Thanksgiving dinner and how it evolved (personal)

Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday.  As a kid it was a four day holiday from school. Invariably we would have dinner at either of the grandparents homes or maybe both.  The gatherings consisted of a gathering of aunts, uncles and cousins.  We cousins would play marathon games of Monopoly.  We dined at the kids table and giggled and choked our way merrily through dinner.

My absolute best remembered Thanksgiving was way WAY back in 1963. I remember the date because Kennedy had been assassinated and the folks and kids had all moved to Westwood California following one of Dad's jobs. I had stayed home to continue school and was moping around Grandma's house when some old family friends showed up to drive me to Westwood.
So off we went,  I was all of fifteen or so then and had my driver's license, quite unused don't you know. I cheerfully offered to help drive.  I was very politely refused. Armed with the address from one of Mom's letters we tracked down the house, their presence confirmed by the blue van vehicle parked outside.  I knocked on the door and Mom's eyes bugged out and she shrieked,"What are you doing here?!"  The friends drove to Susanville to visit some of their relatives and the next four days were mine.  My brother and I got into a tussle over a piece of pumpkin pie which landed on the floor.  We didn't care, we ate it anyway.

Today's menu and story as follows:

Turkey.   My place of employment (thank you Mr.Z!) hands out certificates for turkeys and they usually run about 10 to12 pounds.  Mine is nicely thawed and will go into the oven stuffed with whole lemon, whole orange and lots of whole garlic.  I will use the dripping for gravy, will slice up the orange and lemon yumm.  Darn I forgot to purchase Rosemary.

Dressing:  Using some of last years frozen turkey broth, grilled onions, garlic, celery, salt, pepper, sprinkle red pepper flake. Mix well with bag of croutons, add couple of eggs, pat into baking dish, bake at 350 for 45 minutes or so.,

Golden Potatoe Casserole:  4 to 6 whole potatoes, boiled, cooled, shredded.  Two cups sour cream, two cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, salt, pepper,1/4 cup butter.  Mix well, pour into bowl, pat down, top with 1 cup buttered bread crumbs 45 minutes 350. This is decadent.

Cranberry Orange Jello Salad with walnuts and celery:  This is a recipe that is either well received or heartily hated.  Generations of my family have eaten this, well since Jello was invented.  Mom's preparation method involved grinding the cranberries in one of those metal food grinders which was clamped onto a large breadboad upon which one of the larger children would sit to hold the whole thing in place.  Since the fruit was very juicy and dripped down the apparatus, another child would be given the job of holding a container to catch the dripping juice.  It was quite an ordeal. My method involves a blender, grind up orange and cranberrys, use juice to prepare jello (black cherry, which is fast becoming a rare commodity to purchase), chop walnuts, chop celery. Go back one step macerate berries in one cup sugar.  Sets up nicely, use only half the liquid called for in the jello instructions.

Pumpkin pie:   Okay this recipe has been in the family since my Grandmother Horn received a Home Comfort wood cooking stove many years ago. The pie recipe came in a small cookbook that accompanied the range. That cookbook now resides with my sister as a treasured family heirloom.  The original recipe called for one tablespoon of melted butter.  It was left out several decades ago and has not harmed the pie at all.  Recipe is simple; pumpkin, sugar, milk,eggs, cinnamon and allspice.  The crust is another story altogether. Grandma Horn had a very light hand with pie crust made of lard, flour, dab of water and there you go.  Her cholesterol was well within normal limits and I thankfully have inherited the same trait. My pie crust is the peel and stick kind, love it! OH yeah I forgot, Cool Whip is optional.

Crescent rolls:  Hmm, more peel and stick, follow directions on can.  Easy peasy.

Condiments:  Green tomatoe pickles (I have raved about these before), black olives, celery maybe.

Activities:  Maybe watch the parade and snooze between fits and starts of cooking. If there is a football game on I may snooze through that.  Drive/walk/fly/hop/skip/jump carefully

Thanks:  I am very thankful for the blessings of the land. I am thankful for my family extended though they may be.  I am thankful to be gainfully employed and in reasonable good health for the shape I am in.  Bless you all!