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?

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