Thanksgiving Dinner

Since Thanksgiving has been protected for me my entire career, in exchange for taking medical call every Christmas, until recently  as a long weekend, some personal expression has gone into this.  I have always been the food preparer, bringing the rather elaborate meal to my in-laws during my mother-in-law's lifetime, then more recently asking the remaining in-laws and my children to come to our house, as the logistics are much easier for me that way.  Like others we have our political strains, jokes not well received, concessions to people who cannot easily travel to us that we need to pick up and return, and a self-imposed obligation to have our place far neater than its usual appearance.  My mother-in-law served as the family glue that gave us our reason to assemble periodically at her house
but with her passing at age 97, we are left with First Seder and Thanksgiving as the reliable family gatherings.  For Seder, I make the dinner and still transport it.  For Thanksgiving, though, I am the designated balabusta.

Much thought goes into the menu, scans of my cookbooks, surveys of ideas on line.  Looks like:

Motzi-- French Bread
Appetizer--Vegetarian mushroom and barley stuffed cabbage
Soup--Minestrone
Salad--Israeli variant, a salad of many colors which should go well with the Torah reading.
Turkey--Roasted
Stuffing made in crock pot.
Cranberry sauce, homemade
Sweet potatoes with other vegetables

Acorn squash with pomegranate glaze in deference to my son who cannot join us.
Banana-bundt cake
Iced mulled cider with pomegranite.

Mixture of book recipes and online recipes and some taken from this month's magazines reviewed at our local library the last few weeks.

A challenge,. a hobby, an effort, and most of the time an accomplishment.