Thanksgiving 2021

Thanksgiving has now come and gone. Dinner was delicious, and this year Jake said he felt like cooking, so he put together Thanksgiving themed Chinese Soup Dumplings (Xialong Bao) for us. Katie brought the green bean casserole and an apple pie she made using Mom's famous recipe. Little boy was tired, and maybe a little overwhelmed with all the people. Nick had to be on call for work, but was able to come over for awhile. And, we were planning on drawing names for Secret Santa, but that got forgotten! I asked Brianna to remind me about doing it when we got together next for Aaron's baptism and birthday lunch ... It was nice for all of us to have dinner together this year, and very nice that we were able to bring Mom over here to be with us.

And one must not forget, it's always nice to have leftovers ...

Thanksgiving Prep

Thanksgiving dinner will be at noon tomorrow, and all the family will be here. As the years have passed, I'm finally getting better at doing things ahead of time, and now I take as many shortcuts as I can. I used to worry and stress about everything being perfect, and ended up leaving most of the cooking to Thanksgiving day. No more of that, please. I want to be able to sit by the fire, and chat with everyone else! So, Monday night I made a pumpkin cheesecake, it's a new recipe and who knows if it'll be good, but it looks good ... Tuesday, I put together the Special Mashed Potatoes, and made cranberry sauce and gravy. The turkey's been thawing in the fridge. Today I spent time with Mom, cleaned house, set the tables, and finished up little food prep things. We'll eat on two tables this year to allow for better social distancing, plus there's the fact that it would be very tricky to fit 9 adults and a highchair around my dining room table! I found the big electric roaster we bought two years ago before the pandemic began, and I'm excited to try it out. More space in the oven open for all the side dishes! I'm feeling like all my ducks are in a row at this point, and I think I'm going to sleep well tonight.

Swedish Meatballs and Lingonberries

We're thinking that we'd like to update our kitchen table and chairs for more efficient space, and made a trip to Ikea, just to see what they have. Plus, I've been craving their swedish meatballs and lingonberries ... I had managed to get an appointment at the clinic in the morning for my flu shot and Covid booster, so we went there in the early afternoon before I started to feel the effects of them. Katie and little boy met us there, and of course it turned into a grand adventure! (We didn't really see anything that we wanted to buy for the kitchen, but there's now the possiblity of an old wooden farm table we saw at a consignment shop. I do think I prefer to buy second hand rather than brand new, it just seems like a better thing to do for the planet.) After we got home from our trip, I decided to lay low and continue to drink lots of water and decaffeinated green tea. I ended up having about 24 hours of body aches and tiredness, but no fever like last time, so that's pretty good. Mom will most likely get her booster shot at the beginning of December, and I was glad to hear that they now have a date scheduled. She keeps asking about when!

Wordless Wednesday

Walks With Little Boy

We've had a lot of fun going on walks with little boy, but it's November now, and Minnesota blustery winds are starting to blow. We'll have to figure out more indoor things to do when little boy comes to visit. I'm thankful, though, for all the photos we have from our walks, at least we'll have some visual memories. Little boy loved to watch for geese and puppies, umbrellas and flowers, rocks and cars, butterflies and bumblebees. And weeping willow trees. I mostly looked for crows! Little boy was content to just go along for the ride, and happy to eat snack as we went along. Next year when the weather gets nice again, I wonder if little boy will be too grown up for such things. Such sweet times, those walks.