Thanksgiving Day success!

My mother (a.k.a. Nana) and I cooked up a storm! Nana arrived on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, in the afternoon. We discussed the Thanksgiving feast, sides and desserts, and put a shopping list together for her special recipe items that we had not bought the day before. The shopping list was very short.

The next day, Wednesday, we started cooking! We made cornbread for the dressing (I guess it’s not called stuffing, because technically, it did not get stuffed into the bird). Then, my mom made the dressing. We also baked biscotti and lemon bars, and made potato salad. My mom’s potato salad is always best the day after it is made. The flavors really meld together! So, she always makes it the day before.

(Note that the cornbread and lemon bars were made using the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Tenth Edition, recipes. Aren't those cookbooks all handed down? Mine was! I most certainly wasn't cooking in 1989! I could not find a link to those recipes specifically, but have included links to the Better Homes and Gardens website for the most similar recipes. The New Cookbook is on its Twelfth Edition.)

The day of Thanksgiving, we made the pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, yams, cranberry sauce, and gravy and roasted the turkey. We also had steamed white rice on the side, and of course, finadene! (Finadene is a sauce Chamorros use to spice things up! It is made with soy sauce, vinegar or lemon juice, onions and boonie peppers - hot peppers that grow wild in Guam. The jungle in Guam is referred to as the "boonies".)

We ate early, around 1pm, and everyone enjoyed everything. We had a special guest - our daughter’s friend from college who did not go home to Texas for the holiday. He had seconds, so I know he thought it was yummy. Although any home cooking probably would have been good after months of dorm cafeteria food!

After the dinner was served, everyone had pumpkin pie and vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. Then, the old folks went and laid down for a nap before heading out to see “Ninja Assassins”. (I know - nice movie for the family to see. What can I say? We like action!) I told my husband as we laid down for our nap (because like it or not, we are now the “old folks”), “Cooking takes a lot out of you!” No wonder the older people always slept after eating, and the kids continued to play. The kids didn’t cook for two days! He also reminded me that the kids slept in until noon!

Nana’s new recipes (the sausage cornbread dressing, the biscotti and the orange-cranberry sauce) were all big hits. I don't have her recipes for these. I'll see if she'll let me post them. The old favorites were still delicious, too. Sorry there are no pictures of our feast and new recipes. I have to get used to stopping to take pictures! And, now, my parents are gone, and so are our college student daughter and her hungry friend. It’s back to just the hubby and me, and we have lots of leftovers!