Fun Monday - Thanksgiving at the Races

This week our host for Fun Monday, Julie at Another Chance Ranch , has us thinking ahead. And very pleasant thoughts they are. That is, our Thanksgiving meal. What's the menu and is it traditional with turkey and fixins' or unusual? For example, one family I know has a "family choice" menu that might be white chili or crab legs. And, do we have a favorite dish and recipe to share?

First the where. I'm one of those people with no family with whom to celebrate. Luckily though, I have a good friend who always invites me to what we jokingly call "Holidays with the Jobes"! I'm thankful for their friendship and hospitality. This year however, I've decided to go uptown and celebrate Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs, home of Kentucky thoroughbred racing. A few friends who share my lack of family have reserved a table in the posh Skye Terrace of Churchill Downs. We'll work our way through a bountiful Kentucky buffet loaded with traditional, homegrown foods prepared by the Downs chef. There'll be turkey with southern cornbread stuffing, country ham and biscuits, southern vegetables and desserts liberally laced with bourbon, I'm sure. While we do a leisurely graze of the buffet table we'll be able to do a little betting and have a panoramic view of a few horse races from the Skye Terrace. With luck, we may win back the cost of our feast!

Now one downside to being invited out for Thanksgiving dinner is that you'll not have any leftovers. I usually remedy that by baking a couple of turkey legs, cornbread stuffing, fresh green beans and raw cranberry orange relish. Oh yes, must not forget a pumpkin pie--Mrs. Smith's is fine. The week of Thanksgiving you're allowed to eat pumpkin pie for breakfast. So I have these dishes stashed in the fridge for leftovers for the week.

Everyone has a favorite recipe that they pull out for the holidays. Mine is for Cheese Loaf. It's a cross between a souffle and corn pudding and its simple sweet sour taste is perfect with Thanksgiving foods. The recipe is very old and comes from the Morehead Methodist Women's Cookbook. Oh boy, can they cook! Here's the recipe just as written over 40 years ago:

CHEESE LOAF
Marylene Fryman

1 lb. cheese (cheddar)
1 can pimientos (not real small)
1 heaping C cracker crumbs
Grind cheese and pimiento.
Cook the following until smooth paste:
3 eggs, beaten
1 C sweet milk
1/2 C mild vinegar (scant)
1 tsp. butter, 1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 C sugar

Add cheese and pimientos. Stir well. Add cracker crumbs. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake 350 degrees-30 min or until begins to brown on top.

So, there you have it Julie, very satisfactory Thanksgiving plans at Summit Musings. Can't wait to check out other Fun Monday Thanksgiving tables.

Thankful

Giving thanks is the topic for this week's Fun Monday post. Our host is Wendy from Queensland in the great Down Under. In recognition that many Fun Monday participants live in the USA and will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week, Wendy suggests that we share things we are thankful for in our lives.

So, in no particular order here are five things that almost guarantee that every day is a G'day for me:

1. Willie the Pit Bull--he's 13 years old and my constant companion (sleeping under my desk right now). Taking care of him and going through our daily routines together is an on-going pleasure. Life would not be very much fun without a great pet.

2. Health--I just had a birthday a week ago and went through the annual pleasure and pain of physical exams and tests. Passed with good results, if not distinction. Sure, I could lose some weight and lower some of my vital numbers, but overall I'm strong, healthy, active and able to take care of myself and help my sister--that's a relief.

3. Secure retirement--in these uncertain economic times, I'm so thankful to have been in the workforce when saving for retirement was possible. Because I worked for two different organizations that had longevity and stablility, I was able to retire at 60 with an adequate income and health insurance.

4. Interesting friends--I am so lucky to have several long time friends who always have my back--in good times and bad. And then there's another whole group of friends that I've made through the magic of technology, like you dear Fun Monday bloggers. How great to be connected with interesting people from all over the world through blogging and my newest project, postcarding. Right now I'm looking at a beautiful postcard of the Rotterdam, Netherlands waterfront, last week it was the Great Wall of China. We do indeed live in a small world.

5. Books, films, and travel--the world is open to us through what we choose to read, great films we see and the places we go. I'm grateful to have unlimited access to all this on a daily basis. How better to understand and appreciate people who live differently from the way I do?

My list of "thankfuls" could have been a lot longer, but these five are tops from day to day. Over the weekend I was thinking about this post and trying to come up with something more original than a list when I ran across this youTube video of a soldier returning from Afghanistan being greeted by his golden retriever Gracie. The pure joy and love in this reunion is something I hope each of you experience in some way in your life.



Wishing each of you a very "thankful" holiday wherever you are. Now be sure to have a look at all the other thankful lists before Thursday!