So tomorrow is the big show.  I hope everyone is prepared.  That is the day when everything starts to just whiz on by and the next thing you know it’s New Year’s Day.  I am so completely NOT prepared.

Case in point, this week I was out of my element.  I was off on Monday altogether which seems to be a running theme with me.  Go figure.  Then Tuesday my husband took off to watch those children, and Wednesday he worked from home which allowed me to go into the office Tuesday and Wednesday.  Sounds great, except I’m accustomed to working for a measly 5 hours a day, and I had to work from 9 all the way until 5!!  Not only that, but since I didn’t have to get the kids ready to get on the bus and such, I actually left the house super early and arrived at work EARLY.  Ridiculousness, I know.  The point is that I have been working especially hard long, and I am apparently a wuss, and I am therefore exhausted, and due to previously mentioned wussiness and exhaustion I am utterly and completely unprepared for the holidays to begin.  NOT. READY.

So I hustled myself home from work today and had to bust ass to (shop for ingredients and) make a pumpkin pie cheesecake to take to the in laws house for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Because apparently “you could bring a dessert” isn’t good enough.  There were specifics.  Did I mention I didn’t hear about these specifics until around 10 pm on Tuesday night?  Here it is 10:18pm and I have something baking in the oven.  Did I mention my exhaustion lately?  No?  Well, you know…

Anyhow, I have been meaning to post all week my family’s Thanksgiving traditions, prompted by a post I read on Seaweed Snacks last week.  Yes, I’m a procrastinator, but I was reminded when I was frantically searching through my old recipe box for a decent pumpkin pie cheesecake recipe this evening.  It was something I really wanted and intended to do, and so better late than never, right?  Right?!

We don’t have a ton of traditions on Thanksgiving.  I guess I should say we don’t have many that have survived, especially since in laws have come into play.  It used to be that my entire extended family would come over to this house, when my parents still owned it.  We would set up long folding tables the length of the family room and cover them with tablecloths.  My mom would prepare for days.  We all sat together for dinner and it was loud, and crazy, and wonderful.  We always used my grandma’s china, which I believe may have been acquired using collected S&P stamps, and when the meal was over I would stand in the kitchen to wash each one of those dishes by hand to ensure that they didn’t get chipped in the dishwasher.  I loved the calm solitude of washing the dishes, even though my mom always said I didn’t need to be doing it.  It was important to me that those dishes make it from one year to the next.  And yes, I still have that china in the china hutch my mom left behind, and I will be using it this weekend, as I have to go to the in laws tomorrow.  I may have mentioned that.  Thanksgiving.  In laws.  Total gratitude.  Right.

As far as food traditions go, there’s only one that I know of.  My mom every year makes two different types of stuffing.  There is the traditional stuffing, which is delicious in its own right, and then there’s the Walnut Broccoli Stuffing, which is her specialty.  I asked her for the recipe and it’s history, and she said that an old neighbor shared it with her, so for all I know it could be from the back of a box.  It sure tastes delicious though, wherever it came from, and I apologize if you are reading this and thinking “Hey!  I wrote that recipe in 1978″ which is about when mom started making this.  I would’ve given you credit if I only knew…

Walnut Broccoli Stuffing

1 Small bag of herbed stuffing cubes

20 oz fresh or frozen broccoli, cooked and drained

2 medium onions browned in 1 1/4 cup butter

2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 cup Walnuts, chopped as roughly as you wanna

15 oz Chicken Broth + a little water as needed for desired moistness

Pepper to taste

Mix it all together, put it in a casserole dish, and cook at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.

Real high brow, huh?  Everyone in the family loves this one.  You can make substitutions, and I have in the past, but I wanted to share the original and let you tweak it yourself.  I don’t use chicken broth, for instance, so it tastes just fine with vegetable broth to me, and sometimes I sub out the cheese because I personally think that Cheddar can be a bit greasy.  Of course Cheddar has good flavor in this stuffing, so it’s up to you.

Obviously a bit late, but if you’re like me and you’re eating someone ELSE’s idea of a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday, you can always make this on, say, Saturday if you’re so inclined!!  Maybe with turkey, as if perhaps Thanksgiving actually fell on, oh, I don’t know… a weekend.  Like a weekend at my very own house.  As in a do over.  You know, I’m just sayin’.  It could happen.

Wherever you end up tomorrow, and whoever you spend your holiday with, I hope that this finds you happy and healthy, surrounded by expressions of love and acts of kindness.  And eating from pretty dishes.

Smooches.