Wednesday, November 21, 2007

"Turkey lurkey doo ..."

I can't muster that old Thanksgiving Spirit. With only three of us around the table tomorrow, I'm fearing it will feel like any other weeknight meal ... only I'll be really tired since I just cooked for 2 days. I miss my family very much. When Dad was alive, they'd make the trip us here on the day before Thanksgiving, somehow surviving the terrible traffic between here and Atlanta ... and as soon as they came through the door, it was Holiday Time in my head. Daddy loved to eat, so Thanksgiving was a happy time for all.

Jimmy doesn't enjoy food. Period. Emilie hates all the traditional Thanksgiving dishes. And here I am ... with my bypassed gastric, still loving the idea of food but unable to eat more than a few bites of anything.

Still, I'm starting the food preparation as soon as I finish up here this morning. Traditions die hard around me.

I'm brining the turkey this year ... a first for me. I bought the Turkey Brine from Williams-Sonoma. It has all the spices and flavors mixed together, and all I have to do is dissolve it in boiling water, and then cool it. I'll let you know how it turns out. I had planned to skip having a ham this year (see above, only 3 of us here), but on my last grocery run, I gave in to tradition and bought a small one. If nothing else, I love the smell of a ham baking. And it's protein ... yay, protein.

What else am I cooking? I do love to talk about food ...

=== Dressing: Grandma Owens' recipe ... made with homemade cornbread, Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix, broth, celery, onions, spices, and LURVE, baby.

=== Giblet Gravy: Again Grandma Owens' recipe, but tweaked around a little this year ... hopefully improved and not ruined.

=== English Peas: Jimmy's favorite food on the planet. He'll be the only one eating these. I guess it says a lot about whether or not you're a food-lover ... if, when asked what your favorite food is, you answer, "little green peas", you're probably NOT a foodie.

=== Green Beans w/Bacon & Tomatoes: New recipe.

=== Collard Greens: Call me weird, but I love to smell these simmering away on the stove. I'll be doing this one today.

=== Mashed Potatoes: With butter, cream cheese, AND half & half. Oh, baby.

=== Black Eyed Peas: So Emilie can have a veggie on her plate.

=== Strawberry Pretzel Salad: We may be the only family in America that uses this as a "salad" instead of a dessert, which is what it really is. We serve it with all the savory food.

=== Deviled Eggs: Along with olives, and bread & butter pickles on a relish tray. Have you tried Wickles yet? If you love bread & butter pickles, and if you love spicy stuff ... you should see if you can find some ... Publix carries them here. I'm the only person who likes them in my house, but MAN they are tasty.

=== Yeast rolls: Yay for more carbs.

=== Gooey Butter Cake

=== Pecan Pie

=== Sweet Potato Pie

Yeah, that's right ... three desserts for three people. Shut up.

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Happy Thanksgiving. Take a nap tomorrow ... it's the law.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

99% of me wants to be there soooo bad, and 1% of me is so glad I'm not on I-85 making that "busiest travel day of the year" trek up there after working all day. I miss the old Thanksgivings too. There'll be only 4 of us at Mama's. Sister and Melody are entertaining at their house, as I'm sure you've heard. My thoughts will most defianately be with you as I sit down to my turkey breast and pineapple casserole. Mmmmm. I could sure go for some of those little green peas and your mashed potatoes!!

I love you, Kay

Anonymous said...

You know I meant definately..right?

Moi said...

I TOTALLY should have stayed and had thanksgiving with you. I could have had better food at McDonald's this year. It was awful...really. Add that to the fact that we were using dishes that we were not allowed to bang our forks on too hard, a table that took "12 weeks to come all the way from China" in a room made for looking at not actually USING and you have MY Thanksgiving. Bleh. Ona brighter note, we were able to escape before she noticed the cranberry stain Teagan left on her FINEST MOST EXPENSIVE tablecloth. hehe.