Happy Thanksgiving

The turkey is in the oven and I'm caught up on everything -- for the time being. I made my own cranberry relish this year. It's GREAT and beats that canned stuff any day.

Cranberry Relish

1 orange
1 bag cranberries
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick

Quarter oranges and stick in food processor until you get it to the size and texture you want. Remove and add cranberries, and then add all into a pot and on med/low heat and bring to boil and boil for about 10-15 minutes. Refrigerate until you use it. What's nice about this is you can make it a few days ahead of time.

My pies? I've never found anything better than Libby's recipe on the side of their pumpkin can. Awesome. I usually add an extra egg or so, but that's about it. And always toss out the old spices every couple of years and get new ones. Fresh spices make a HUGE difference in the taste! The only short cut I use here is I usually use Pillsbury's refrigerated dough found in the dairy section. It's almost as good as my home made crust and there's not all the fuss. You just sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes and then spread it over the pie plate. For the first time this year I added a layer of mini marshmallows on the bottom. They float to the top while baking and add a delish topping to your pie. YUMMY!!!

My sweet potatoes are made with fresh sweet potatoes. I add some brown sugar, stick of butter, dash of vanilla and bring to boil and then drizzle over my peeled and cooked sweet potatoes. Those will go in the oven along with the extra stuffing after I pull my bird out.

Speaking of my bird, he's a free range tom turkey and I, for the first time ever, bought a baking bag to put him in. I was in a Super Target yesterday evening and this lady was so excited about finding the bags that I questioned her about it. She said she's never cooked her turkey any other way and it absolutely makes a gorgeous turkey. Hmmmm ... I tossed a box in my cart and said, you ought to do a commercial for Reynolds. Ha ha ha ...

My dressing is Pepperidge Farms and I like whole grains, but could only find one that was half ww and half white. Darn it! But I melted a stick of butter and chopped up some celery and onions and cooked until tender. Then I poured over the dressing mixture and tossed. I added three cans of mushrooms and tossing until blended.

Of course we're going to have mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus and a loaf of Publix' white mountain bread to finish the trimmings. My hubby likes the asparagus steamed mushy and I like them steamed crisp tender, so no matter how they come out one of us gets our way. I get mad at myself though when I over cook them.

That is my menu. It's an awesome, hearty dinner which I'm sure we'll all enjoy. I have much to give thanks to this year.

*Harold and I survived our first year of marriage unscathed.
*Jesse, Harold's son, is something to be proud of. He moved in with us this past July and has made great strides in improving his life. He's working hard to get ahead and it's a great thing for his father to watch as he prevails.
*My son's ex girlfriend, Sarah, brought a beautiful little girl into the world this past September.
*My son, Matt, is humbled and respectful again.
*My daughter, Missi, is preggers with her third baby.
*Her husband, John, has graduated from college and now working at UPS. Go Brown!
*Katie is ... well, Katie is. What can I say about a 17 year old that is driving me crazy? Okay. Lets say what's she's not. She's not pregnant, nor does she drink or use drugs.
*My mom and dad are really getting old now and it's so apparent how one can't get along with out the other. Who'd have figured?
*I have a great new job working with a lot of Hispanic and Haitian patients and it looks like I'm finally going to be fluent in my first language, Spanish, soon.
*We all have our health!


God Bless!