We often forget what we are celebrating at Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? A few months ago on television I watched a program, I think they were trying to sell me something, but I walked away with a commitment to a middle of the year resolution. On the end table next to my sofa I keep a notebook and at the end of the day I write in it three things I am thankful for. I have been doing this for several months now and I can tell you as I look back at my writings, it is a very uplifting thing to do. There are such silly things like, I am thankful it was sunny today to I am thankful my parents are still alive, I am thankful Jenee is healthy today. So I am just going to through this out at you, try it for a few weeks and see what your notes tell you about yourself.
Stuffing
I was looking in my Better Homes and Garden cookbook for my stuffing recipe. In the front of my book I have some lose papers with recipes that are special in our family. My Grandma Rosten (we all called her Granny Apple) made the best stuffing maybe because she added ground sausage to it. I didn't find hers but I did find another relative who lives here in Carson Valley named Carol Swan.
Carol says to mix two eggs, 4 cups of day-old bread, a cube of melted butter, a half-cup chopped onion and a half-cup chopped celery and one package of Lipton onion soup mix, and here's the last ingredient: one half-cup of unpopped popcorn.
Carol said to stuff the mixture into your 10 to 12 pound turkey and bake at 350 degrees for four hours. She said when the four hours are up to get out of the kitchen fast because the popcorn stuffing is going to blow the turkey right out of the oven.
Sweet potatoes versus yams
The yams are the sweet ones and they are a darker orange. For Thanksgiving dinner I like to peel sweet potatoes and slice them lengthwise in wedges, and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees. When they are fork tender, brush them with good maple syrup and let them cook five more minutes. They are to die for.
Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving holiday and remember to talk with your family about what you are thankful for. Maybe you will start a thankful journal like I did at my house.
n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
