cole slaw....the easy way ;)

better late than never?  i hope so....its now great b-b-que time.  so i am finally sitting down to write out the cole slaw recipe.  cheese potatoes coming next! to read about the origins of this recipe, read here .

cole slaw

• 1 cup Hellmann's Real Mayonaise (i've never gotten brave enough to try another brand)
• 3 T. lemon juice (bottled works just fine, but fresh does take it a notch
• 2 T. sugar (can use honey)
• 1 t. salt
• 2 t. horseradish (the one of the secret ingredients)
• 3/4 t celery seed
• 6 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped find green pepper

whisk 1st 6 ingredients together.  combine vegetables and add sauce mix.  Stir well.

that's it.  so easy and so good.

now....i do take a short cut in that i purchase ready made shredded cabbage mix.  it does have carrots in it, although not 1 cup.  so, i just decide in the moment if i can make that happen or not.  the bell pepper is a non-negotiable.  it is the other secret ingredient.  i usually just put it through the food processor.

9 little kittens who lost their mittens........

i have held on to these mittens for 30 years now....or at least 1 of each set :) i am not much on sentimentality.  i am pretty much a suck it up and move on kind of person.  i toss things that aren't needed.

except these mittens...for some reason.  and they always came out when it got cold and we would sort through them and put the unmatched ones and the ones that didn't fit any longer back in the box.

until 8 years ago.

in our kitchen, we have a huge window....ok...in the nook/dining area.  i love the light it lets in!  but it is a big, bare window.

during our first christmas season in this house, it turned cold.  we pulled out the mittens and gloves.  there was this huge stack of mismatched and too littles.....and i had a lightbulb moment.

why not use them for decorations?  I hung a string from end to end of the window and hung the mittens like a clothesline.

it has become one of my most favorite decorations.  and it's always is the topic of conversation...whether with friends or family....who's is who's and who wore that one and remember when's........

to fill in the empty spaces on the line, we even put our current, matching sets up there....its kinda funny when it snows and they are hanging up, to have the kids go get their gloves from the line :)  they'll even wear them mis-matched, which makes for great pictures!

i went to go find them last night.  they weren't in their regular spot.  my heart skipped a little.  remembering back on last year, i remember pulling them out of our ever growing box (that couldn't close any longer) and deciding they just needed to go with the regular decorations. we bagged them up and put them with the decorations.

they aren't there.

this brings tears now, as i type....i am going miss all those itty bitty mittens....one pair was from my oldest when she was 6 months old.  they all held lots of memories

i am thankful for the tears...it means there is a part of my heart that is healing...a part that holds on to things that mean a LOT....a part that is sentimental :)

i am praying they are just misplaced.  i have this feeling they ended up in a 'let's clean the garage and anything that doesn't belong needs to go' spree.....

whatever the cause for the missing mittens....i am so thankful god prompted me to take pictures of them....just last year.

and i am thankful for the memories these little mittens hold.

Christmas breakfast

our christmas days are  a long, drawn out, amazingly fun process.  it has evolved into a whole day of eating and opening presents.  i guess that's no different from any other family, but one difference for us, is we don't open everything in one fell swoop.  now that the children are a bit older--and that's relatively speaking....every present is wrapped and nothing is placed under the tree until christmas eve....so some of the surprise is all the presents appearing out of no where :)  we have stockings to open and presents to unwrap.  we wait until everyone is {somewhat} awake and we have cups of coffee, cider and hot chocolate ready for the stocking opening.  once everyone has their warm drink of choice, we all gather in the den and stockings are handed out.  we go around, one by one and reach in--without looking is the ideal--and pull out one thing at a time.  this can take up to an hour or two for the whole family to empty their stockings. once that is done, we stop and have breakfast.  i have found that breakfast needs to be on the lighter side or no one wants to eat Christmas dinner (actually lunch, since its around 2).  i am also learning how to keep it very simple, since i would have already been cooking the few days prior and will be the rest of the day.  we have had cinnamon rolls (recipe here), breakfast casseroles, scrambled eggs and muffins, etc.    our favorite so far has become fruit soup and biscuits.  i know my sweet husband needs some protein with breakfast, so this year, i will make some mini quiches to go along with our soup. after breakfast, we go back to the tree and open presents.  we are usually there until time for lunch.

this soup is wonderful!  it is so refreshing and light.  and. so. simple. what i love about it, is that i throw it all together the day before--whenever there is time--and its just ready for us when its time to eat.  the other thing i do (which i did tonight) is make enough biscuits for that meal and freeze the dough on a cookie sheet--several days or weeks ahead.  once they are frozen, i put them in a ziplock and when we are about ready to break for breakfast, i throw them on a cookies sheet and pop them in the oven.

i will make the mini quiches the day or two before christmas also.  my goal is to make this as easy as possible for that day.  i want to be in the den, enjoying my family and not in the kitchen...until they have all crashed on the sofas :)

i found this soup recipe years and years ago in a cookbook series on healthy eating.  i wouldn't say its exactly healthy, but it is a favorite and with a few wise choices, it can be healthier than most foods :) we have this for dinner many times during the summer, too.

Fruit Soup

recipe as written makes 11 cups without bananas (which we never add)

• 12 oz package frozen raspberries
• 16 oz package frozen strawberries
• 12 oz package frozen blueberries
• 20 oz can pineapple chunks, unsweetened, undrained
• 16 oz can peach slices, unsweetened, undrained and cut in bite size pieces
• 16 oz can pear halves, unsweetened, undrained and cut in bit size pieces

Combine all portions of fruit in a BIG bowl.  let stand about 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in refrigerator to let frozen fruit thaw and juices to mingle.  refrigerate until ready to serve.  Add bananas (if desired) to each portion served.

*this will keep several days in the refrigerator.  Add bananas only to the portion to be used immediately, since they will turn.

we serve with whipped cream on top and biscuits.  we almost always have left overs and use this as a base for smoothie or a topping on ice-cream, oatmeal..whatever.  you name it, it works here :)

NOW--i usually make these biscuits to go with this. but lately, the kids have been asking for buttermilk biscuits with this, since the usual ones are a bit sweet.

i learned to make these biscuits from my mother-in-law.  she, like me, doesn't use recipes for most of her meals, and this is no exception.  i am sure she was taught just like she taught me to make them...and, while they are NOT good for you, they are pretty darn good.  there are no measurements...you just have to 'eyeball' it and go on experience--as you get used to making them

buttermilk biscuits

• self rising flour
• crisco
• buttermilk

What she taught me:  put a couple of cups of flour in a bowl.  take a couple of heaping spoons of crisco and cut (and by cut she meant mush it with your hands until it was all blended) in until the constancy of cornmeal.  (what I do is blend it all in and if I can form a ball with the flour/crisco mix with my hands, without feeling the greasiness of the crisco, you got the right mix :)).  add buttermilk, a little at a time until you have a moist heap (hehe, i told you it wasn't precise)....and it will be gooey, but those make for flaky biscuits.  put dough out on a floured board and put just enough flour on top to be able to flatten with your fingers and it not stick to you.  flatten out to about 1/2" and cut with a biscuit cutter--I use a regular sized mouth mason jar.   lay out on an ungreased cookie sheet--sides barely touching.  bake at 450 for about 5 minutes.  they will be light brown on top and maybe very light on the bottom.

gingerbread men

this is one of my all time favorite cookie recipes and it has great story to go with it! ok, i think so, anyway. i love collecting recipes...obviously.  and i found myself with mountains of magazines to keep all the recipes i loved.  one year, i decided to purge the magazines by pulling out the recipes i loved and had saved the magazine for.  i got one of those 'magnetic' photo albums and put all my scraps of papers in the album. i still have this album and it has to be 20 years old.

but.  somehow, this recipe got lost.  i had written it down several times.  it was in a good housekeeping magazine from 1983.  i remembered the front of the magazine, and had saved it for many years, but it was gone.  i had even given it to friends and no one could find it.

what i love about this recipe, is that the cookies are soft....if you roll them thinner, they would be crunchy, but the flavor is mild....i think it has to do with the maple syrup in it...and i use the real thing.  they are easy to handle and roll out and transfer to a cookie sheet....just all around good cookie dough to work with.

well.  every Christmas, i think of these cookies and have not, for the life of me, been able to replicate the recipe.

i have been looking for probably 10 years now.  and decided to go online to find it.  i didn't know this, but there is a magazine clearing house....so, i went on that and ordered the magazine...for a mere 19.95.  it came in and i got the year wrong.....it wasn't the right one. BOOOOOOO.  NOW what what i going to do?????  well, I called the company and explained what I did....hehe....the guy felt sorry for me and copied and emailed me the copy of the recipe from the correct years' magazine.

so...now i have it and i knew if I didn't make these and get the recipe on my blog, i might lose it again!!!  here it is :)

gingerbread cookies

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 c flour

mix butter, sugar, syrup and egg until smooth.  mix dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture.  mix well. put on floured board and roll out to desired thickness.  add currants for eyes and buttons, or leave plain and decorate after cooled.   bake at 350 for 5-8 minutes.

iii forks corn

once we had been to iii forks, we were on the hunt for their recipes...or at least trying to copy them.  a friend had overheard us talking about how much we loved it....and how we had broken the salad recipe, which you can find here and she gave us a copy of the creamed corn they serve.  wow.  jackpot!  we decided to make it for a holiday meal, and it has been a regular ever since.  i rarely make it outside of the holidays, but my kids--the ones out on their own--will call me to get the recipe every now and then.  it is so good!  it does taste better with fresh, off the cob corn, but during the holidays, fresh corn is hard to come by and pricey...so we use frozen.  I do try to find the best brand of frozen, which is usually birds eye or green giant.  this is one recipe i don't go for store brands.

III Forks Corn

• 10 ears fresh corn (we use frozen most of the time)
• 1 C. heavy cream
• 1 C. milk
• 2 T. Sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 1/2 t. white pepper
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 1/4 t. accent (I have NEVER used)
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 4 oz butter
• 2 T. flour

In a stock pot, combine first 10 ingredients. Slowly bring to a boil. (if using frozen corn, I cook part way). Reduce to a simmer. Simmer 3 minutes.

In a separate sauce pan, bring the butter to a boil. Stir in flour. Ad this mixture to the simmering corn.

Stirring occasionally, simmer for 3 more minutes. Keep warm until serving.

sweet potato casserole

i had never heard of sweet potato casserole until i met my ex husband's family.  we had just started dating and went over to have some thanksgiving dinner with them.  it was the first 'real' thanksgiving that i felt was like home to me.  the dodson family is all from tennessee and cook great southern style foods...no matter what it is....so yummy!  i fell in love with the family and their food that day :)  one of my favorite things (which everything has become my favorite for the holidays) is the sweet potato casserole.  i asked for the recipe.  i see looks flying across the table....uh oh....what had i done now....i had experienced people telling me they don't share their recipes, so i was thinking fast as how to save this situation with declining needing it.....then the story came out.... it was from my {then} boyfriend's ex girlfriend.  seems it was a secret family recipe of her family that she shared to win this family over to her.  it wasn't supposed to be shared, but guess what?????  i got it ;)

and as in most of my recipes, as i am sure you do, it has been changed....to protect the innocent to make it my own.  one year -- and many since then, our family has not been eating white sugar or white flour. so i made some changes to it to make it more healthy, and no one seems to take notice and its really good.

Sweet Potato Casserole

• 2 C. sweet potatoes, baked
• 1 C. sugar (I use 1/2 C. honey)
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 C. butter
• 1/2 C. milk, maybe more
• 1 t. vanilla

Mix these together and top with:

• 1 C. brown sugar (I have used sucanat, but not as good)
• 1 C. chopped pecans
• 1/2 C. flour--i usually use whole wheat, but this year will experiment with gluten free ingredients
• 6 T. butter

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

this recipe, the biscuits with cranberry sauce and the turkey and gravy are the ONLY things my family will eat for left overs....I am left with all the other good stuff :)

not one, not two, but three!

i have been very neglectful of my commitment to posting some of our holiday foods and the traditions around them....it has been a very busy fall! our holiday meals--Thanksgiving and Christmas are always the same....unless i am just too busy and worn out to try to make them twice...but even then, i usually end up making them...it just wouldn't be those holidays with out that food.....

our menu usually consists of:

• turkey--the recipe for our very, VERY favorite turkey is here
• dressing (of which ALLLLLL the children HATE--but i love)
• cranberry sauce (s)--the reason for this post....
• gravy--find this with the turkey recipe ^^
• biscuits--buttermilk, not sweet biscuits
• yeast rolls--the recipe for those is here
• mashed potatoes
• sweet potato casserole
• waldorf salad
• green beans
• III forks corn
• pumpkin pie--this has become a crustless pumpkin pie that everyone LOVES
• pecan pie--last year we made pecan bars that were SCRUMPTIOUS!
• blackberry cobbler
• and anything anyone else wants to bring, fix or add to this :)

i grew up eating cranberry sauce out of a can--whenever we had it...which wasn't often.  i hated it.  it was nasty stuff to me.  anything that comes plopping out of a can with that sound....yikes!  and then you had to cut it like cold butter....YUK!  NO offense if you LIKE that kind of cranberry sauce, but I DID NOT.

the first time i had cranberry cause that i like, was one year at my dad's home.  my step-mom had me make it.  honestly.  i didn't even know such a thing existed.  so, she taught me how to make it, which was rather easy....

• a bag of cranberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• the rind of one orange

put all that in a pot on the stove, boil til they start 'popping' and take it off the stove...that easy....i was a little hesitant.  it didn't look like the stuff in the can...but then i tasted it.....sooooo yummy!  i could have eaten the whole pan of it ;) with my turkey, with my biscuits, with my dressing...with everything and by itself.  i LOVED it.

i began making it for my family--they didn't have my same opinion of it ;)  so...to not lose the ability to still have it and be able to enjoy it...and the {sometimes} adventurous cook that i can be.....i decided to experiment.  I changed the water to orange juice....that helped.

one day, i was perusing....not sure what now...the internet, a magazine or the tv, but i heard or saw a recipe using fresh ginger.  we love ginger, so i decided to try it.  i went to make it and realized that the only juice i had was orange mango.  i used it.  we LOVED it.

so, another time, i didn't have white sugar....i know.....how can that happen at thanksgiving.....and this was before the time when the stores remained open.  i am sure i had used it all on the pies made the days before.  so....i used brown sugar.  it was AWESOME.

then.  last year, we added a bit of finely chopped jalepeno to it....not my favorite, but some of the guys loved it, too.

SO...NOW...here we are with several people liking their cranberry sauce different ways....so we make them all ;)

if this is confusing....comment and i will clarify...but basically its the same recipe on the bag of cranberries with our own adaptations and experimentations.....and let this be an encouragement...you can probably add many more different things and make it your own, too.

its fall, y'all

i wish i could say i have a really good reason for not blogging lately--or on a more regular basis.  and i am hoping to get some accountability in my writing, but until then...you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  hehe...i have been wanting to say that all week. we have been busy....my sweet hubby and i have both served at several ministry opportunities...some of them have been 3 and 4 days long....we have had 4 birthdays, school starting, schedules changing, kids leaving home which means rearranging rooms..then there are the clothes to get switched out....oh, and we had a small fire in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago....after a hail storm and water leak had already had our home under construction to a degree.....

can i just say that i am glad fall is here.....a new season.  fall has to be my favorite season {if you take out allergies}....i have lots of fun recipes to share and was very faithful last year to take pictures of all of our holiday favorites...i will begin posting those next week.

until then...enjoy the color, enjoy the cool, enjoy all the great things god has given us this day!!!

Thank you......

I received these images (below) in an email--you know, the kinds that have been forwarded a million and one times...and i hardly ever pay attention. but something prompted me to keep scrolling down....these images brought me to tears and brought back some pain i didn't realize i still had.

i was a 'military brat'. my step father was a marine and we traveled and moved and he was sent to viet nam 3 times from the time my mom met him to the time he was dishonorably discharged from the military (you can read more about THAT here )

while i was proud of the military and what my step father did at work, i didn't understand the depth of his sacrifice. i know that while he was in sin toward me and my mom and my little brother, he was a very wounded man. i am sure lots of his messed up-ness ( i know--not a word) came from the experiences he had in the military and while on duty for our country.

i have had a lot of anger and bitterness toward the military and the damage it did to me and my family....i also am very grateful for the sacrifices we have ALL made to make our country a better place. lots of sacrifices that aren't talked about.....

i also realize that in my anger and denial of the importance of these men and women in our lives, that i have neglected to teach my children the depth of gratitude we owe these --heroes--for lack of any other word that could be strong enough. the heroes aren't JUST those who died and gave their lives, a lot of heroes are those who died and still lived....those who had to keep going when their lives ended as they knew them. my heart breaks for the sacrifices that have been made on my behalf. i hope and pray i can give my children a deeper appreciation for those who have sacrificed for them (no, not just me :) ).....

while we are having fun playing in the hotel pool, eating our favorite foods and watching fireworks, i pray that god will give me the words to share what this 'party' really is for.....

International Picture of the Year.

Here are two very touching photos honored this year.

First Place :

First Place

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport , Marines climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac.

During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport , Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful: 'See the people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home,' he said 'They will remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marine home. And they should.'

Second Place

Second Place

Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News

The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. 'I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it,' she said. 'I think that's what he would have wanted'.

And the one that really tightens MY throat:

here comes Santa!!!

one thing we {try to} do each year is get the kids picture made with Santa.  this has taken a life of its own now :)  When my 1st was born, i was allllll into the santa thing.  after my second was born, i had come into the belief that to believe in santa was a sin and to tell you kids a lie about santa was an unpardonable sin :(  so, i began telling my kids there was no such thing as santa from birth, pretty much. well, the kids have decided their own path with santa.  Some totally don't want to believe in him and some, no matter how much they are told he is not 'real' still want to make cookies for him and want to talk to him every year.

My {ex} mother-in-law LOVES to have Santa pictures of the children,so we started out getting santa pictures done for her--but of course, I had to have one, too :) .  On a trip to a friends house during the holidays one year, i noticed that she had all her kids' santa pictures in a basket as part of her Christmas decorations.  I LOVED that idea.  I hate to have pictures that aren't useful or don't document a passage of time or a moment.  so.  I decided i wanted them displayed.  I started hanging them on a big red ribbon and hang them on the wall.  we are now up to 4 ribbons about 4 feet long.  we have had santa pictures made every year but two.  i have no idea why that didn't happen, but it was during a very hard time as a young, homeschooling, wife of a pastor, mom.  this has become the highlight of our decorations with our family and guests.  the only thing that comes close at our house is the fact that each child receives an ornament each year and our tree is heavy laden with ornaments.

the oldest picture is 26 years old, made with a polaroid camera and are beginning to lose their color and sharpness.  I decided this was the year to digitalize them....here is a slide show of the pictures.  the last few years, though, we have found a santa that camps in his front yard each and every night for pictures.  we LOVE it :).  no lines, no crowds.  we have a tradition of going out to eat dinner--at a nice place :) (which for a large family is a huge deal...financially and practically) and then go get our pictures made.  it is one time when all the kids are committed on being here!  We do have one picture where the 2 oldest just could not make it home from school/work.  each picture has its own story with it and there are some that are my absolute favorite pictures.  the kids LOVE to gather round them and talk about all the special memories--most funny, some not....one of my most favorite things of the christmas season.....

Holiday Turkey

ok...this has to be one of the best turkey recipes I have Ever found....and the story behind it is pretty good too :) I had a friend (i say had because I haven't seen her in YEARS)...who was single. cooking and the kitchen were not really her specialty.  one year, she came home from visiting family boasting about this magnificent turkey recipe....she cooked it for us on New Year's day...I asked for the recipe...she said no, it was a family secret and I could not have it....ok...I don't know about you, but when someone tells me that, I am determined to find it or figure it out :D.   She would not tell me ANYthing...I remember it tasting almost cajun, and it was soooo yummy.  I tried to  let it go.   Fast forward a year or two down the road.  She was moving.  Needed help with packing.  She put me in charge of packing up the kitchen, 'since I was a natural in the kitchen and all'.  well, I was packing away, just minding my own business, and went to the top of the refrigerator.  ALLLLL these papers came pouring down...and wouldn't ya know it?  that recipe for the turkey was RIGHT on the top of the stack....ah, my luck.....well, I knew she did not want me to have this recipe, so copying it was out of the question...so I wrote the main parts on my hand...yep...I was determined to get it....but what i didn't count on was the sweat washing some of it off.....when I realized that had happened, I read it and re-read it and repeated it to myself so much I memorized it.  I went home and quickly wrote it out.  I didn't make it until the next Holiday season, so I was going off a pregnant and nursing mama's memory...not much there--so it became my own rendition...

I did change the original recipe a tad bit...it called for 2 bottles of squeeze margarine....YUK!!!!! (in my humble opinion)....so I used butter instead....and when we had it, it was not as cajun tasting as I remember, but it was a HIT...and we have it EVERY Thanksgiving and EVERY Christmas....almost without fail....we are not even turkey eaters and my kids BEG for this turkey.  the leftovers are not your typical make-a-soup kind.  BUT, we hardly have any left overs after one meal after Thanksgiving.

Holiday Turkey

• 1 turkey, thawed (we use a HUGE one)
• 4 heads of garlic
• Lawry's seasoned salt--must be Lawry's
• 1 lb. butter
• 2 bottles of white cooking wine (you could use just 1, but it makes more gravy and we never have enough--or you could use regular wine--I don't know how to buy that, so I get this)

Peel all the cloves of garlic.  Take a knife and pierce the meat of  turkey and put cloves, one at a time into the meat.  Cover the turkey with the inserts of cloves of garlic.  It will look like it has mumps or something.  Rub the  inside of the turkey with some of the seasoned salt and put into roaster.  Pour the wine in the bottom of the roaster and place all the butter in bottom of pan.  Cook at 325, basting every 15 minutes with  wine, butter, and drippings,  and then sprinkle with seasoned salt, until  tested done.

Gravy

Pour all juices from pan into sauce pan.  Blend 1/4 c. cornstarch and  water together and blend with juices.  Cook over medium heat until thickened. I slice turkey and put some of the gravy over meat and leave extra on  table for potatoes and biscuits.  YUM!!!!!!!

linked up today with chatting at the sky and sweet shot tuesday

these hands....

this picture of these hands will always bring tears to my eyes.  these hands taught me so much.  i learned to watch these hands work in the kitchen making jellies and jams and buttermilk biscuits and cornbread dressing.  i saw these hands hold my newborn babies with the same loving care that i would--the kind that a nurturing woman would show to anything and anyone precious to God.  i saw these hands turn so many pages on the same story books over and over and over through the years.  i have seen these hands lose their ability to cook and to hold and to do the basic things in life.  these hands held my children as they were growing from babies to children and then hold their hands.  these same hands held my children's daddy when he was fresh from God and then his hand as he grew into adulthood.  I love these hands.  they speak of what should have been....to grow old together....instead, sin and selfishness and old age and circumstances have kept us apart.  these hands will always hold my heart as i hold hers.....

this is who we, in our home, call Whiz.  Her name is Eloise, but my oldest was 3 when we met her and she could not say Miss Eloise :)  so she called her Whiz-- and it stuck...for life.  Whiz has loved on me like a mom would.  she has come to help me when i had all 8 of her grandbabies.  she taught me many things.  I will be sharing a few things she taught me in the kitchen.  i made my first Thanksgiving dinner the first year she was my mother-in-law.  she walked and talked me through the different aspects of the dinner.....and it is a true southern Thanksgiving dinner.  I would be greatly remiss if i didn't honor the woman who gave me the courage to face that first dinner :)  I love you, Whiz.  Thank you so much for ALL you have done through the years.