Happy Thanksgiving

Don't blink.



Topped off my tank today, cost a grand total of SIX BUCKS! Take that Exxon!



Day before yesterday I made corn bread dressing with creamed corn, black olives, onions, and the secret ingredient smoked oysters...should have used more oysters, can't hardly tell they are there.

Today I made cranberry orange walnut celery jello salad. I also made golden potato casserole, shredded potatoes mixed with a cup of sour cream, 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, salt, pepper, butter, bread crumbs and paprika topping.

I also made four pumpkin pies using my grandmother Nora Beatrice Lattimer Horn's recipe. The recipe has been in the family for almost a hundred years. Her recipe came in a recipe book with her brand new Home Comfort cooking range, purchased very very early 20th century. The recipe is as follows: 1 cup pumpkin, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp allspice. The original recipe called for one tablespoon of melted butter, I have tried that variation once and it did not seem to make any difference in the pie. These pies are meant to sit on a shelf for a day to allow the sugars to percolate onto the surface in little clear pearls. The pie can be sliced very neatly and if you are in a hurry it is firm enough to pick up a piece and eat it out of your hand. This recipe is such a favorite that I have a horror of any other pumpkin pie especially the ones that have nutmeg and ginger or are loose,have to be eaten from a plate and they just feel like a pudding disaster about to happen.

My favorite Thanksgiving memory goes back to the early 1960's. Mom and Dad and the rest of the kids were in Susanville,California and I had stayed home as I was at a seemingly critical time in high school. Some friends of the family decided to go visit members of their family who lived near Susanville and they very kindly took me along to surprise the folks. Boy I'll say, I only had a street address and I knew what the vehicle they owned looked like. So I finally spotted the Van in the alley where they lived. I knocked on the door, Mom answered and looked very shocked, "Where did you come from!?". We had a good visit. I remember in particular that my brother Richard and I got into a fight over the last piece of pumpkin pie. The pie wound up on the floor, but we ate it anyway, we didn't waste food and Mom's floors were spotless.