The first cold night, Thanksgiving in sight

Tonight will be our first cold night.  College basketball has started.  Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away.  It's time to start collecting the ingredients for the feast and having the arguments over the size of the turkey.

My assumption is always that the bigger the turkey the better. Who has ever heard of too many leftover turkey sandwiches?   Unfortunately I have about as much luck selling the idea of a twenty five pound turkey as I do the need for a Christmas tree that is nine feet tall.

We'll end up compromising on the turkey size and the tree size, but I think I keep losing ground each year.  One of these days I'll open the oven and there will only be a turkey breast in there.

There is some discussion of buying a pumpkin pie this year instead of making one.  I wonder if I gave in on the pie, it might seal the deal on the larger turkey.  Perhaps with the store bought pie I could get away with a sixteen pound turkey.   

I know one tradition that won't change. It's the homemade whole berry cranberry sauce. It's been with us since our early days in Canada.   All this brings back the memories of the first Thanksgiving that I spent in Canada.   A lot of college friends came up to join me on our farm.  Now that was a learning experience.  No one had ever cooked a turkey, made gravy, or mashed potatoes.  Then there was the problem of reconciling all those different stuffing recipes. It was amazing that we got dinner on the table without one of the mothers around.  It was certainly a spectacle.

We're really looking forward to this Thanksgiving, all of our kids are headed home so the house will be full.  There is nothing like coming home when you're a young adult.  For a few days you can revert to a child and know that your parents will handle everything.  I remember the feeling well.  I also remember waking up one Thanksgiving, and we were in charge since my mother had gotten too old to shoulder everyone's cares.  I think we can handle a few more before we turn it over to the kids.

It should be exciting with some extra cats and a visiting dog who is only used to chasing cats.  Considering our excitement tonight was dinner at Firehouse Subs and a quick trip to Fresh Market and Kroger, having a few cat and dog stare down sounds like fun.