Thanksgiving Eve

Preparations are underway already. The bread is cubed and drying for stuffing. The pumpkin cheesecake bars are baking. The wine is being sipped. I even have something resembling table decor. I know, I think I must have hit my head on something.

My favorite Thanksgiving food, to eat and to cook, is stuffing. When I was wee my maternal grandmother's stuffing was the best. I made it once as an adult; it is not actually the best. It is kinda gross, in fact, a mixture of finely ground hamburger buns, hard boiled egg, celery and oregano, it was clearly a product of the 60s. I wished that stuffing was nearly as good as I remember it to be, since it would be nice to have a family recipe to turn to.

Instead I usually look up a couple different recipes and end up improvising. This year I'm using a mix of white and wheat bread, though in years past I've used challah or a baguette. The flavorings are dried apricots, cherries and pecans, along with the traditional celery and onions. Herbs are mostly from the garden (that's how mild the weather has been, I've still got herbs growning!). I decided on fruit and nut because it turns out that all my recipes this year have nuts in them. Look at all the bags of stuff from Trader Joe's!

Tracking Thanksgiving

OK, this week I'm going to write about my Thanksgiving preparations, since this will be our first year hosting family for the big day. Thanks to Craig and Carrie for being our guinea pigs in years past. My family isn't demanding, but being responsible for the official family fete does add some pressure. What to cook? When to cook it? What should my tablescape be?!

Yesterday we purchased the majority of the groceries. Which involved two grocery stores. By the end of all the shopping I imagine we'll have hit at least four distinct. Also, word to the wise: Discount Liquor closes at 2 pm on Sundays. Also, there are no plums to be had in November, no matter how warm it is. So no plum tart. We'll have to get by on my dad's two pies. Are two pies enough for six people? We'll see.

Cheating on SACFTB

I've started writing some posts for the Women's Fund of Greater Milwaukee. Wish I had as clear a POV for this blog as we do for that one. I've been volunteering for the Women's Fund for over 4 years and this by far my favorite task. Check out my latest post.