Thanksgiving Gratitude

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

Thanksgiving Dinner

We started Thanksgiving dinner with zucchini squares as appetizers.



Then we had stuffing...



and the bird of course.




Yes, there was cranberry sauce.



I made cream cheese mashed potatoes.



My sister made butternut squash.



There were family members present...



and good friends too.



Well, I had to try it all! And it was all sooo delicious!



For dessert, gingerbread cookies and a sneak peek to my Christmas soiree. Mary made a trial run with the new cookie molds I bought. The results were fantastic! Gingerbread nutcrackers and a lovely winter scene with kitties. These will be perfect for next week's party.



The impression on the cookies was crisp and clean! It took a bit of work on Mary's part.



We also had Mary's famous mile high apple pie, cookies from Clara, and lemon bread from Sheila.

It was a wonderful meal and Clara even let me keep one eye on the Patriots game while we ate dinner. What could be better than that!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day.

Thanksgiving Plans

I hope everyone has some fun plans for Thanksgiving and the long weekend. As for me, I am going to my "Italian Mother" Clara's house for dinner on Thursday. It will be a small gathering and I'm bringing cream cheese mashed potatoes. The recipe is from one of my Susan Branch cookbooks. Yum!

When I was at the market tonight I carefully selected the potatoes and put them into the plastic bag. When I went to put them in the cart, the bag broke and the potatoes went tumbling to the floor. I laughed and a woman who observed the calamity helped me pick them up. We searched but couldn't find all of them. I hope no injuries occurred from slipping on red bliss potatoes.

This weekend I'll be getting the condo decorated for Christmas since my party is the following weekend. Yikes, so much to do. The fireplace has arrived and just needs to be assembled. And the china cabinet is coming from my Dad's house.

I am debating about the Christmas Tree. The little one, Percy, will probably destroy it. So maybe I should put the tree up the day of the party so at least it looks good for one night. Hmm, have to think on this one.

I wish all of you a wonderful, safe, fun filled Thanksgiving and weekend. Gotta go I just heard a commotion and I am sure Percy is smack in the middle of it!

I'm going here...

Tomorrow, I'm going here.



Dining in the beautiful historic home of Clara where friends are made to feel like family.



We'll have some of this.



And some of this.



Ending with this.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving.

It's Thanksgiving!

I am not cooking today so I have time to blog. My sister and I are going to the home of our "Italian Mother" today. Clara already has eight children so what's two more at the table. She is a lifesaver. Since my mother's stroke in 2004, Thanksgiving has not been the same.

Mom is in a nursing home and doing pretty well, and my dad has noontime dinner with her. The powers that be at the nursing home decided two years ago that they would institute a two guest rule for holiday dinners. That means that one of the three us would not be able to eat dinner at the nursing home on Thanskgiving. Our solution is to have dad eat with mom and my sister and I join Clara's family for their Thanskgiving celebration. After dinner, we go to the nursing home, my dad takes a break and then he spends a little time with us, then he's back to the nursing home to be with mom during the evening.

Oh well, that's the way it has to be, so we deal with it. We are very fortunate to have Clara and her family in our lives. She calls us her "Irish daughters". We love all the commotion that goes on with a big family celebration. There is an abundance of food and laughter and the noise level!
Well, you can just imagine.

Clara lives in a fabulous old home with a tin ceiling in the dining room , several stained glass windows, a walk in pantry, and a fabulous wrap around porch. The home is located in a section of town once known as Nobility Hill. It is the perfect setting for a holiday meal.

So I have much to be thankful for today. My real family and my adopted family are both doing well. I am looking forward to the meal, the company and the football.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blogging friends!!