Thanksgiving dinner
Erin always posts her menu. Here is what I like to have.
Turkey
Mashed potatoes
Dressing
Green bean casserole
Gravy
Deviled eggs
cranberry sauce
rolls
Pumpkin pie with Cool Whip
Also the past few years I have added in "Corn Cake" kind of like corn bread, but sweeter and with creamed corn and kernel corn, and either sour cream or evaporated milk added in - it is really good.
Things I must make from scratch include mashed potatoes, dressing and pumpkin pie filling. I actually like the jellied, canned cranberry sauce and DON'T like the real thing, although I can make it and sometimes do because my mother likes it. I used to make homemade rolls, but now I either use frozen or crescent rolls from a can, because my children LOVE those. I make a great homemade pie crust, BUT because I often make 8 - 16 pies for Community kitchen I usually use frozen pie crusts on Thanksgiving. If you buy the frozen pie crusts they come in those handy foil pans that transport easily and don't need returned.
I am not a huge dessert fan on Thanksgiving. I don't even really care about the pumpkin pie. If I am going to go out to the kitchen and eat more it is more of the side dishes. The past few years my parents have actually even brought a pumpkin pie from the store or a frozen one and I have been pretty happy with it after all the pies for Community Kitchen. They were asking what they should bring - I guess I should tell them that! We're all diabetic anyway and the meal is a total carb fest so why should we eat pie?
Last year I had the frozen rolls in the pan to rise and they were nowhere close to done and Emily stuck them in the oven. They were about the size of ping pong balls and hard as rocks. We spent the rest of the day picking up rolls and throwing them at each other and at the cats whenever possible. It was so funny. I found rolls around the house for days afterwards - -some chewed on by God only knows what....
I am going to be nice and let Stupidhead sleep in here tonight instead of the garage (I mean the four legged beastie, not Michael - I let him sleep in most nights.) So I am going to sleep in this room - the purple room, formerly known as Emily's room. I have been running the space heater so it is cozy. I finally turned on the furnace - but I only set the thermostat at 50 so I don't think it has kicked on yet. I don't want the house to get too cold because it was supposed to drop below freezing last night and tonight. I wanted to try to make it to December 1, but oh well. It probably doesn't really count if I am running the space heaters anyway. I want to save money, reduce my carbon footprint, save money, and be absolutely miserable all winter, save money, oh and save money too.
Just talked to Heather. She is buying the turkey right now. I am letting go and NOT being a control freak this year so I will not be stressed out. I may get to the level of paper plates, who knows? We'll see what happens. I flirted briefly with the idea of eating out. One of the State park inns has a buffet that is $15 each - we easily will spend $60 on the meal and if it were only Heather and Mom and Dad and me it would be just as cheap to go out and no dishes, but it turns out Chris and Miko are coming too so then it would be $90. Emily is going to rich boyfriend's in Bloomfield Hills Michigan, and Michael is with his dad. Maybe we can find a couple of strays to invite for dinner too. Last year Katie and her brother John came and that was an interesting mix. John's mental illness is much worse this year, however, and I am not sure I can cope with it without triggering some of my own emotional problems left over from having lived with the bi-polar husband for too long, so that may not be an option.
Isn't it wild how a holiday can be so loaded with "issues?"
Turkey
Mashed potatoes
Dressing
Green bean casserole
Gravy
Deviled eggs
cranberry sauce
rolls
Pumpkin pie with Cool Whip
Also the past few years I have added in "Corn Cake" kind of like corn bread, but sweeter and with creamed corn and kernel corn, and either sour cream or evaporated milk added in - it is really good.
Things I must make from scratch include mashed potatoes, dressing and pumpkin pie filling. I actually like the jellied, canned cranberry sauce and DON'T like the real thing, although I can make it and sometimes do because my mother likes it. I used to make homemade rolls, but now I either use frozen or crescent rolls from a can, because my children LOVE those. I make a great homemade pie crust, BUT because I often make 8 - 16 pies for Community kitchen I usually use frozen pie crusts on Thanksgiving. If you buy the frozen pie crusts they come in those handy foil pans that transport easily and don't need returned.
I am not a huge dessert fan on Thanksgiving. I don't even really care about the pumpkin pie. If I am going to go out to the kitchen and eat more it is more of the side dishes. The past few years my parents have actually even brought a pumpkin pie from the store or a frozen one and I have been pretty happy with it after all the pies for Community Kitchen. They were asking what they should bring - I guess I should tell them that! We're all diabetic anyway and the meal is a total carb fest so why should we eat pie?
Last year I had the frozen rolls in the pan to rise and they were nowhere close to done and Emily stuck them in the oven. They were about the size of ping pong balls and hard as rocks. We spent the rest of the day picking up rolls and throwing them at each other and at the cats whenever possible. It was so funny. I found rolls around the house for days afterwards - -some chewed on by God only knows what....
I am going to be nice and let Stupidhead sleep in here tonight instead of the garage (I mean the four legged beastie, not Michael - I let him sleep in most nights.) So I am going to sleep in this room - the purple room, formerly known as Emily's room. I have been running the space heater so it is cozy. I finally turned on the furnace - but I only set the thermostat at 50 so I don't think it has kicked on yet. I don't want the house to get too cold because it was supposed to drop below freezing last night and tonight. I wanted to try to make it to December 1, but oh well. It probably doesn't really count if I am running the space heaters anyway. I want to save money, reduce my carbon footprint, save money, and be absolutely miserable all winter, save money, oh and save money too.
Just talked to Heather. She is buying the turkey right now. I am letting go and NOT being a control freak this year so I will not be stressed out. I may get to the level of paper plates, who knows? We'll see what happens. I flirted briefly with the idea of eating out. One of the State park inns has a buffet that is $15 each - we easily will spend $60 on the meal and if it were only Heather and Mom and Dad and me it would be just as cheap to go out and no dishes, but it turns out Chris and Miko are coming too so then it would be $90. Emily is going to rich boyfriend's in Bloomfield Hills Michigan, and Michael is with his dad. Maybe we can find a couple of strays to invite for dinner too. Last year Katie and her brother John came and that was an interesting mix. John's mental illness is much worse this year, however, and I am not sure I can cope with it without triggering some of my own emotional problems left over from having lived with the bi-polar husband for too long, so that may not be an option.
Isn't it wild how a holiday can be so loaded with "issues?"