Happy Thanksgiving from ‘My Yellow Farmhouse’!

Wishing all my American friends a happy Thanksgiving.  (My Canadian friends celebrated their Thanksgiving a month ago, which I think is a really good idea – its FREEZING here in Massachusetts today.)

While running errands yesterday afternoon I saw car after car lined up at various gas stations, preparing to head out to grandma’s or wherever they were going.  I’m staying here in Massachusetts today.  I usually drive – or take the train – down to the Philadelphia area where I spend a truly joyous Thanksgiving with my son and his family.

My son’s in-laws always host Thanksgiving and there’s such a crowd that T. always cooks two turkeys.  (Love you T.!!!)

This browned and beautiful turkey was quickly turned into nothing but a carcass. – from which I made my Saturday-After-Thanksgiving Turkey Noodle Soup.  

For the last few years my son has been in charge of preparing the sweet potatoes following my daughter-in-law’s grandmother’s tried and true recipe.  And I, for the last several years, have been in charge of the gravy and the green beans. Oh, and the homemade cranberry sauce.  (I wonder what they’ll do without me this year?!) P.S. My son informed me that my ‘turkey gravy expertise’ WAS greatly missed !! 

I returned home Monday night from a nine-day trip to Italy – it was fabulous! When we lived in Malta we often went to Italy for either business or pleasure – but Italy’s a place you can visit over and over again and never, ever tire of the food, the sights and the Italian people with their generous hearts and ready smiles.

Today I’m heading over to one of my sister-in-law’s homes to celebrate Turkey Day.  I wanted to make sweet potatoes following my daughter-in-law’s grandmother’s recipe, but I didn’t have any dark Karo syrup.  So I ‘doctored’ the recipe with what I did have – namely regular Karo syrup, 1/2 cup apple sauce, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Plus three cut up apples.  I love how it turned out and I’ll be posting the recipe after Turkey Day!!

This magnificent photo of Venice was taken by a wonderful young woman named Cecilia whom we met on our tour.

Me… in front of the French Embassy in Rome, following the disaster in Paris.  Our hearts were breaking…

++  Clipart courtesy of www.hdlatestimages.com