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2 Days to Go!

Here we are, 2 more days to go until Thanksgiving!

Yesterday consisted of house cleaning, fixing antique dining room chairs, dropping off clothes to the homeless shelter, setting up a bookcase for the guests to have a place for their toiletries, running errands, and more. Was any cooking or baking done as hoped? Did we get to the Pumpkin Cheesecake yet? Nope!

Yesterday, Harris was able to pick up our kosher turkey. He also purchased some smoked white fish, lox, herring and bagels for a special breakfast while our guests are here.

Then, we were off to the butcher’s to grab a Prime Rib Roast for our Wednesday night dinner. We were also able to find some Kishka to serve up with Wednesday’s dinner. It’s hard to resist the urge to eat it before!

After all of that, our boy, Jacques, even made it to his groomer, Carissa, so that he is ready to greet our guests properly when they arrive!

Whew!

We had such a full day that we didn’t get to do any of our Thanksgiving cooking, but we’re hot on the trail today! As we write, it’s about 11:00 AM and we already have 2 pie crusts done! Oh, and we made the cornbread for the stuffing. It needs to be baked a couple of days ahead so it dries out a bit, making for much better stuffing!

Below is a photo of the flowers Harris picked up. He will be making our holiday centerpiece with these beauties!

Hope you’re preparations are coming along well!

All the best,
-The Dads: Harris & Dave

Harris' Flowers

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3 Days!

3 Days to go until the big festivities!

With Dave’s daughter Melissa, her husband and 2 friends coming to visit tomorrow, along with Dave’s sister Carol who just couldn’t imagine being left out, we have been busy multitasking cleaning and cooking. We have been organizing the bedrooms and clearing out the dresser drawers and closets to make sure there is plenty of room for our guests.

Additionally, we have begun to decorate the home with our holiday decor. We really love our turkey hand towels! Harris picked up some fresh flowers today while at the market. They are resting comfortably in water until the centerpiece can be created.

Last night we accomplished our Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Spiced Nuts. We still haven’t gotten to the Pumpkin Cheesecake as intended! But we hope to finally get that done tonight!

Our Rib Roast that we made in the crock-pot last night was amazing! Decadent, yes, but so delicious and worth it! We have been building an addition to our back porch, so Dave just sliced up some of the leftovers and gave some to our construction workers. They were delighted!

We forgot to mention that Harris made the Cranberry Confit last Friday. Hopefully in addition to the Pumpkin Cheesecake, we will also be able to make our first batch of our Pecan Tassies tonight!

Harris also was able to make a special stop at Goldberg’s Bagels. Definitely the best place for fresh bagels in the Baltimore area!

While cooking this week, Dave has been wearing his Mario Batali Crocs (yes, Crocs!) that Leah gave to him as a gift last year for the holiday. The great thing about these is that if the kitchen gets wet from cooking or cleaning, the grip on the shoes prevents you from slipping. They might not be the most fashionable, but they are really comfortable and easy to throw on quickly.

Hope your cooking adventures are going well! Let us know how its going for you!

Happy Cooking!
-The Dads: Harris & Dave

Rib Roast

Spiced Nuts

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The Heart of Your Table

Centerpiece

Many people get their centerpieces at florists for dinner parties, but we like to make it personal by making it ourselves.

Making a big arrangement evenly spaced and full can be tough. To make it quick and easy, we always use a frog (a piece of glass with a bunch of holes).

Just place the ends of your stem in the holes in the frog. This allows your larger flowers to be evenly disbursed and held in place, while adding your filler flowers.

Check out our most recent arrangement which we used for our fall harvest dinner party!

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Welcome to The Dads’ Home!

One of the things people mention to us the most is how much they love our home. On this blog, we hope we can give you insight into the thought and details that went into our home creation. Our house is over 100 years old… and we can tell you, it certainly is a labor of love!

The Dads Table 2

The Dads Backyard

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It all began with an air mattress…

Hello! Welcome! Thank you so much for stopping by!

We are lovingly known by our children as “The Dads”. It all began one evening when we were visiting Melissa (Dave’s daughter) and her husband in NYC. We had already left them to head back to our hotel for the night, but Leah (Harris’ daughter) and her husband, Sean, were staying at Melissa’s. Apparently, when Melissa had spotted the air mattress, which was loaned to Leah & Sean by us, she was beyond impressed. Impressed by an air mattress? Yes. In her opinion, it wasn’t just any ordinary, sit-on-it-and-roll-onto-the-floor type inflated mattress. It was a kind that had the edges and sturdiness of a real bed. Well, almost.

Melissa exclaimed how she bet The Dads researched online and read the reviews to find the best air mattress for their buck. Leah laughed and chimed in that Harris had told her about his air mattress buying experience. She told Sean and Melissa that her dad had the cashier open the box at check-out to see if the mattress plugged in without batteries. He didn’t want his baby having to hunt for batteries on her vacation!

And so, the conversation began. They all became so excited with the idea that the Dads should have a site where they could share their tips and insight. Melissa made sure that they documented this momentous occasion with a photo (as seen below).

We are a couple of guys who very much love entertaining, cooking, gardening, antique and art collecting, our koi fish pond, home decor, cocktails… and of course, most importantly, our family!

Please let us know what topics or questions you would love to see us cover! Our e-mail is: HarrisandDave@gmail.com

Warmly,
The Dads: Harris & Dave

Air Mattress Image