Weird Thanksgiving 2020

Of course it’s weird, it’s 2020!

Did you all have a happy, albeit slightly different, Thanksgiving? We did!

For the first time ever it was Jack and his dad plus me and my dad! (Jack’s grandfather.) Weird right? Sort of like the island of misfit toys but we made it work. 🙂

We had a turkey fiasco, a mild cranberry sauce issue that turned into a last minute dash to the store, and more food and pies than 4 people would need in a month, let alone one day.

I did most of the cooking (ok all of the cooking) and it took the better part of two days. I didn’t mind though! And naturally, we finished off the meal in under 30 minutes. We are notoriously fast eaters in my family so I wasn’t surprised. We could not even think about having seconds, so in the hopes that we could stay at the table just a little bit longer, I sent Jack up to his room to find an old Madlibs book, where you fill in the blanks with nouns and adjectives to create a wacky story.

Jack ran back down the stairs with a Star Wars Madlibs book and we had some fun with that for awhile. Yes the grosser nouns and weird body parts always make for an interesting story at the end.

We had just finished a story and hadn’t even cleared the dozens of dishes off the dining table when Jack made his announcement.

Jack: Pie.

me: What?

Jack: It’s time.

me: Sure, after we clear this up. (I waved my hand over the table and Jack groaned.)

Jack: That will take forever!

me: Well let’s get moving.

So, we all cleared and carried, washed and dried, divvied up food into containers for the dads to take home, and realized just how small our fridge really is.

Jack looked at me. I raised my eyebrow.

Jack: Pie.

me: OK! Who wants pie??

Apparently it was only me and Jack who would be shoveling pie into our pie holes.

Apple and pumpkin pies, both baked the day before, both with their own issues due to poor planning. Sort of like the turkey and cranberry sauce.

I thought I had canned pumpkin but only had canned pumpkin pie mix. Ew?? I thought I had evaporated milk but only had sweetened condensed! Double Ewww. I thought I had Macintosh apples but only had Cortland… where is my attention to detail this holiday season? Gone!! So I improvised and doctored and made it work. They were both really good and there will be only crumbs left I’m sure.

Today we packed up both our dads and sent them home and forgot to give them pies to go with their many containers of stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, sourdough stuffing, corn soufflé, turkey, squash, rolls and cranberry sauce. No pie!!!

When we walked back in the door today, Jack looked at me. I raised my eyebrow.

Jack: Pie?

me: Yep.

We had it for lunch and then decided to kayak in the Saugatuck River, just because. It was that kind of day.

We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and now get to enjoy the nice long weekend!

And here’s a hint, if you eat all the pie in one day, you won’t have it calling to you for three more days! 🥳😂😇

Why pie? Why NOT pie.

I made an amazing sugar fee pumpkin pie to go with my sugar free new me! I tried this last September, remember? 

We had wanted apple pie but stupid Paula Red apples that turn mealy in one day we’re the only apples on hand, so I had to shift gears.

My pumpkin pie used 3 Tablespoons of Splenda. The way nature intended. Ha. 

Anyway, with a skim milk base and lots of pumpkin, it’s a pretty healthy snack. For pie, that is. Only 208 calories per slice… Yay! 9g sugar from the pumpkin. 

Anyway, Jack and I have been eating a slice a day. Yum! 

me: This is a new recipe but it’s pretty good, right?

Jack: (between mouthfuls) So good….

me: (savoring another bite) Hmmm what would you change, if anything? More cinnamon?

Jack: I would change it to apple.