I meant to get this written and posted this morning but I’ve just piddled around all day doing little or nothing. The past few days have been very busy and sometimes you just have to accept a non-productive day.
Thursday evening we went to my cousin’s for our extended family Thanksgiving dinner. We always do the meal potluck style with everyone signing up for the item(s) they want to bring. This year I brought homemade baked dressing, homemade cranberry sauce and a coconut cream pie made with my grandmother’s recipe.
Friday we had our kids and my parents over for Thanksgiving: Round Two. I like to also do a meal at my house, in part, because I enjoy having the leftovers. Ha! I cooked a turkey breast in the crockpot and a ham in the oven. I had made double recipes of the cranberry sauce, baked dressing and pie (the one for Friday was pineapple cream instead of coconut but made from the same custard base) so those things were already done. I also made mashed potatoes and gravy, and deviled eggs. Lisa brought homemade rolls and my mom brought a layered salad. Oh, and I also baked three loaves of pumpkin bread.
I had also planned to make sweet potatoes and a green bean casserole but our sink backed up Friday morning and David spent several hours and a trip to town getting it unclogged. I decided at that point to simplify my plans a bit. I was actually pretty proud of myself for staying calm and just working around the situation. I knew we had more than enough food and no one would starve. 😉
One thing I love about holiday dinners is pulling out the china, silver and crystal for a pretty table setting:
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We don’t have a dining room in this house (which I miss) so this is two rectangular folding tables put together to make an almost-square. I bought the tablecloth and napkins last week from Amazon, choosing this color because it works for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I actually bought two of the tablecloths because I was originally planning to set up the two tables in an *L* shape. I wanted the tablecloths to completely cover the tables almost to the floor and chose these from a photo without taking the time to measure my tables. Um. ONE tablecloth easily covered TWO tables together and dragged the floor on each end. Of course I had ripped both from their packages and washed them before realizing just how huge they are. So I can’t return one. Oh, well. They weren’t expensive and maybe I’ll think of something to do with the second one.
We had a lovely dinner together and we have enough leftovers that I won’t have to cook for a few days. I sent some home with my parents but couldn’t talk Lisa into taking any because she had cooked the full feast for her in-laws on Thursday and already had a refrigerator full at home. I will definitely be freezing a bunch of ham.
If you celebrate Thanksgiving I hope you had a wonderful day. I’d love to hear about your celebration so leave me a comment.
So I’d better get a move on if I want to post this before the day is over.
Life With Dee Weekly Review
ON THE BLOG
- Menu Monday
- Music Monday ~ Music For Thanksgiving Dinner
- Dee’s New Planner ~ Getting Organized in 2016
- Dee’s Turkey Cooking Instructions
- Dee’s Homemade Turkey Gravy
- Homemade Cranberry Sauce
- Mashed Potatoes ~ Homemade, Of Course
- Thanksgiving Recipes Roundup
- Julia Child
ON THE FACEBOOK PAGE
- 5 Time Management Strategies That Will Change Your Life
- The House of Coughs and Colds
- A Spotless Home, 10 Seconds at a Time
- How to Freeze Mashed Potatoes
- Knott’s Berry Farm Buttermilk Biscuits
- Cherry-Studded Ham
- Dark Chocolate Cranberry Scones
- Pumpkin Chai Latte Ice Cream
- 50 Recipes for Thanksgiving Leftovers
YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK
PODCAST OF THE WEEK
Magic Lessons by Elizabeth Gilbert: Do What Ignites Your Soul
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And that about wraps things up for this week. Oh, one more thing. If you read the Facebook page you may have seen where I mentioned hurting my back Wednesday afternoon. I wish I had a great story about how I did it but I was just cleaning the storm door. Embarrassing!
I immediately took action. I stretched out on the floor and pulled my knees to my chest and then gently rocked side to side. My cousin is a physical therapist so I had learned this from her. I also iced my back for 15-20 minutes at a time several times over the next day or two. I kept moving but gently. I’m happy to report that while it’s still tender, I’m on the mend and was able to handle all the cooking and cleaning on Thursday and Friday. I’m allergic to anti-inflammatories or I would have taken those, as well. I hope you never need this information but tuck it away in the back of your brain just in case. Gentle stretching – ice – keep moving – anti-inflammatories if you can take them.
I hope you are having a great weekend!
I’m glad you seem to have had a good Thanksgiving, and that your back is healing well (and that it didn’t stop you doing the cooking you wanted to for the holidays).
Thanks, I was worried when it first happened but it’s almost completely back to normal now. 🙂