"over-saged dressing? (uh. yes. It's mine.)" In your words Sylvia, SNORK! I guess it was a year for mixed results with dressing. My mom tried a new recipe this year because my brother was recently diagnosed diabetic. We always use my husband as a gauge as to whether or not we will use recipes again cause basically, if he doesn't like it, no one will :). Well, the sister in law's new sweet potato recipe got the thumbs up as did a new pear dessert recipe that I made, however the dressing just didn't pass muster. It came home with me and I don't think the compost pile will have a problem with the flavor. I also scored a bale of straw and a couple of pumpkins that mom had out for decoration. Before we left for mom and dad's yesterday, I had hubby chainsaw down a couple of nandinas that the previous owner planted too close to the house. They had reached all the way to the eaves. I'll be chipping those today. Pretty good sized piles, should make a good bit of mulch. Dang Bill! Maybe you should call your Thanksgiving gathering "Feed the Hungry Fest"! Do you compost your turkey bones? Also, I thought about your neighbor Tom, yesterday. I hope he has family to be with during the holidays. I'm working on plans for a simple hot house for use to overwinter a coupla things I'd rather not keep in the house, but mostly for starting seedlings in. I can't wait to start some of the heirloom tomatoe seeds you gave me. I still haven't decided where to put the melon patch, but look forward to trying the watermelon seeds as well. Thank you both for a good chuckle and hope that all is well with you. Kristi

It's all in what you like best, isn't it? Personally, we've found the sausage and fennel stuffing from Cook's Illustrated to be one of the best. I like StoveTop too for quick fix, but it really doesn't compare to 'real' stuffing.

Hey joanie. We have the Big Agnes insulated air mattresses. They are fantastic and very comfortable. They are the size of a qt bottle and are easy to blow up. They are very tough and as I said I have used mine almost every night in camping set ups for months and it has no leaks or problems. I will link below to the ones we have. I hadn't thought about the truck windows having screens to that would be great. A small fan would help to move the air. You would definitely need a canopy of some kind. We got one at Dick's Sporting Goods. It is easy to set up and very sturdy. Gives great protection if it is raining. We have even pulled it over so that it is 1/2 over our tent front and we can then get in and out without getting wet :) I haven't cooked on open fires for all meals. Just an occasional cookout. We have a 2 burner propane stove that I love. I can make pancakes and coffee and great dinners with it. We have a camp fire only for warmth and ambiance. We have a folding table and set everything up the minute we get to camp and then we are done for the time we are there. We have one cooler and restock often from the grocery. When I am on the road with my bike it is a whole different setup . I have a tiny campstove and we use a picnic table if there is one or the ground if there isn't :(. I have a one person tent that is very light. I still use my Big Anges though..it is never far from me ! If I can help with any other ideas let me know. I love to camp !! c Here is a link that might be useful: Big Agnes air mattress

Nah, John, just determination and sticktuitiivity. It wasn't all on the day. I had made my pie crust dough a few days prior thinking I'd get it baked off and frozen early, but I didn't have time to peel the apples1 And it's an overnight thing, so I did the apples, finally, the night before, and before anything else in the morning rolled out, and baked off the pie. That worked well for having the oven warm (when off) all day, and quick to heat. I had to save the frying for day of because I wasn't able to clear enough space to store all the results, but I might have been able to recover from the fail if I'd done it before. The rest was just veggies and finishing stuff. Thanks, IC. I don't usually get to have flowers on the table for lack of space. Such a luxury! Upside to small parties. :) Thanks, too, PM for the compliment. JC's Pumpkin Gravy The great trick of this is that the initial cook is concentrated. The gravy is then thinned and blended before serving. Makes about a 4-6 cups depending on how thick or thin you make it. Ingredients 2 small to medium sized Sweetie Pie Pumpkins, Cut in half and roasted 3 TBSP Butter, salted (or not and season to taste), browned 2 TBSP Heavy cream about 2 inches Parmesan rind (or a tsp of grated parm) 3-4 oz Good vermouth (I used Noilly Prat Rouge) Seasoning to taste approx 1/2 c. Water, distilled or good tasting Drippings from roast (turkey or beef but maybe good with others) --------- For finishing, 1-3 cups liquid, to your druthers, milk/stock/water, any combo (I used about 2 c. whole milk). Allow extra liquid for loss on rewarming. (Half a cup more of stock would have been good.) Directions Cut the pumpkins in half-ish (don't bother with the stem),, lightly coat with oil and roast inside up until soft but not falling apart. The cut side should look dry. Cool, peel and clean out "pumpkin guts". Break up into chunks. Brown butter to a nice caramel color.. Add pumpkin and stir a lot, breaking it up more as it heats. Add the vermouth and parmesan rind. Keep stirring. Add enough water to loosen the pumpkin and help smooth it out. Add seasoning (if your roast is going to shed a lot of salt and other flavorings into drippings you're going to add, be careful here). Add cream. and stir well. When the mix begins to be very soft, remove from heat and remove the parm rind. Blend. An immersion blender is best for this. Chill. Before serving run through a high power blender or food mill to make really smooth. Add milk, stock and/or water as needed/desired, to thin it to desired consistency. Add drippings (to taste) and blend..