Happy Thanksgiving!

May you and yours have the happiest of Thanksgivings!

Love, Margie and Edna

Fantasy Friday

Margie: Edna, I'm tired of the same old Thanksgiving. You always have to have
things like they've been for all our lives. We always have turkey and that nasty
cranberry sauce plus your watery potatoes. I mind my manners and try to
eat that stuff but I'm done. I'm doing something different this year.

Edna, I'm going to have Thanksgiving in Paris. How do you like that?

Edna:  I say bon appetit!  The farther away from me you are, the better, especially at the holidays.  I'll finally get to enjoy what I want for a change without having to hold my tongue while you pout and whine because I didn't make something just the way you like it.  Sounds like pure bliss to me.

Margie: Sister, I am so glad you feel that way! You just feel free to cook anything you like. I'll even bring back some of those French candies you like.

May I borrow your credit card now, sister?

Edna:  Oh honey, if you think I'm going to finance your trip then you'd best think again.  This was all your idea, so you can just do your fundraising on your own.  And no, "fundraising" does not include emptying out my coin purse or ransacking my room for valuables to sell.

 

Margie: Edna can ruin a fantasy quicker than anybody else I know.

Thanksgiving memories

 

Margie: Edna, I love November and all the smells and pretty leaves. I sure miss our folks though. November reminds me of Thanksgiving and that always reminds me of Grandma Callahan. Remember how we'd go to her house and get so hungry because it smelled wonderful? I remember the cinnamon most. We did get in some trouble a few times though.


Edna, remember how Grandma would give each of us a ball of dough and a rolling pin? She'd let us roll out that dough then cut out cookies in any shape we liked. Lawsy me, remember that time my rolling pin flew out of my hands and hit you upside the head? I'll never forget the look on your face!


Edna:  I cannot believe you are bringing that incident up in the midst of so many other happy memories.  That was not an accident, no matter what you say.  If Grandma Callahan hadn't been standing right there, you can bet your bippy you'd have been sporting a matching goose egg on your own head!


She was a wonderful baker, remember?  Her biscuits were light as air and her fruit breads were always in demand at the church bake sales.  Too bad she wasn't able to teach you how to cook, sister.


Margie: Too bad that rolling pin didn't knock you into another century.


Edna:  Go ahead and insult me all you want, you shrew, but you're not going to taint my memories of our grandmother.  Thanksgiving was always a wonderful time at her house, she loved the holidays.  Remember the year she put a pilgrim hat on the pumpkin?  Mama and Daddy laughed so hard when she brought that to the table, I thought they were going to choke!


Margie: Edna, I have good memories too. Remember that year that you got into the grape salad and couldn't eat dinner with the rest of us because you were sick? Oh, I really enjoyed that year when you had the measles and had to stay in the parlor.


Grandma loved Daddy like he was her own son. She always made his favorite custard. Why don't you go whip us up some custard, sister?


Edna:  Why don't you come here and get acquainted with my rolling pin?

Happy Thanksgiving

(courtesy of elphie76)

Happy Thanksgiving

We wish you all a happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving!!

Love, Margie and Edna

Margie and Edna's Thanks

Margie: Edna, I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving as I'm sure most people do. I hope our readers will share with us some of the things they're thankful for this holiday.

I am most thankful for my health. Having good health at our age might be considered a miracle. I try to eat healthy and drink my Special tea. That surely fights the germs.

I'm also grateful that I have a roof over my head and food to eat. I'm grateful for all my dear friends and everyone who visits us in the Basement.

What are you thankful for, Edna?

Edna: Well sister, I'm also thankful for all of our friends and family, and all of our lovely visitors here at the basement. You all keep two old ladies happy, so thank you.

I'm also thankful that as many bad things in this world that I've seen, I can still laugh. Laughter is the best medicine, you know, and it's kept me healthy and young at heart all these years.

The Secret's in the Sauce

Image courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections

Edna: Margie, with Thanksgiving coming up, people's minds seem to be on what they're going to serve for dinner. Why, just the other day, Darcy Hawkins asked me for my cranberry sauce recipe.

Margie: Edna, I hope you didn't give it to her since you're no cook. If you made cranberry sauce you'd only do it to spite me. I hate that stuff.

Edna: More for me, then. And you can just hush up about my cranberry sauce, I'll have you know that it's always in demand at church suppers.

It did give me pause when she asked for the recipe though, since I never wrote it down. I cook like Mama did, from memory and by improvising. Here's what I came up with for Darcy, I hope it turns out well for her.

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Edna's Cranberry Sauce

1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries, rinsed
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup sugar (more or less to taste)
1 cup grated apple
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
orange zest (if desired)

In Corningware or enamel saucepan, combine the water and OJ. Using medium heat, stir the sugar into the liquid until it's dissolved. Add the washed cranberries to the mixture and turn heat on high. Stirring the berries occasionally, listen for the berries to start popping--this should take about 10 minutes or so. Once the berries begin to pop, stir the mixture occasionally and cook for about 5-10 minutes over high heat. (Cook for longer if you want the berries to break down more and your sauce to be thicker; the less you cook them, the more the berries keep their shape and consistency and the thinner your sauce is. However, if you are going to cook the sauce for more than 10 minutes, reduce the heat to medium to prevent scorching.) After you have cooked the cranberries as long as you want, remove from heat and add the apples and the walnuts (and orange zest, if desired). Let the sauce stand for about an hour before putting it in the refrigerator to chill, preferably overnight. Do not store in a metal container due to the high acid content of the sauce.

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Margie: Edna, you sully Mama's memory because she was a wonderful cook. What you call cooking would only be fit for pig slop.

You know what? It's not in demand at church suppers. People are just being mannerly to an old lady by taking some.

Edna: I suppose they were being mannerly by eating it all and coming back for seconds, too? Well that's just fine Margie, you don't have to eat any of my cranberry sauce when I make it for Thanksgiving dinner. Cousin T and will eat it all ourselves. Don't you think I'll share any of that pecan pie I'm making, either.

Margie: Thank you, Edna. That's right kindly of you.