I knew it was gonna' happen.....

really....I did. 

I knew that I'd end up making those darn mashed potatoes, even though I had a mile long post promising you that I wouldn't. 

And the dumplins?  Sigh.  The chicken is boiling as I write this.  He got me like a knife in my heart...what's a girl to do? 

Thanks to The Pioneer Woman we are having her Dreamy Apple Pie today... but we almost cut into it last night! 

Okay, look, I realize mine doesn't look as perfect as hers, but that crust IS homemade.  I didn't have a food processor to get the topping quite as fine as she did, but I don't think our stomach's will know the difference. And mine is more special.  I made it in my late grandmother's pie pan.  Sigh. 

Lots to do to finish preparing for the big meal.  Gonna' force myself up off of this couch to get those dumplins made for Jack. 

Jack & I are the only ones up and about this morning.  Is there something wrong with that picture???

I'm just sayin'.

I know there are plenty of things I should be doing.....

but sitting here on the couch, curled up with coffee and a blanket was much more inviting.  It just was. 

I mean, think about it.  I will spend the rest of today and tomorrow preparing food for what will take about 30 minutes to eat.  Sigh.  That's a shame, isn't it?? 

I haven't completely decided what all we're having tomorrow.  I know....I know....it's the day before Thanksgiving, but I can throw in a last minute decision if I want to....I'm the one doing the cooking!!  And just for the record....I think I'm gonna' be a rebel this year and not make mashed potatoes. 

There.

I said it. 

You heard me correctly.  No mashed potatoes.  I mean, really.  I make them often enough, and isn't it the dressing that we all get so hyped up about on Thanksgiving??  Or wait.... is it called stuffing?  And...is there really a difference between the two?  Couldn't you just stuff the dressing into the bird, and then call it stuffing????

And really....who CARES what it's called?

Now, back to me being a rebel and not making mashed potatoes....  

That is SO not my style.  Matter of fact, the only thing I'm good at doing "rebel" style is talking smack.  When it all comes down to it....sigh.....I will probably end up making those darn mashed potatoes because somehow I will feel guilty that Paw-Paw loves them so much or that "Thanksgiving just won't be the same without them." 

But if I were to be a rebel...just think of the dishes I wouldn't be dirtying by not making them.  The big pot, the mixing bowl, the spatula......oh forget it.  I just don't have it in me to be a rebel. 

And was it really the best decision I've ever made as a mother to ask each member of the family what their favorite Thanksgiving dish was?  I mean....one would think that I would get answers like...dessert, dessert, and more dessert. 

Instead, Jack looks at me with "that look", and almost gets choked up as he quietly says, "dumplins".  Ugh.  Knife in my heart. 

Yep...you guessed it.  Mable again.  She made dumplins just for him ALL the time.  It didn't matter that it was Thanksgiving and we were going to have enough food to feed "Cox's Army" (as she used to say)....(and who was that anyway...I've always wondered.) 

Yep...if she ever found out something was your favorite, then you could count on having it....often.  So here I would be, making the traditional Thanksgiving foods, and she would walk through the door with a pot of dumplins for "Jack Marshall".  

Sigh.  

So of course, when he says it yet again...I nearly start squawling and think to myself..."why did I ask?"   And if this picture doesn't touch your heart....nothing will. 

Yes, those are homemade dumplins.  Jack was only 3 that year.....how sweet is that?  

Gulp.  What was I thinking......

Fortunately, the other requests weren't quite as sappy.  Homemade cranberry salad, turnip greens....you know....nothin' too crazy.  But then Karissa had to go and ask for rutabegas.  (Don't feel bad...I didn't know what they were either until I moved here.)

And I hate to get all sappy again, but rutabegas were the last thing I asked Mable to show me how to make....just a few weeks before she passed away. 

The longer I sit here and think about it, the more I realize that there is not a day that goes by in my kitchen that something I do or make doesn't have her name written all over it. 

I am thankful for many things this Thanksgiving.  But I am especially thankful that God blessed me with a mother-in-law that taught me so many new things in the kitchen as well as life lessons I couldn't have learned any other way. 

I'm just sayin'. 



Just in case you're interested.....

in making a carrot cake for Thanksgiving....or just because you're cravin' some homemade cream cheese icing....I have now added a separate blog for recipes & step by step instructions. 

Although I must say....you probably won't get another recipe until next Thanksgiving....because of how long it takes to load pictures and give you the step by step low down. 

You can thank The Pioneer Woman for her inspiration.

I'm just sayin'.

I got a little nervous....

this morning when I dropped him off.

I mean.....what if today wasn't really 2nd grade Colonial Day???  What if I had my days mixed up???

He'd probably feel a wee bit sheepish wearing hiked up sweatpants, long white socks and black water shoes. 

Why yes....actually, those are the same black water shoes that we used for the flea costume.  And no....we were not all prepared for this morning...last night.  Who in the world plans ahead?? 

Nope.  Matter of fact, if I recall....I was scrambling around at 10pm last night trying to find a pattern for an easy colonial hat, and cursing at myself for waiting to the last minute...again.  And oh-yes-I-did bust into the bag of hand-me-down clothes that were sitting by the front door to be donated....because I distinctly remembered putting two pair of black sweatpants in there that "he never wears". 

And if I remember correctly, I think Jack spent 30 minutes this morning, buried in his closet while slinging back multiple items that were not "the other black water shoe".   He obviously found it...in the bottom of the toy bucket, but not after ransacking the closet, dress up box, shoe basket AND under the bed. 

But he found it. 

And that's what matters.

And if you ask me?  I think he's the cutest Colonial boy there is. 

I'm just sayin'. 

Is it just me.......

or do you find it odd that we're out preparing for next spring's garden the Saturday before Thanksgiving?   I mean really, shouldn't we be taking advantage of grocery store ads, and planning the menu for the big day? 

Or if I was really on my game...I would be out Christmas shopping. 

But here's something you gotta' know about me right now. 

I.....did not grow up here.  Warm weather that causes you to work outside in capri-pants-with-sleeveless-shirts-and-flip-flops, is not the kind of weather I grew up with.  (And no....I am not posting pictures of that get-up I was wearing....truly embarrassing....I have no business in sleeveless anything!) 

And for those of you who are in cold climate areas that think it would be nice to have these warm temps right now, I'm sorry.  I'm not trying to rub it in your face.  I just can't get into the holiday spirit.  Not when I'm crankin' the a/c down a couple degrees because we come in from working outside...sweatin' like pigs!!!

At any rate....that's how we spent our Saturday.  Darwin is tired of the "bucket garden" and ready to move on to a real garden.  It seems that everything starts out good.....and then it's just too hard to regulate the moisture in the buckets, etc. 

But I do have to tell you.  You wouldn't have believed my jalapeno plant bucket.  That thing went crazy this summer.  It was such a pretty "ornamental plant" (as my mother called it).  And really....it was. 

And it produced SO many beautiful jalapenos!!!  The more I would cut them off, the more little blooms I would see.



And...it was the most resilient plant I had ever seen.  (Not like I had seen many in my day, because I'm fairly new to the whole "gardening" thing...but still...)  I'd look outside and see it all wilted, needing water in our Africa hot temperatures......

And a couple of watering pots later...it would perk up and be back to normal again.  Amazing. 

But the last time, I had let it go without water for too long.  My beautiful jalapeno plants were dead.  Brown. Shriveled. Dead. 

Or so I thought!!!!  It was nothing but brown twigs out there, and we got a bunch of rain over a couple of days, and would you believe that thing started turning green and producing NEW GROWTH AGAIN???????

I know...pitiful isn't it???  Almost embarrassing to put this picture on here.  But you needed to see it to believe it.  

And now...just look at them. 

So now....the jalapenos are back to life!  Probably only for a short time...because we will eventually have a freeze.   But isn't that amazing???

Wow...I am way off track here.  I believe this all started with Darwin not liking bucket gardens anymore....which led to our family project yesterday in high temps the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  So sorry for that bunny trail. 

And if you know my husband....then you probably know that if he does a project....he does it perfect.  I shudder to think of what this would have turned out like if I had been made responsible for the "new garden".  

Destin....take close instructions from your daddy....because I think we can all agree that from the way I took care of the jalapeno's, if left to my own devices it could get ugly. 

Bless that man's heart. 



Perfect.  Like every other project he does.....sigh. 

But honestly.  Who does this the Saturday before Thankgiving? 

I'm excited about next year's garden, but am really ready for some seasonal temps here....

I'm just sayin'.