Thanksgiving.... American Holiday

So next Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the USA and although it is not a Holiday I grew up celebrating it has such great food surrounding it.  This year most of the family based here is coming to our house and we are going to deep fry a turkey.  If you have never had deep fried turkey it is amazing.  We are also having a ham, spiral sliced of course!

Side dishes mainly are what was growing here back when the pilgrims came to town in 1632 though done up with more flair and not as crude as what was available way back then, but food just like life should evolve and get better ..... right?  We are having mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn casserole, stuffing, dinner rolls and cranberry jelly. 

Desserts are usually Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie or Pecan Pie, we are only doing the first 2, their is only about 8 of us attending after all (wink)

Though it brought about a good question.... what do you serve for an appetizer at Thanksgiving?  My research has discovered that deviled eggs and a baked cranberry brie are the main answers.  So we'll have those as well!

As far as the leftovers go I have a great recipe for chicken stuffing bread that we can eat leftover turkey sandwiches on and then there is always the ham and split pea soup.  My oh my winter looks good from the leftover department!

I hope everyone celebrating Thanksgiving this year has a safe and Happy Holiday and while you are sitting around your table with loved ones please remember to Thank our troops, their families will be missing them this day as they are stationed around the world protecting our country.

There is no such thing as a lazy Sunday.....

This upcoming week is full.  So in preparation of that I am making homemade garlic bread.  It's already in the bread machine.  That is in anticipation of Tuesday nights dinner.  We're having grilled cheese and turkey soup.  The Hubby has already got the soup in the freezer, he made it himself a few weeks ago.  We try to control as much of what goes in our mouths as possible, although the wayward candy bar still makes the cut!  About 8 years ago we decided to make things from scratch to stop eating all the box mixes, the quick meals, at the grocery store and what we found was how much we enjoyed preparing meals and dishes.  Honestly do you know how simple macaroni and cheese is?

So I am also going to be canning some pickles today as well.  That is part of an ongoing project that I can't reveal at this time.  I am also adapting the pickle recipe to bring a new flavor to an old classic.  Have you ever had fried pickles? oh.my.gosh. they are delicious. They truly are something to behold.  I am also going to have a go at pickled onions.  I got a jar last week from Wegmans, Hayward's of course, and just cannot stop thinking about them.  Pickled Onions remind me of Christmas.

Back to this week.  I am very excited as we are going to be going to a class at the Smithsonian Monday evening on Charcuterie.  I am in love with this form of appetizer and really want to know more about it.  I also hope that there will be samples. It is being administered by renowned chef, Jason Story.

Wednesday and Thursday I work late and then Friday I'm off.  I need to think about what to do Friday... hmm.....

Happy experimenting!