My brother-in-law Jim picked me up the night before Thanksgiving, and I got to enjoy the holiday with him & my sister Shawn, my niece Sophia and Jim’s son Michael, his wife Jessica and their two little boys 8 year old Caleb & 6 year old Isaiah.
My sister had real pies of course, but her daughter-in-law Jessica’s pumpkin pie cookies were a big hit
On the trip there, Jim & I stopped at a McDonald’s to get dinner and I was shocked—I’ve been at Mickey D’s exactly one time in 21 years, and it felt like I’d fallen into a time warp and stepped into the future when we went inside.
(I’m not kidding, I’m planning to do a blog about this.)
Anyway, I wanted to take some photos of everyone on Thanksgiving Day but people kept scooting out of my way or I got sidetracked. Here’s a couple random shots, I hope everyone had a nice holiday!
Packing for my trip home, here are shoes I’ve bought just in the last six weeks. I always prided myself on only owning two pair of dress shoes for work and a pair of sneakers, but now that I’m in my sixties…. bring ‘em on!
Thanksgiving morning, Jim & I went on a ride in the countryside and drove past my family’s old farmhouse (my family moved out 40 years ago).
I was surprised how barren things looked—my dad’s large vegetable garden is gone of course, but so are the sheds out back, the apple tree in front, the dozen or so tall pine trees that circled the property
That's a nice spread and I love those cookies! I enjoyed learning about drag bingo too but didn't have a chance to comment. Your niece is as cute as ever even with her torn jeans.
ReplyDeleteYou're very sweet, thanks Bobi. Hope you had a nice holiday. 🙂
DeleteLove your pics, Dug! Fun to see what others do for the holidays... and what they eat. Yours looks pretty traditional... except for the deviled egg. And is that carrots or a sweet potatoes? And the shoes, Dug!! Why so many? I guess it's not unusual, I just have 2 pair of white Reebok's that I live in... (and a pair of short boots for dress-up). I also loved seeing your old place. We go by ours whenever we're in N.O. - guess it's nostalgic.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rian! Wait you don't consider deviled eggs as traditional? I can't imagine a Thanksgiving or Christmas without 'em! And those are glazed carrots (since no one was a big sweet potato fan). As for the shoes... haha, and that's not even half of what I own. I love shoes. I hope your holiday was a good one. :^)
DeleteI've never heard of deviled eggs for Thanksgiving... not that they aren't good, I do like them.
DeleteRian, according to Southern Living you Southerners see them more as a summer dish--the rest of the country eats them on the holidays! :^)
DeleteThat looks like two houses put together.
ReplyDeleteDonna you're right it does--well, it wasn't as big as you think it'd be, but we had plenty of rooms, including a music room and sun room. :^)
DeleteYour Thanksgiving looks outstanding and I am sure Shawn was very busy with all the prep. It is a big job. I hosted and cooked too. Your shoe collection is impressive. I can relate as my shoe collection seems to grow and has no bounds. The farmhouse looks well maintained but the land devoid of the trees is a bit sad. The Golden Arches? A blast from the past. I've not been inside in decades. Do tell.
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan, I hope yours was a good one and your family appreciates all that you do--if it wasn't for my sister, we would've had frozen pizza or eaten at Bob Evans :^) As for the farmhouse, yes you summed it up perfect. As sunny as it was, it looked sad to me... I'm just glad I have photos of when we lived there. As for McDonalds, I'm glad I'm not alone haha :^)
DeleteThose cookies are the bomb! And your plate looks well filled :) My daughter hosted this year, but I made the turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, gravy and our new favorite green bean casserole (the one with bacon and brown sugar instead of mushroom soup). To me it was a gift not to have to clean my house before and after. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteThank you Miss Merry, and that's ironic what you said about the green beans--my sister's daughter-in-law (who made those cookies) also made green beans with bacon & brown sugar, I miss the mushroom & canned fried onions but these did taste healthier. :^)
DeleteEverything looks delicious, but I do love Deviled Eggs. Yum. Your shoes look good. Hope they are all comfortable.
ReplyDeleteThank you Queen Gigi, you're very kind. I just wish I had taken better food and family photos like you did. PS those deviled eggs were great and the shoes are all comfortable! 🫡
DeleteHi Doug, so glad you had such a nice time for Thanksgiving. Shawn’s table looks lovely. I love that you have so many pairs of shoes! Chuck put up four shoe shelves for my regular shoes in the walk in closet in our bedroom and four more for my sandals in the guest room walk in closet. He doesn’t get why I have so many shoes!😆 Your old farmhouse looks beautiful! It has probably been 25 years since I have eaten at McDonalds. Looking forward to your blog about it.
ReplyDeleteTake care.❤️
Robin
Thank you Robin and you win the Great Shoe Race, haha! Just a reminder though, these are only the shoes I've bought in the last 6 weeks--I have around 12 pair total :^) Thank you for the nice words about my sister's table, I think you two would like each other's homes very much. As for the farmhouse, I will have to share pics of how it looked in the 1970s, it was wonderful then. :^)
DeleteYou win the award for most shoes bought over a six week period!😆😆
DeleteRobin
Hahaha! Thank you R :^)
DeleteI would have made a dive for those pumpkin pie cookies!!! Never heard of them before but what a great idea! It appears that Shawn and Jim had the same plan as I had when my brother and his family came for our Canadian Thanksgiving -- paper plates. For starters, I don't have enough plates to go around plus I got a break with the washing up. Looking forward to your Mickey D report. It's been decades since I was in one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Florence! Those cookies were great, a dense sugar cookie with pumpkin & vanilla frosting--there was also apple, berry & pumpkin pies. And you were pretty observant here in regards to those plates, I'm glad to hear you did the same as my sister almost didn't let me take these pics haha :^) Happy Belated Canadian Thanksgiving & I am excited to see your end-of-month post.
DeleteOoooh. I do love Thanksgiving dinner. So. What is the brand name of the gray shoes? I've meant to mention that Hitchcock specializes in wide shoes, going up to 6e. You can order a catalog.
ReplyDeleteThanks Debby--all the shoes here (except for the red Propels) are Skechers--and those gray ones are the most comfortable by far. Thank you for the shoe info, I am always on the lookout for extended width shoes! :^)
DeletePumpkin pie cookies! Where is the recipe, Doug? (salivating) Love the shoes and I see that most of them are Skechers, my brother's favorite brand. He wears them at work all the time and finds them the most comfortable shoes around. It looks like a fabulous dinner--what a treat!
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret! Jessica downplayed those pumpkin cookies but I'd like the recipe too, I'll be sure to ask--as for those shoes, the red & blue are Propels which make a size wider than the Skechers.
DeleteThe table looks very festive, add a little tinsel and it could be Christmas. I like the decorated cookies.
ReplyDeleteThank you River, I almost forgot you folks down under don't celebrate Thanksgiving--but yep Christmas will be here soon enough for all of us :^)
DeleteNice day! Your sister’s home appears to be neatly kept like your place. Must run in the family. The photos whisked me back to my younger days and the typical Thanksgiving family “get togethers”. Sweet. My wife and I haven’t eaten in McDonalds in many years. Two years ago we stopped in one “in a pinch” intending to order a salad. Discovered they no longer have them so we left. Their menu is quite pared down now. Nothing healthy at all. Too bad because they really are convenient sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThank you Don! Yes my sister has a lovely home, but hers is more inviting than mine. She loves entertaining, while I'm a hermit :^) As for McDonalds, Don YES THAT'S IT--I knew something looked amiss in that future McDonalds. I saw no healthy items on the menu like salads or Chicken Wraps. Jim & I both got McRib combos but they were sloppy and lukewarm, not awful but not great. And the fries were scary salty.
DeleteThey discontinued salads during Covid and I've never quite understood why. They explained to me that it was covid, but while many restaurants shut down their salad bars, this was not the same thing at all. So. Color me confused.
DeleteAnd they do salt that heck out of their fries. I always wonder if I notice it more because we eat there so rarely.
Wow, I was late getting here and got bogged down on reading all the comments. I had to finally give up so I won't miss my upcoming breakfast with my friend John.
ReplyDeleteI hope John is back to his old self. 🙂
DeleteI guess it’s just a cultural difference, but if I see a meal without a bottle of wine on the table I know there’s something missing.
ReplyDeletePeter
Well Peter we were drinking Cranberry Ginger Ale, it tasted a little like a wine cooler if that helps... 😉
DeleteNot really similar – wine cooler is to wine as tik-tak-toe is to chess.
DeletePeter
It sounds you had a lovely Thanksgiving with your family. Those pumpkin pie cookies had me fooled - I was sure it was tiny slices of pie. :)
ReplyDeleteI bought myself a pair of slip-on Skechers this weekend. You know you're getting old when your shoes are either Velcro closing or slip-ons. You appear to be staying on the other side. :p
Thank you Maebeme, I hope yours was lovely as well--and you weren't the only one fooled by those cookies, haha! I'm still waiting to learn how she made them so smooth. And good for you and your new Skecher slip-ons, but trust me, I have 3 pair of them myself and usually what I wear to the senior center. :^)
Delete