One of the happiest places in the world for me is a kitchen. I used to bake competitively and had a huge kitchen back then. My last house had a rather small galley kitchen but I still managed to bake several times a week as Mr. Virgo had a sweet tooth. When I sold that house after his death, I lived much of the next three years in my camper. I don’t know if you have ever tried to bake in a camper oven but they are nothing like a home stove. The bottom of everything burned and I gave up trying to bake anything. There is a big country kitchen at the farm, but I traveled so much this last year, I really didn’t cook all that much. I kind of got out of the baking habit.

We’re having our early Thanksgiving dinner with Mr. FixIt’s family today. I actually started cooking Friday evening. I cooked a bag of cranberries and put them in the fridge in a covered container. I have the sweet potatoes parboiled and in the fridge ready to assemble with butter and brown sugar today. The fresh green beans and ham have been cooked and will just need reheated. Yesterday I fried bacon and added chopped pecans and dried cranberries. I parboiled Brussels sprouts and tossed them with the bacon mixture in my huge electric skillet, then put the whole thing in the fridge. I mixed up two pans of dressing…one sage, the other with nuts and cranberries…sealed them with foil and put them in the fridge as well. Then I made two pumpkin pies and two apple pies.

Today I have to bake a 20-pound turkey and a ham, hot rolls, the two pans of dressing, and the sweet potatoes. I’ll heat everything else up and time it all to be ready at 4:00. The table is set. The ice is made. We are expecting thirteen for dinner. I’ve got this!

The family room is finished. It took three coats of Kilz and two coats of Valspar with primer to cover that dark green but we got it done. I didn’t get curtains made in time for dinner, but that will come soon enough. I sat there enjoying the fruits of our labor, listening to soft music in the background as I wrote this. It was very warm yesterday…nearly 70, but rain came in at dusk and it will continue to get colder as the week progresses.

All but the most stubborn of leaves have fallen now, the color all but gone. I have such vivid memories of going out to the farm for Thanksgiving dinners and having it look just like this. It’s funny how our senses take us back so quickly, isn’t it? The sights, sounds, and smells transport me over six decades and brings me so close to my mom and my grandma. I miss them both so much. And I miss my Colorado family. The grandchildren are growing so fast. I always say this, but I wish Colorado and West Virginia were closer. It’s hard when your heart has two homes. ❤️

“She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants. She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31:15-17‬ ‭NIV