Thanksgiving 2016

It will be no surprise to anyone who knows me that my hosting Thanksgiving involves lists, timelines, and many Post-It Notes. I am grateful this year that I was so organized, and I took the whole week off of school to do it, and I had two really competent helpers who cooked entire dishes by themselves, that I did not stress out overly much, nor did I yell. I am learning.

Thanksgiving 2016 Menu (with links to recipes)

• Meats
• TURKEY BREAST AND GRAVY
• HAM
• Side Dishes
• GRANDMOM'S CRANBERRIES
• GREEN BEANS WITH MUSHROOMS AND BACON
• COLLARD GREENS
• SMUSHED APPLES AND SWEET POTATOES
• MAMA'S HOMEMADE MACARONI AND CHEESE
• WHOLE GRAIN BREAD ROLLS
• Desserts
• HOMEMADE VANILLA ICE CREAM
• PUMPKIN PIE
• MOLASSES SUGAR COOKIES
• HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM

My mother-in-law has hosted so many Thanksgiving meals that I don't think she writes anything done in preparation. She says she just knows what to buy at the store and she knows all the recipes in her head, and when to make each one. Plus she decorates.

Me, I have to approach this with a battle plan. (And I don't decorate.)


Food Preparation Plan

Saturday:

• Plan menu

Sunday:

• Place grocery order online

Monday:

• Clean out refrigerator
• Pick up grocery order from the store

Tuesday items to cook ahead:

• cranberry sauce (made by Mary)
• homemade ice cream (made by John)
• whole grain bread rolls (made by Margaret)

John (9) made the vanilla ice cream by himself

Margaret (5) made the whole wheat rolls with only a little help

Wednesday items to cook ahead:

• pumpkin pie (made by John)
• molasses sugar cookies
• smushed apples and sweet potatoes
• plus make the place cards (using fall leaves, construction paper, and contact paper)

John making the pumpkin pie

Thanksgiving Day items to cook:

• turkey breast
• ham
• gravy
• green beans with mushrooms and bacon
• collard greens
• macaroni and cheese
• homemade whipped cream

I need a master timeline for the day.

I need Post-It Notes on my two ovens.

I need Post-It Notes in all the serving dishes I lay out in the morning.

In summary, I need many Post-It Notes in order to host Thanksgiving.

Our holiday was peaceful and sweet this year. In the morning, Chris took the two boys to play a father-son game of football in our neighborhood. John got a turn to play quarter back and threw a touch down!!!

Joseph playing in the sand pit

Then Chris and the kids played a geography game while I started cooking.

We had invited various guests to join us, and the couple who accepted was our children's Scottish dance teachers (who are actually from Scotland): what fun and interesting conversation!

During my final 45 minutes of cooking, the three children gave a musical concert to entertain their teachers, which was delightful (and freed me up to cook).

Finally, a pretty meal that turned out "good enough" despite various bumps and bruises, including spilling a cup of warm bacon grease on the floor of the freshly mopped kitchen before our guests arrived.

My review of the cooking . . . the ham was good but the turkey wasn't a good cut of meat . . .  I burned black the apples for the sweet potato dish and had to make that part over again . . . the whole grain rolls was a great recipe I want to make again but the rolls needed longer in the oven . . . the pumpkin pie recipe was a bomb so I sent Chris to the store to buy us a frozen pie . . . and our homemade ice cream didn't set right because the motor on my ice cream maker conked out on us too early, so I didn't end up serving it, although I'll serve it for our own family in the weeks ahead. BUT OTHER THAN THAT, IT WAS GOOD.

The children played outside in the fall leaves and we had a bonfire. Later, we began watching "Anne of Green Gables" (the 1985 version, which I couldn't find available for rent on Netflix or Amazon, but which is available on VidAngel). We decided to let others first watch the 2016 version of "Anne" and report their critiques, as we'd read it was more "dark" and "modern," which might not be the "Anne" we want our children to first watch after their having read the book. The 1985 version is more than three hours long, so we'll be watching it all weekend.

"Take a picture of me, Mama. I'm a knight."