Such great stories! I don't have terribly funny experiences, but a cute one...Christmas Eve I tried to get the kids to bed, but had little luck. We kept telling them that Santa couldn't come till everyone was in bed, so they headed off to their rooms. I could hear the boys giggling in their room and then I heard DD2 (who was 6 at the time) loudly whisper to them "BE QUIET! I heard the reindeers on the roof!" And the boys gasped and shut up really fast. That morning as they were opening gifts she told us that she heard the reindeer on the roof and she saw the shadow of Santa's sleigh on her window shade. She was utterly serious! That same year at Easter she was up early and caught me as I was trying to hide eggs. Her eyes got really big when we heard a thump on the porch (the dog) and she whispered "mommy, do you think that's the Easter Bunny?" I whispered back yes, and she quickly ran back to bed to wait till her sister got up so it would be safe to come out. Only other story is the year my Aunt was getting married. The wedding was on December 26th and my Mom was hosting Christmas dinner. She'd had the 28 lb turkey sitting in the sink thawing (they did that back in the 70's!) and our dog got hold of it while everyone was at the rehearsal dinner. We got home to find a VERY sick dog and a half eaten half frozen turkey carcass. Dad had to find an emergency vet (on Christmas Eve) and mom luckily found a butcher open so she could find a ham instead. The dog survived, but my mom has never trusted another dog since.

Bread and Butter Pudding would be the perfect way to use up your bread. I've substitute , Gingerbread cake and before in my recipe for bread pudding Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Bread And Butter Pudding With Caramel Sauce =========================================== 5 or 6 slices of bread 1/2 cup butter 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar 5 eggs 2 cups cream (Or milk) vanilla pinch of salt Caramel Sauce 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup cream pinch of salt 2 teaspoons vanilla NOTE: If you prefer the pudding to have more custard, then use less bread so that all of the custard is not absorbed into the bread when baked. . Cut crusts from bread and spread each slice with butter. (Bread slices can be left whole, or cut into halves, quarters or cubes. Place bread butterd side up in a oven proof dish. (may use any shape dish, or glass loaf pan, cutting bread to fit) Beat the sugar and eggs together and then add the cream, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread and allow the bread to absorb. (make be refrigerated at this point and baked later) sprinkle with some white sugar and place dish into a pan of hot water and bake in a 350 oven for 45 to 1 hour, or until pudding is set and golden. To make caramel sauce, bring butter, sugars, cream and salt to a boil and then simmer for 3 or 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Custard sauce for Chocolate Bread and butter Pudding. The custard sauce was really easy. It was just two cups of milk or cream ( I used coffee cream) heated to a simmer. Mix three tablespoons of flour into 1/2 cup of white sugar and mix into a beaten egg. When the milk is hot, slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture,stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pot and cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Custard should be pouring consistency. Cover the surface directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

2 cups strained and mashed pumpkin (use cheese pumpkins for the best results, 12" diameter) 1/4 cup maple syrup 1/4 cup dark brown sugar 1 egg beaten well 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1-1/2 cups whole milk or 1 cup whole milk and 1/2 cup cream 1 9" diameter deep pie crust per pie Cut pumpkin in half (12" diameter) place inverted over a cookie sheet or large bowl. Heat in oven at 325 degrees or microwave on high until top starts to collapse (skin will turn dark brown) or steam in lobster pot. Scrape out pulp and strain well. Allow to dry and cool before using! The drier the pulp the firmer the pie. A good quality food processor can be used to really mash the pulp into a smooth mixture otherwise chop and mash the pulp by hand. Mix syrup, sugar, egg, cinnamon and ginger together. Slowly add milk and blend well. Add pumpkin mixture and blend well. While the mixture is blending, sprinkle some cinnamon on the pie crust and let it bake in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes. Fill the pie shell to capacity and then bake at 325 degrees in 9" pie crust until firm, about 1 hour. Check to make sure the pie shell does not overcook. Cool on racks for 1 hour and then refrigerate. Pumpkin pie is best when refrigerated overnight and served cool. A regular 12" diameter pumpkin will yield 3 pies, a 12" diameter cheese pumpkin will yield 2 pies. Serve with fresh whipped cream!

Turns out, I detest turkey stock, but I can almost always find a taker for the carcass. ”Really? Are you sure?” Yes, I'm sure! Giving away the carcass is easy. Giving away eight quarts of frozen turkey stock—really lovely stock, objectively speaking—was impossible and I ended up ditching a lot of it down the drain when I was defrosting the freezer. Eating turkey is fine, with peppery gravy, cranberry sauce, etc., or even [gasp!] ketchup (especially on a sandwich) . But the actual turkey flavor? It’s fine for turkey dinner, but I don’t want that funk in my soup! So, in the last 24 hrs. I've kind of made up for not cooking a holiday dinner this year. I roasted Awesome Chicken, and included some red beets, made ”Buffalo-ish” cauliflower, pumpkin blonds, blueberry apple pie, black sesame baba ganouj, but am moving pumpkin mac and cheese to tomorrow. Waiting on peas for the turkey pot pie. It is so amazing (my biggest thankful) to be over all the little injuries that kept me from cooking that much the last couple of years. ETA, the blonds taste more of the white chocolate than the very roasty favorful pumpkin or the very mapley, dark maple syrup (replacing vanilla and some sugar). They're fine as snonymous treats. They taste nice. Just not pumpkin.