Like everyone else we are getting ready for the big Turkey Day. When I was younger I was the one in the family that hosted the Turkey dinner. We had about 30 family members that would come to our house for the day. It was a lot of fun but it was a lot of work too.

Now that we live in New York, our children are grown and they are doing the dinner hosting. One daughter has been taking on this task for years now. She holds down a full time job and makes the Turkey dinner for the whole family. She is wonderful and really goes all out.

Now the others are getting older too and doing their own dinners. The biggest problem now is trying to get them all together or which dinner do we go to. Usually it is the older daughter’s dinner that wins out.

We do like so many other families do. We all bring a dish. Although in recent years my daughter has taken on cooking most of the dishes she serves. I say this only because I think she takes on too much and I worry about that.

My illness and loosing some of my eyesight it has become an issue as far being able to run out and get the shopping done so I can whip up something spectacular to add to the menu has become a little harder for me to do so now I must plan a little farther ahead.

We have some all time favorite items on the menu that we just can’t seem to do without. Of course there is the Turkey and Stuffing. I have heard the debate on “Stuffing or Dressing”. I don’t think I agree with Alton Brown’s rendition on how you should not stuff a turkey but you should bake dressing.

I mean how can so many years of tradition by wrong? I understand that you have to cook it to the correct temperature but we stuff the bird then we bake the rest in the pan along with the bird too.

Next, there is the Green Bean Cassorole. That has not been around forever but it has for many years now. And you can not forget the Sweet Potatoes. My grandmother always made the Candied Yams and we loved them. But now we have the squash just cooked in large chunks with butter and brown sugar.

But, my family are set in their ways and they want me to make Pumpkin Roll.

So, today I will spend some time making Pumpkin Roll. I have to make enough to go around so this is going to take all day. My husband also likes me to make some for the freezer to have around and one for hunting camp this weekend.

I use the recipe from Allrecipes.com. This recipe can be doubled and it comes out so moist and very good. You just have to give it a try.

My personal favorite is Bread Pudding

Of course we will also have the traditional favorites too, Pumpkin pie, Apple pie and maybe a Cherry or Pecan pie too.

All this talking about it and looking at pictures makes me hungry for it. Every year the one thing we all have to do is stop and take a moment to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. Even though things are really tough for us right now we still have a lot to be thankful for.

So, what is your family favorite? What is the one menu item they just don’t want to miss at your family meal?

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Safety Primer for Thanksgiving Turkeys [Thanksgiving] (lifehacker.com)
• Brine Your Thanksgiving Turkey for Juicier Results [Food] (lifehacker.com)
• Turkey basics from USDA (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• A Good Appetite: A Stuffing Strategy Grandma Understood (nytimes.com)
• Quick Bites from the Web: Pre-Thanksgiving Edition (simplycooking.wordpress.com)
• Thoughts on Thanksgiving (momblognetwork.com)
• Diva Recipes: Pumpkin Pie & Apple Crumble (momblognetwork.com)
• How To Avoid Holiday Overeating (huffingtonpost.com)

Related Posts

• CPAP Machine and Sleep Apnea Image by safoocat via FlickrI have a CPAP machine. It is a machine that is used at home while you sleep. It is for people who stop breathing during sleep to help force open your breathing passages through a steady stream of air. This machine kind of looks pretty scary......
• Black Friday Shopping Image by Robert Dumas via Flickr Do you shop Black Friday like so many of our population does? I do not. I am not good with crowds. Also, I do a lot of our shopping online. Here at home in Upstate New York this time of year the weather is......
• Health Care Insurance and Outrageous Costs Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr Well, recently I was informed by the company that my husband works for that not only was he going to get his wages cut 5% he was not going to be able to have the insurance we have had for the last 5......
• Deer Hunting Season- Last Week Here in Upstate NY Image by Crashworks via FlickrToday is the last week of Deer Hunting here in Upstate New York. It is the first day of Muzzleloader or Black Powder Rifle hunting. My husband did not get a deer yet this season. The weather has been rather warm for hunting to be good......
• Let the Christmas Baking Begin! Image via Wikipedia Well, it is time to start baking and getting the Christmas gifts ready here at my house.  I am working on the gingerbread cookies today and starting on the many batches of fudge.  I want to make chocolate fudge, peanut butter, maple and a new sour cream......

Related Websites

• RCDL Roundup - Black Friday Madness Thanks for joining us here for RCDL Thanksgiving roundup. Did you eat turkey and pumpkin pie and get stuffed? I can hear the belt buckles straining! Below you'll find a bunch of wonderful posts by many authors from the past week on topics you care about separated by category. Be......
• The Great and Edible Pumpkin! Pumpkins aren’t just for pies (or decorations)! You can use this versatile vegetable in a variety of delicious recipes, whether savory or sweet. Check out the list below for some tasty pumpkin dishes: Pumpkin Pie: I like pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top- Mmm. But you could also add......
• Restaurant Meals You Can Make at Home with Leftover Turkey Considering the popularity of my last post on restaurant meals you can make at home for half price, and that most of us have a 10 pounds of leftover turkey sitting in the frig, I thought posting a few of my favorite frugal and tasty leftover turkey recipes would make......
• Another crack at 80% off Restaurant.com ** This coupon has expired, but check my coupon code page to see if there's a fresh one! ** The previous 80% off coupon expired but here's another one since there were a few of you who took advantage of the really cheap Restaurant.com dining vouchers. The current coupon, good......
• Buy Nothing Day I heard about Buy Nothing Day (which is tomorrow, Friday, November 25th, 2005, aka Black Friday 2005) at Sparing Change, a brand-new personal finance blog where author Kassy talks about "[her] adventures in embracing the frugal life and reducing [her] debt to nothingness." Eight posts thus far, but this looks......