with Natalie caine

November 16, 2011 | by Natalie Caine | No Comments

I love Thanksgiving. I love the excitement of the people I love walking through the front door.  Yes, I tolerate the ones that punch my buttons.  I know I shouldn’t say that, after all, it is THANKSGIVING, and yet we all deal with those challenges, don’t we?

What I am not dealing with this week is my menu?  It is not like me to not know by now what I am serving.  Once I leap through new and old recipes, I make my lists.  Fun for me is having people chop the veggies, carry fire wood, light candles, change the music, and simply be part of the whole experience. 

Our kitchen is small and still very functional.   I get tearful thinking about the holidays.  I have memories of people I love who won’t be in the kitchen. I have smiles thinking about the joy of the people who will be here.

Oh, I hope, my uncertainty of how much we need, doesn’t keep me or others running back and forth to the grocery store.  We will have enough.  i have never been good at figuring out amounts of food for company. 

My parents had a buffet of hot plates topped with turkey, brisket, stuffing, gravy, chocolate lace pie, apple pie, sweet potatoes with mini marshmallows , green beans and slivered almonds, hot rolls and butter, cranberries and sauce, fresh fruit, oh my . I don’t even want to write all the foods that are popping in my head from that buffet.   Amazing, isn’t it, how we can see the layout of foods and exactly where they stood year after year, down to the candy bowls on the end tables.

This year, I am going to suggest we have running short races outside with silly prizes after we eat and rest.  Game night might include apples to apples.  Is that what it is called?  Hum…can’t remember. Can remember laughing at the table playing it.

What is on your menu for food and fun?  What drives you crazy and what do you look forward to this Thanksgiving? 

Take good care,
Natalie

Natalie Caine M.A.
Empty Nest Support Services
(800) 446-3310 or (818) 763-0188
On the web www.emptynestsupport.com

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