I wanted to comment on the corn, mostly for people from my zone or near it....I will not grow Hickory King again. However, I will grow Hopi blue again for sure. There is only one spot on my property where corn will grow, a sweet spot that I think got lots of applications of composted horse manure over the last 50 years. Corn is exotic to me and very interesting. I got even more interested in it after reading 'An omnivore's dilemma'. I have been trying various varieties just for fun and to see how feasible it is to grow a crop in a 1/4 acre for grain (...not very....). It is OK, but just for holiday type meals. As I said, it will only grow well on that patch... I will have enough for corn bread to go with the New Year's black eye peas. It was nice to have something made from a non GMO, completely organic non hybrid corn, and share it with our loved ones, some of them do care about these things. The Hickory King grew vigorously and gave us decent production, but the stink bugs were on it like it was going out of style. It was a real pain to take the kernels off the cobs, since I sorted out the ones that got stink bug damage. It was also more difficult to grind, and i could not get rid of a bunch of really hard bits on it. For comparison the Hopi blue gave a larger production, grew as vigorously if not more, had no stink bug damage and was very easy to grind up. Could it be that the Hopi blue is a flour corn and the Hickory King a dent corn? I also loved the blue corn bread a lot better, even though I also like the flavor of the hickory king. Making corn bread out of freshly ground corn meal is so tasty, even with a less favorite variety. Anyway, as I said I love Hopi blue for corn bread and it does well here (in case any zone niner reading this is into trying it). I originally grew Hopi blue for tamales though, but I did not like it for tamales. I am still looking for some good tamale corn, and I would prefer blue. I know some blue corn is used in tamales since we get some at out local Farmer's market in South Pasadena, so what corn do they use? Thanks for the compliments on the raviolis. They went over big here in this crowd too, so they are on request again for the Christmas menu! Enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas that I will feel like making them and eating them again, so that is OK. Also, first year that we grow ENOUGH winter squash. Curcubita moscata is our friend.

HU - Well....look at that, I forgot all about this old thread. 8 years ago? Wow! So, you are happy for Thanksgiving....what are you looking forward to? So, do you have family somewhere that you are not going to be able to get together with? We will not be able to get together with our family. First time in our lives that will be the case. Not one Thanksgiving or Christmas that we haven't been able to get together for a holiday dinner. So I'd say that is something to be VERY thankful for. And I'm a lot older than you are. [g]. And I hadn't thought about it that way until just this minute. So you did me a favor to bring this thread up. We are going to be making dinner, which we enjoy doing. We will have dinner ourselves but we will be delivering Thanksgiving Dinner to a couple of our kids. A small, easy, traditional dinner. I just got through making a food order. I looked at a weather forecast and it may rain on Thanksgiving, which would make it difficult to even have a short visit outdoors with anyone, but the forecast is wrong a lot, especially when it's an early one. So, what are you looking forward to HU?

Thank you for your kind words! I like you all very much and admire your own talents in decorating, so it means a lot to know that my own efforts look good to you. OA, I'm really incredibly touched that you think my home looks very welcoming. This has always been my main goal and I'm happy that it shows. A place that's a showplace but unwelcoming and not warm is a house, not a home in my mind. Here's a pic I took recently of my living room. It was heading towards dusk, so it's not the greatest picture. I'm also including one of the table's edge, too. Jeanne, it's so nice to "meet" you! I love your turkey in a cage. What a fun idea! It looks to be the same one that Jane has this year. Lynn

Cynic, is that all???? I better get moving. LOL Maybe I will surprise my family and leave them to fend for themselves and take that trip to England for Christmas. I'll let them have my house and they can do their own cooking. Fat chance, they would starve. I think Laura's boyfriend knows how to cook though and my brother's specialty is Greek pasta salad. My sister is the Queen on Lean Cuisine. LOLOL Not exactly a nice Christmas dinner is it. Okay I have been reprieved, a ton of weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I just called my brother and he and his girlfriend are driving to Toronto for Thanksgiving. David is still at his store counting stock and will be there pretty much all night since the store just closed. He sounds happy to be retiring but I feel kind of sad for him. End of an era. I then called my friend Kathy to see if she had any bacon on hand and she said she did. I asked her to make me some bacon bits for the broccoli salad but she said not to bother making it since rarely do we have a cold salad at Thanksgiving and then she said I ruined her surprise. Kathy is one of my childhood friends and it has always been the tradition in her family to have that marshmallow 24 hour salad for their holiday dinners. I consider that more a dessert salad but hey who am I to mess with tradition and this is her first Thanksgiving without her Mom so I said that was wonderful she made the salad. I like it but usually at a shower or something like that. I never thought to make what we call my Grandma's green lime jello salad made with pineapple, celery and cream cheese LOLOL At our family dinners there was always that pale green Pyrex casserole dish on the holiday table that held the lime green salad. Refreshing it was and I had forgotten all about it. I will have to remember it for Christmas. Out of all the vintage Pyrex I have in my huge collection that pale green casserole dish is one I have never been able to find at yards sales or thrift shops. I think my sister Lizzie absconded Grandma's green dish so I will have to ask her if she still has it. Lime green cream cheese jello is just not tradition without serving it in that dish. Oh my. I now don't have to put 2 extenders in the table now so I should have a table cloth that will suffice. I know I should do it anyway but now I don't have to make that extra effort to make sure everything in my house is in perfect order and now I can hide books and my computer stuff on the attic stairs and the dog can still have his toys out and the dog food bag can remain where it is. I was getting ready to get on my butt and start cleaning baseboards since the "girlfriend" was coming. Tomorrows Menu Turkey Stuffing Cranberry Sauce Brussel Sprouts sliced cooked with garlic and cream Orange glazed carrots Squash Mashed turnip Mashed potatoes and gravy Tray with raddishes, olives, my pickled beets 24 hour salad Rolls Pumpkin pie Butter tarts - my Mom's filling recipe, Tenderflake shells I will go raid my Pyrex collection for all the autumn coloured pieces and that way I can keep the food warm in the oven and put right on the dinner table to serve. I wouldn't do that with good china which I don't have right now. I'm still waiting for my Grandma's china to make its way back to Windsor - it just needs a ride LOL Grandma's Royal Doulton china and her pale green Pyrex dish now that for a beautiful holiday table. Thanks again for helping me and listening to my rant. I am so relieved and now will be able to enjoy myself more with the usual suspects in attendance. Anne