Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm dreaming of some pumpkin pie,

wishing on a star-blue sky.

Wish I may, wish that I might

not count any more calories tonight.

On gravy, on pudding, on jelly and jam:

slather my turkey and spiral sliced ham.

Oh green beans, cabbage and pretty yams,

skip my hips and pass my gams.

Fluffy rolls, brown rolls, yeast and more,

will I ever again fit through the door?

Jello salad, pea salad, pickles and cheese,

pass the relish tray and the margarine please!

Mashed potatoes, smashed potatoes, who gives a rip?

I'm on a delirious, delicious carbohydrate trip,

and when I'm done, maybe I'll run a lap....

after my L-tryptophan-induced, heavenly nap!

Happy Thanksgiving, all you gobblers!



Table art. Wall art. Art art

I changed my dining area table top from late summer harvest-y colors finally to something a little more holiday-ish. I went with gold, red, and black and white with black toile, and later that day I hung this newly-framed signed and numbered print called "Taksaka." It all matches beautifully. I call it my falliday table. I figured I can leave it until after Valentine's Day if I'm feeling particularly lazy in the decorating department. I used to change my tabletop monthly. This is my apartment in Columbia, not my house in Leesburg. Happy Fallidays!

And a Final Look at Thanksgiving

Although I already blogged below about getting all the Thanksgiving fuss put away and the Christmas stuff out for the first go-'round, I decided Thanksgiving deserved better than this. It was a great day, and one of the few times we get together with anyone other than our little nuclear family.

Alex got to shoot hoops, play PIG actually, with his cousin Brian, 27. Alex of course insisted he did not need a coat, even though the snow started sticking later. Honestly, isn't shooting hoops no matter the weather such a Hoosier tradition? Brian's kids, Chloe, 6, and Logan, 4, were a treat, and Logan decided I needed a nametag that said "Derek" stuck to me for no apparent reason.

Mostly I love this picture of my DH's mother Peg (left), just simply because she is 88 and looks fabulous and is fabulous. Here, she's schooling her daughter, Judi, 61, on the fine art of gravy. I mean, who knows how to make gravy anymore? I swear cooking is a skill that is dying. The X-'ers and Y-'ers and even the Me Too gen just simply were raised on convenience foods. Most of my younger co-workers, even in their mid-30's, do not know how to cook and therefore, just don't. What will their kids do?

Judi has a fake cat, Thomas, which Lilly was checking out. Judi doesn't realllly like real cats, truth be told.

And lastly, a picture of horizontal stripes gone horribly wrong....happy Thanksgiving. For all this, I am thankful.

And We're Off! On Dasher and Dancer and Larry and Lester...to the Next Holiday

No sooner were the turkey pans, Tupperwares and cool whip tubs put away than the television (translation: el futbol) came on, and I hightailed it across town (that's about five blocks total where I live) to erect my first of five trees.

This was the first year for the pink tree in the living room. Actually, it is a white tree with fuschia and silver ornaments. I can't decide how I feel; I'm almost preferring my brown and turquoise decorations from the past couple of years. At least they coordinated with the living room. I must have said "No, Larry" at least 25, maybe 50 times while putting on the ornaments. Larry is a cat. The naughty one. The one who eats large pieces of fabric and other miscellaneous to send himself to the hospital for nearly two weeks. But, I digress.

As for the tree colors, if I make a change it won't be the first time in history a tree has come down before Christmas. More than once I've had to completely replace lights on a tree, or re-erect -maybe it's resurrect- a tree where the cats have played hide and seek. We finally and begrudgingly switched to artificial trees after a gazillion too many needles and ruined carpet and packages from cats knocking the tree water out of the stand. It helped that we got a 7' green for free and a new white 7' K-Martha tree for $10. Last year I actually put away the living room tree before Christmas to make more room for company and because it looked so bedraggled after four weeks of cat terrorizing.

So one is up so far. Tomorrow it will be the traditional tree in the family room that gets attention. And I'll put my outside tree out to replace the fall/orange-y decorations that must come in. We're lucky to have so many pine trees so I can cut branches to fill my planter boxes.

Lilly London, my Blythe, also went to Thanksgiving (just so the in-laws could continue to think I'm wacko), and here she's helping SIL Judi light her grapevine tree. I also changed my table from a setting I'd had all summer and fall to this late late fall and winter display that can last through Christmas. So, slowly but surely the decorations are flowing.

Did the Pilgrims have this?

I haven't really ever blogged about food before, but I love how Alicia Paulson, a star knitter and author, talks about fabulous recipes at http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com. She writes with such passion you'd think her blog was about food, but it's really about hearth and home. In fact, she calls her blog Posie Gets Cozy. You can find photos of her corgi, Clover Meadow Honey Paulson, her art, her cooking, her decorating. I just love it all.

So, since my cake was a surprise smash hit today, after much grumbling from the children about coconut and nuts, I decided to share. The recipe is branded by German's, but I wouldn't think they'd care if I gave them a plug. I don't know if copyrights apply to recipes anyway, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due. Plus, I snagged this one from Katie at my office.

German's Sweet Chocolate Cake

1 pkg. (4 oz.) Baker's & German's sweet chocolate

1/2c. water

2 c. flour

1. tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 sticks butter or margarine

2 c. sugar

4 eggs, separated

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. buttermilk

Line 3 9-inch cake pans with wax paper, spray bottoms and sides.

Melt chocolate and water on high 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, stirring until completely melted.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk, beating until well blended after each addition.

Beat egg whites in another large bowl with electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form. This could take up to 10 minutes. Gently stir into batter and pour evenly into prepared pans. Bake at 350-F 30 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately run spatula around edges. Cool 15 minutes then remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Assemble by frosting between layers and on top.

Coconut-Pecan Filling and Frosting

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter or margarine

4 egg yolks slightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 pkg. (7 oz.) flaked coconut

1 1/2 c. chopped pecans

Mix milk, sugar, butter, egg yolks and vanilla in large saucepan. Cook on medium heat 12 minutes or until thickened and golden brown, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add coconut and pecans, Cool to spreading consistency. It should be noted here, you can cheat and get a tub of German chocolate frosting and just add the pecan pieces, if all this fussing is too overwhelming. I add this because it sure seems like no one cooks anymore. Well, except for today. There was a lot of cooking going on today, I'm sure.

Lilly Gets to Know the Other Inhabitants