Many of you have known me for a very long time and you know how much I love Thanksgiving! And for those who do not know… years ago we ditched the large formal gathering that most people have to enjoy the holiday with just the four of us, plus our pup. Most of the time the kids stay in their PJs. We watch the parade. We snack. We eat. Sometimes we do a puzzle. It’s glorious.
With my new work situation, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to take the week off again but the planets aligned just right and here I am!! I am reviewing my reading choices, thinking that I will be done with the Murakami any minute now.
Right Now:
I didn’t get to church on Thursday night. I wasn’t feeling all that great and wanted to take it easy to ensure that I was not sick this week. That means we will be hitting church this morning after I pour some coffee into me.
This Week:
My husband and I will be working the Thanksgiving dinner at one of the community centers this Tuesday. I need to make some stuffing for the meal and then we’ll be clearing tables and refreshing drinks.
On Thursday, I will cook all our favorite dishes, watch the parade, eat olives until I turn into one and just enjoy every minute of it. Last year my son had to work right after dinner (retail, ugh) but this year he works for the city so he’s totally off for the entire four days. We may hit Disneyland this weekend but if he can get next weekend off we may wait because Disneyland on Thanksgiving weekend is guaranteed to be a very challenging day.
Reading:
I am about the turn the final page of Killing Commendatore and it’s been such a good read. I have no idea what to read next but I have some books in mind. I feel like a foodie memoir would be good.
Watching:
The Walking Dead without Rick Grimes is not horrible. I’ll leave it at that.
American Horror Story: Apocalypse is over and out. It was SO good this season. I really enjoyed the storytelling.
New Things I’ve Tried:
Are you a cheese lover? I’ve tried Brie many times but it always has to be eaten with something for it to be really appealing to me but I tried this Triple Creme Brie from the market the other day and I could have eaten the entire wedge myself. It was just a hunk of cheese wrapped in cellophane so there was no brand to speak of. I hope to pick some more up for the big meal on Thursday. I guess the keyword here is Triple Creme.
Grateful for:
I am so very grateful that my son does not have to work Thanksgiving day and that we can all be together.
What movies will you watch Thanksgiving day (if any)? I really like to watch Christmas Vacation as well as Home for the Holidays on Thanksgiving day.
Book Chatter 
I’m so glad you’re going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year I am flying to NYC to see my daughter and am SO EXCITED! We are pretending it isn’t Thanksgiving and just hanging out, shopping, ice skating, going to museums, etc.
Thanksgiving is the best holiday and I’m upset so many people are decorating for Christmas already. Our son will be out of town for Thanksgiving this year, so it’ll just be the two of us.
No time off work for me. Connor won’t be home until Monday and has to leave again Friday. Jim can’t take any time off work either, while Holly has school through Wednesday. My sister-in-law and her family arrive Thursday before the first football game and will leave whenever they want. I plan to serve dinner around 3 PM. Normally, we are very relaxed on Thanksgiving, but I suppose with guests we should make an effort to dress. I don’t plan to dress the rest of the days though! After a week’s worth of prepping the house and the food, I feel I have earned three days of sheer laziness.
I know you will have a glorious Thanksgiving Day! We have decided to have dinner at 3 so we can have sandwiches at 7!
I’ve always loved your Thanksgiving tradition… so glad you’ll all get to enjoy the holiday together! I’m back in upstate NY watching the snow fall. We’ll have the formal dinner for most of my family, but a slightly smaller crowd than normal…. might not break 20! 😉 Happy Thanksgiving!
NY at Christmas time is magical. I was born in the city. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I hope you have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving. You deserve it. I will add that one of my most reliable potluck dishes is this thing with jam and brie that’s so easy to make. You get a thing of puff pastry, smush the serrated edges a bit so it’s all one piece, put a small brie wheel in the middle, paint everything with a thick layer of jam. You fold the puff pastry up around the brie, cook for thirty minutes at 350, and serve it on crackers. It’s delicious and makes people feel fancy. (I use apricot jam.)
I’ve done this with brie!! But I can’t eat bread anymore so I just do the brie and jam part. I use fig jam. But at Christmas time I’ve also used boozed up cranberry sauce. If you do it without bread you have to put it in a pie tin or it melts all over.
Your Thanksgiving plans sound wonderful, Ti. Hope you guys have a really great time together as a family. Glad you enjoyed the Murakami book. I’ve been thinking about adding one of his books to my list for 2019. Do you have a suggestion of which one to start with? Take care.
It’s hard to recommend Murakami because I really want to tell you to start with his short stories but the short stories, although they give you a sense of his style, do not fully prepare you for his novels. His novels are these wild, surreal things. Not fantastical and not really magical realism but out there. So I always go with a novel recommendation. I honestly think his latest, Killing Commendatore is perfect for both reasons. It’s the most mild of his novels but it’s full, chock full of his style.
I love Thanksgiving probably more than Christmas as it’s all about family and food 🙂 Gift buying is a stressor for so many. Wishing you a peaceful, family oriented turkey week!
That cornbread stuffing looks amazing…and olives? Is that a Thanksgiving thing in California? 🙂 Either way, I love olives.
Black olives are a thing here. I see them on every dinner table for the holidays. I like black ones but I love GREEN ones, especially when they are stuffed with garlic and jalapenos like those were.
Ooooooohhhhh. That sounds awesome too.
My oldest son and his family are going out of town so I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with my other son, daughter and her family, and my son in laws parents.
I hope you and your family have a fantastic Thanksgiving!
I know you love Thanksgiving, so enjoy your time off 🙂 I loved the Murakami book – it was soooo good!! I enjoyed AHS this season, but I found the last ep to be a bit disappointing. I expected a better ending, but I guess they couldn’t do that much considering they only had one ep to wrap it all up with. As for TWD, I haven’t seen it much this season, but I may give it a go. Maybe now that Rick is gone, the story lines will pick up. Happy Thanksgiving!!
So what happened to Rick Grimes? Did they kill him off the show, how? I hear he might do a WD movie. hmm. Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving this week. Not sure what movie we’ll watch yet. It’s not really a holiday in Canada, ugh. But I will be thinking of those in the U.S. Enjoy.
I had Thanksgiving week off this year for once, and it was good to have the week off to just tackle some house projects and prep dinner ahead of time. I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed Murakami. I missed American Horror Story this season, and it seems I miss the good ones.