CARMEN LEE--LIFE IS NOT A VACATION, IT IS A JOURNEY

TERRY

She had her hand x rayed yesterday and her middle finger on that left hand is broken.  She has a splint on it that can come off easily and then go back on.  Should be pretty much healed in a month and in 6 weeks good as new.  She has water therapy Monday and also the stitches taken out of her arm so all is good.  I say all is good BUT she will have to try to enjoy my cooking today so all may not be so GOOD!!!

So I am staring at all these recipes and saying to myself.  I am a woodworker but my shop is 2000 miles away.  I like to write but the book is history as of 5 years ago.  I have a host of other things that I try to do with some measure of skill BUT here I am with recipes in front of me that will take up most of the day and I would NOT label me a cook or chef or anything close!  Yikkes!!!!!

Well I will give it the old college try but wait college is at least 44 years in the past.  My saving grace is Terry will be easy on me IF I goof.  Anyway what can go wrong with these recipes?  I am afraid that there could be plenty but then there is only Terry to be the judge and I am sure she will be kind.  Joe H, who lives a few houses down, called to make sure we had plans for dinner today.  Very nice of him to do that.  I am finding out that holidays, after loved ones have passed away are a challenge.  I know, Dave lived far away but he comes to mind this morning as do Mom, Dad, Ronald and Janet.  Some how the page just became blurred.  

As I write, Terry is awake for the day and reading the paper with the TV on.  I do think she is getting a tiny bit better each day.  As I prepare for the day I reflect back to Thanksgivings of the past:

• Brother Ronald died October 3rd, 1964.  Thanksgiving and Christmas that year saw very little if any joy or celebration as Dad had a face of stone and Mom had wet eyes much of the time.  Of course one can understand that but as a 17 year old high school freshman I remember thinking I "hate the holidays".
• Way later in life as our family lived in St. Paul I would usually drive down to the Farmers market in St. Paul to pick up a fresh turkey grown by a farm just outside of St. Paul.  That was always fun.
• Many many years we had friends and kids over for Thanksgiving and after the eats and treats there were puzzles and games all afternoon.
• Terry and I have had wonderful Thanksgiving here over the last several years.  That was when Terry did the cooking!
• When Ronald and Janet were in college in Ellendale it was a BIG deal because they would always come home and that was when Mom would, for the holidays, make her raise filled cookies.  Ronald loved those cookies.  Well I could not stand them but others said they were delicious.  After Ronald died Mom never made them again.
• I remember the year that Mom had the terrible idea that we should raise some turkeys.  They were the worst and they did deposit more poop in the yard than chickens and that was NOT good for barefoot me in the summer.  Anyway one of them met their demise at Thanksgiving and the others likewise later on.  Thankfully Mom did not want turkeys again.
• In St. Paul Thanksgiving was kind of the end of storing things in the garagethat should not freeze.  In my mind I had Thanksgiving as the date that all things that needed a warm winter home needed to come into the house by that time.  
• I do remember when still on the farm that many Thanksgiving days it still was warm enough to get the 22s out and find something to shot at!  Well no blackbirds or gophers but there were sparrows around and with the eyes of a young kid they could be targets.

Well here I am at 8:00 AM and I could use writing to delay my food prep but really I need to get to work.  I have not even figured out what time I need to put the turkey in.  

What am I thankful for today?

• For Terry as she is the center of my life.
• For good health, at least at the age of 73 I think I would label it good.
• For siblings like Helen, Joan, Ron, Marlys, Judi, Glorine, John (I hope my in-laws do not mind being including as siblings)
• With all the difficulties in the world my world is pretty darn good.
• There are many many other things as well but that is enough.  

It is now on to the last cup of FP and then into the food for the day.

I will adopt this (IT WAS NOT GRANDMA'S ) and make a combination of my idea of dressing and Terry's

 

Not sure Terry and I needed a 15 pound turkey but those 10-12 looked so small.

 

These should be pretty darn easy--I THINK!

The "first timers turkey" is not true BUT on the Traeger Grill it is first time

I THINK this should be a slam dunk--MAYBE

I do NOT have an instant pot but will improvise a bit--NO instant potatoes today!

I end by saying with all the work and all the prep time having a holiday with homemade food is still pretty darn close to the top of my "happy list".  I suspect that many family and friends will go out to eat and that is certainly a good thing but for me the prep, the work, the aroma etc bring back the "good old days".  Yes they are that and they are far in the past but just for a day it is fun to relive them.  Today is kind of the start of the end of the year.  With Thanksgiving and then Christmas I will take many times to sit back, reflect and be thankful for the many blessing I have.  Part of that is family who are still here.  Part of that is Terry.  BUT much of that is remembering the past and being thankful for all that it was.  Certainly it was not perfect but for my up bringing I am eternally grateful and give the Lord many thanks.

IF there are family or friends who take the time to read this I say, "MAY YOUR DAY BE FULL OF DELICIOUS FOOD, WONDERFUL FAMILY AND A VISION FOR THE FUTURE THAT IS BRIGHT!