Turkey Day Round-up

Y'all! Thanksgiving is a week away. It's time to finalize menus, figure out who's making what, and pick out your outfit. You do that, too, right? I'm going to share some of my tips and recipes for a super-fattening scrumptious Thanksgiving.

Green Bean Casserole, With Love

This post feels like it's a little late, but it's not really.  I made this green bean casserole for Thanksgiving, but let's be real.  T-Day is not the only day green bean casserole gets made or eaten.  It's totally apropos for a holiday potluck or Christmas dinner.  It's a make-ahead meal for the most part and so much better than slapping some canned green beans and cream of mushroom soup together.

Pineapple Souffle

One of my favorite things about the holiday season, and there are many, is the music! I love Christmas music with all my heart. Will doesn't share this enthusiasm, though I do know he likes the Mariah Carey classic "All I Want For Christmas Is You." Don't tell him I told you.  I'm kidding, he's totally going to read this.

Anyhow, I have my favorite versions of just about every song. For instance, I have a special place in my heart for Barry Manilow's rendition of "Jingle Bells." I can hear the judgment already. Whatevs, Manilow makes my heart go pitter patter. Part of it stems from this Christmas tape my sister had that we listened to religiously during Christmas season. Yes, I said tape.  This was when every car still came with a tape player. We loved that tape.  f you want a laugh, check this out. It gets me every time.

Did you know Justin Bieber has a Christmas album? I previewed it on iTunes for a lark. Normally I'm okay with the Biebs. I'm not a huge fan, but I'll dance to that one song. But this Christmas album is a travesty. I can't even deal. The tonic to this album illness is Michael Buble's Christmas album. In fact, I'm going to Target this week just so I can get the extended version. It's got the vibe I want when I listen to holiday music. I don't like when pop artists do holiday songs; it just sounds weird to me.  I like the old school Rat Pack sound. And Barry Manilow.

A Thanksgiving Recap

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend!  I also hope nobody got pepper sprayed by crazy people...!  What is with the world we live in that somebody would disable another person over a Christmas present?  Doesn't that kind of go against the spirit of Christmas?  Well we're not going to worry about that here.  This blog is a place of love and laughter.  Not pepper spray.  Unless I happen to spray pepper onto a dish that will make you supremely happy.

I know what made my T-giving weekend awesome.  A 34-13 win over our arch-rival, Clemson, gave us the Palmetto Bowl for the third year in a row.  To make it even better, I saw it in person.  Like my own eyes were gazing at the crowd of 80,000+ people and the glowing lights of the scoreboard.  Love love love it.

Thanksgiving, yo!

Mercy, I went to Wal-mart, the Pig, and Fresh Market.  Everywhere was bustling and busy in preparation for T-Day.  I tried to get everything we'll need to make our dishes, but we'll probably be making a last-minute run to Wally World anyway.  It's just the way the world works, y'know?

Since I like to share, I thought I'd give you a taste of our Thanksgiving menu.  Maybe you'll get some ideas for your own meal!

Bootleg Thanksgiving

How have I gotten away without talking about Thanksgiving yet?!  It's kind of my favorite holiday.  Well, tied with Christmas for favorite.  See, I love the whole season from Thanksgiving to New Years because there's tons of good food and good cheer.  When the weather gets colder, we remind ourselves to love others and sing songs about playing in the snow.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful day for me.  Think:  Golden brown turkey (baked and/or fried, we have both at our meals), lots of luscious sides, soul-warming desserts, good spirits, good spirits (hard cider anybody?), and the grand-daddy of all parades.  Every year I watch the Macy's parade.  I even tried to watch it in the airport the one year I flew home Thanksgiving morning.

My sister and her little family will be at her mother-in-law's this year, so we had a mini-Thanksgiving last weekend with her father-in-law, Bob, who was also in town.  Um, it was kind of bootleg.  I mean that in the best way possible.  She definitely thought she had a gravy boat, but she didn't.  That's what measuring cups are for, duh!  Also, Rich couldn't find a regular turkey breast at the commissary, so we had a Cajun turkey.  Did I mention it comes with a gravy packet?  Ha!  I will say that I wholly condone the gravy packet if your other option is the powder stuff.  Um, gravy should not start out as a powder.  Just sayin'.

I made these mashed potatoes: