Thanksgiving Hodgepodge

Well, it's finally here.

The turkey has been thawing out in the fridge since the weekend,

the spiral sliced ham is just waiting to be placed in the crockpot,

the loaves of bread are stashed on top of my refrigerator in the roasting pan

and will be toasted tonight for tomorrow's dressing.

(I call it dressing because I don't stuff it in the bird, therefore it's not stuffing....

even though it stuffs the belly!)

(the dressing before it's actually dressing)

And speaking of dressing, I have to say that I am quite proud of myself

that I have been able to reproduce Mom's dressing to a "T". 

 And I have to make someone a whole pan of their own...for later...

and it's not the hubby (it's Aaron) ...in fact, Jim doesn't eat it at all...

...doesn't like wet bread, he says...oh well, fine by me.

I am also going to try a new, nearly sugar-free recipe for my cranberry salad...

no canned berries this year, only because they are loaded with sugar...

 BUT...I could easily eat that stuff right out of the can!

I'll let you in on the recipe if it turns out well...I kinda made it up.

I'm the only one who likes it, therefore I will be eating it all myself so I hope it's good!

I will most likely make another batch since Carrie, our DIL loves cranberry salad too. 

We will be celebrating an early Christmas in a couple of weeks 

since the the Tennessee Rays will be in town.

 Olivia, our rock wall climbing princess, will be competing in an event in Charlotte, 

which is about two hours away from here that weekend as well.

This will be our first time to see her climb in person...other than just on video.

She has found her niche, it seems...seriously, the girl is a maniac!
 

I really do enjoy cooking for Thanksgiving dinner more than any other time I think.

There will only be three of us for dinner due to work schedules and this and that,

so after sending some leftovers home to those who had to work, we will be enjoying them too.

We actually enjoy the leftovers even more so than the meal, itself.

Crazy, I know.
~
So who's thankful for Joyce and her Hodgepodge?

She is so faithful to come up with interesting and many times hard questions week after week.
I don't know about you but some of her questions have actually been helpful to my life...
...prompting me to ponder deeply and sometimes bringing about a new awareness of myself,
and if I'm being completely honest here, sometimes even conviction.
Thank you, Joyce for all of the time and thought you put into the Hodgepodge every week!

So here are Joyce's questions for the week...and I thought her acrostic was very clever!

1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

No doubt about it, I cling pretty tightly to tradition when it comes to the holidays, if at all possible. When I am hosting the dinner, I tend to make most of the basic dishes but always welcome anything that someone wants to bring. When I was growing up, Mom always cooked the turkey and dressing and the married families brought many of the sides. I never knew the joy of going to Grandma's, unfortunately, since they had already passed on before I came along. One of my fondest memories is when I was a little girl and I would help Mom with the dressing...that must be why I just had to learn to make it just right. She would toast the bread and after it cooled a bit, my job was to tear it into pieces. I can still hear her voice scolding me when put more of it into my mouth than in the bowl! Later on when the families started growing, our house just couldn't hold the people anymore and my older sisters with larger homes would take turns hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Then I moved away...and for eleven years we were able to make the trip up to Ohio when we lived in KY, only three hours away. But then moving to NC made it more difficult to do this as often, mostly due to crossing snowy and icy mountains to get there. To answer the rest of the questions within this question, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was always playing on TV, football was a non-issue, the menu was almost always the same and dinner was on the table at 1:00. After the meal, my brothers broke out their instruments and we had a family jam session and sang Christmas music. There have been just a couple of times when the holidays were celebrated a little differently ...and if you wish you can read about them here and here.

2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?

Our holiday celebrations are always laid back and help is always offered and accepted. Now, when it comes to making the gravy, I'll do that myself, thank you very much!

3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

White bread (which I never buy except for dressing) and extra food....period.

4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?

That I can make my mama's dressing and for God's Amazing Grace.

5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?

The way I see it is thankfulness and gratefulness go hand in hand and it is a conscience CHOICE that we make, understanding the fact that not one of us is worthy. Every little blessing, even the tiniest one, is a gift from God simply because He loves us. When we are genuinely thankful, we naturally feel grateful.

6. State your own random thought here.

😜

Much love to all and
Happy Thanksgiving!