I made a huge shopping trip to my local grocery store and a smaller one to Whole Foods today. Both were very manageable. It’s been snowing all day so I think many people shopped early because of that.
I’m not hosting Thanksgiving but will bring a few things. However, we will have a houseful of company and the grocery bill was pretty painful stocking up on food for the rest of the meals.
I am going to D and SIL’s. I was informed to bring nothing but the wine but when I saw the cranberry brie recipe from @Marilyn, I decided to bring that as well. D is working the whole day then is on call that evening, so will be a great bonding day with my SIL and hopefully D will not get called that evening. Happy Thanksgiving to all!
The BIGGEST decision has been made: what kind of pies. I will make:
Pecan pie
Chocolate lemon pie
Hazelnut pear tart
The ingredients have been bought. The game plan is in place. Tomorrow is Baking Day.
Wishing all CCers a wonderful holiday!
^^Chocolate lemon pie? I’m so curious how that goes together!
We still have no heat or hot water since last Saturday. Hoping the contractor shows up and fixes the problem tomorrow. Temperatures are going to be low the next few days. Just want to get some rest and relaxation the next few days. In our home things seems to break down just close to Thanksgiving. It is what it is and we are just trying to go with the flow. Trying not to stress over anything. Sometimes all you can do is laugh at the situation.
water line has been repaired (and my bank account emptied) and the mess was incredible. I basically am having to clean my house all over again. He had to cut holes in the backs of three cabinets and in the pantry. There is/was drywall dust everywhere. Had to clean out all of those cabinets before putting stuff back in there, after working all day. Finally went to the grocery store tonight. The first one was out of several things so I had to go to another. I am exhausted. Thank goodness I don’t have to work tomorrow. I will clean some more and get the table ready (putting leaves in, ironing table cloth, rinsing china and crystal) and then cook. Luckily, my mother is doing the bulk of the cooking at her house across town and will bring it over Thursday.
I probably need to add I am pretty much a perfectionist and my D’s long-distance BF is coming for T-day dinner. I met him briefly one time about a year ago, but none of the rest of the family has met him. It is the first time she has ever brought someone special for the holiday.
^^ Things will come together @musicmom1215 - share your story and people will just be amazed that you manage to put a beautiful meal on the table for all to enjoy! The long distance BF is going to be more worried about meeting everyone than how spotless the house is! 
Mom’s oven is fixed - so it’s being held back at her house. YAY!
but here’s what i’m doing and it’s taking some time . . making an online trivia game for our family. There’s 12 of us; making 2 questions per person with pictures and sometimes videos to play with the game .
I’m using the program Kahoot; The kids taught me about it from school. Everyone uses their smart phones or iPad to login, a computer is hooked to a big screen tv so all can see the questions/pictures. Then you login in your answer in real time and see who was right and wrong. IT IS SO COOL! and funny to bring up old memories and learn new facts about the family. I’d much rather put this together than clean the house and set the tables.
I’m a bit bummed. We are having 9 for dinner and I just discovered I only have 8 place mats, napkins, and chargers. I sure thought I had more than that. I wanted to use my grandmother’s china and silver, but there are only 8 place settings of that, too. No fear, I have three other sets of china with enough plates. This not a problem except that I could have sworn I had 10 or 12 chargers and napkins.
@musicmom1215 I once had that problem and solved it by doing different place settings at either end of the table. So the head of the table matched the end of the table and all the settings facing each others matched. It turned out kinda cool.
@abasket, @HImom @intparent This is the chocolate lemon pie recipe. Haven’t made it before but it sounds intriguing and I’ve had good luck with pies from this cookbook.
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/01/four-twenty-blackbirds-black-bottom-lemon-pie.html
Wow, it sounds awesome! Please report back after everyone has a bite!
What is it with major appliances? I was just doing regular maintenance on the steam furnace. It all of a sudden turned on while the shut-off valve (meaning empty of water) light was on! Which means it’s not shutting off. Holy boiler explosion!
Have plumber coming, thankfully. Not sure what they can do today. May just end up monitoring water level obsessively.
Also smoke poured out of the oven when I was about to put turkey in, I think I’ve fixed that.
But on the other hand, D just had a successful version procedure to turn baby, so may escape a c-section after all. so that’s the best news.
@garland sending happy healthy mom-and-baby vibes!
DS1 is on the bus up from major metro area. He enabled location sharing so I could estimate when to run out for him and the last few groceries we need. After watching for a few minutes I started sending him little turtle and snail emojis. DH is an hour or two behind him. By that time I’ll probably have to switch the emojis to parking meters.
I have the stock simmering for gravy, so one thing accomplished. #2D did a big clean this morning & we’ll put in all the leaves and pads and lay the table this afternoon.
Wine is still tbd. We have a lot to choose from - 2 wine club pickups in the past 3 weeks plus the other stuff we’ve picked up and the wine fridge is packed.
Whoever is having the French 75 bar - great idea! I might have to steal that.
Hoping for no weather or major appliance calamities.
@zeebamom, will you make the gravy today, or just have the stock ready?
Roasted the Brussels sprouts. Will toss with balsamic tomorrow. Almost done with the carrot side dish. Cranberry sauce is done too. With our mich smaller kitchen, it’s hard for more than one person to be cooking at a time.
Guy’s been down in the cellar for an hour. Much banging and knocking and pipes ringing. Hope we have heat at the end of this! Meanwhile I’m freezing.
Well, crap. He replaced the bad part and now can’t get it to start again. and it’s going to be 19 degrees tonight.