A Haven for Vee

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Thanksgiving Preparations



Yesterday found me washing the china and gathering bowls, pickle dishes, candy dishes, stemware, etc. None of the stuff had been used since last Christmas so it all needed a good cleaning. I've gathered it all in a pile on one table and there it waits.

FlyLady tells me to review the menu and the supplies. Terrific! This means yet another trip to the market and the orchard. This hosting Thanksgiving dinner has proven as challenging as anything I've done in many years. I am following FlyLady's holiday schedule as if it were the Holy Grail.

Everyone who offers to do something gets taken up on the offer. For that reason, I don't have to think about stuffing, squash, pecan pie, peanut butter pie, or beverages. Yay!

If I can make it ahead, I'm going to do it. That's where FlyLady's mashed potato recipe comes in.

MAKE AHEAD MASHED POTATOES

14 potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 stick butter
1 (8 oz.) pkg. of cream cheese
1 c. milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mash all ingredients together. Place in casserole and bake for 30 minutes. This dish can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring back to room temperature before baking. It can also be frozen, thawed and baked, and will be the same as freshly made!


I have FlyLady's recipe, but can't find the link so have posted this one from www.Cooks.com. (FlyLady's is better. LOL!)

Here's to excellent flying techniques today, tomorrow, and especially on the big day!

(I imagine that all my Canadian pals get a kick out of watching me scurry about like this safe in the knowledge that their Thanksgiving is next year. And friends from even further away must truly shake their heads.)

10 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recipe! Don't ya wonder where Marla comes up with all this kind of stuff? *lol* While I don't subscribe to Flylady any longer, I used to be a loyal follower. I still apply alot of her tips! The emails just got to be too much!
    Good luck with your Thanksgiving Feast. It looks like you have everything well in hand!
    Jan

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  2. Whew...I'm glad we do the Thanksgiving thing in October up here! We used to do a Thanksgiving dinner in honour of our American friends, but they've moved back to the States...so I'm free to start thinking about Christmas. Doing the mashed potatoes ahead is a great time-saver (I often use the herb & garlic cream cheese...gives them a nice flavour).

    PS By the way, do you know that not only do we celebrate Thanksgiving differently Canada, we also spell a little differently? I just noticed that I used both 'honour' and 'flavour' in this comment...which would be 'honor' and 'flavor' to you!

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  3. Sounds like a great recipe for mashed potatoes. I will add it to my collection to try.
    I don't save my good china for special days anymore. Sometimes just an ordinary day is special. :-)

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  4. Oh Gosh...I have to do all that too...thanks for the reminder!
    Have fun!
    Love,
    Robin

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  5. Not me Vee...I don't get a kick out of it. As a matter of fact, I think you should change your Thanksgiving to our date... this is waaaaay too close to the other festive season!

    As a matter of fact..not long ago..in one of my posts ..somewhere...who can remember where..... I even mentioned that I felt sorry for you gals south of the border. I think it is awful for you to have to do two huge celebrations so close together.. along with all the decorating and other extras.

    Delegate duties for sure... cut back on the number of dishes...and make less of it all. You know how much we all usually have left over! Of course...then ...there are always wonderful meals to make with those. "Plan-overs"!!! My all time fav......

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  6. Thanks for checking out my blog, it's always fun to meet new people in blog land.
    I've celebrated Thanksgiving in NJ for the past two years with my daughter and yes I was unanimously voted to cook the meal.
    It's definitely different than our Canadian Thanksgiving, since it is the kick off for your Christmas also.

    You commented on the Oak Tree! I learned about it's significance when I was about in Gr.3 One of my teachers made us memorize it and somehow it never left. (but I looked it up on the internet once again.)

    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and we'll wait to hear how your techniques from Fly Lady resulted.

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  7. Have a great Thanksgiving and delegate, delegate, delegate. Peanut butter pie sounds awesome by the way (never had it!). Your dinner will be lovely and I wish I could be there. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday (eating-wise anyway)! And yes, it always seems so late and cold in the year when you have yours, but I guess it is a tad warmer south of the border. Here, if we don't have snow in October for ours, we are happy!

    One thing I am looking forward to is your Thanksgiving being over, so the US online retailers get their Christmas stuff up! Everywhere I look is still turkeys...

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  9. Vee,
    I just love your little haven and those dishes are beautiful, I saw some dinner plates that look similar to them in a flea market yesterday and wanted to buy them but there were only 5 and I like sets of 6 to 8 so I passed, maybe I will rethink it and search for one more. Have a lovely Thanksgiving!
    Miss Sandy

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  10. Love your china and Flylady plans, Vee! LOL! If I wasn't still working on getting that darn giraffe and dead animal out of my hallway I'd be on schedule too! Does she have a plan for giraffes? I wonder...

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