Anticipating Thanksgiving

I love this holiday. I am (shall I say it?) thankful for this holiday! I love the food. Comfort food, and lots of it. I love having two days off from work. I love an excuse to invite friends and family to share a meal and an afternoon of fun. I love football.

Here is what's on our menu this year:

A few appetizers: cheese and crackers, nuts, fruits

Then, the main event:

A huge turkey (20 pounds so we can be sure to have lots of leftovers) with stuffing and awesome gravy.

Homemade cranberry sauce (from real cranberries! mmmmmm.....)

Canned cranberry sauce, because some folks (read: mother in law) just can't live without it and it's so cheap and easy and why not just make them happy?

Mashed potatoes and awesome gravy.

Glazed and roasted sweet potatoes.

Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top (too sweet for me, but the kids love it).

Glazed carrots.

Salad with cranberries and apples and feta cheese.

Green bean casserole, made with porcini mushrooms and cream.

Corn and peas, from the freezer, because the kids don't like the salad or the green bean casserole (foolish children, but what can you do?).

Homemade rolls.

Tea.

And white wine... And red wine... lots of red or white wine for those who aren't driving.

And beer for those who prefer it.

And soda for those who prefer that.

And milk for the kids.


And the desserts.... oh, the desserts!

There will apple pie with ice cream,

and ice cream sundaes,

and chocolate cheesecake,

and - my very favorite thing in the whole wide world! - pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream.

And coffee. Lots of coffee. With Kahlua if you want it. And whipped cream.

And we will eat and talk and eat and talk and then when we can't eat anymore, we'll clean the kitchen and talk some more, and the kids will play and the dog will get some table scraps and everyone will take some leftovers home for lunch the next day.

Does life get any better than that?

I can hardly wait until tomorrow!