly above the rim.

Bake until brown and crispy on top. Approximately 30 minutes.

Apple Cobbler (or Deep Dish) Apple Pie

Ingredients

*4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced

*4 large Red Delicious apples, peeled and sliced

*2 tablespoons of vanilla extract

*Zest from half of a lemon

*2 tablespoons of lemon juice

*1 cup of white sugar

*1 cup of brown sugar

*½ stick of butter

*3 tablespoons of cornstarch

*2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon

*1 teaspoon of nutmeg

*1 teaspoon of allspice

*¼ teaspoon of salt

*1 whole egg beaten up with a teaspoon of water

mixed in

Pie Crust

Well … because I am pie crust afflicted, nine times out of ten I use the Jiffy Pie Crust mix! You are free to make your own, homemade pie crust but I always cheat on this part! Lol You need enough pie crust for top and bottom.

I know a cobbler is only supposed to have crust or some kind of crumble on top but I LOVE crust so I put pie crust (uncooked) on the bottom of the dish. I guess you could technically call this a deep dish pie as opposed to a cobbler. But whatever you call it, it’s DELICIOUS!

Directions

*Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

*Place the uncooked pie crust on the bottom of

your pie dish or baking dish.

*In a mixing bowl place your sliced, toss in all of

your ingredients EXCEPT the butter and eggs.

*Mix together until all of your apples are well

coated.

*Pour your ingredients into your dish,

*Cut your butter into cubes and dot all over the top

of your apples.

*Place the second pie crust over the top, tuck it

around the edges and with a knife cut three or

four slits through the top crust. Brush the crust

with the beaten egg.

*Bake for 35/40 minutes at 350 degrees.

*Allow to cool before slicing

Early Christmas Shopping Ideas

We all know that the biggest shopping day is Black Friday. But you can use those same dollars to help support small and black owned businesses. November 25 is Black Owned Black Friday. There are TONS of sites you can visit from the comfort of your home (besides, you’re going to be in a food coma anyway. Who wants to go outside?)

● This is a shoppable film by Google featuring music from TPain and It is FIRE! Google | Black Owned Friday

● Official Black Wall Street

● 40 Gifts Under $50 from Black-Owned Businesses 2022 | The Strategist

● https://www.whowhatwear.com/black-owned-gift-guide

● We Buy Black

● Cute loungewear (not so shameless plug 😁) https://www.instagram.com/the.comfortplug_/

● Customized t-shirts, glasses, dog tags, sneakers, jean jackets … you name it, she can customize it! (another not so shameless plug) https://www.instagram.com/basemore_basic_tshirts/

● This newsletter is a source of income and may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses.

● I will NEVER share and or promote products/services/businesses that I haven’t actually used/researched or don’t believe could be beneficial to you. I have to sleep with a clear conscience

● Affiliate links are used in some posts where I make a small percentage of each sale. This is one way I make money from blogging. It does not result in additional charges or cost you anything extra.

What I Am LOVING This Month

● The Sherri Shepherd Show

● I got tired of dragging out my food processor when I needed to blitz something up, so I finally got a hand blender. When I tell you that this purees in 5 seconds! You have GOT to get one of these! https://amzn.to/3gQtMbu

● I bought this for my grandbaby, who’s having a baby. YES, I am going to be a great grandmother and I STILL LOOK GOOD lol. She uses this AT LEAST five times a day. As a matter of fact, she puts it up on the bed so she can lay down while it’s working lmbo, https://amzn.to/3sEFokO

● This laundry detergent works just as well as Tide or Gain and it smells AMAZING! (2 pack) Laundry Detergent 50oz | True Laundry

● If you know me at all, you know I LOVE a good t-shirt! I think I have about five from this company. Good quality, holds up in the wash, true to size and the quotes are on point! Power In Black

● Another fun fact about me is that I am a little crazy when it comes to containers and organizing food items. I got these and threw out all the old pickle, marinara, salsa and mayonnaise jars I had lol https://amzn.to/3DcQySB

● Instacart … yes Instacart lol. Listen, I get A LOT of orders. For me to take an Uber to the grocery store, shop, load everything into the Uber, unpack, prep, put away and then cook makes no sense. It has been a HUGE help to me to use this service. As I mentioned earlier, using any kind of food delivery service will take a huge weight off of your shoulders this Thanksgiving.

Let me know what your current obsessions are!

That’s it for this month Family!

I am available to cater your Thanksgiving meal, Office Luncheon, Friendsgiving or Brunch. Whatever you need, I got you covered. Check out my website for details www.tresiascatering.com

I pray that your Thanksgiving is filled with family, warmth, love, laughter, joy and amazing food. And, as always, thank you for taking the time to read my rambling. It is much appreciated

😍😍😍😍