Thanksgiving Menu Done!

I know I've mentioned Thanksgiving already. But I don't know if I've mentioned why.

I have the feast at my home each year. I'm the only sister with the space (though we are rapidly--and joyfully--outgrowing it) that lives in the most centralized location.

This year, the other two married sisters are with their in-laws for Thanksgiving which means we're just having my parents, Daria and EGOD for dinner. Dinner for eight. And though I will miss my other two sisters, brothers-in-law and nieces and nephew as I always do when they're not with us, the prospect of serving dinner for only eight people seems quite a bright one.

There are some advantages, though none that outweigh those of all of us being together: we fit comfortably at the table and no one has to sit on one of the truly odd chairs. There is less food to prepare and fewer dishes to wash. And, much as I love everyone, with fewer people there is always less chaos, both good and bad.

So, I am determined to have a peaceful, calm and well-organized Thanksgiving this year. Which is why I am getting right on it and planning as much as I can as early as I can. I ordered the turkey on Friday. We've already cleaned out the coat cupboard, put the Halloween decorations away and got Man-Cub's toys cleared out of the downstairs and restricted to his room in preparation. For the first time in over 14 years we have no children's toys cluttering up our main living areas. I am very excited about this, but no one else seems to get it. So what. I'm still excited!

This afternoon, I worked out our menu, which wasn't difficult since we're having a lot of the same things we had last year, only with a few things left out. I'm streamlining, you see.

Thanksgiving 2009 Menu

Pickles, Olives and Cheese

Roast Turkey
Classic Bread Stuffing with Sage and Thyme
Mashed Potatoes
Skillet-Braised Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots
Cranberry Sauce with Pears and Ginger

Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Vanilla Cream Pie

Wine
Punch
Tea
Coffee

So there you have it, another task completed. Tomorrow, I'm going to sift through all the recipes and compile the shopping list and then I'm going to divide it up and add a few things to my regular list each week. Sounds good, right? So far, so good. Let's hope this works!

Well, I'm off to iron and fold laundry until my piano students arrive...