Today is National Cake Day. I’m no cake scrooge, really- I love me a good rich decadent slice of cake. Or two.

It’s just that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’m full up of plans to make my regular feast and I just feel like I should take a minute to inhale deeeeeply, stare down the end of NaBloPoMo and steer away from this holiday to be thankful and reverent for a moment about that holiday.

Plus I didn’t make a cake. Not for today, but recently I did make this one, and this one and they were stellar so they may have to do for now.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I mentioned that, right? Are you ready?? I’m getting there. Organization is the key for me to make this a fun and enjoyable holiday with the littlest of stress, so today I am tackling a To-Do list and getting myself together. I do many things to make it easier on myself because even with pretty good cooking skills, it doesn’t mean I want to be chained to the stove, my knives or vegetable peeler while my family sits around, wine glasses in hand and laughter rising ever higher. No- I want to be getting in the thick of that sibling love.

First and foremost, to make my oven as accessible as possible, I started doing my turkey on our gas grill about three or four years ago and I have never looked back. I use the indirect heat method, a double layer of disposable roasting pan and tin foil to cover the bird. I chop apples and onions and stuff the cavity along with pushing copious amounts of sage butter under the skin. I baste occasionally, but generally leave it be. Additions of mixed cherry and apple wood for smoking make the meat so succulent and flavorful that my siblings eyes roll back in their heads. And if I don’t make a HUGE turkey for plenty of leftovers, I am always disappointed because they eat like they’ve starved for a week to get ready. What’s a Thanksgiving dinner without leftovers??

Then there’s mashed potatoes. My family loves them, and the one year that I decided to roast them instead of mashing them, you would have thought I asked them to eat glass. They looked really ticked about it. So I make mashed because I really can’t stand to see them sad that way, although sometimes I just want to say ‘Ya know what?? You’re an adult! Deal with it!’. And yeah, it’s pretty easy to make them mashed. I plan to peel and cook the spuds today, then mash them and reheat them in the oven tomorrow.

For my vegetable, I am roasting garnet yams and carrots. Then I plan to mash those with chopped pears, shredded gouda, chopped nuts-probably pepitas- and then bake it off tomorrow as well. I use pear juice to flavor it, and may add in chopped craisins or currants. This is one of my favorite and easiest vegetable dishes. I do most of it today. It’s super delicious and healthy too.

Dessert will be a bowl of my famous Chocolate Pudding, and maybe a Lemon Cream Pie.

So that’s my holiday meal in a nutshell- pretty straightforward and uncomplicated. I love that the food nurtures my family, and the atmosphere in our house is so festive and fun when they’re here. I really look forward to it. I very thankful for them; that their health is good and they’re close by, and that we all enjoy our time together. I’m thankful for work to keep us busy and the love of our big huge loving family to keep our hearts full. I very thankful for all my wonderful friends, both here in town and those who lately I have rediscovered through the magic of the Internet (and Facebook). I hope your Thanksgiving holiday brings you many blessings of good food and wonderful family.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!! May your turkey be moist and your smiles bright!