Telling the differance between the holiday cactus is really confusing for a lot of people, usually people are refering to the same plant when they say Thanksgiving and Christmas cactus. These are what's available in stores between Thanksgiving and Christmas and have the wide leaf segments with jagged edges . But the true Christmas cactus are the ones with slim smooth edge segments and tend to hang down and these are what have been passed down through the generations and can seldom be found to purchase retail. Easter/Spring cactus are usually sold between Easter and Mothers day around here and the plant looks a lot like the real Christmas cactus but the flowers are very differant and they open and close up each day. My Thanksgiving cactus start blooming around the first of November and bloom through December than rest for a few weeks and than bloom again but not as many flowers and my Christmas cactus are starting to bloom now. It's still a bit early for Easter cactus to be blooming in most areas. I grow all three types and once you see them side by side it's really easy to tell the differance. Jo

Due to various scheduling requests from the kids we opted for dinner at 2:00 instead of 3. It was a great decision. Everything was ready on time, the food was delicious and we ended up sitting around the table for hours enjoying the conversation. Surprisingly the 3 granddaughters (ages 4 1/2, 2 1/2 and 2) all sat together at the end of the table and happily amused each other with minimal input from parents. It was especially nice since this coming Christmas DS, DDIL and 2 DDs will be in California for the holidays visiting her side of the family.

I love you guys too. :) plllog, about the stupid places that boxes are left after delivery: I just got a large heavy box delivered directly in front of my storm door. Do you know how hard it is to open a storm door that's being blocked by a huge heavy box? Thankfully that's only the third time it's been done to me. lol! neely, your plated meal is gorgeous! I only thought to take one photo of any of the food I made. The obligatory dinner rolls that are actually destined as leftover turkey sandwiches. :) Annie, I'm glad to hear that all is well there and your dinner with Elery sounds lovely. I can't even remember the last time I enjoyed a meal with an atmosphere like that............... agmss, it sounds like your nephew is a cooking phenom! That's a shame about the make-ahead blueberries. I had a similar disaster once when I attempted a make-ahead cheesey-creamy topping for an onion flambe. :p My butter/herb turkey breast was wonderful!!! The only drawback was a lack of drippings to make good gravy for my BF.... had to use the stuff that came in a package with the turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving to my neighbours. Hope you all have a wonderful meal and time with loved ones.