Monday, November 26, 2012

The Little and the Big

I wish I were one of those bloggers who could sit down and churn out a humorous, heartfelt, and concise summary of an event immediately after said event occurs, but I'm not.  I could probably write four posts about our Thanksgiving weekend, but instead I'll do my usual thing and jam it all into one.  Maybe two.  Welcome to this side of the pond.


My girls were home for five whole complete entire days.  Well four and three quarters, but that's still something.  Daughter1 took Wednesday off from work, which meant we could make one airport-train station run to collect them both on Tuesday evening. Gotta be thankful for the small things, right?

The traffic getting to the airport does not qualify as a small thing. Everyone and their brother must have been heading over the meadow and through the woods on Tuesday night.  Or down the turnpike and across the parkway as it happens in northern NJ.

See, this is why I should write about our weekend as it happens.  I've just written an entire paragraph describing the traffic.

And then I feel the need to tell you that...moving on-

We made our traditional post-airport pickup stop at the diner for dinner at 9 PM because that's what you do when your kids live far from home and have jobs and don't get in until 8:15.  Something else to be thankful for-the diners in NJ are open pretty much 24/7.

The girls and I sent hubs out to run last minute errands on Wednesday morning while we got busy cooking.  It was just the four of us for Thanksgiving dinner, but you still have to make all the traditional sides-mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn pudding, dressing, brussel sprouts with pancetta, cranberries, and squash casserole.  


Normally we do creamed onions too, but daughter1 took a cooking class this fall so she treated us to homemade French Onion soup instead.  It was fab-u-lous.  And extra delicious because we served it in these too cute individual terrines I'd ordered from Williams Sonoma.

Pretty dishes make me happy.


Remember it's the little things people.


Everyone helped with the prep...daughter1 made the soup and the Pioneer Woman's cranberry recipe which I loved.  Daughter2 is my official chopper and she did all the onions and celery for our stuffing, plus she made the squash casserole and a magazine-worthy pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.


We broke with tradition a little and opted for cheesecake instead of pie.  Nobody revolted.  We always have fruit salad as a dessert option too, a very specific fruit salad like my mama made and her mama before her, and maybe her mama before her too. Apples, oranges, and red grapes that must be pitted and halved, and a can of crushed pineapple poured over all. Daughter1 pitted, peeled and chopped-


She also made a cheese ball for snacking on all weekend.


She is very serious about her assignment.


Did I do any of the cooking? Ha-yes...someone has to make the turkey, the dressing, and the sweet potato casserole.  Plus someone has to assign recipes to specific pans and solve the Rubik's Cube that is your oven on Thanksgiving, right?


And thankfully someone else has to polish the silver.  Hubs did such a good job I think this will be forevermore on his to-do list instead of mine.

It's the little things, remember?
Actually I think it's the little things mixed together with the big things.

Like daughters who mash the potatoes...



and sisters so happy to spend time together they must mark the day with a picture.


It's family round the table...


...and daughters whose very presence in your life fill your heart to overflowing.


It's also wordy bloggers who decide maybe they will break their holiday weekend recap into two or three posts.  

Is that a big thing or a little thing?  

Either way, you're welcome.  

34 comments:

  1. I enjoyed every word of it, Joyce. I completely get this feeling of having the kids in the house at the holidays. OH, and those tureens are adorable. Pretty dishes make me happy, too. Some might say I have too many.

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    1. There is no such thing as too many dishes : )

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  2. I liked all the recipe cards in the dishes that they were to be made in. Very organized.

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  3. Those terrines are so cute and so are your girls. Love the family pictures too. All the food sounds delicious. I've been wanting a cheese ball. Actually, I'll be waiting until Christmas though when my sister always makes one for us. Yummy!

    Sounds like a perfect Thanksgiving.

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  4. they're so pretty...great to see ya'll under one roof. My girl went back early due to a thing called the IRON BOWL (Alabama vs. Auburn)...losing out to a bunch of guys throwing a ball...hahahah! oh, well, her time at Alabama is very precious, too! Happy after-Thanksgiving...blessings to all ;)

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  5. I enjoyed reading about your thanksgiving almost as much as you enjoyed it.

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  6. Your girls look like twins! (Wait... they are not, right?) Your pictures were fun to look at and I too enjoyed the pumpkin soup bowls! It's all about presentation!

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    1. No they're not twins, but definitely look like sisters : ) They are 2 years apart.

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  7. What wonderful pictures! It sounds like a great Thanksgiving!

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  8. Beautiful food, beautiful girls. It's always a blessing to be together. Looks like a great day of thanks. :)

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  9. I'm with Joyce, I enjoyed every word and what a fun!

    Your girls are so cute and looked like they were having a delightful time. Treasure it my dear, one day, it will likely be very different. It's really tough when they can't always come home for holidays but it is what it is and we make the best of it.

    Lovely post!

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  10. Love all the pictures and it sure does sound like you had a blast. Love French Onion Soup!!Yummy.

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  11. I know you were a happy Momma with your girls in the house once again. I love daughter #2's scarf!

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  12. Ahh, looks like it was a great weekend!

    Just before you 'said' it, I thought, "wow, she's so intent on that cheese ball" Haha

    Love the soup terrines!

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  13. Your joy in having your girls home is contagious. It looks like it was a wonderful family time and a great addition to that bank of memories.

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  14. Nothing better than having your girls home and doing what you love.....being together! Your dinner sounds perfect! I loved having Katelyn home.....just wish I had a decent picture to prove it! Have a wonderful Monday!

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  15. Your girls are simply beautiful! LOved your post as usual, even the traffic update...lol. I love cooking for Thanksgiving, mostly cause it's only once a year....:)

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  16. I am glad we have 24 hour diners too, although I don't frequent them as much as I did in my younger days ;)
    Pretty dishes make me happy too. You did a great job delgating the preparations! I love the family picture too :)

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  17. Looks like you all had an absolutely lovely Thanksgiving!

    Love French onion soup - and love the terrines it was served in! Food just tastes better when served on pretty dishes, right?

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  18. Your girls are gorgeous!

    I think I could have been content with the soup and the cheesecake. Yummy!

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  19. Your daughters are beautiful. Glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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  20. I agree. Daughters are wonderful. I have four.

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  21. Any time one can get the entire family under the same roof it is a BIG deal!
    Isn't it fun to all be in the kitchen cooking together?

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  22. Sounds like a lovely, lovely Thanksgiving! If it makes you feel better, I did a pretty wordy post on my entire weekend. I tried to trim it down, but the words just seem to keep coming and my fingers just keep typing. So I don't mind wordy posts at all! In fact I think they might be my favorite kind. A nice reminder that I'm not the only wordy person out there. :)

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  23. What a lovely post and so nice that your daughters could come home and join you and help with all the preparations.

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  24. What a lovely Thanksgiving your family had! I love the thoughts of two daughters helping with the cooking. My daughter hates cooking (with the exception of baking) so our kitchen adventures together have been limited. Fortunately, my son-in-law loves to cook, and is quite good at it:)

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  25. Sounds like a fun filled weekend to me! Was it just the four of you? That sounds nice and cozy. :) Love the idea of having fruit salad as an option. I would still probably choose cheesecake. Ha!

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  26. Nice. Glad you guys got some good quality time along with all that great food. :-)

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  27. You're right Joyce. It IS the little things. And I'm glad you wrote that and that I read it- I needed that right now. Your words were quite helpful with a decision I needed to make. I'm so glad your girls were home for Thanksgiving! What a blessing-except for the traffic, of course. We had everyone but Deanie and we had a blast but, you know how it is. Even though it's only one missing, that's the one you think about.

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  28. What a blessing to be able to cook dinner with your two daughters!!! It looks wonderful. Glad the girls could be there. Love the family photo at the end.♥

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  29. Wonderful! It was wonderful to have your two daughters home. Congrats they were able to make it. My daughter was home for 5 full days and I was in heaven, able to spend some quality time with her.
    Thanks for sharing your Thanksgiving with us.

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  30. Great post Joyce. I can see how perfect your Thanksgiving was and the food looks/sounds so delicious. So glad you had such a wonderful time. Your girls are gorgeous!!!

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