What are you doing?

[taxlady]

As a kid I hated it when people gave us "kids' food". No, I didn't want a sweet glaze on my carrots. No, those sweet potatoes with marshmallow goop on them were gross. No, I didn't want that much ketchup on my fries. Couldn't I have had the baked potato?

 

[Cheryl J]

Looks good, Jon!

Munky....glad you're having some fun with crafts. I once made a blanket years ago with patches of blue jeans on one side, flannel on the other. Back in my crafty days.

Taxy....same here. I didn't like ketchup or marshmallows as a kid, and still don't. There's not much I don't like, but those are two.

GG and Dawg...I hear ya. I didn't cater to my kids for holiday meals, and they survived. They weren't running the show , and always managed to get full on what was served. My grandson Tyler loves plain carrots, and always asks for them with his after school snack.

 

[GotGarlic]

As a kid I hated it when people gave us "kids' food". No, I didn't want a sweet glaze on my carrots. No, those sweet potatoes with marshmallow goop on them were gross. No, I didn't want that much ketchup on my fries. Couldn't I have had the baked potato?

I did like a sweet glaze on the Thanksgiving carrots. Still do. Not all kids are the same. I wasn't suggesting that it be served only only to the kids. I think everyone should be offered the same food. They can choose what they want and hopefully adults will encourage children to try something new but not make a big deal out of it. That's how they expand their palates.

 

[taxlady]

I did like a sweet glaze on the Thanksgiving carrots. Still do. Not all kids are the same. I wasn't suggesting that it be served only only to the kids. I think everyone should be offered the same food. They can choose what they want and hopefully adults will encourage children to try something new but not make a big deal out of it. That's how they expand their palates.

I certainly didn't think you were suggesting that. But, when I was a kid, some adults did do that.

My mum wanted us to try new foods. If we served ourselves, which happened at most holiday meals, we were told to take small servings of new foods. If we didn't like it, we didn't have to finish it. If we did like it, we could take more. If we took a big serving and then didn't like it, we didn't get anything else until the big serving had been eaten. My mum hated waste.

 

[CakePoet]

Also we have culture differences. Swedish kids are not brought up on sugar alone. Most kids eat porridge for breakfast , yes oatmeal, rye or semolina as a kid and veggies are introduced before 1 year old. Candy is served on Saturday, it called Saturday candy, yes some people eat all the week but most has it as reward at the Saturday.

My daughter eat a lot of what we eat, because her taste buds changes as she grows, she might say no to cucumber at 2 but love it 4, so it always there for her to pick and eat if she wants. Also it takes kids 10 times of trying before a new food is accepted.


When I was kids, my parents let us eat "adult" foods, there was no difference and we could eat what veggies we wanted that was on the table. No as child I didnt like brussel sprout that is because my dear mum is horrible cook. My daughter do like them.

I hate the forced kid food thing,in Sweden people have this idea that kids only eat Bullens sausage ( tinned sausages for boiling) with bread or meatballs.

The best compliment I have gotten was from 5 year old , who rarely spoke., Auntie H, I love your parties,you never have bullen sausages. Can I have more coleslaw?

 

[Cooking Goddess]

]...The little kids can be very picky eaters. Parents will load up their plates with foods they are not fed every day...Or even carrots. When was the last time you put stuffing on your child's plate? So now the meal has become a battle with the kids. Take a good look at the additions we put into the stuffing. Raisins, apples, walnuts, dates, oysters, etc. How many of those foods are every day foods for the kids?...

If parents "load up" a child's plate with unfamiliar foods, the parents are fools. Our kids learned about new foods the same way Himself and I did. If it was something different, you needed to try one bite. If you liked it, take more. If you didn't, we might try it again in the future. Also, my Nana had a Thanksgiving saying that you took a small bit of everything on the table. Didn't matter if you liked it, knew what it was...none of that. At least one bite of everything. Once a year I could suck it up just for my dear Nana. If it weren't for her, I probably wouldn't like cranberries.

Regarding the additions to stuffing: it should be basic. In my opinion, you start adding nuts and fruits into stuffing and you've just turned it into bread pudding! And oysters will never darken my door. If Himself wants them, he can order them when we're out.

 

[medtran49]

Regarding the additions to stuffing: it should be basic. In my opinion, you start adding nuts and fruits into stuffing and you've just turned it into bread pudding! And oysters will never darken my door. If Himself wants them, he can order them when we're out.

YES! We've tried various stuffings with various additions over the years and always end up coming back to the old tried and true. Maybe it's just what you grow up with, cause I'd rather have the cornbread dressing my mom and grandmom used to make, while Craig would rather have dressing made from a base of Pepperidge Farm cubes, which is okay for me, just not my preferred go to.

 

[CakePoet]

As a sleep deprived mother I just handed my kid a peeled onion instead of a peeled carrot... she thinks I am loosing my mind

 

[GotGarlic]

Also we have culture differences. Swedish kids are not brought up on sugar alone. Most kids eat porridge for breakfast , yes oatmeal, rye or semolina as a kid and veggies are introduced before 1 year old. Candy is served on Saturday, it called Saturday candy, yes some people eat all the week but most has it as reward at the Saturday.

American kids are not brought up on sugar alone, either. Maybe some have too much soda, but the kids I know eat pretty well. My sister's kids grew up in California, so they're used to lots of fresh vegetables and fruits. My BIL's children grab berries from the fridge for a snack. My friends give their kids baby carrots and apple slices and bananas for snacks. As far as I can tell, candy is not an everyday food.

 

[CakePoet]

GotG: No it started to change, and that is good thing. Even cookie monster is on a diet these day.

 

[dragnlaw]

It is 9 am. I'm sitting at the computer, drinking coffee, still in my night shirt, watching snow flakes the size of silver dollars floating down.

The geese were let out, I wore boots & a big coat over the nightshirt.

Not really wanting to get dressed, wishing I had a oven to do some baking.

Usually get really excited over what may be the first real snow but right now?... just blech.

 

[dragnlaw]

Got the meat out of the canner and making some mountain oysters. I didn't quite have enough to fill all the jars but they will get used in the next few days.
I know its an Aebleskiver pan but I jokingly referred to it as a mountain oyster pan on the cast iron group on face book. Some people didn't like that so I had to take the pic and post it on there today. Just because.

Mountain oysters? What you're doing doesn't sound like they are Prairie Oysters, so what are they?

Aebleskiver pan looks and sounds interesting never heard or seen one before. Again, just what was it designed for?

You're a man of many talents Jon!

 

[dragnlaw]

Uh oh - just looked up that pan... What fun! I want one!

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Mountain oyster pan. Good one Farmer Jon. LOL.

Wait'll I share this with my brother.
I bought an old cast iron aebleskiver pan for about a $1 at a garage sale. Gave it to my brother for a Christmas present one year. He loves it.

 

[Farmer Jon]

I got that pan for a couple bucks at goodwill. I've be never used it for its intended purpose.
Yes they are what you call prarie oysters. I cut them up into bite size pieces rather than slice them.

 

[dragnlaw]

Well, I've never had them. Learned about them from my sister in OK.
My Jamaican born BIL just calls them B***s B***s and makes a fantastic soup. I've never happened to stop by while it's being served and it never lasts long enough for me to raid their fridge when I do. Will get there one day!

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Things not to do at family dinners:

1. Don't call out, hey bro, toss me another dinner roll. A half dozen buttered buns will be lobbed at you from around the table. Your MIL will not approve.

2. If you are the newest member of the family-- bf, gf, in-law-- do not allow yourself to be distracted by the person on your immediate left, thus leaving your plate unguarded while the person on your right steals your chicken leg. A Family Ritual.
--

It's cold, ( well not that cold), we are doing TG planning by phone instead of going to one or the other's house. So far we have decided dinner will be served at 3 tables, living room, dining room for 20 people plus assorted wee kids. We have set up the Traveling Church Basement tables in the basement previously. This works the best as the family room is the largest room in the house. Issue this year, oldest BIL can't do stairway and another is recovering from surgery. This would make one SIL very happy. One year she sniffed, why eat downstairs when you have a perfectly good dining room Did she not learn to count?. Special regrets, she is not coming this year.

We will remove one tv from the living room tomorrow, to help make room for table set up. Dx said she cleaned her whole house this week, it's done!
Obviously, she doesn't have cats! With the tv gone, the dog will not be in the living room either, as she likes to nap curled up next to her Mom.


Chairs, we need more chairs, even after I bring some folding chairs to combine. We just saw Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins. One of her eccentricities is she collected dining room chairs, not to be sat on. I thought hmm, Dx "collects" chairs but I let that sail right by when discussing the movie after.

And Phone books. For the little kids. We used to be inundated by mult phone companes. About gives me a hernia carrying those out to the recycling. Now I think we don't receive any. Debating whether to ask some to bring booster seats or not and just let parents wing it.

So far, my "to do " list is surprisingly short. Mostly bring larger kettles, roasting pans, etc from basement storage and help get out serving platters, bowls utensils from the china cabinet. Tues or Wed I get to roast turkey parts and make turkey stock for gravy. Dx has a master list she keeps from year to year. Nevertheless, I'm waiting for the real surprise to come, there always is one somewhere.

I'm also waiting for Dx to email me a copy of what everyone is bringing, so we both can decide what we need to fill in the blanks with. We will make 2 turkeys, stuffing, one vegetarian, mashed potatoes and gravy.

TG dinner is at 3 pm, which means we will eat by about 4. That seems reasonable. I could start right now.

 

[Addie]

Whisk, you just jogged my memory. A number of years ago I was having the whole fang damily for Thanksgiving. Everyone's kids were small, and that created a couple of problems.

1. Chairs. I asked our minister if I could borrow some along with booster seats. Every Fall the church sets up for their annual Beans and Ham dinner. So I knew they would have enough for me.

2. Eating utensils. Again the church came to my rescue.

3. Enough room to cook everything. Again the church. They have commercial appliances. So I went there to bake cookies, pies and the cake I was serving for dessert.

My neighbor was faced with the same problem. I suggested she to go to the Salvation Army Hall to see if they could help. Her problems solved and she made a sizable donation to their Christmas Fund.

So folks if you have the same problems that myself and my neighbor were faced with there are several resources you can go to. The two I mentioned along with your military clubs. Such as the VFW, American Legion, and any organization that has a hall and chairs.

 

[Addie]

Today I made the pumpkin cheese cake. I still have to sprinkle the crush nuts and sugar on the top. But I will do that tomorrow. And I cleaned the kitchen as I worked. I also folded a bag of laundry. A very large trash bag for your outside barrels. Filled to the top with just the whites. Pirate folded the dark stuff. His bag was only half full.

Last night I got a migraine headache and wasn't sure I was going to even get out of bed today. The only way I can break one of those headaches, is to become sick to my stomach. And I did that in the wee hours. Today I am full of energy and still have other items on my "To Do" list. I even got into a really deep sleep.

Right now I am taking a break. Back to work. Playtime is over.

 

[CraigC]

Just finished slicing the butt for the tasso and rubbing the pieces with the cure. I'll turn them several times during the week. I bought about 60# of boneless pork butt for our sausage weekend. At $1.29 a pound for the pork and buying spices in large quantities, homemade sausage can be economical.