Tag: turkey parts

… And I’m Cooking Anyway

Dear Liza,

We are just feeding the three of us this Thanksgiving, but whatever it is that makes me want to cook, once the cold weather hits, doesn’t care. The Neanderthal instinct to make heat and lots of food is strong.

Tuesday I baked a batch of Oatmeal Everythings. These cookies have evolved over the years and contain oatmeal, whole wheat flour, raisins, walnuts, flaxseed, chia seed, and whatever else looks good. We are already up to our eyebrows in food, so these went to the neighbors.

Lots of cookies!

Wednesday was the the pumpkin pie. I found a less sweet version online and gave it a try, using the last of our Halloween pumpkins, roasted and puréed. I found an all-butter recipe for pie crust, because I don’t like shortening. There will be pie crust cookies with the leftover dough, of course.

Katie’s pies last year… so good!

And on Thanksgiving, of course, the Turkey drumsticks and thighs go into the crockpot early and cook all day. Auntie Bridgett will make sweet potatoes with goat cheese, Grandpa Nelson will open a bottle of wine, and all will be well.

AND…. Auntie Bridgett roasted chestnuts!

Auntie Bridgett’s chestnuts

Happy Thanksgiving! We all have so much to be grateful for.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Small Thanksgiving

Dear Liza,

Like everyone else in the country, we are having a small Thanksgiving this year. It is just safer, in these contagious times, to be around just us three in the household. I miss seeing you and your folks so much, and visiting the cousins and Auntie Katie. So this year will be….. smaller.

Just us three

Since we are only feeding us, and Grandpa Nelson is a vegetarian, we bought two Turkey drumsticks and a thigh rather than a big old turkey. We prefer dark meat, anyway, and the smaller chunks are easier to cook and process. They are delicious and have lots of bones for soup, too!

We got just two sweet potatoes, and will be making them with goat cheese instead of tons of brown sugar. It’s something we both enjoy, but not the rest of the family.

Our cranberry sauce will have lots of orange peel and cloves, and is made (of course) from whole berries grown on the Columbia River just about 20 miles away.

We’ll have just a pumpkin pie from our last Halloween pumpkin, unlike last year, when Auntie Katie brought three pies and we made one! That was (just maybe possibly) too much pie. The other holiday baking we will do are cookies for the neighbors. Since most of them are staying home, too, it will be nice to share, via ring and run delivery.

Ready for roasting!


I hope you have a fabulous, delicious, grateful Thanksgiving, and we will see you next year.

Love,

Grandma Judy