Thanksgiving

Yesterday started out like a normal day for me. I went to work like any normal day. The only thing different was that I would be getting paid extra money because it was a holiday. I actually could have had the day off. It's hard to pass up the hours when I'm getting paid more to be there! But people still fly as much on the actual holidays as any other day. It's amazing how full our flights were!
I had been invited to go to my friend Tina's house for dinner (at four or five o'clock)in the afternoon. She had recently moved into her house with my help along with some of my other friends. So she decided this would be the time to break in her kitchen with ALOT of cooking! She also invited her cousin and his family along with her Mom. We each brought something to contribute to the meal. I made an apple pie from scratch. Tina and her Mom pretty much made the main meal. Turkey, potatoes, stuffing and sweet potatoes. I made the gravy for them as they never had done that before. They really liked it too! (sniff, sniff, ....so proud!) Her cousin had brought over two casseroles. Needless to say, we ate too much!
After cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, Tina sent some leftovers with me to take home. I had no problem with that!
The holiday itself happened to be right in the middle of my normal work week so I hadn't planned on going anywhere out of town. I figured that I might as well work that day too. In the past years, I have worked a double shift. But I can tell that I'm getting older. My body doesn't like the sound of a double shift let alone actually working it! And typically I work on Christmas as well. But this year I plan on being in ND! I can't wait! It's been many years since I have! Dad and Beverly haven't been there in the winter except for last year as they had been traveling south with many other snow birds. However it will work out for me to have days off for almost a week. So I'm heading north to the frozen tundra!
I hope your holiday was as filling as mine was. I spoke to family after I got home from Tina's house. It was fun to hear about their respective days and how they ate too much!
I definitely have much to be thankful for. I've been healthy this year and am gainfully employed. I have a nice house to live in and two cats to keep me company when I'm actually at home. I also have great friends to hang out with whenever we come up with a reason to get together. And I have a wonderful family that I may not see as often as I like but we speak on the phone and that works for me in between visits. Don't forget to count your blessings as I'm sure you all have many things to be thankful for as well. Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 8000 Calorie Poem

May your stuffing be tasty,

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes and gravy, have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

May your pies take the prize.

Any may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off of your thighs!!!

This skinny little fella is either running from the "oven" or he's demonstrating how to exercise!!! Hee Hee!!

I hope you all have a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends around you. I will actually be working until 2PM and then joining some friends that invited me to their house. Stay safe in your travels and eat lots!!!

Thanks for Sharing!

This is the time of year when all the pumpkins are harvested from the fields and you see them in virtually every grocery store in town. But since Halloween is over the prices have dropped on them. A few weeks ago I bought a smaller sized pumpkin with the intention of using it for some baking.
Yesterday I cut it open and cleaned out the seeds and strings. Then I halved it and placed it face down on a cookie sheet and baked it in the oven for approximately 45 minutes. Once it was done, I let it cool for awhile and then proceeded to strip the pumpkin shell away from the orange colored "meat" inside. It smelled a great deal like a fresh squash had just been served as part of a meal! I put it into a freezer safe container and put it into the freezer for safe keeping.

**Short story in this story**---During my trip to ND back in July, I brought back with me, most of my Moms' old cookbooks, the recipe card boxes that she used to use and pages filled with recipes, that had been torn from various magazines that used to grace the mailbox back in the day. The recipe card boxes are my most vivid memory of watching my Mom in the kitchen when she set about digging out a favorite recipe for whatever the occasion she needed to bake some goodies. For instance; a church bake sale, a funeral, Ladies Aide, etc. Perhaps she was preparing a dessert for some one's birthday in which many family members would get together. Or it could have been simply to stock the freezer with sweets in the event company would drop by unannounced. There are recipes in those boxes from Grandma Moberg and Grandma Roloff, our many Aunts, some neighbors, ladies from our church, just to name a few!

So, I knew I would find a good recipe for Pumpkin Bars in one of the two boxes that I now have in my possession. The first one I opened and searched through was a strike out. No fear, box number two was very close at hand. The very first recipe in the section marked "Bars and Cookies" was for Pumpkin Bars! Sweet! It happened to be from my Grandma Roloff too. And on the back it included her own recipe for the Cream Cheese frosting that is so common on Pumpkin Bars. Even better! **OK....now back to the other story.**

---2 days later.....


Today after I got home from work, I was in the mode to do some baking. The weather outside was quite chilly and overcast. What better day for heating up the oven?
I got my Grandma's recipe out and went to work. My Mom had hand written her own little notation that the recipe made enough to split into two pans. So I made them but used half of everything. I still used a cookie sheet and it spread out enough that the bars were quite thin. But still enough to eat! I then proceeded to make another batch (I had quite a bit of pumpkin to use up!) and used exactly what the recipe called for. It raised up a lot and made the bars nice and thick!
After they cooled, I made the home made Cream Cheese frosting. I was able to frost both pans with the one batch of frosting. Yummy! So now that I've teased you with this story, I'm going to share my Grandma's recipe with you. You'll love it!

Pumpkin Bars by Mary Roloff (my Grandma)

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup oil/olive oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin ( I used real pumpkin...same amount)

Mix this together in a large mixing bowl. Then sift together the following:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp each: ginger, cloves, nutmeg

Stir this together and add to the pumpkin mixture. Mix well and pour into a greased and floured pan. (I use a cookie sheet) Bake at *350 for 25-30 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 8 oz bars of softened cream cheese
• 3/4 stick of butter
• 1 tbsp cream or milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• About 4 cups powdered sugar

First cream together the first four items until soft. Then add the powdered sugar a little at a time until it's the right consistency for spreading. Enjoy!

It's almost Thanksgiving and I'm thankful I had Grandmothers that were awesome cooks! They in turn passed that talent on to my own Mom! Thanks to all of them for giving me some too!

I am taking part in another open house this weekend. I and the other consultants were all asked to bring 2 dozen cookies/bars. I will bring the Pumpkin Bars. Hopefully I haven't eaten them all before Sunday!