Happy Thanksgiving

Once again it is that time of year where we sit around and stuff ourselves with poultry and dressings and count our blessings. This year I am very thankful that I was able to cook dinner. At first I thought Joel was kidding, but when he told me that he had to work until 1 PM, I knew that it really was up to me.

Actually, it was supposed to be up to Rachel, Adina and me, but I was up at 6 a.m. drinking coffee and watching the news. So at that point I figured that I would just keep on going.

I started out by boiling water and sugar and adding in the three bags of cranberries. That took all of ten minutes. While that was cooking I stuck seven sweet potatoes into the microwave/convection oven for about an hour. Then I cut two butternut squash in half and placed them face down in about 1/2 inch of water and put that into the oven.

I started the pie. I had a pre-made crust and top, poured in the blueberry filling on one half of the pie and then chery filling on the other half of the pie and covered it with the top. That went into he oven with the squash.

Then I chopped up onions and celery and threw that into a skillet with oil and salt and sauteed that until the onions were clear. So far so good. No disasters yet!!

Then I browned the sausage in the same skillet. I poured the stuffing mix into the bowl and added boiling water, Bell seasoning, butter and the celery and onion mix with the sausages. When it was nice and moist, I scooped it into baking dishes and popped them into the oven to brown. When the butternut was cooked, I scooped them out, added in butter and pumpkin spices. That went into a chafing dish that belonged to Jill.

Then I sauteed garlic and minced almonds in a little bit of oil. I sauteed the green beans and mixed in the almonds. I peeled the white potatoes and boiled them. While that was cooking I scooped the sweet potatoes and mixed in a can of pineapple, just like my mom used to make. I set that aside for later. The marshmellos were waiting in the bag!

Everything was basically done. At this point of the day, I was hungry and Rachel was still sleeping and the Thanksgiving parade was still going strong! So I made some french toast with cinnamon and then woke up Rachel. Once we ate, I sent her off to clean the living room and Adina to clean the toilets. I really felt good about accomplishing this. I coordinated it all and it tasted great and looked good too.

At about 4 pm after I had cleaned up the kitchen and taken a shower, I sat down with a bottle of wine and read email. At 5 p.m. Yvonne -- my sweet Jamaican neighbor with the huge accent -- and my cousin Michael arrived.

It was a really nice evening. Later on Gary Gliboff and his son, Jonathan, showed up. Gary and Michael have been playing poker for years. Now that Michael is living in Florida, they miss each other.

So here I sit, it is midnight and I am way past tired, but Rachel wanted to watch Jaws -- but not alone. But my eyes are starting to slam shut. So, I am on my way to sleep, but knowing that I made a huge step today! I actually cooked Thanksgiving Dinner!