Thanksgiving

We've had it in a calendar for months. We were loading the family into the minivan & headed west. First down to the new orleans area & then to jackson to see family - we were excited for the kids to be with that side of the family & also to eat some of the best food you've ever had. Both my mom & my dad are excellent in the kitchen. Thanksgiving food for me, as for many i suppose, is a lot about comfort. Comfort & variety & a lot of it. I love to see a large dining room table spread with tons of casserole dishes & a big turkey & canned cranberry sauce....i can't help it, i love the stuff. I've made the real deal before & for me, as gross & bad for me as i know it is...i choose the can. There are some staples that I can't live without for Thanksgiving - cornbread dressing is the main one. I don't do stuffing. I actually wasn't aware that there was a difference growing up. I just made the assumption that everyone ate cornbread dressing & some people just called it stuffing. I learned that I was wrong when I was invited to spend Thanksgiving with a friend whose family lives on the eastern shore of Maryland. Stuffing & dressing - not the same. Very different. And I need dressing.

But I digress....

I can't keep the days straight but I believe it was last Thursday (the one before Thanksgiving) that my boy woke up crying with a fever. He was getting a cold, for sure, but then there was this stuff in his eyes & at times they were swollen like golf balls. He was miserable & kept getting more miserable. See.....look.

So we made the call to not go & then we all started getting the bug one by one..... I don't deal well with last minute changes so I started "coping." I turned my panic into action.....we were not only not going west for Thanksgiving, we may not be going ANYWHERE for Thanksigiving....no big Thanksgiving spread of food. No people. No cornbread dressing! No turkey? How could this be?!

What was I to do?

I went to Kroger & started buying things. Turkey - on sale! Ham - on sale! Because a family of 5 with 3 kids 3 & under really NEEDS a turkey AND a ham. I gathered the makings for a few favorites & I was feeling a little better - a bit gluttonous, but still - a little better.

Lee (though he has lost his voice) was able to take the girls to his parents' house to celebrate & visit with family while I stayed back with the boy, who was definitely on the mend, but still contagious & not his best.....we played (made the kid an indian hat) & then I cooked. A lot.

Here's the enormous amount of food the Mitchell family lived off of - breakfast, lunch & and dinner for too many days to count....

I had a lot of favorite dishes to choose from - see at my mom's we usually have turkey, ham, dressing, spinach madeline, curried fruit, cabbage casserole, potatoes au gratin, chess pie, & more..... At my dad's we have smoked turkey, ham, dressing, broccoli casserole, this jello salad that is so amazing, sweet potatoes, pecan pie, & more.....
A chose 4. 4 casseroles, a turkey, a ham, canned cranberry sauce, rolls & a chocolate chess pie.

It was good - & I'm quite satisfied.....for now. I will be antsy again come Nov 2009.