More son bragging and Thanksgiving stuff

A little more son bragging....

Youngest son Jim knew I was very busy this week and offered to take care of supper for the 10 of us at this home tonight.  He ordered take out from Olive Garden- big pans full of piping hot baked tortellini, chicken cutlets with veggies on top of angel hair pasta and lasagna. 

It was all delicious and so fun to have 3 entrees for supper instead of the usual 1 choice. 

And with all the other cooking I've done the last week, it was especially nice to have meal prepared and planned by someone else.

Sons Bob and Jim are just 14 months apart but are very different. One is really handy with tools and the other is really skilled with words.  

I am thankful for their loyality to each other and to our family and how they jump right in when something needs done or just because they want to spend time with us. 

I am one those crazy people that had to do some grocery shopping today. I went to Walmart (which was so messy but not busy at all) and Aldi. It was a little busy but not much different from any other day.  

I am thankful my shopping time was not full of aggravation like I thought it might be and also thankful it is done!

Meals are planned for the next 3 days and much of the prep work has been done already. 

I hope all of you are ready for your Thanksgiving activities and I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving-turkey day. 

Thankful for helpful sons

Warning- the bragging in this post may be too sweet

Our son Bob is a very handy guy and he is also very generous sharing his talent and working hard.

We bought a new gas double oven range as our old electric range was not working right. 

Bob came to install it and he made it look easy, even with changing out the electric service and activating the gas service. 

His little Andie had fun "helping" Mostly she pointed at the spot where the oven goes and said "uh-oh" many times until the kitchen was normal again. 

Hooking up the oven was quick. 

So Bobby suggested they go to Lowes to get new light fixtures for our garage. The old lights were buzzing and flickering. He had those fixtures installed before lunch. 

We had lunch and his sister was here. Their hot water heater broke. A plumbing company had looked at it Friday and said they would replace it on Monday. With 2 little ones in their home, that is long time with no hot water. 

Bobby said hot water heaters were easy to install so after lunch, they all went to Lowes to buy a hot water heater. 

That just took a couple hours and saved his sister hundreds of dollars.

He was back at our home by midafternoon, still looking freaks has a daisy even though he had done 3 pretty big jobs.

He then showed his knife skills by carving an apple to look like a swan. 

Oh, he hung that tv on the wall for us last year.  

This family is thankful for our Bobby- 

Thankful for a good pecan harvest

A generous coworker of my husbands brought us a bag of pecans from their yard.

They are really nice and big pecans. My husband started cracking them after supper and picked out 20 ounces in a short time.

Fresh pecans are the best, much tastier than the roasted and older ones that can be bought in bags in a grocery store. 

Thursday thrift store purchases

I went to one thrift store this morning and found a few treasures. 

3 Aunt Chicks cookies cutters - an Oklahoma company since 1948. 

Aunt Chicks

And some assorted clothes
A ColdWater Creek blouse for me, cute jeans and lace trimmes leggings for a grand daughter and some cute little boy clothes for grandsons.
I spent $10 there.

Aunt Chicks cookie cutters - my mom and grandmother all used these same style cookie cutters at Easter and Christmas. 

Thanksgiving prep Thursday and the Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

Today, I mixed up the cornbread dressing that will be served on Thanksgiving. In the South, it is called dressing, not stuffing- and it gets baked in a pan along side the turkey, not stuffed in the turkey.

In the South, dressing is made predominately of corn bread- not wheat bread.

This year, my dressing will be simple- onions and celery sautéed in butter, mixed with dried and crumbled cornbread, sage, black pepper and chicken broth. 

Like the cookies and sweet potato casserole, this pan of dressing is sealed up and in the freezer now- waiting to be thawed on Wednesday and baked on Thursday. 

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup softened butter

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 t cinnamon

2 1/4 cups of flour

1 t each of salt, baking soda and baking powder

3 cups of oatmeal - regular and quick oats both work equally well

Cream the butter  and brown sugar with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Then add the eggs, one at a time. 

Then add the flour, cinnamon, salt and b.s. and b.p.

Lastly, stir in the oats.  This week, I made a double batch and everything worked in my Kitchenaid mixer until I got to the oats. I had to stir them in by hand as the bowl was very full. 

I use a medium size cookie scoop to dish them out. 

Put the cookie balls onto greased or parchment lined baking sheets. 

Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven, about 12 minutes or just until they look done.