In which Thanksgiving is a bit early

I'm munching on pumpkin pie as I type, leftovers from Thanksgiving Dinner. Yup, I know that the calendar says that Thanksgiving is three days away; nonetheless we had our "home" Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. No, we weren't motivated by an insatiable turkey craving, nor by loss-leading prices at the supermarket. Since we're going to be in Kansas for the holiday, leaving Grandma behind, it seemed like a great opportunity to share some early holiday cheer. Besides, facing a Thanksgiving for which I cannot cook is a bit anxiety-provoking.

Our menu included the obligatory turkey, stuffed, the traditional mashed potatoes and gravy (nothing out of a box) and a new recipe for sweet potatoes which used some spices and pineapple rather than tons of brown sugar and marshmallows. I always make my own cranberry sauce, with a diced orange added - peel and all. For a green vegetable, Chris choose creamed spinach, and I used a Boston Market copycat recipe. It was good, but needed more salt. I departed from tradition with a new fall family favorite, a roasted butternut squash soup. It's garnished with glazed squash cubes. I used the bread machine for dinner roll dough, and Mother made a pumpkin pie for desert. We had a 7 Deadly Zins zinfandel with supper.

Obviously Evan was pretty jazzed about the whole thing, and couldn't wait to tuck into the soup while we were still taking pictures. I wonder if he'll still be enthused after three days of leftovers, and another turkey-day dinner.

Of course, Thanksgiving in Kansas creates some other challenges. Chris really missed the chance to fill the house with friends for the holiday. As I said, not cooking on Thanksgiving seems to leave out a part of the holiday that I have always loved. As we were occupied yesterday with cooking, we didn't still didn't begin to hang Christmas lights. Chris promises that tonight is the night. At least the weather is good; the temp at the time of this writing is 69 degrees. I've done Christmas lights when it's cold, and I'd rather not, thank you.

I did pick up some Little Anita's New Mexican stuff at the supermarket on Saturday - enchiladas and tamales. I suppose we don't have to have turkey leftovers for supper tonight.