Dinner, Step by Step

I know, I know – you’ve been waiting with baited breath, right? Although you pretended to be enjoying your Thanksgiving Day with loved ones, you were really wondering what that strange woman with an elusive mind was up to – how she was spending her day, right? So I won’t keep you waiting any longer – I am here to share with you in full, TMI detail.

The tradition in our neighborhood is to have holiday dinners together in a planned potluck style. Usually there are at least eight or nine of us, but this year half of our neighborhood went off to warmer climes to visit family, and one couple had their son and his family coming to see them, so we ended up with just three of us at the table – with far too much food, but isn’t that required of holiday dinners?

I was responsible for dessert, part of which was the requisite pumpkin pie. I opted to make a butter pie crust, which I had not done before. I seem to have a compulsion to try out new recipes on other people. Since the dough had to chill before it was rolled out, I mixed it up first.

While that dough chilled, I started on the second dessert – bread pudding, made especially because the Social Flutterby’s husband loves it.

Bread cut into cubes, with mixture of half and half, eggs, sugar and spices ready to be poured on.

Then into the oven

and out, ready to cool.

Crust chilled, now on to the pumpkin pie


with enough dough and filling left over to freeze for a future pie.

Pie in the oven, time to move on now to the Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes – a recipe that did not call for marshmallows because I do not like marshmallows. Once again, an untried recipe which called for these ingredients:

and looked like this when it was all in the pot.

Yes, Heather, it was very good. We all enjoyed it – and we will enjoy it again because of course I made too much. There is that holiday meal rule I mentioned. So when it was time to go, the fruits of my labor to take with me looked like this:

Well, except for that little piece of pie crust, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, that I know you’re thinking was made to satisfy the kid in me that remembers how her mother used to make these as treats for her little ones whenever she made pies – but not true, not true at all! It was my obligation to make sure this new recipe for pie crust that had not been tested was satisfactory before it was shared with friends. I did it for the good of my dinner partners. That’s the only reason.

And I just remembered there is this bridge for sale. . .

Dinner time, and I headed over to the home of our Social Flutterby and her husband, where they had provided the greater and more important part of the meal, the turkey (and other delicious side dishes).

As we readied ourselves to share a delicious meal, this is how the table looked.

I missed a golden opportunity though -I did not take pictures of the ruins of that meal, once we had all eaten too much and shared the warmth of friendship. To those of you who were not with us – we missed you.