There’s no way around it: the holidays can be tough right now. Due to the economic crisis, some far-flung families can’t afford to get together. Others can’t swing the traditional feast, and they’re dialing it back.
Other families have lost people over politics or another cause, and there are heart-breakingly empty seats at the dinner table. Still others simply have nobody to share the day with for any of a number of reasons.
In 2022, we started a new tradition with our first online OP Friendsgiving. This community is like a family (complete with grouchy uncles and a few members who make us shake our heads with their political beliefs.)
But truly, we have such a lovely community of people here from so many different backgrounds. The conversations are enlightening and ever-interesting. Let’s “get together” here!
I realize this isn’t a substitute for truly being with the people you love, but I hope it helps the day go by a little more easily, just knowing that someone out here cares about you. We’ll be keeping this post front and center on Thanksgiving Day.
I’m going to post a bit about our Thanksgiving and a couple of recipes to get things started, and the things I’m grateful for this year. Please take a moment in the comments to do the same if you feel so moved. And let other commenters know that they’re not alone.
Our Thanksgiving menu
We have a smaller get-together this year and decided to do things a little differently. I don’t know about you, but our favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the sides. We really don’t care that much about the turkey. So we decided to have a Sidesgiving Dinner.
We’re having:
- Charcuterie board with fruit
- Stuffing muffins
- Fresh-made cranberry sauce
- Sweet potatoes
- Garlic green beans
- Dinner rolls
- Gravy
- Sweet corn with butter
- Baked brie
- Pinto beans with onion
For dessert, since I’m not really on my feet this year, I got an assortment of mini-pies from the bakery and a carton of vanilla ice cream. That way we can all have a little bit of each kind.
Aden contributed a Thanksgiving poem for preppers.
Aden wrote the most beautiful poem that I have to share with you. As a prepper, it will really hit home. It’s called Comparison, The Thief of Joy. He’s so creative.
What I’m grateful for this year
Dealing with a long-term injury has been tough, but I know I still have things really good.
I’m incredibly grateful for my family. My girls and I have such a beautiful relationship, and it’s a priceless treasure. The fact that they are adults (24 and 29) and they still want to talk to their mom nearly every day just brings a glow to my heart every time I hear the phone ring.
My friends are wonderful. I’m an introvert. I have very few friends. But the ones I do have…holy cow. They’re just incredible. They’re so supportive, so loving, and so encouraging. They never let me feel lonely during an entire year of barely being able to leave my apartment. They called, visited, texted, and sent memes. It seems like no matter what I’m dealing with or how “crazy” my latest idea sounds, they are there with suggestions, love, and cheerleading. They even tolerate my quirky need for solitude with unrelenting affection. They’ve got my back every step of the way. Y’all know who you are!
I have the most amazing readers in the Bloggerdom. My work is such a privilege. I know everybody says this, but I really never expected to be a blogger with lots of readers. The fact that I’ve gotten to know such a wonderful, supportive, and caring community through the work that I do is a gift that constantly amazes me. I’m going into my 12th year of blogging on The OP and I feel endless gratitude that you all help me do what I love every single day. I always wanted to write, and your visits to my website make that possible. How could I get any luckier than this? You guys mean the world to me.
My recovery is going better than expected. Last year was tough, with two surgeries and a terrible prognosis. But I continue to improve and am already well past the point of expected improvement. I know that in the new year, things will continue to get better, and I really look forward to rejoining the world again.
I’m thankful for the election results. I have been so concerned about the crazy culture taking over our country. I’m thrilled with the outcome of the election and I hope for real change and a step back from the insanity. I deeply hope that our new leadership will pave the way for greater peace, prosperity, health, and happiness.
What about you?
What’s a dish that you make every Thanksgiving without fail? Would you share the recipe with us in the comments? Is there a story behind the recipe? If so, please tell us!
What are you grateful for this year? What makes your heart sing? Let’s talk about it.
And if you are struggling, tell us. Hopefully, a burden shared is a lighter burden.
That being said, we here at the OP love our readers, and we’re so glad that we can provide information and entertainment to you.
Happy Friendsgiving, from my family to yours.
We are of the family are too far apart to really get together. And that is fine.
So, we do friendsgiving with friends in the immediate area. While we did do a traditional turkey dinner one year, with a organic turkey that I processed, we try to change it up. We did a standing rib roast one year. Another, I made three pizzas of different kinds.
This year the wife is making a pork loin that is wrapped in a sweet dough with par-cooked apples in cinnamon and nutmeg and a few other things. Slow bake it.
We will have some of favorite sides we all like, like green bean casserole, stuffing, etc.
I am making a onion dip for an appetizer and curing a salmon filet in a beet and maple syrup cure.
I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh my gosh, that pork sounds delicious! Enjoy!
The pork sounds wonderful. Any way you could share the recipe?
Yeah, well, you have a hundred or thousands of friends on here who dearly love you, Daisy, and we all pray for you. That’s how come you are already past the expected improvement.
And you other regular posters–I love you ,too. May the Creator bless each of you with long healthy life full of service to God and Man.
And you quiet readers who rarely or never post anything–you are precious as well, and God Bless you every one.
Lady Life Grows, thank you for that very kind and lovely comment!
I’m thankful that your surgery went well. Hopefully you’ll be be able to walk and hike to your hearts content. God, health, and family are the Big Three things to be thankful for on Thanksgiving (and every day).
Remember, they’re ALL beautiful days…the weather just changes!
Woke up to a few inches of snow. Some may say, “Ugh!” But it looks lovely.
I struggle with holidays. Lost my two adult children because they are Woke, while hubs and I are Bitter Clingers. They cancelled us, so here we are.
Still, we are blessed with good friends and good neighbors. We are relatively healthy, we are able to follow Jesus wherever He leads. We have a good life.
God bless each and every one of you today, and every day. May your needs – physical, emotional, and spiritual – be met in amazing ways.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
I am sorry to hear your children have treated you in such a way. Good to hear you have found support with friends and neighbors.
You are being true to you, and if others want to cancel you because of it, that’s their loss. I hope you have an amazing day with your friends and neighbors.
Just the wife and me this year. I’m not a big fan of turkey, and the wife isn’t much on eating leftovers, so this year I’m stuffing a chicken. The stuffing is a recipe I got from my Mom years ago (probably 50 years ago) that she made every year. Turns out that my memories of the recipe has one flaw in it, so it’s a modified recipe that I make every year. I make a big batch and freeze blocks for throughout the year.
The recipe is really simple, and it’s easy to scale to any size you need. You’ll need:
1 lb white bread, cubed and dried (still pliable, not like croutons)
1 lb breakfast sausage (hot, regular, or some of each)
1 egg, large
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 T butter
dried, ground sage
salt
chicken broth or stock – the amount varies due to bread dryness, but plan on 1 cup.
Pre-heat an oven at 325°F.
Saute the celery and onions until softened, but not browned.
Put the bread cubes in a large bowl. Add the cooled onions and celery. Break up the sausage and ‘dot’ the top of the breadcrumbs (this helps it to be mixed evenly). Add the egg, dust the whole thing with sage.
Mix by hand until reasonably mixed. Add chicken broth slowly and keep mixing until the stuffing is like bread dough. You do not want it to get soupy.
Take a tablespoon of the mix and either fry it or run it through the microwave for a taste sample. Adjust seasonings (salt, pepper, I always need to add more sage).
Put the mix in a bread loaf pan, covered, and put it in the oven until reaching an internal temperature of 165°F (This temp is good, but if you have concerns about doneness you can easily go to 175°F.) Time varies but start checking with a good meat thermometer after 45 minutes. If you added too much broth, baking at a lower temperature, uncovered, for a longer time will help dry things out – ask me how I know…
Serve warm, but it’s also good cold the next day or warmed in the microwave.
To freeze, just cut blocks that would serve a family meal, wrap in freezer paper, label with name and date. I’ve found some a year old that got lost in the freezer, and it was as good as the day it was made.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I wonder if it would cook well in a crockpot?
Could you put up the recipe for stuffing muffins?
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. And special thanks to Daisy for this blog, her well researched and reliable writing and her crew of contributing writers. You al inspire me.
I’m having 12 head here at the farm. Like 1MJH, I woke to a beautiful 5” blanket of snow this morning.
We’re going the traditional route this year. Turkey and all the trimmings. As I write this I’m roasting the bird in my wood fired oven that I finally got finished and hooked up this week. Then the rolls go in, then we eat.
Heading to the spouse’s family for the yearly reunion. Never know how many will show. Sending Love and blessings to all.
I’m grateful to have my sister here. She’s been here over a month cleaning my house to get rid of mice. She went home for 2 weeks and came back 3 weeks ago when I broke my leg and has been taking care of me and my son. I don’t know what I’d do without her she’s a special blessing and I don’t know what I’d do without her. We cooked dinner together and she will go pick up my best friend who lives alone.
It’s going to be us and one son.
So grateful to be blessed with good friends
Happy Thanksgiving to Daisy and all! We are going to a friend’s house for a turkey dinner this afternoon. I’m bringing rolls, cucumber salad and home made boursin so I have it easy this year! Oh, and we’re supposed to bring some singles for a game. Hmmm, wonder what that’s all about!
Daisy, wishing you and your daughters a very happy Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving. Your feast of sides sounds delicious. Enjoy!
I am thankful to the search engine that brought me to the OP several years ago. I am so proud to be a part of this remarkable and supportive community of thinkers and writers.
Most of all, Daisy, thank YOU for leading this community and inspiring us all. I am grateful for your excellent recovery and continue to pray for you. Wishing you the best for the rest of 2024 and beyond.