This chain of emails was sent between my wife and my sister prior to last Thanksgiving. They were trying to plan.

11/19/07 (Shiela)

hi

between the guitar hero marathon and hauling things out of your mom's house, we never got a chance to discuss the meal like we'd planned. so without further adieu ...

your mom was reading saturday's paper and it had some recipes in it that were interesting - one in particular that i'd like to try if you think it would be ok. it's for corn pudding baked in a pumpkin shell. it reminds me of the corn stuff that Chi-Chi's used to serve .. even jen liked that. what do you think? if no one eats it, maybe it will serve as visual interest .. :)

i'm game to cook whatever ... i believe all the deserts have been planned .. i.e., i heard your mom ask ash & jen what pies they want and gathered that she'll bring a blueberry cream cheese and pumpkin and ash said she's making an apple.

we can do things as traditional or un-traditional as you'd like. i like to mix things up a little (see note above re: corn pudding in a pumpkin).. but that's my adventurous personality peeking through *laff* ... me ... adventurous ... *LAFF*

i mentioned making butternut squash soup and your mom almost fell out of her chair exclaiming "Yes!" .. but i believe she & I were the only ones to touch it when i served dinner at our place a couple years ago. It's super yummy, but only if you like squash.

oh, btw, i have a tendency to try and feed armies during holiday meals so you can rein me in at Any time here ...

and don't let your mom tell you that i have no idea how to make mashed potatoes ... i'm a texan, it's a staple where i'm from ... along with the gravy ... but for some reason, after the spinach ball appetizers, homemade cranberry dipping sauce, orange-glazed turkey and butternut squash soup ... i, #1 used BABY red potatoes (which are like baby rattlesnakes who are more poisonous than their parents, in that they contain a TON of starch - ever mix flour and water??) and, #2 i forgot the damn things AFTER i drained the water from them and ended up making a wonderful, stretchy glue. however, if you feel that after suggesting baked corn in a pumpkin, that i may be a little too whacked to handle the potatoes, i will understand.

so .. jen and i plan to drive down on wednesday night so i will be available to help start this thang as early as you'd like (jen informed me that we weren't allowed to have the meal for anything but lunch ... something about your mom getting pissed off at the illicks or something ... for serving at 4 .. *shrug*) anyway, i'll be there!

i was hoping that maybe we could do something fun, too ... like crafty stuff ... maybe make stuff with the kids ... fingerpaint with ben ... well .. not WITH ben but let him fingerpaint, too ... i realize we'll have to compete with guitar hero .. but maybe?

okeedokee ... your turn

s





11/19/07 (Beck)

You absolutely kill me…


Ok- so this is what I have on deck- turkey-lovely 14 pounder- hope I don't %^&* it up- mashed potatos (no prob- I got those covered)-corn/green beans stuffing (w/sausage)- rolls.

Anything else you wanna do is perfectly fine with me. Mom is doing the pie- ash wants to do an apple pie- I've never done one myself- so that should be a treat (make the crust from scratch????? She said something about buying yeast that doesn't have to rise for 24 hours before- she's gonna have to come with me to the store LOL).

You are so funny…

And we should f with them all and have dinner at 9am….

HA HA HA HA

BTW- I will have bud lites waiting for Wednesday night…. That will be EVEN more FUN- half %^&*-faced. Ha ha ha ha ha ha hah ahahhah

I'm all for the craft thing- I will threaten adam that he has to do it and have fun or he can't play x-box 360.
You kill me…. I just read your email again.

Back atcha-babe- make me laugh again. LOL



11/20/07 (Shiela)

howdy!

bud lites sound simply ambrosial .. especially after working all week, trying to get in a couple loads of laundry so our jeans aren't standing up in the corner, packing the car so i can fit a WAGON in it when we return, and attempting to keep the boy strapped in his carseat for 2 hours (hopefully it will only be 2 hours - damn holiday traffic).

Re: the crust-from-scratch thing .. Ash is talking about quick rising yeast ... kinda like 1 minute oatmeal ... but yeast (it'll be on the baking aisle). A little secret: put a couple Pillsbury readymade pie crusts in your basket without her seeing so if things get ugly (and believe me, crust can get Very ugly), you'll be the ultimate hero when you whip out the Pillsbury. The best part is, no one has to be the wiser.

btw, the readymade stuff is in the freezer aisle in a box ... easily hidden by the stoffer's family-size turkey dinner in a box. (just a contingency plan)

i will try and think of some cool crafty stuff .. i'm just feeling creative lately and haven't had a chance to sit down and do anything about it. jen has been trying to make a box thingy to cover the radiator in the livingroom and i've been moving her plywood all over the apartment ... it's fun to watch her drag it back out again ... *grin*

i'm going to attempt the corn pudding thing and bring a salad. and i will help with the turkey if you'd like. did you want to do anything special with it?


:)

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