Plan Your Holiday to Make the Most of It

I have learned from my online mentor, Cindy Rushton, to really think ahead and plan for holidays so that meaningful, fun memories are created, and I’m not stressed out or disappointed with the way they turn out.

Tonight we watched Squanto, A Warrior’s Tale on Amazon instant video. It cost $1.99 to rent for 48 hours, and it came on my computer screen so we all gathered together in my room to watch it. It was not completely accurate, but Disney made it, so we expected that.

We’re planning to watch the Charlie Brown special when Gary’s here, because he is a big fan of Peanuts. It’s about the Pilgrims, and it’s very educational and entertaining. I posted it here last week.

I’ve read several Thanksgiving books to the little ones, including a book about Squanto that told us more than we knew about him, even though we study this stuff every year. It was called Squanto’s Journey by Joseph Bruchac.

We’re going to make turkey cookies tomorrow. We use fudge stripe cookies and bon bons. We glue them together with melted chocolate chips. Then we put a beak on them made out of candy corn. We put eyes on them with the melted chocolate. Here’s a post from the past to show what they look like.

We made our Thanksgiving tablecloth yesterday with all of the handprints and “thankful” verses.

We have done our regular school this week. We’re using Diana Waring’s curriculum and it’s pretty well planned out for me, so I’ve been reading from the book and playing the tracks that go with the pages I read, sort of. I’ve gotten some things out of order, but it’s close. We’re reading a chapter of Acts each day, too.

I have written out my list of things I’m planning to do tomorrow so that I have time to do all of the cooking I need to do on Thanksgiving Day and get everything done.

I’m writing my list here to help me remember.

Maybe it will help someone else, too.

Tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving:

Make apple pie

Have Anna make 2 pumpkin pies

Have Garrett make brownies

Make the chocolate crinkle cookies – Fiona and I made batter for them tonight and put dough in refrigerator to chill.

Make Peanut Butter Blossoms (peanut butter cookies with Hershey’s kisses in the center)

With the kids make the cookies that look like turkeys.

Go get Gary at the airport and bring him HOME!!!

For Thursday, Thanksgiving Day:

We will plan to eat around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

Put turkey in oven as soon as I get up.

Make dinner rolls.

Sweet potato casserole

Stuffing – 1) Stove Top
2) My own stuffing from bread crumbs

Corn with butter and salt and not much liquid

Cream corn

Green beans – seasoned with chicken broth and ham

Carrots – steamed in the rice cooker

Mashed potatoes – Cut up potatoes and boil them. Then mash them and add the milk, butter and salt.
Make gravy.

Get out Hawaiian Rolls

Cranberries

I have to write everything down that I plan on serving, or I might forget something that I intended to have. I remembered some things as I was typing these that I didn’t have on my list in my notebook.

I have tried to list things in the order of the time it takes them to cook and when there will be room in the oven. That’s why I plan to do most of my baking the day before. The only other things I’ll need to bake are the two kinds of stuffing. I’ll probably have to bake them after the turkey is done.