Happy Thanksgiving

You've got to love a holiday that's based around being thankful, and food. I have certainly embraced Turkey Day - a wonderful stress-free holiday if 50% of your family consider it to be just another Thursday. No guilt about where to spend the holiday, only the joy of too many calories with hopefully someone else cooking.

This year we have a lot to be thankful for. Creature #2 appears to be thriving. We did not lose our house. We will be able to provide food and shelter for our daughters for a few more months at least - something that was not a given six months ago. We have truly amazing friends and family.

Now lets talk about food. When I first moved to this country I volunteered to host Thanksgiving dinner. How hard could it be, right? Lance told me what we'd need to cook:

Turkey
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Candied Yams
Green bean casserole
Corn bread
Stuffing
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Roast Elephant stuffed with quails.....

You get the point.

I looked at him dumbfounded, of the entire menu I'd heard of the first three items. It was just going to be me, him, his Mom and her then boyfriend. They were bringing the wine. I had NO idea what I'd signed up for. Americans do not do things by halves, and you only have to look at a Thanksgiving meal as proof.

I sweated through 15 main dishes in 80º heat. Welcome to Thanksgiving in Southern California. I quickly learned that the best Thanksgivings are potlucks where everyone brings a dish and you don't end up wishing you'd just gone out for Chinese.

This year we're going to LK's Dad's house. I am bringing the pie. Not hard right? Well, you should see the sizeable burn on the back of my right hand - I am not a natural in the kitchen, but even I can't mess up this recipe for the perfect Thanksgiving pie, seriously, give it a try. It's really easy and is the best pie I've ever tasted. Perfectly sweet and tart, with a lovely crunchy topping. I substitute brandy-soaked cherries for currants because I'm not a big fan of raisins/sultanas/currents and their ilk, and the result is this:



































Quickly followed by this:



A large gut (not pregnancy).