Culinary Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so many things on this wonderful holiday, but let me be specific in a light-hearted culinary way:

I am thankful that today is one of a handful of Pancake Holidays in our household. It was a good way to start the day.

The great debate: Sausage
vs. Bread Stuffing

I am thankful for my mother's recipes that continue to be a part of our holiday, even though Mom is many miles away. We'll have Mom's Bread Stuffing and Mom's Apple Pie today.

I am thankful for the food traditions gained from the Baileys, including Sausage and Rice Stuffing, and Oyster Casserole.

I am thankful for favorite recipes contributed by friends, including Dave Byerly's Cranberry Chutney.

I am thankful for the bounty of information on the Internet, which today is providing the means for me to make Ruth Chris' version of Sweet Potato Casserole.

I am thankful for shortcuts, like the Stouffer's Spinach Souffle that I bought.

I am thankful for Ron's skills as a home chef. He's doing so much of the work today - including the manhandling of the turkey. And he made Cranberry Syrup, for what will be an awesome holiday martini.

Enjoy the day! I am eating up the Facebook posts that give me the flavor of your Thanksgiving, and help bring you closer than the actual miles that separate us.

Speak Thanks

Thanksgiving is a wonderful day to enjoy family and friends. We "give thanks" for all the blessings in our lives. My thought for today is to be sure we "speak thanks" to anyone and everyone in our lives that make us feel loved and happy. Let what's in your heart overflow and be expressed from your lips.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy this beginning of the holiday season. Share the love.

Holiday Recipes

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  As we prepare to spend Thanksgiving with friends, I thought I would share the recipes for our contributions to today’s holiday meal.  These are two special treats we often prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I hope you will enjoy them sometime.

OYSTER CASSEROLE

Ingredients:

2 pints of shucked fresh Oysters (retain juice)

Saltine crackers

Butter

1 pint Heavy Cream

Pepper

Break up saltines (into smallish pieces, but not crushed to dust) and cover the bottom of a (greased) 8” X 8” round dish with a thin layer.  Add a layer of oysters that have been patted dry.  Add pats of butter on top of the oysters.  Repeat until you have three layers of all three ingredients.  Add pepper (no additional salt needed because of the salty crackers).  Pour a mixture of cream flavored with a touch of oyster juice over the casserole, allowing it to filter through the layers.  Top with another layer of broken Saltines.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

THE BAILEY’S BAILEYS IRISH CREAM

Ingredients:

1 cup Irish Whiskey

1 cup Half & Half (or Heavy Cream)

2/3 of a 14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 Tablespoons of Hersheys Chocolate Syrup

2 fresh Eggs*

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Optional:

1 Teaspoon Almond Extract

1 Teaspoon Instant Coffee

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until well mixed.  Serve directly from the blender over ice, or refrigerate until chilled, remix and serve in a small glass.  We like to funnel it into a fancy bottle and give it as a gift.

*Disclaimer:  Consumption of uncooked eggs can be risky.  Be sure yours are from a trusted source and are fresh.  To eliminate risk, remove them from the recipe entirely.

Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving from cool and clear Prescott, Arizona! We got up early this morning – Ron to prep the turkey, and me to make the bread stuffing. It’s just not Thanksgiving until you smell celery and onions sautéing in butter! We’re actually going to the restaurant at Talking Rock Ranch for the Thanksgiving buffet, but couldn’t let go of some of our at-home traditions. That means roasting a small turkey, so we can have leftovers. Over the next few days, we’ll add a few of our favorite side dishes. Ron’s already making cranberry sauce. And we can’t do without the oyster casserole!

Yesterday, I re-read my blog from last Thanksgiving. I smiled as I reviewed the list of things for which I was thankful a year ago. All of those blessings still apply. Looking back, I couldn’t have imagined how much more could be added to my already charmed runaway life.

The addition of our Prescott home and all our new Talking Rock friends has been unexpected and so amazing. For now, we have the ridiculous luxury of enjoying the best of Chicago and the best of the high desert of Arizona at our whim. (By spring 2012, we’ll either sell or rent the condo and move to AZ full time.)

On December 1, we head back to Illinois to spend Christmas in Chicago. I’m looking forward to visiting friends, seeing a play, attending the Chicago Symphony’s holiday concert, and finishing my shopping in a snowy, urban setting, along the decorated city streets. Then, we’ll sidestep the worst of winter by coming back to Prescott for January and February. I’m so spoiled.

Happy Thanksgiving! Ours could only be better if we were with family. I hope you are surrounded by family and friends, and have an opportunity to give thanks for all the blessings of life – big and small.

Giving Thanks

Since my blog day falls on Thanksgiving, I thought I would keep it short and sweet. I am thankful for so much these days, it's good to ponder my good fortune.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband, Ron; for his love, companionship, care, and friendship. I am also amazed by his tolerance of all my foibles. It ain't easy being married to a Haropulos woman.

I love and appreciate my immediate family - Mom, Xandy, Althea, and Jason, and every one of my extended family members. We share many treasured memories, and I look forward to creating more. I miss my Dad, but appreciate all he did to love and provide for us and help us grow into worthwhile adults.

My friends are a constant source of joy, comfort, and amusement. It has been a real pleasure to reconnect with so many via Facebook this year. Sometimes technology really can be a blessing.

This new life Ron and I have built in Chicago is so perfect for us at this point in our lives. We love our urban home, and all the stimuli that comes with living in the city.

Thank God for our health, and the ability to be mobile and enjoy walking, exercising, golf, and the other activities that help keep us feeling young.

And I give thanks for the opportunity to life a more simple life now, as a result of hard work and planning for many years. I need and want fewer "things", I have time to savor our blessings, and I am hopeful about our prospects for continuing to live an active life of comfort and joy for many years to come.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, with love from the Baileys.