Friday, November 4, 2011

In three weeks


Thanksgiving is only three weeks away!  Are you looking forward to the holiday?  It is my second favorite holiday, Christmas being at the top of the list.  When I was young, we always went to my maternal grandmother's house for dinner.  She was an excellent cook and a lot of the food she fixed came from her garden.  Later, when Grandmother couldn't do the cooking, I usually had the meal at my house as well as the Christmas dinner.   I've never felt like my food tasted nearly as good as hers did.  For one thing, I've always had trouble with getting the gravy to come out right.  I can make excellent gravy most of the time, but turkey gravy is another story.   Another dish that won't win any awards either is my dressing.  I don't stuff the turkey, so we call the dish dressing instead of stuffing and my dressing comes in a box!  Almost everything else turns out just fine.  

Do you do the cooking for the holidays?  What is your least favorite food to fix?  Your best food?  My favorite would be the turkey.  I've always had success with turkey even though I'll often wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about meal time arriving and I've not thawed out the turkey! 


Until next time... 

31 comments:

  1. LOL ... gotta love that Maxine ... she's got the answer to everything :).
    Your Thanksgivings at your grandmoher's house sound wonderful, especially all the fresh from the garden food.
    Thanksgiving is the only holiday I no longer host, so I look forward to it. We go to my BIL and SILs house, but I always bring a dish or two.

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  2. I am SO ready for t'giving! We leave in about two weeks to go see the grands in Oregon. I am totally pumped! Yes, I'll cook...and my sweet girls will help make the pies! Soooooo excited!!!

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  3. OOps ... should be "grandmother's".

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  4. This year I am having my family and my Hubs family over for Thanksgiving.

    I have a recipe for Holiday Mashed Potatoes that you do in the oven. That way, I won't be mashing them right before we sit down to eat.

    As for the gravy, usually I am doing that at the last minute too.... this year, I am going to buy a turkey leg or two, fry it and then add some water and thickener and see how it turns out. All I will have to do is reheat it. Hope it works.

    Good luck to you with Thanksgiving!!

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  5. Maxine made me do it again! I laughed so hard that John came running.

    Yes, everything you said here made me nod in agreement. I will be it. The one. I have never felt so lost before as if I am incapable of making a turkey dinner. Wait, I'm pretty sure I am incapable of making a turkey dinner. I am right now trying to snag all the little things that my mother told me through the years that I didn't write down. What was that trick about the stuffing? Where is the family recipe for cranberry salad?

    I so related. Thank you for the fun!

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  6. Actually my sister and I were just discussing this and we both agreed that our favorite Thanksgiving ever was a pot luck served buffet style.
    My niece and her boyfriend had a beautiful home on the water in Palm Beach and provided the turkey only. Everyone else brought a favorite dish. One of the bigger hits was my BIL's lasagna. Not exactly traditional. No one spent three days preparing food.
    This meant we still ate till stuffed but there was no stress on any one family. We had a wonderful time just enjoying each other.
    For some reason, that wonderful day has not been repeated and we are back to tradition where the host family gets to work on their ulcers.

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  7. HAHAHA! That is how I like my Thanksgiving. You have lovely memories of your past. I love your picture on this post too.

    This Thanksgiving we are going to Ohio to be with my son and his family. In the past - we would always go to my MIL and the whole family was there. She made the holidays so special. We miss her a lot.

    Sandie♥

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  8. with just my husband and i and his brother & SIL now, we order one of the basic turkey and dressing meals from the local grocery store, then fix the potatoes, rolls, and veggies around it. not fancy or great, but it works.

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  9. I'm with Theresa (Texwis); I've never cooked Thanksgiving dinner, so we always buy the turkey and dressing meal from Cracker Barrel (YAY).
    And Mom always made dressing, not stuffing. I wish I could have a huge pan of her dressing now - it was so good, I'd eat it cold right out of the fridge!

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  10. I simply love Thanksgiving...I have so many happy memories of Thanksgiving as a child.

    My least favorite dish to make is sweet pot. casserole and my kids love it!
    I do love making dressing with cornbread and the gravy...this is my hubands favorite food! Can you believe it's only three weeks away..WOW!
    Have a great Friday..
    Hugs,
    shug

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  11. Thanksgiving is absolutely my FAVORITE holiday. There are no expectations - just good food and an expectation of thankfulness. Win!

    I love to cook and cannot think of a least favorite. It just gives me an excuse to pull out all of the stops and bake! My dressing comes out of bag - box/bag, same thing - and I don't stuff the bird - but I think it is great. I do add extra celery, onion and stuff to make it seem more "homemade".

    Great post and I love Maxine.

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  12. Maxine always Rocks! i have never cooked a turkey. i despise cooking and always have. when i was raising my boys, we ate Christmas and TG at my mothers, I provided all the food, she cooked it and i cleaned up the mess. the family ate well and we were happy. i married bob 27 years ago and our first TG he said are you cooking a turkey? when i stopped laughing, i said I have never cooked a turkey in my life, he said neither have i but i can read. he made the turkey and his mothers potato stuffing, and every TG and Christmas for 27 years he makes the turkey and stuffing.

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  13. I love to cook, but this year my youngest wants to have Thanksgiving dinner at her house, so that means that I will have to spend the night there and put it in the oven bright and early, cause she won't touch the turkey, it's "yucky". My favorite thing to make are the pies. Not so excited about making the dressing. Do like Maxine's idea, though

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  14. So cute, Cheryl....
    Enjoyed your memory of Thanksgiving at your grandmothers. We will be eating at my mothers the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and will have a simple Dinner for the two of us on TD. Or children live so far and probably won't get home this year.boo hoo.
    My favorite dish to prepare is pumpkin pie. least favorite is the gravy.
    Have a great day.
    Sue

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  15. Love all of your happy memories of Thanksgiving!

    This Thanksgiving will be different than any other. We now have a daughter-in-law.
    She is from Brazil, so it will be interesting to see what she thinks of our traditional Thanksgiving.

    Our traditional Thanksgiving meal has to consist of smoked turkey, with grandma E's mustard sauce, and candy bar pie.
    Other than that, everything is flexable.

    Have a beautiful day :)

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  16. We host Thanksgiving Dinner at our home each year for 23 people. Everybody brings food, and the only things I'm responsible for are the turkey, the dressing and the gravy. I'd be happy to email you my recipes and tips if you'd like!

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  17. Hi Cheryl!

    I love Thanksgiving! I too have such wonderful memories of dinner at grandma's house! The year before she passed away, I had her come to my house for Thanksgiving dinner, it was such a fun day, one I will keep in my heart forever!

    In the past I have always done the cooking, but for the past few years we have taken turns with my oldest daughter - her husband makes the best turkey! I love to fix it all! My best food is probably the stuffing - and I don't stuff the turkey either, I just put it in a pan. One of the dishes that I make that my family loves is the creamed corn. Frozen or fresh corn with creamed cheese - it's delicious! I also make good rolls - most of the time!!

    Love Maxine!

    Hugs,
    Barb

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  18. I love that cartoon! Another one similar to it has been going around on Facebook. I love Thanksgiving the most and am so happy to be cooking this year. Last year hubby was in Afghanistan and the year before he was getting ready to leave and left the day after Christmas after a delay in his travel orders. So the past two years haven't been too happy. I love stuffing! That's what we call it here and I make one that goes in the turkey and another corn bread dressing with sausage. Very good. My least favorite thing to make is the mashed potatoes. We need around 10 pounds and with my arthritis I have a hard time peeling and mashing, but hubby has agreed to help me with this chore this year! Hope you have a nice weekend!

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  19. i ALWAYS cook on thanksgiving. i start 2 days before with the dressing and stuffed mushrooms.

    i go all out....4 apps, all sides are homemade except the white corn and i made all my own deserts.

    it's so fun and we always end with a wii tournament. i usually have to wake my boys up to play!!

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  20. Thanksgiving was always special. It was the one holiday all the family could gather. Christmas has such demands on people that we would get together sometime before the day, for Thanksgivng my sister and I would rotate hosting. Now I'm too far away and Christmas is the holiday we go back to share.

    That sweet potato cassarole is the thing I don't like making but is always a hit. I enjoy making cornbread dressing. Yummy

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  21. We have gone to my parents house for years and I would help mom with the cooking. For the past 4 years I have cooked at my house for everyone. But I will not touch the raw turkey...yuck! Hubby has to prepare it and I'll watch it in the oven. I make stuffing out of the box. My mashed potatoes are homemade and everything else is easy. For dessert I always have sweet potatoe pie, pumpkin pie, and a cake. This is making me hungry. Time for lunch!
    Have a nice weekend!

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  22. This will be the first year ever here on the Ponderosa that Thanksgivin' won't be at the 'Big House'. My MIL just moved to assisted care a few months ago. I'd do most the cookin' and 'truck' it to her house. It'll be different this year.

    God bless and have a wonderful weekend sweeetie!!! :o)

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  23. Traditions have changed with the passing of our parents. My sister & her family now travel the miles to my house for Thanksgiving. For a few days my home is overflowing with our children & my grandchildren. It is a ton of work but I love it, along with the memories we are making.

    I do "dressing" also. I usually use a box of Stovetop as my base. But to it, I add a mixture of different crumbled up breads. Try adding stale loaf bread, cornbread, biscuits, crackers...whatever you have. I also chop up extra celery & onion & cook it until tender in extra broth. (Canned or boxed chicken broth works great!) Mix all of it together, add more broth to make it moist & bake until just browned. It's easy!

    I am beginning to plan my meals for the whole weekend. One challenge is that my nieces birthday is on Thanksgiving day! Guess we'll be ending the day with birthday cake!

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  24. I love that picture at the top! Well, now I know the difference between stuffing and dressing!!! They say that we should not stuff the turkey anymore, that bacteria builds, so you are wise! I hardly cook anymore, much less for several people, due to my health. So we will be going to family members where they will do the cooking!! One of the only foods that Phil hates is sweet potatoes!! But it gets pushed on him at Thanksgiving and then he has to find something nice to say about it! I LOVE the turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing!!

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  25. Hi Cheryl, I love Thanksgiving dinner ---and used to make a big deal out of it... These days, we usually just have a turkey breast, dressing and gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberry salad, and pumpkin pie.... I keep it as simple (but good) as possible.... My days of cooking all of the fancy foods is over!!!!!! ha

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  26. I'll bet your food is way better than you give yourself credit for, Cheryl. It is kind of funny how we always hold those foods prepared by our moms and grandmothers up as 'gold standards' for our own and ours never live up to the challenge (in our own minds). I LOVE Thanksgiving. It is my number one. There is nothing on that menu I don't enjoy cooking!! (do like to pawn off making the fruit salad, if I can.)

    Three weeks!! Yikes!! So much to do!! have a great weekend, Cheryl. Blessings ~ tanna

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  27. Good Evening Cheryl! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. We usually spend it home on the Tiny Ten. Unless one of CH's brothers has it at their house and asks us to come. But we really like to be home and take a walk in the afternoon around our woods with a fire burning in the fire pit. I make homemade noodles and chicken(chicken and noodles) mashed potatoes and something healthy and green, a little stuffing and jellied cranberry sauce out of the can, and buttered dinner rolls. We watch the movie White Christmas after dinner. Next morning we have potato cakes made out of the left-over mashed potatoes. I love Thanksgiving, a day of peace and giving Thanks. And FOOD. And pumpkin pie.

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  28. Love the prozac stuffed turkey!!

    Great blog
    am off to read more.

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  29. Ole Maxine is always good for a laugh.
    My husband and I make the turkey and stuffing and take it to my daughters house.
    Hugs,
    Pam

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  30. Gotta love that Maxine! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it always means family. Looking forward to visiting my mom and sisters!
    Carolyn

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  31. Oh my gosh! Anothe Maxine lover! I also love Thanksgiving, and it is my 2nd favorite to Xmas, too! I love fixing Thanksgiving dinner...I can conjure up the turkey roasting aroma just by thinking about it! Everything I fix is simple. I've never been a gourmet cook! AND my stuffing/dressing comes out of a box, too! :)

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