Also I'm planning my Thanksgiving meal and trying to be a bit less haphazard about it this year.

Last year was good but I wound up having too many starchy delicious things. And I'm kind of headed that way this year with mashed potatoes, stuffing and mac and cheese.

I found a recipe for zucchini spears baked with parmesan and garlic though and that might get something green into the mix.

I'm most excited to make the first course I invented a couple years ago: mushroom stew made with apple cider and brandy and served in puff pastries. Sooooo gooood.

Then I think I'll have Matilda have a small salad course. She's gotten good at making her own dressing.

The Mac and Cheese is for Emmett. After many years of forcing Emmett to sit around and eat turkey that he didn't enjoy, EM have now shifted to making things he looks forward to.

There's something very gratifying about pouring a perfect velvety cheese sauce over a batch of cooked elbow macaroni.

I think I'll do a mix of sharp cheddar, gruyere and Manchego. That sounds good, right?

The pictures seem to suggest you're getting around pretty well with your scooter and peg-leg, meara!

Are you about halfway through the healing process? When can you put weight on it again?

That sounds amazing. We'll be in your neighborhood again this year, so I might sneak over & grab a bite of the mac & Cheese.

If Matilda wants, we'll be home all week, too. I'm not sure how super-fun we'd be for her, though.

Wow, that's quite a birthday present!

Right? It's nicer than any computer I've ever had, but it needs to hold digital editing software.

I'm not sure how super-fun we'd be for her, though.

She does like playing with Peanut!

Thanks David—it's mostly going ok. Though I did tip over on Saturday night (I even ground is fine, darkness is fine, darkness AND uneven ground, not so much) and I touched down with my bad leg, so now I'm totally freaked out that I've ruined it. (Ok I don't actually think I have but maybe?!?). X-rays are next week, but yes, technically thanksgiving is six weeks from surgery, which is halfway. But then after I'm weightbearing it'll still be a while before I'm anything like normal. I've been reading lots of blogs of people who broke ankles. It's interesting how different some of the experiences are!

It's interesting how different some of the experiences are!

Ankles are complicated!

Probably going to be a bit before you two-step or run a race.

Speaking of rehabbing, my FB friend Susan linked the story of Ramona Pierson which was absolutely remarkable. At 22 she was in the Marines, and went outside to go for a run with her dog. She got hit by a drunk driver and was in a coma for 18 months. She woke up blind, unable to talk and unable to walk. After many surgeries the hospital had no place to put her so they put her in a Senior Citizens home. Which turned out to be amazing as all the seniors turned her rehab into their community project.

She gives her TED talk here. It's short but amazing: [link]

I think I have the tiniest group in my history this year for Thanksgiving, but still the wide variety of tastes. I have vegetarian, carbless, carnivores, and the super picky. The list so far is Broccoli Cheddar soup, sweet potato pie, turkey & gravy, cranberry sauce, cauliflower stuffing, asparagus, mashed potatoes, and rolls. I always leave the desserts to others.

She gives her TED talk here. It's short but amazing: [link]

I shall watch. It sounds inspiring.

carbless

Man, not Tim's family. We are having good-natured fights over who gets to make which dessert. There will be many desserts.

And lots of wine. I asked my SiL "The question isn't should I bring wine; it's HOW MUCH wine should I bring?" When the guys made fruitcake Saturday, the 6 of us went through 2 bottles of wine and a lot of beer and THEN started in on the moonshine.

Mmmmm, wine.

We had Thanksgiving at church on Sunday, and I definitely filled up a plate with white before I got to the veg on the table -- turkey (yay protein!), mac and cheese, potatoes, a biscuit... I could not turn down those things, though.

The good news about a big Thanksgiving is that you can accommodate everyone with some stuff, right? I mean, I was sitting with a vegan who was totally satisfied, for once, and I don't think I had any vegan items on my plate.

Old L&O watchers: [link]