Planning Ahead

Thanksgiving will soon be upon us. It is a day of feasting and football. I have no idea who is playing, but I know what the feasting is all about.

Turkey.

I have a 20 pound turkey that will be stuffed with homemade stuffing and roasted. Then there will be gravy. And potatoes. And Aunt Tillie’s potatoes even though I know no Aunt Tillies and the potatoes are from my family. My sister’s friend couldn’t remember our Aunt’s name and came up with Tillie. I have no idea how. The name she was searching for was Kathy. But the potatoes became Aunt Tillie’s Potatoes.

And then we must have sticky buns. Lots of sticky buns. And green bean casserole. And some acorn squash. And Jell-O salad of some sort. Something pretty for the babies. And drinks. We must have drinks – soda pop or wine or eggnog or beer. Then there is dessert to worry about.

And appetizers. When I make Chex Mix, I don’t really make it. I don’t use Chex cereals, but Crispix. I don’t use seasoned salt, but garlic salt. I don’t use mixed nuts, but cashews. But we call it Chex Mix.

Then I bought some pre-cut up cheese and will put that out with crackers for before or after dinner nibbling. Again, I’m not sure what football stuff will be on, but I assume there will be eating while it is playing. My daughter in law is bringing deviled eggs.

When I lived in Ohio, these big dinners were family affairs. Everyone brought stuff, my sisters, my mother, my mother in law – all helped with the work of putting tons of food out. Since I’ve moved, I’ve done all the cooking. My sons aren’t big on the cooking. They do the dishes after all is done and that is a help. But the cooking …

However, my daughter in law – bless her heart, as they say in the south – has insisted on bringing some of the food. I don’t have to do all the cooking. I am grateful for her help with this. She probably has no idea how nice it is to be able to lean a little again. I know that with three small children she really has her hands full, but her help is something that I am truly thankful for.

I took the turkey out of the freezer yesterday. I sincerely hope that it is thawed in time to cook it on Thursday. I had my menu worked out two days ago. I have coordinated who is cooking what with my blessed daughter in law. I wrote out a shopping list and headed off to the store. I will need to make one more run, closer to the day for some fresh vegetables.

It will be a week of planning for a seemingly effortless dinner to appear on the table for a bunch of hungry, thankful people. We are indeed blessed to live in a time and place where the sheer abundance of foods make the tables creak with laden deliciousness.

All it takes is a little planning.