Le Menu

Thanksgiving Day. I'm trying Martha Stewart's pecan cornbread dressing this year. I even made her buttermilk cornbread yesterday so I could give the recipe the true test. And to top it all off, I used real buttermilk rather than making my own with lemon juice or vinegar in regular milk. Talk about going all out. The dressing is supposed to be fab -- we'll see. With the anticipation of all the starches today, I'm already starting to feel comatose. The menu for today is turkey & dressing, ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, a sweet potato/cranberry dish, green beans, my famous green jello, and a spinach salad. For dessert we have pumpkin pie and apple pie.

I woke up early this morning and made placecards for the table, made some pumpkin bread and a pot of delish coffee. We've been on a coffee search lately and actually our problem may be solved. Tom picked out this coffee yesterday at Starbucks. It's Ethopia Sidamo. A year ago I bought a Cuisinart coffee maker that grinds the beans and drips into a carafe. I did this thinking it would take the guesswork out of the coffee experience and we'd be able to get a consistent pot every day. It just hasn't happened. We've tried using ground coffee, tried grinding for 10 but using 8 waters, tried a variety of beans -- but here's the thing -- we've been buying beans from Sam's. I think that's the problem. The coffee this morning is soooo good. And I needed a good cup of coffee. I'll add a good cup of coffee to my list of things I'm grateful for.

Speaking of being grateful and thankful, I saw a sign on a church yesterday that said something like "When you pause to think, pause to thank." And when I do pause, my list of things to be thankful for is very long. Health, family, friends top the list and little things like a good cup of coffee, seeing a sunrise, and fresh air make me know that today is going to be a great one. Happy Turkey.