[cross-posted from And Still I Persist]

We have family and friends coming over for dinner (actually, two of our grandsons have been here since Sunday; we’ve been having a great time with the Wii, the ping pong table, and the air hockey table), a total of 10 people. Here’s what I’m fixing for dinner:

• roast turkey (22.5 lbs)
• corn bread stuffing (water chestnuts, whole cranberries, sliced almonds, celery, onion)
• mashed potatoes (new potatoes, skin on, lots of butter)
• sweet potatoes kittichai (mashed sweet potatoes plus coconut milk)
  
• mixed steamed fresh veggies (green beans, broccoli, broccolini, brussle sprouts, carrots)
• homemade cheese sauce (Sandra’s contribution)
• roast acorn and delicata squash (1 each, small, mostly for the novelty)
• Pillsbury Grands! rolls (hey, gotta take a shortcut somewhere)
• homemade cranberry sauce (made with orange juice and fresh orange zest)
• homemade pumpkin and mince pies, with homemade whipped cream

Note that “homemade” for the pies means Pillsbury roll-out crusts, jarred mince filling, and canned 100% pumpkin filling (plus requisite sugar, spices, eggs, and condensed milk). I actually made a pumpkin pie from scratch many years ago (e.g., cut up and cooked the pumpkin, made the crust from scratch, etc.), and I decided it’s just not worth the time and effort.

This is a feast day, and a day for giving thanks. I was going to write a longer posting about the meaning of this day, but then I remembered that I did that last year, so just consider that post included by reference. In spite of the current financial turmoil, we still live in the land of greatest opportunity and freedom. And with our son still over in Iraq, we are especially mindful and grateful for all the sacrifices made for those freedoms. God bless us, everyone.  ..bruce w..