We’ve reached the end of November and today’s challenge from Randy Seaver for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is right on target, given that it’s Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.:

A)  We all need to document some of the special moments in our lives so we can recall them, or our descendants can learn more about us.  Today’s question is “What was your Thanksgiving Day like this year?”

I miss the holidays of past years when my mother-in-law Ruby  was still with us! My sister-in-law, Ruby and I would trade holidays. It worked out really well because one hosted Thanksgiving, one hosted Christmas and one had the year off.

Now, my sister-in-law and I just trade holidays with no “off” year. Of course, there are extra hands as we help each other, but, basically, one of us does 95% of the work when it’s our turn.

This year, it was my turn to host Thanksgiving Day. The family is small, as there are just six of us.

One thing I have to admit is that we’ve both got the routine of the day down pat since we each have one of the yearly holidays.

I started defrosting the turkey on Saturday, the 19th, and still had to soak it in cool water the day before because it was hard as a rock. I prepared the veggies on Tuesday since they keep well.

The rest of the food was lined up on Wednesday ready to cook on Thursday.

I was in the kitchen by 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, baking the breakfast casserole. Then came stuffing the turkey, which was still a bit of a job because there was a hunk of ice still inside the turkey, even after the refrigerator thawing for five days and the soaking in the water in the sink.

The family came over in the morning to enjoy the bacon and egg casserole. Then everyone (except my son and me) parked themselves in front of the TV for the games.

We tend to eat our meal a bit early – 2:00 p.m. – and all was ready.

The menu included all the staples – turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, carrots, green beans and fruit salad. A couple of hours after the meal, everyone enjoyed either pumpkin or French Silk (chocolate) pie.

Everyone left around 6:00 p.m., but I had already cleaned up, made plates of leftovers to go, washed several loads of dishes and put everything away.

After that, it felt good to sit down and do nothing!

There is a great benefit, though, to hosting the meal, as tonight we’ll be having leftovers so there is nothing to cook. 🙂 That’s my kind of meal.

All of this is a bit tongue in cheek, as it was really nice having everyone together for the holiday. With the younger family members still working, we don’t see a lot of them even though we live in the same town.