No, no casseroles this time. I was going to make homemade applesauce but my friend told me she likes cranberry sauce so I just bought a few cans. Thanks!

Best gravy I ever had in my life was made with...Kahlua!

Are you sure the Kahlua was in the gravy? *L*
In between car shopping and babysitting, so here's the chili recipe.
1 lb ground beef
2 cans chili beans in sauce
1 can black beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 onion... chopped
1 bell pepper... chopped
small can tomato paste or 1 can diced tomotoes
cumin ... to taste
chili powder... to taste
salt and pepper
peppered vinegar... to taste
generous dash of red wine

Brown ground beef and chopped onion. Drain. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes.

MP, do you have a Whole Foods or some organic place up there? They always have some thawed fresh turkeys.

MP, Can't tell you enough how vindicated I feel knowing that I am not alone in pie crust hell. Called my Mom for some advice on how to get the crust in the pan and she swears that the makers of Crisco have recently altered the product because she struggles with the same problem after years and years of successful crusts. The pie is in the oven now...not pretty but hopefully edible. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Creeser, there is a whole foods and a Fresh Market in greenville, so we could hit that! J just said he "thought" publix sometimes had thawed ones???? I have no clue. He could have dreamt it. He dreamt that I slept with dr. phil too, so you never know! LOL!
Feeny, I am so sorry you are still sick. That is awful especially around the holiday. I have been sick twice during thanksgiving and didn't even go to my family's because I would not have been able to even taste the food. I was not happy!
Michi, I know you want it to LOOK beautiful, but what really matters is how it TASTES! I'm sure it will be fantastic.
Bob, never had kahlua gravy.....sounds a bit scary, but I'll trust you! HA! Way back in the day, I used to drink white russians, then it was just black russians...until I couldn't even stand the smell of kahlua. The smell still gets me a little. But I love me some Bailey's!! I always have baileys in my coffee on christmas morn. It's the only time of year I buy it! ;)

feeny, bless your heart! Go back for a checkup if it still isn't clearing up. Some of these things take 2 rounds of anti's to get rid of them. You are so lucky to have a hubby that cooks. Mine makes pancakes. That's it. He pretends he can't figure out the coffee pot,but this is the same man that can wire a house, install central heating and cooling units, run any type of heavy equipment and fly a plane. I told him I am NOT that dumb that I know coffee pot laziness when I see it.

re: pies... this is why Mrs. Smith is in business!

MP, call first and make sure they aren't sold out. I'm cooking a turkey myself today, but I've had it in the fridge thawing for a week. Same reason. Hubby loves leftover turkey and we're not having dinner here at the house tomorrow.

I know, I am so thankful for a cooking husband. We split all the day to day cooking, but he is by far the better cook, so he usually takes over for holidays and dinner parties. So he didn't blink an eye when we had to cancel. But really, I just need a few days of rest. It's not that I'm in terrible discomfort, and I suspect I'm not still contagious, but the cough is still hanging around, and I just couldn't take the chance around elderly folks.

creeser, your handyman hubby who can't figure out the coffee pot makes me laugh!

feeny, you are very considerate to think of them. So many people don't think how susceptible the elderly are to colds. Make sure you rest. My motto this year is that holidays are meant to be enjoyed. If you need rest, enjoyment would be a lovely meal with chef hubby and some hot cocoa and cake for dessert!
My handyman hubby gets back as good as he gives. He'll ask me to do something that I don't want to do and I give him this confused Barbie look. He just huffs and does it himself. Doesn't happen often, but it usually concerns dealing with aggravating people. I'm not into people 'harshing my mellow'. *L*

Now I'll have to admit that I partook in a Mrs. Smith Apple Pie recently....and the crust was very good!

And please don't get me started about coffee makers....a running argument in my house...Before the pot of coffee is empty, J fills the carafe up with water on top of the coffee that's in there and then pours the "coffee water" into the coffee maker to brew! Makes me livid. AND overfills the coffee grounds in the filter so that it is overflowing all over the counter! I do not WANT him to touch the coffee maker ever. gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr but on a good note, and this is thanksgiving....I am thankful that he can make a slab of concrete and turn it into countertops and a fireplace hearth! :)

this is too funny...just got off phone with daughter...she is in the grocery store and asking me where everything lives! The child didn't even know where the garlic was, or baking soda, bay leaves...and I just told her to buy a Mrs. Smith's apple pie!! lol! She said that my grandchick kept eating the sliced apples earlier today that she was trying to make a pie from. Hence one of the reasons for going back to the store..hahaha! But she's going all Paula Dean on us! This is her first family gig for a big meal and she is too cute. Getting very excited and asking me if she should put placemats on top of the tablecloth, or would that be overkill. She is making mac and cheese with 6 different kinds of cheeses! I feel a heart attack coming on!

creeser, thanks for the chili recipe! And your hubby is adorable with his coffee maker handicap. I do the same thing you do, and I add "I'm just a girl, you know". Works great.

feeny, I can't believe you're not feeling better yet! That is one tenacious virus you have there. (And what a great excuse to stay home!). Lucky you having a hubby that cooks. My friends hubby is a vegetarian but he can make a mean turkey! I try to keep R out of the kitchen as much as possible.

michigammemom, pie crust hell is universal; accept it, embrace it and lean on Mrs. Smith's or Marie Callendars!

Mendi, in the grocery store, a thawed turkey is called a fresh turkey! Your daughter sounds like a peach. Have some mac and cheese for me, too.

One more "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to mention.....pick one: we bought new furniture; the furniture in the picture isn't ours; we've already repainted since the picture was taken.....AGHHHH!

lol.....yea bob i know. i just keep saying thawed turkey.....i can't believe they haven't been frozen and then thawed out for an idiot like me! the last minute nutnuts.

and p.s. you can do a concrete countertop. I am not kidding. All you need is a flat level surface. We have used our carport floor which IS cement. Has worked out great. It's really much easier than you might think. the rough part is getting the muscles to bring it in safely. I am amazed at how much people charge to make these things. seriously. Has R had any experience with concrete? What about your copper counters, are you still liking them? They holding up ok? I know what you meant about the fumes now. I got some metallic paint to spray the nightstand/end tables and I thought I was going to choke. It was too cold that day to do it outside. J took them in the art room and OMG.

we have a slab of concrete cooking in the carport this very second! no turkey yet, but concrete for the fireplace! :)

mendi, you're crazy! No, R has no concrete experience. In fact, he had never stepped into a hardware store til he met me 19 years ago. The copper is great! I just want a countertop where I can take a hot pot off the stove and set in right down. Thanks!

Poor R! lmao!
Well I don't blame you a bit for wanting a place to put a hot pot! If you ever DO want concrete countertops, when I am in CA next, I'll help you. We can do it mama!
J and I actually talked about doing it for a living....with enough practice we could do all sorts of artistic things with it.

Thanks Mendi, I appreciate your offer, but it will never fly with R :))

Oh, I forgot, guess what !!! I'm not allowing followers any more, but somebody from Houzz found me on Pinterest and is following me there! I set up a Pinterest account but I don't like that website so I never go there, totally forgot I even had an account. There's no escape!!! Not sure I like this.

Bob you are the most popular girl in the world!

My olld ladies, that I adore, and am thankful for your friendship....I will be leaving work in a moment and will not be on the computer for a bit. I hope everyone has a fantastic thanksgiving with loved ones! Love to you all....all over the world! xo, Mendi

Mendi, doubtful! I am also thankful for yours and everyones friendship and appreciative of all who had my back (with my fan club!). Everyone have a happy and healthy and safe Thanksgiving, but we'll probably talk tomorrow.

We were going to do a concrete countertop in our kitchen, but opted for granite. Hubby was so worn out by the time we got to that point, he didn't even want to try the project. One of my son's friends that I've known since he was 10 has a granite countertop business, so I asked him to give me a price. The boy came out, hugged my neck and gave me an awfully good price. Granite it is! Nothing like exhaustion and a hug to change your mind. *L*

Lucky you! Let's see a pic! How did your car shopping go?

Car shopping went well. I test drove the Prius yesterday and was so impressed, I took hubby back today to drive it. He liked it too. Asked me if I wanted to go drive the Volvos, which is what I originally wanted, but the dealership is an hour away and that's where you take it for all your service. Did that with the Mercedes we used to have and that's why we don't have it any more. Decided to opt out on the Volvo and so far can't find anything we like better than the Prius. Wanted to drive the Ford Fusion hybrid, but the dealership... and none within an hour drive... does not have one. He's hoping to get one in within the week, so we'll wait that long before making a decision.

Did you get all your pre-Thanksgiving stuffez done?

Sounds like you're car shopping smart! Good job, who wants to drive an hour away for service, not me, that's for sure.

Yes, so far so good. I'll be happy when we (finally) sit down to eat! Did you get your turkey cooked?

I did and it was really good. When I took it out of the oven, it was falling off the bone and had such good flavor. Everything in the house was begging for a bite. *L*

I'll bet they were! Listen, you have a great Thanksgiving, try to find that quiet corner and think of us, ok?

creeser,
We've had a Prius for the last 4 years and LOVE it. We are considering replacing our second car with the Prius wagon.

Who is this?

is this vikrant?

Gee, feeny, sorry to hear you still have that cough. Touch wood, I haven't had it, but over the last few years I've had quite a few friends who have had colds or viruses and have been left with an annoying cough that literally takes months to go. Nothing seems to work on it either, they usually just suck on eucalyptus lollies to help calm the constant hacking. Don't know whether it is in anyway catching or not.

Gosh just realised Thanksgiving is half over here - 2.30pm. I'm exhausted just reading your plans and your cooking. Haven't done a pastry crust for years but I never had a problem with it. Secret is supposed to be keeping it cold. Do you put it in the fridge for 1/2 hour before rolling out? I think I still have my old Tupperware roller that you filled with iced water and even some ice cubes to ensure it was cold when you rolled. Don't know if you are doing a short crust or a puff, but if it is falling apart then it must mean it is too dry - more butter or milk could be the answer. Have you ever tried filo pastry? That can give pies a great new twist and isn't heavy to eat.

I am so over cooking these days, my meals are very simple mostly salads in summer and soups or casseroles in winter, especially things I can freeze and just zap on busy days. I hate recipes with lots of ingredients as many of the things I have to buy a whole bottle or packet, use once or twice and toss out as it doesn't keep. When I meet with friends it is usually over lunch and we have so many great eating places and a huge variety of cuisines around us that we all like to meet out so no one has any work or planning to do and we enjoy the variety of foods plus of course anything we haven't had to cook ourselves.

BH loves spicy stir fries, and I mean spicy, so he cooks his own, sometimes I have to leave the house the spices have my eyes watering when he is cooking it. I swear he has a cast iron stomach.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, I will look forward to hearing all your stories (hopefully not tales of woe) tomorrow.

Girls, and eztia (?), this has been the best. Happy Thanksgiving to all, you to roo, maybe burping tomorrow, but let's all try to touch base/

Olldbob, my first pal here, you have worked hard to keep us all together. We have formed a bond all over the U S, Canada and Australia. I enjoy every minute with you all. God Bless.

Ooooh, Judy, I'm tearing up. Hope your day is wonderful too.

What a friggen evening. We noticed damage to some of our pine trees. This evening, after I shovelled snow, again...cause hubby has the flu and cant get out of bed. I noticed a Porcupine about 20 feet up a pine tree. Now, bring on the 17 year old to handle this. He's got to be good for something , right? Holy, the kid has great aim with the pellet gun. Funny cause, I took the gun away when he was ten, hide it, along with the pellets and really forgot all about it. Quite apparent that he knew where it was all along, because were almost out of pellets and he's obviously had practice. He's bouncing the pellets of the tree trunk trying to scare him. Unfortunately it took about 30 shots to scare the critter away and in -15 with the wind making it about -25 we froze our begeebers off. The last I saw of mister spikey, he was running through the snow down a path that leads to the back of our property. Hope he wont be back!!

In Canada our Thanksgiving was Oct 8th. but you gals have made me want turkey so bad that we might just have some this weekend.

olldroo, do the Aussies celebrate this weekend or is Thanksgiving on a different day.

Just in case you girls are all too busy tomorrow to chat, enjoy the day with your friends and family.
Ya bunch of turkeys :)

ooohh, what is wrong with the porcupine? I remember when my eldest was little and struggling to get words right, she used to call them pineyporks and I just can never get it out of my head.

How can you - in fact how can anything - exist in -25??? That is totally beyond my level of comprehension.

Olldcan, we don't do Thanksgiving at all. Based on the origins of it in the US, I'm rather surprised Canada has it, although when I looked up countries I was very surprised to see Norfolk Island, which comes under Australian Govt. celebrates it. Actually when you consider the Pilgrims going to the US and immediately befriending and being befriended by the American Indians our beginnings read pretty bad. We had a shiploads of petty criminals transported here because British jails were so overcrowded, so they landed accompanied by a force of soldiers. The soldiers couldn't get their heads around our indiginous people because of their black skin and nakedness and the indiginous people freaked at the soldiers with their lily white skin and bang bangs and immediately started killing each other off, while the convicts were fighting everyone, including each other.

I put our holidays up a few days back, not sure which one now.

Well at least while all the turkeys are gobbling their food down tomorrow, we can have a sane conversation.

feeny, I'm so glad to hear first hand experience! We're looking at the Prius V. Hubby was so impressed and after looking at the gas mileage he is considering trading in his full size truck for one of the smaller Prius. He seldom hauls anything for work any more and if we need one around here, we've got others at the barn. He checked his truck and in the year since he's had it, has spent close to $15,000 in fuel. He would spend 1/4 of that with a Prius. Thanks for the input!

And thank you OLLD ladies for your company. Y'all are a hoot! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

creeser - my daughter's father in law has a Prius and they are very happy with it.

This certainly is a very special group - I'm wondering how I existed before it.

olldroo, see that's the thing! We existed before it, now we live it!!!

Thanks for the insight roo! One of the selling points is that the batteries are lasting so much longer than the warranty. Our dealer has only had 2 go bad. One within the 100K mile warranty and one right off the truck. Everyone has a lemon now and then, right? Well, hubby said he was reading last night that they are changing the batteries in the new ones to something different? They say to make them more lightweight, but why mess with something that is so good?

I remember the day I bought my Chevy Blazer, parked in the credit union parking lot, signed the loan papers, went back out to the car to find out the transmission was bad and I couldn't back out of the parking space !!!
Scared the heck out of me, what did I get myself into ??? I hope you have 100% better luck with your choice, a new car is so exciting and they smell so good!

Thank you, and yes they do! I had a Chevy Blazer once and adored that car.

Because it ain't broke???? I guess a lighter battery would reduce the load on the car which would reduce fuel consumption - or in this case make the battery charge last longer.

I haven't heard anything detailed about it, only that they are happy with it and they are the type who wouldn't keep something they weren't happy with. Not sure how far they go with it, I was under the impression he drives it between LA and San Diego several times a week but then other times I hear he catches the train. Maybe he keeps it at the LA house and only uses it to drive around LA and they use another car in SD. I will email my daughter after Thanksgiving and see if I can find out any more.

creeser, I have only two complaints about our Prius (and they are both tiny).
The first is that the undercarriage is pretty low slung so it isn't good for taking on pitted dirt roads (where you really should be in a truck or SUV anyway), and occasionally if you pull up too far into a parking space with one of those little concrete blocks demarcating the front of it, the bottom scrapes on the concrete block. But I found out recently that the new Prius wagon has 4" more clearance than our 4 year old Prius sedan. I'm not sure whether they also put more clearance in the other recent models, but it is something you might ask about.
The second complaint is that in winter snow and ice I really do wish it had 4 wheel drive. It isn't a serious problem, but I'm a slightly timid snow driver (having grown up in California without snow), and I sometimes feel it is a little more prone to sliding on ice than our other car (a Passat). We are getting snow tires for it, however, and I'm hoping that will give me more confidence.
Otherwise, I really think it is a wonderful car, and the gas mileage is a miracle. In fact, getting spoiled by its gas mileage has made it almost impossible for us to consider other companies and models for our second car, which really needs to be replaced in the next year or two.

Best of luck deciding, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh, and one more note to olldroo:
Porcupine quills can be quite dangerous to family pets, and dogs are very curious. The quills embed and do serious damage. There may be other drawbacks as well, but that's why I would want one out of my yard.

Now you say that, I have a feeling I have read they can literally shoot their quills if they feel in danger. Good point.

Thanks feeny! The issues of the lower undercarriage and the front end scraping I have even with my Lincoln MKZ. I think it's more of a 'car thing' than anything to do with a Prius alone. As for driving it in the snow and ice, not an issue. I'm in SC. Those things are as rare as hens teeth around here. *L* It's really nice to know those are the only issues you've had with yours. I'm getting more and more in like with that car!

Do you guys have speed humps over there? We have them in all our large carparks and on back roads where idiots like to hoon. My little Hyundai is fine unless I have someone in it and then I have to go really slowly over a lot of them as I bottom out otherwise.

Don't know how you guys drive in snow and ice, that is one thing I just couldn't attempt. Guess it is all what you are used to.

roo, we do in parking lots. Most people avoid them and drive through the parking places here. Like a little demolition derby.

Unfortunately our car parks are usually too full for that.

I love the street ones, they have a warning sign that shows a thick baseline with a semi circle in the middle of it to indicate the hump. The kids then get waterproof textas and draw a head at one end and a tail at the other so they look like snails - which of course is the speed you need to drive over them.