Dinner Day

Well, today is our Thanksgiving dinner day. Today Danielle will be here. Brent is home from school. We'll all be together. This morning, I will be busy making the giant bowl of dressing, everyone's favorite part of the dinner. Grandma Gert was a wonderful cook, but tradition is Grandma Anne's dressing for the turkey. She made it, she said, the French way. It's bread, onion, celery, ground meat, rice, eggs, boullion, sage, salt and pepper. Then, after the turkey is in the oven in my big roaster, and the juices start to run, you stuff the dressing all around the outside of the turkey and as the turkey roasts, the juices bubble up through the dressing. Oh my gosh, it's so good. And for the gravy, she would put the neck and giblets in a big pot with water and simmer for hours with a package of onion soup, then take the giblets out and take the meat off the neck to add to the gravy, thicken a little, add a little gravy master and voila! gravy! So now, I must get my house in order after working on Christmas retreat crafts for the last few days! Julie is helping with a lot of the cooking this year, so that is good for me and good for everyone; she is a good cook. Here's our menu:

veggies and dip

Turkey (the biggest)
Grandma Anne's Dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Yams
Broccolli/Mushroom/Cheese Casserole
Corn (for those pickies who don't like anything green)
Cranberry Sauce (fresh from the berries)
Grandma Gert's Dill Bread (made in a round casserole dish)

Pumpkin Squares with cream cheese frosting
My favorite Brownies
Ice Cream

I was going to make French Apple Pies but everyone was groaning. I know we will be too full. So I will make them next week for an after-Thanksgiving treat. So now, as you all are enjoying your leftover turkey sandwiches, we will be just beginning.