Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Southern Thanksgiving without Jack Daniel's?

I’m headed to the grocery store this morning, Thanksgiving dinner menu in hand and hoping to avoid some of the last minute chaos and leg wrestling that will no doubt ensue in frozen food sections across America tomorrow.


Here’s my list that I made last night as Joe, Dad, and Kelsey were watching the Titans game. I literally “ducked in” to make the list, then ducked out again to continue writing:
Turkey/Brisket
Dressing
Sweet Potatoes
Gulliver’s Corn
Green Beans
Chef Hat Rolls
Frozen Fruit Salad
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Bread n’ Butter pickles
Mashed Potatoes
Pumpkin Pie
“Better than Sex” Chocolate Dessert
"___________________"


We’ll spend Thursday (and a chunk of Wednesday) cooking and baking all the above, getting everything ready for the Thanksgiving meal—that will be consumed in twenty minutes!


As I’m looking over the list this morning, I see people—precious people in my life—behind every menu item. For years now, my husband Joe has prepared the turkey, which I love. The more in the kitchen, the merrier! And he does such a good job too. This year he’s also cooking a beef brisket on his “Green Egg” outside. Delicious!






Our daughter and son (pictured right) with our two nephews at the Thanksgiving meal, circa 1992


The Dressing is Mom’s recipe (and her mother's), which I know so well by now that I just throw stuff into the Dutch oven and give it the final “taste test” before baking. The Sweet Potatoes is Aunt Lyda’s recipe (the recipe with pecans and caramelized brown sugar on top, no marshmallows for this crowd). Dad’s actually driving to Fayetteville Thursday morning to get Aunt Lyda and bring her back here for the meal with us. Can’t wait to see her again.


Gulliver’s Corn is Mom’s recipe, and it has cream and butter and other “heart attack on a plate” stuff in it, but hey…we have it once a year! The green beans are always fresh, and we snap them together the night before. Chef Hat Rolls are Kelsey and Kurt’s favorites, their special request. The Frozen Fruit Salad is Mom’s recipe and I love it because I can make it today and forget about it, which I usually do until half way through the meal. Henceforth, the above list that will stay faithfully tacked to my fridge until everything’s on the table and accounted for.


I still remember the first time I made gravy with Mom by my side. How is it that mine still didn’t turn out as good as hers, and she was right there with me? The Cranberry Sauce is the only dish I prepare that I don’t eat. I love cranberries but am not a fan of the sauce. Go figure… But my family loves it so it’s on the list. Bread n’ Butter pickles are a request from Joe. His family used to have these with their meal, so we’ve incorporated them into ours. Mashed Potatoes is on the list because my nephews, Doug and Dillon, love them, and they’re coming (along with my brother, Doug and his wife, Jackie) from Atlanta to join us.


Lastly, but most importantly, are the desserts. Pumpkin Pie’s a must, and it’s an old recipe from the 1800s that calls for scalded milk and sorghum molasses. Yum! I’ve been baking that for years. Next is the “Better than Sex” Chocolate Pudding dessert. I’m not sure if my family requested that this year because they love it, or they just love saying the name.


The “____________” in my menu represents the dessert I want to make that Doug and Jackie and the boys really like, but that I don’t know the name of yet. Which reminds me, I need to call my sister-in-law…



Our daughter and son (pictured right) with our two nephews, Thanksgiving 2009


In the end, my menu is really all about family, which is what Thanksgiving Day is about too. And it’s not just “blood relation” family, but the people with whom we share our lives. As I eat the meal on Thursday, savoring the different tastes, I’ll be remembering people--those still with me and those already Home--and will be thanking God for them.


I can’t sit down to a big meal like this anymore without anticipating the wedding feast we’ll share in the presence of the Lamb in the new Heaven some day. Prayerfully, some day soon! Food isn’t just for here, folks. And aren’t we thankful!


Oh, and what does Jack Daniel's have to do with Thanksgiving? Friday, the family's going to Gattistown (about an hour from Nashville), where my dad's family is from. We're going to see where the old home place used to be, visit the graveyard where family is buried, then we're going to Jack Daniel's Distillery (in nearby Lynchburg) for a tour. I wonder if they still give samples... I've actually been to the distillery before. A Southern rite of passage, I guess. Then we'll hit the antique shops in downtown Lynchburg. Let the fun begin!


Blessings to you this Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Confessions of a closet dancer

I love Dancing with the Stars. Okay there, I said it! And aren't you relieved that it's me watching others dance and not me doing the dancing.) My sweet Mom got me started on Dancing with the Stars a few years ago. I actually made fun of the show the first season...until I watched it! I've been a fan ever since. Mom and I used to watch it "together" via phone. My husband, however, is not a fan, which of course encourages my daughter and me to sing the show's theme music every chance we get. :)

By chance did you catch Susan Boyle singing on last week's show? If you didn't, take three minutes to enjoy her gifted voice and the beautiful choreography!


Somedays are "dancing" days for me. Days when things go great and everything just seems to fit. My son had one of those days yesterday and called to share it with me (thanks, Kurt, love you buddy and really enjoyed that phone call). Then there are other days when dancing is the last thing on my mind.

I read from Streams in the Desert every morning and so does my dad. He and I talk several times a day now, and when we chatted last night, he shared part of yesterday's reading that was especially poignant for him. It was for me too. Here's a snippet:
When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in His kingdom, He did not refuse their request. He told them that the place would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism. (See Mark 10:38)


Are we willing to compete for God's best, with the knowledge that the best things are always achieved by the most difficult paths? We must endure steep mountains, dense forests, and and the Enemy's chariots of iron, since hardship is the price of the victor's coronation. Arches of triumph are made not of rose blossoms and strands of silk but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling you to win your crown.


If you've not read Streams in the Desert (by L.B. Cowman), I encourage you to pick up a copy. I've read it several times through the years. It's a staple in my devotional library that I keep returning to.


Here's wishing you a dancing day today. But if it's not, remember that those life bumps are there for a reason, and God won't waste a single one. And ah...for you Twilight fans out there, I already have my ticket for New Moon this Friday. Can't wait! Wish we could go together!

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