Eating With The Family

I can't be the only one who dreads family events. You get a lot of repeat questions. How are your grades? Are you doing well in school? Why aren't you dating someone?

Maybe I don't need a 'special' someone in my life, and I'm content being alone. And, as if I'm going to tell you about how I'm really doing in school. It consists of stress and crying. I don't need a lecture from you. In the end family can be a hassle. Sexist, homophobic, racist. They wonder why I don't talk to them.  

These people don't even know I blog. That would create so many problems. Actually it probably wouldn't. They would never bother to read it. My cousin, Jamie writes all the time. Fiction and the works and no one reads it except for me. I think it's fantastic, but no one seems to care. It's probably why we're so close. I'm the only one who thinks she's talented and love what she writes.

I'm practically her target audience now, which I am fine with. I just can't fathom, why her parents have so little interest in it. But, they don't. I don't know. It's strange to me.

However, for the first time in weeks. You will have recipes I have made or more accurately witnessed made. I'm not really allowed in the kitchen on Thanksgiving. I know how to cook. I have some skill. But, no, I am not allowed in.

Usually I end up eating a box of Entemann's donuts until two o'clock when we have dinner. Is my family the only one who has Thanksgiving at two o'clock and calls it dinner. Do other people eat at a normal dinner time or is this is a normal practice. I don't understand.

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Needless to say I am not allowed in the kitchen. All I really do is help with fruit salad. The menial labor, slicing the grapes, chopping up the green apples. Nothing that could actually hurt anything.

Really the only thing I do for Thanksgiving is set the table, then I'm asked why I used the good dishes. Family I don't know. Maybe, because this shouldn't sit in the hutch all day and I was bored. I have no answer for you. I'm sorry.

Sometime in the day we usually end up playing card games. Euker mostly. That's one my family really gets into. It's interesting. Some of the men watch football (I gag thinking about it), we played Pictionary one time. Where I was informed that I was too competitive. I was not that competitive. I just wanted to win, and I was willing to do anything it took to win. So, maybe they were right.

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I admit it. I don't know I always get so competitive when it comes to Pictionary. When Thunder and I played once it was half way through the game. We both said we didn't care if we won. When we sensed victory. That changed. We lost.

It was a horrible day.

Most of my Thanksgiving's are spent with my mother's side of my family. I'm not even sure what my father's side does. I've been told my grandfather goes hunting. I don't think they really do anything on Thanksgiving. I don't know which side is better.

Have a good Thanksgiving this week. Don't burn anything. Remember I am here. You always have my recipes as back up. Also keep in mind that your family loves you and no matter how annoying they are. They really do just want what's best for you. Even, if they don't. It's only one day. You got this.

RECIPES:

Fruit Salad
5 peeled and diced Granny Smith Apples
1 lb of halved Red Grapes
2 cups of miniature Marshmallows
½ cup of Maraschino Cherry Juice
3 diced Bananas
1 jar of halved Maraschino Cherries
½ cup of Mayonnaise

Whisk together the mayonnaise and maraschino cherry juice, tasting to ensure sweetness (Add more cherry juice if necessary, if necessary) Set aside.

Combine the fruit and marshmallows, mixing gently. Add the mayonnaise mixture, mixing to cover all the fruit.

Stuffing
2 loaves of cubed White Bread
3 sticks of Butter
½ cup of chopped Onion
3 tablespoons of Parsley
2 teaspoons of Salt
2 ½ teaspoons of Sage
Dash of Pepper
12 ounces of Craisins
1 pound of Sausage
2 cans of Chicken Broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brown the sausage and onion. Add the parsley, salt, sage, and pepper, stirring to mix well.

Combine the sausage mixture with the bread cubes, melted butter, and craisins, tossing lightly. Add the chicken broth to moisten well. Pour the stuffing into a well greased baking dish and bake for 50 minutes.

French Apple Tart (Otherwise Known as Apple Pie)
4 peeled and thinly sliced Apples
1 Lemon
2 tablespoons of Butter
¼ cup of Sugar
2 Eggs
2 Egg Yolks
2 tablespoons of Flour
½ cup of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoons of Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter the tart dish, then sprinkle it with 2 tablespoons of the sugar, coating it evenly. Set aside.

Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apple slices, then place them in the tart dish, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Set aside.

Combine the eggs, egg yolks, flour, sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract, and cinnamon. Carefully pour the mixture over the apples, baking on the middle rack for 40-55 minutes or until the apples are tender.

Move the pie plate to the lower rack and continue baking for another 15 minutes (If the apples begin to brown, cover them with foil)

When the pie is cool, run a knife around the edges of the pie to loosen the sides, turn it into a serving plate.

Serve with whipped cream.