November 23, 2012

  • HOPE U ALL HAD NICE THANKSGIVING!

    TALES FROM THE BRAT FARM

    I know most of my readers are from the US of A but some are not (surprise!).  Thursday was our Traditional Thanksgiving Day celebrating those brave settlers of ours surviving their first year here in what is now the United States.  It's a day of family and friends gathering together at homes across the country and eating many traditional dishes such as turkey, ham, yams, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing and/or dressing and various types of veggies as well as (of course) pumpkin pie.  The menu can be more complex or simple but it's definitely one of eating, drinking and enjoying company.

    This year, our family has split up the celebration so that various family members could enjoy it with others that were within reasonable traveling distance and not have to worry about making two different meals at loved one's homes.  My granddaughter's fiance lost his mother this past year so he wanted to spend the time with his grandmother, family and friends without hurting her family (us) by not coming by to eat.  So we will be having our get-together this Saturday.  It's the thought that counts, not the day itself.

    The Beast and I went to Walmart to pick up a few items needed and also to check out what food items had been discounted.  We ended up with a nice turkey, a beautiful ham plus I picked up what I needed in order to make my mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie.  I had a lot of the ingredients already but needed some pecans and other things.

    We hadn't done much more than put everything away than we ended up with company.  The Princess, Johnnycakes, Chewlee (who has a cold, poor baby), Tara, Chance, Keith and Tara's brother, Baldie (sorry...that was too good to pass up!) all stopped by.  The Princess was going to go visit Tara but, when she called, Tara told her to just come here and why.  So, it was pandemonium here for a little while.  The visit wasn't really all that long compared to when we all eat together but we hadn't seen Baldie in a while.  In fact, the last time we saw him, he had hair!    Tara's father is here, too, but he was having a Fox Network withdrawal and stayed at her house to get his daily *fix*.  Since the Beast is like that, too, I completely understood.  I gather the visit from her dad and brother was a surprise for Tara.  I think it was more a show of support since the loss of her son, Kevin, this past April.

    She also shocked us with news of her oldest son getting married this past Monday.  He's only in the Marines about a year now and we had no idea he was serious with any girl.  Girl?  I believe Tara said the woman is seven years older than her son and has a 7 year old son.  Trust me, it was a shock but I certainly wish them the best of luck.  It's tough being a military wife.

    I'll be cooking off and on tomorrow to be able to have our meal ready by noon.  Johnnycakes has to work, I believe, but this way anyone who wants can eat themselves silly and still be home before dark. 

    Love you all.  Hope you have a great end of the week and an even better weekend.  I'm looking forward to pigging out.