Stef, I hope all was festive and fun with Sis and families. I had my mom help in the kitchen a bit this time: it was actually kind of nice to sub out some of the prep work, plus, we could gossip. Maybe that’s what it is mainly about: gossip and kinship. I could do ravioli on Thanksgiving, surely. Hope lots of your homegrown wonderful stuff ended up on your tables.

Emily, hope you found some good cranberries. The UP also grows them, but this place does both bog and highbush cranberries. Maybe next year. And…you could put a word in with your co-op; I know they sell them at People’s Co-Op in Kzoo so why not AA too.

Heather, glad to hear yours was scaled down and local, too. I wonder. It’s kind of a chicken-or-egg thing: does a meal become scaled-down because you have to source locally, or does sourcing locally lead to less dishes at the big feast? I don’t know; I will take the fresh local food any day though. Taay-steee!

Ohmygosh Andrea, flying with a turkey! Yeah I suppose you could knock out the carbon footprint advantage of a local bird by packing it into your carry-on, but heck, I am sure it was delicious, right? Hah. And that’s the point: this kind of food tastes better than something with a plastic pop-up stick in it telling you it’s cooked.

Pamela, indeed. We’re all so thankful, none moreso than me.

Sara, you’re quite right: it’s one of the things I have the hardest time modeling for the parents at our daughter’s school: 1. food is important but 2. food is really immensely enjoyable, not some onerous task. And indeed you get an “attagirl” if you make something from scratch and goodness you’ll get a gold star if you source it from the farmer’s market, and let’s not even spook them by thinking they need to grow it too. Baby steps. But: it’s important to start somewhere. Let’s start with changing the idea that eating is a burden best done quickly with the fastest thing you can find.

CC, hope yours was great! I am sure yours was: did you try cornbread stuffing?

Paula! How wonderful: Your SIL sounds like a kindred spirit. And my gosh that dumpling sounds wonderfully decadent. Hope your red cabbage thing turned out as well…happy leftovers!

Sharon, indeed. And therefore we SHOULD be really thankful. I love the light of November, when it actually shows up…you’re reminding me of the chill of VT at this time of year, brr, may as well turn on the stove, right? Happy holiday.

John, thanks for identifying Jupiter! I knew it was a planet but had no idea which one. Cornbread sausage stuffing indeed sounds delightful. I heard one person say that people are divided into two camps: those who love the turkey, those who love everything else. I agree the turkey is special but is there anything more special than stuffing? I don’t think so!

MC, hope your meal was quite lovely! I am sure it was.

Sarah, there IS that, isn’t there. I don’t “have” to think about cooking for a few days now. But: I will probably cook nonetheless, I love it so.

Selina, a place just north of us, called DeGrandchamp’s. See my comment above to Emily for the link.

Nada! How fun that you’ve ordered a bird for your Christmas feast. The bird is best cooked on a rack of some kind to keep it out of the drippings. My tip, always works: I flip the bird 3 times during cooking (spacing the flippings equally during the cooking time, more or less). Start on its back, flip to the breast, end on its back; the breast meat doesn’t dry that way. You might need the help of someone to do this. I always take it out of the oven to turn it. Though it does sound funny to be sweating at Christmas, but then, I am showing my northern hemisphere bias!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving! It sounds like it will be great.

We’re having guests that don’t particularly care for food (eat to live types, he) and I had to explain that we LIKE to cook a big meal, it’s not something we’re doing out of a sense of duty.

So while it’s going to be mostly local by default, I’m not stressing about the percentages–we’re aiming more at incorporating into our daily lives. And I think the example we’re setting for the company will be a bit overwhelming as it is