Last Minute Thanksgiving Post

So has everyone else been chopping and peeling and prepping and baking for tomorrow? I got off work at noon today and am off for 5 glorious days and have some wine in me so who knows what this post is going to be about, but I had to write something since it's been a full week since I posted.

And that was a really long sentence.

Anyhoo, back to the prepping for Thanksgiving because I think that's what we were talking about. We have all the traditional favorites at Thanksgiving, but we like to throw in a "wildcard" (as my brother calls them) or two just to mix things up. You know, something different like a new recipe or side dish to make things exciting. Yeah, we live on the edge over here.

So this year we have two wildcards - a squash dish and a stuffing made with dates and kale.

Mind you, I'm still making the traditional stuffing without any added stuff my husband doesn't like. He likes his food boring predictable, especially at Thanksgiving. He's very stuffy that way. (see what I did there?)

But I found this recipe from a newsletter with a link that someone sent to me at work. The link is Thanksgiving recipes from chefs and famous restaurants. There's several good ones, but the sourdough stuffing with dates and kale and almonds sounded really good. Here's the link. You'll have to scroll down a bit for the stuffing.

The second wildcard is the squash, which involves brown sugar and roasting and carmelizing and I hope it comes out as good as the reviewers said it was. Here's the link if you need a last minute squash dish. Because it happens.

It's just our family this year for Thanksgiving. No wildcard guests. Just us. Me and the hubby, my brother and his wife, my sister and her hubby and kids, my kids (splitting their time between me and their dad) and my uncle who is a new widower (3 years ago) and has come out every year since my aunt passed away to spend Thanksgiving with us.

I'm lucky because my brother loves to cook so we split the Thanksgiving cooking. He does the turkey. His wife does the candied yams (and they are best damn candied yams you'll ever taste!), I do the wildcard stuffing and squash and the mashed potatoes. Brother does the stuffy stuffing. I do green bean casserole because it's my hubby's favorite. Brother does apple pies and I do pumpkin. It works out splendidly.

I'm thankful to have help with the Thanksgiving cooking.

I'm thankful my family is together and healthy and all here to enjoy Thanksgiving together.

I'm thankful for my daughter's sobriety.

I'm thankful my hubby helps me in every way possible, especially now with my back injury. He even backs my truck in the driveway for me so I don't have to twist around in the seat to try to see to back out when I leave for work in the morning.

I'm thankful we're both employed and I have a boss that lets me off early the day before Thanksgiving.

I'm thankful pumpkin pie martinis were invented by Rachel Ray and plan to have a couple one tomorrow.

I'm thankful there's good in the world to outweigh the bad.

I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving and hope you have much to be thankful for, big and small.

I leave you with a song by John Denver, "Hey It's Good to Be Back Home Again", which I know is corny, but when my uncle comes out we listen to a lot of John Denver because...well, it's just what we do. And I love this John Denver song.

It's a fitting song for Thanksgiving, I think.

If you don't have your loved ones home with you at Thanksgiving, then I pray they find their way home to you soon.




I did warn you that I've had a little wine, didn't I?

Lushly and Thankfully,
Lori

Linking this post up to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop for the prompt "Write about something you're thankful for." I guess I cheated because I didn't pick just one thing. But hey, I'm happy to have gotten a post written this week!