Tuesday, November 18, 2008

A Time for Thanksgiving....


(The glasses contain cranberry juice!)
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love to relax and enjoy family without all the stress of presents, costumes or other holiday mish mash. I have such fond memories as a child of gathering at grandma's yellow house with all the cousins. We would have nut cups at each plate and there were candy corns mixed with them. We would go around the table and say what we were thankful for when we ate a candy corn. I don't know why, it was just what we did. Now, we still have the tradition but instead of nut cups, my sister in law made some beautiful silk nut pouches filled with M&M's, candy corns and nuts for each plate. Because I have 6 very funny brothers, the beautiful nut pouches were affectionately called the "nut sacks" and you can only imagine how many jokes were made from that alone. ie...."Don't touch my nut sack, leave your brother's nut sack alone, why is Shari's nut sack bigger than mine, etc...... Maybe a tradition gone bad. Regardless, it is something that makes Thanksgiving fun and memorable. This year, all my family will be together which has been a while and I am really looking forward to it. My mother was a little concerned that we needed to have more than one turkey so she came up with a clever idea being the very clever lady that she is. She called my brother Jeff up and asked him if he wanted to have a Turkey Throwdown with my dad. My family is very competitive and he was in. Brother Eric heard what was going on and he had to jump in too with a BBQ version of a turkey. So, we will now be casting ballots upon entering the festivities for Turkey A, B or C. May the best man win. Way to con them, Mom! Anyways, I have stuffing, sweet potatoes and a couple pies. Here is my plea.... please share any fabulous Thanksgiving recipes you have. For any dish. Also, if you have a great tradition you would like to share, leave a comment. I would love to hear them all! May you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving and feel free to borrow the "nut sack" tradition!

8 comments:

Paula said...

Shari-
Thank you for this post! I laughed so hard, I even called Arlon and read it to him. Thanks for the laugh today.
Paula

Anonymous said...

Here are my pie recipes. I make 4 at a time and freeze them in disposable tins and 2 gallon freezer bags. They are perfect to pull from the freezer and bake while eating Sunday dinner and when dinner is done and cleaned up, a nice hot pie is ready to eat!

Basic Pie Crust

2 c. flour
1 teas. salt
3/4 c. butter flavored Crisco
Ice water to bind

Cut shortening into flour and salt. Then add enough ice water to make dough a little sticky. Makes 1 pie, top & bottom. Do not roll out twice! If you re-roll it makes your crust tough and not as flaky.

Triple Berry Pie Filling

1 4lb. bag of frozen berries (raspberry, blueberry , marion berry mix from Costco)
4 cups sugar
3/4 c. Ultra Gel (from Shar’s)
1/4 c. lemon juice

Stir until mixed but do not over mix. Place into pie crust while berries are still a little frozen. Brush top crust with beaten egg and 1 T. water. Sprinkle with fancy sugar and bake at 375 for 20 minutes then turn oven down to 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. Bake until golden brown or until filling oozes out. Makes approximately 4 pies.

Sarah said...

We also do dumplins.

Megan said...

Too funny! We missed that one but I can only imagine.....

♥MAYCE♥ said...

Shari,
Its Jessica, I'm not sure why Mayce's blog says "BOBI"
but whatever... I love this blog. After our trip together I have a whole new perspective of you!!! You are hilarious! And the brother stuff....Oh my, such fun!
But I write this to say that after spending the evening with just one of your brothers I can only imagine the fun you will have all gathering together for a feast!! I'm definately jealous! Have a great time!

♥MAYCE♥ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Melissa said...

I love your funny brothers. That is a great idea. That is our family's favorite show to watch! What a fun Thanksgiving it will be.

jtribe said...

Wow...that's great. I thought my family was the only one that did the candy corn thing. It's a great way to talk about the things we are thankful for.....

Happy Thanksgiving!