Tis the Season

It’s been a while since I last posted and I apologize. With the holidays in full swing, I was a little distracted with family, friends and concocting up some fun recipes. I have a few notes jotted here and there, so I’ll probably be posting a couple things in the next day or two. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, kept warm in places where the temperatures dropped (like Cleveland) and had a hearty meal that will tide you over till next year! Now, I say this partly because I’m about to tickle your taste buds and share with you what we had this Thanksgiving. With a family as large as mine, you have all kinds of tastes and likes/dislikes; a number of food allergies and a variety of age groups present at all times. How do you please everyone and keep every person safe and happy?

First of all, my mother decided it was time the kids took over so she left her kitchen AND the arrangements all to us. The tasks were split between my one sister, my sister-in-law, myself (which included my husband) and my father- who decided he really wanted to have fried turkey but had to make it himself! Pause- as a side note I should mention before continuing, that my father is actually a great chef and has his own catering business in Cleveland, OH.

Moving on…

Each person decided what they were going to make and slotted a time for kitchen/oven use the day or two prior to Turkey day, since that would be my day (making the 2nd turkey and all). We had to compose this menu keeping in mind that my brother is allergic to nuts and shellfish; my cousin had a 10 month old that wanted to eat everything mommy touched; my mother and I are not fond of very sweet things and hate mixing sweet and savory together; there were a number of youth who choose meat over veggies ALWAYS, my father who can not eat much spice as opposed to my sister-in-law who must douse her meals in vats of tobassco and then of course the certain few with their cholesterol and blood pressure restrictions. All of this somehow led us to the following spread:

Butternut Squash Soup
Corn Soufflé
Cornbread
Green Bean casserole
Yam casserole (candied) one version with pecans and one without
Cranberry-Apple Sauce
Mixed Vegetable Stuffing
Cheddar Mashed Potatoes
Fried Turkey
Baked (Roast) Turkey
Plain Turkey gravy
Turkey/Mushroom gravy
Pumpkin cookies/muffins
Snicker Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Pineapple/Cherry Tart

So with all these choices, we managed to please everyone and raised the bar for all the new additions to the family in the past year (my husband, my sisters’ husband and all the babies!).