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Wednesday, a new look, and Thanksgiving thoughts

Notice anything different on my blog? Yes! My friend LP created a cool image for me and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

Thank you LP for taking the time to make Desert Magnolia look prettier and less, um, random!

Wednesday. It's the day of the week that, if we in fact survive through noon, means we're halfway there. Halfway to the end, halfway to where we look forward to a couple of days to reorganize and nest and plan for Thanksgiving.

Eek! Thanksgiving already!

So, our menu so far looks like this:

Turkey. (This year I'm going to make a yummy lemon/thyme/garlic butter to rub between the skin and bird. )

Stuffing. (This is so much fun. Love to sautee up apples and celery and onions, then mix in fresh rubbed spices, bread cubes and broth then bake it in my favorite blue pottery casserole dish that my very first real boss gave me, and yes, it's still in one piece! Love the crusty top and the soft, steamy middle.)

Mashed potatoes. (Hubby is in charge this year. He's creative and tends to take things from good to great, so we have that to look forward to!)

Gravy. (I simmer the giblets while the turkey is baking, then chop them finely and mix in with the broth and drippings. Yum. In my opin, simple is best for this.)

Candied yams. (My sisterinlaw makes these. Fresh yams baked, then half smashed up with some butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and fresh pecans sprinkled over the top. Baked til brown and crunchy. It's Daughter's fav, and she's made a point of requesting it this year. See, she'll be recuperating from surgery, and believes that the deliciousness of the yams will help her heal. I totally agree.)

Sauteed Garlic Green Beans (We first tasted these at PF Chang's a few years ago. We've perfected the recipe to our taste, and make them instead of green bean casserole now.)

Twice Baked Potatoes. (These are my motherinlaw's specialty. Again, Daughter made a point to request them, so I'm guessing they'll be even richer and yummier than ever.)

Fresh cranberry relish. (The kind that's chopped with oranges and a little bit of sugar.)

Cranberry sauce. (The whole berry kind. Simple and delicious.)

Wines. (We'll probably have a few to choose from. We tend to favor light to medium reds, so we'll have those, then maybe a nice crisp chardonnay.)

Pumpkin pie. (I may make this, or see if sisinlaw might handle this, too. We'll see.)

Cheesecake. (Not sure if I'm going with a traditional, spring form pan cheesecake or a simple cream cheese/lemon juice version in a graham cracker crust.)

Coffee. (Trader Joe's has a new Holiday Blend I'm itching to try, a blend they've created with Sumatra and Guatamala beans, then ground with some interesting spices. Sounds promising!)

Tums.

'Nuff said.

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