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Thanksgiving Meme... And Stuff~n~Such...

1. Which do you like better: cooking at your house, or going elsewhere?
It's not that I don't LIKE having it at my house... it's that I have HAD every bloomin' holiday for the past 22 years AT MY HOUSE! I'm tired of it! I'm soooooo happy that Amanda is having Thanksgiving at her place this year that if I weren't so stiff and old and my knee wasn't still misbehavin' I could do flips! I grew up in a BIG family where the holidays were tossed around and everyone got a chance to host them. But Dennis only had the one brother who never married and so when D and I married it all got put on me. I was fine with it for about 10 years ... but then little rebellions started pokin' their ugly head! I'd just had enough...

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird?
I bought a fresh bird ONE year. It was dry and tasteless. I cooked it the same way I cook the frozen ones - but it was just not as good. Give me a good ol' frozen turkey shot through and through with oils and butter or whatever they shoot 'em up with! I want my turkey MOIST! (if i'm gonna eat it at all...)

3. What kind of stuffing?
Just plain ol' stuffing. Not cornbread, not giblet, no cranberries or raisins... just stuffing... with onion, celery and mushrooms -- you know... plain ol' stuffing!

4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie?
I 'd be great with either. Personally I think the family likes chocolate. I guess some of them would miss pumpkin pie though. We do always have it in one form or another. Sometimes I make a pumpkin cheesecake. Krysti has said this year it MUST be pie.

5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing?
HONESTLY... I don't even really LIKE turkey anymore! LOL! I like deli meat turkey... that's what I eat for sandwiches. But real live off the bird turkey meat has really just grossed me out for several years now. I much prefer a seafood Thanksgiving. But this year it will be turkey -- and I'll be fine!

6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu?
This is funny. Mathew would riot if I didn't make Macaroni & Cheese. MOM's homemade macaroni & cheese - which Amanda offered to make stating that she makes it exactly the same because I taught her how -- but he said NO! It has to be cooked by me! LOL! Then, Dennis doesn't care if we don't have turkey -- he's fine if I want to prepare something else - but if we DO have turkey, there has got, I mean GOT to be cranberry sauce (the JELLY kind). And then Krysti and I like our yams! Gotta have yams! (IF we're doin' turkey!) And I could eat ALL the stuffing - with gravy on top! And a lot of times I do just eat the "other stuff" and don't have any turkey -- or just one little piece of turkey.

7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock?
I used to back in the day. I don't anymore.

8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier?
hehehe... A chef!

9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour?
I have always been one to get up eeeeearly and get that bird IN the oven! Once the bird is in the oven, I can relax a bit. I cook most of the other stuff the day before and then just heat it up for the feast.

10. If you go to somebody else’s house, what’s your favorite dish to bring?
I'll bring whatever... but Mathew says I have to bring the macaroni -- and I'm bringing the yams too! And the pumpkin pie... And Krysti is making deviled eggs. (they are not usually at the Thanksgiving Feast... but 3 of my kids think they're very important!)

11. What do you wish one of your guests would not bring to your house? What would you like them to bring?
My MIL used to always bring the mac & cheese... but we finally took that job away from her -- she was really stingy with the cheese and rebellion took place! NOW we realize that she was starting to get the alzheimers back then, and was probably just forgetting to put more cheese. She was a fairly good cook in her younger days -- not a lot of variety - but what she made, she made well. But about 10 years ago her stuff started getting worse and worse. We thought she was doing it on purpose - to get out of the job - but I'm not so sure anymore...

12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you’re happy to see?
There was never any drama ... but I wouldn't say it was a group I was "happy" to see either. It was just more of an obligation. Somebody had to do it, and the somebody was US! Dennis wasn't thrilled about it either. NOW it is just our family unit. Amanda has Hector & Luz... and occasionally there is a boyfriend or girlfriend that turns up... We're a work in progress! I really can't wait until we're a BIG family again! That will be sooooooo cool! (and then there will be drama - of course!)

13. Is your cranberry sauce fresh or canned? Whole or jellied?
I don't like it at all -- but as I've stated, it is a VERY important part of Dennis' meal! Canned and jellied!

14. What’s your absolute favorite thing on the menu?
The yams!

15. Share one family tradition.
Ohhhhhhh my poor family has lost most of their traditions due to the Rebellious Mother Act. I have given up so many traditions - not just at Thanksgiving, but at Christmas and Easter - and even Halloween! I just really don't want to be held to doing ANYTHING a certain way just because that's the way we've always done it! THIS year we are having a traditional feast - because we're having it at Amanda's and that's the way SHE wants it! And that's GREAT! But in recent years we have had MANY a Seafood Feast for Thanksgiving --- and ONE year, we ordered cold-cut platters from Safeway and had roast beef sandwiches for Thanksgiving! To me it's much more about the people than it is about the food. And I love it when we have extra people around! Sometimes we do share something we are each feeling thankful for ... but some people are very uncomfortable with that and so sometimes we don't! We just mostly play it by ear.

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I must say, Krysti is feeling MUCH MUCH better now that she is at home and in her own bed with her GOOD bedding that she brought home from school with her! She is back to eating and drinking and being MERRY! And it's good to see it!

We've had a couple of nights in a row of "great drama" with Mom. She is NOT staying asleep when put there. The past two nights she has been getting up and wandering. Dennis woke up at 4:30 Friday morning and heard her downstairs telling SOMEone that she was going on up to bed now. Turned out the someone she was telling was the dog. Dennis went to get her back into bed, and found her bedside table folded up and leaned against the wall, her bedside lamp on the floor over by Luz's toys, and her top sheet had been removed from her bed and was on the floor of her closet. He was amazed and thought "oh wow! You've been a busy busy girl tonight..." He got her sheet back on the bed and got her back into it. She stayed and woke up GROGGY later Friday morning. Around 8:00 she stumbled down the steps with full clothes on OVER TOP her pajamas, she walked right past me into the kitchen, took her morning medicine (which I leave on the counter for her when I make coffee) and then walked back past me and said "I'm going back to bed." She never does that! Ever. But when she came back down at 10:00 she was dressed correctly! LOL! Then last night she was up again - but this time much earlier. It was around 10:30 and I was still up. I THINK she fell out of bed... I heard a thunk! But when I got up there, she was on her feet -- but her lamp was on the floor and she was plugging it in... but it was quite a ways away from her night table. It's useless to ask her what she's doing - because the answers make absolutely NO sense. I just put the lamp back on the table and got her back to bed. She slept in LATE again this morning. Didn't see her until 9:00. I just wish she'd TELL me when she's gonna DO that! I woulda slept in a couple of more hours too! LOL!

Well, Krysti wants to do something crafty tonight - so we are getting ready to paint some fish for the kitchen. OH! I'm almost finished with the first lighthouse. Pictures sOOn! (or at least one... it's small... two would probly be an overkill!)

posted by Melli at 6:05 PM