My Favorite Day of the Year
Happy Thanksgiving!
This is my favorite day of the year. I love that it is (still) all about family and friends and food and gratefulness. Somehow it has remained largely un-commercialized and uncomplicated, apart perhaps from the food. To me, it signals the real start of the Christmas season…unlike Halloween or Columbus Day or the 4th of July, as the retailers want us to believe. And today is the first day in over a week that my little one is back to his happy and (mostly) healthy self. So it’s a great day.
Today we’re headed to my cousin’s farm where we’ll gather with about 20 or so other people to celebrate this Thanksgiving day. I have an 87 year old grandma who will be there along with a handful of aunts and uncles and a whole bunch of cousins and second cousins. There may be a few friends and co-workers or neighbors thrown in as well. We didn’t have any new babies this year, so my Andrew will be the youngest at 13 months. But my cousin has a new fiancée this year, so we’ll hear all about the wedding plans.
We’ll walk in the pecan orchards and peak into the barns. I’ll try to learn something about farming from my smart cousin and his wife. The kids will play and drive tractors, both the little-kid-kind and the real-no-kidding-kind. We’ll talk and laugh. And of course, we’ll eat.
My uncle Bruce always makes the turkey and his famous cornbread stuffing and dressing. My aunt Mary K always makes homemade rolls. My cousin Lori always makes a couple pies. My grandma always makes a cranberry salad. And she always makes a special batch without nuts for my cousin Troy…who has never liked the salad and still doesn’t eat it even without the nuts.
But there have been some new introductions to the family meal in recent years. When my cousin got married his wife started contributing chocolate pies! Oh boy! She was a good addition to the family in more ways than one! My dad’s cousin and her new family have joined us a few years…I think they brought a fancy vegetable dish last year.
And what about me? Well, since I grew up in this family I was counted with the kids for a long time. I didn’t bring any food and I sat at the kids table…along with all my cousins who were also in their 20’s and 30’s! But now that many of us have our own kids we’re starting to contribute too! Today I am taking a vegetable appetizer and my favorite potato casserole side dish. My husband is taking His famous cranberry pie (yes there’s a story...I’ll have to share later).
What about you? What are you making today?
Potato Casserole (AKA: Texas Potatoes and Potatoes For a Crowd)
1 - 24oz. package hash browns, cubes or shredded
1/3 C. melted butter
1 Tbsp. Lowry's seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/2 C. chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C. sour cream
1 C. cornflake crumbs (or dried cracker crumbs, or dried bread crumbs)
(Combine crumbs with what is left from the stick of butter, melted)
8 oz. grated cheddar cheese (or Colby-jack)
Mix first 7 ingredients and spread into a 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with cheese and buttered crumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Have a wonderful day of Thanksgiving
This is my favorite day of the year. I love that it is (still) all about family and friends and food and gratefulness. Somehow it has remained largely un-commercialized and uncomplicated, apart perhaps from the food. To me, it signals the real start of the Christmas season…unlike Halloween or Columbus Day or the 4th of July, as the retailers want us to believe. And today is the first day in over a week that my little one is back to his happy and (mostly) healthy self. So it’s a great day.
Today we’re headed to my cousin’s farm where we’ll gather with about 20 or so other people to celebrate this Thanksgiving day. I have an 87 year old grandma who will be there along with a handful of aunts and uncles and a whole bunch of cousins and second cousins. There may be a few friends and co-workers or neighbors thrown in as well. We didn’t have any new babies this year, so my Andrew will be the youngest at 13 months. But my cousin has a new fiancée this year, so we’ll hear all about the wedding plans.
We’ll walk in the pecan orchards and peak into the barns. I’ll try to learn something about farming from my smart cousin and his wife. The kids will play and drive tractors, both the little-kid-kind and the real-no-kidding-kind. We’ll talk and laugh. And of course, we’ll eat.
My uncle Bruce always makes the turkey and his famous cornbread stuffing and dressing. My aunt Mary K always makes homemade rolls. My cousin Lori always makes a couple pies. My grandma always makes a cranberry salad. And she always makes a special batch without nuts for my cousin Troy…who has never liked the salad and still doesn’t eat it even without the nuts.
But there have been some new introductions to the family meal in recent years. When my cousin got married his wife started contributing chocolate pies! Oh boy! She was a good addition to the family in more ways than one! My dad’s cousin and her new family have joined us a few years…I think they brought a fancy vegetable dish last year.
And what about me? Well, since I grew up in this family I was counted with the kids for a long time. I didn’t bring any food and I sat at the kids table…along with all my cousins who were also in their 20’s and 30’s! But now that many of us have our own kids we’re starting to contribute too! Today I am taking a vegetable appetizer and my favorite potato casserole side dish. My husband is taking His famous cranberry pie (yes there’s a story...I’ll have to share later).
What about you? What are you making today?
Potato Casserole (AKA: Texas Potatoes and Potatoes For a Crowd)
1 - 24oz. package hash browns, cubes or shredded
1/3 C. melted butter
1 Tbsp. Lowry's seasoned salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
1/2 C. chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C. sour cream
1 C. cornflake crumbs (or dried cracker crumbs, or dried bread crumbs)
(Combine crumbs with what is left from the stick of butter, melted)
8 oz. grated cheddar cheese (or Colby-jack)
Mix first 7 ingredients and spread into a 9x13 inch pan. Sprinkle with cheese and buttered crumbs.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Have a wonderful day of Thanksgiving
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