More than five months have slipped hurriedly past since my last post. This summer was too tumultuous to find time to work, let alone write a blog post. My husband was in and out of the hospital frequently with complications from osteomyelitis in that broken calcaneal bone, and life was complicated by visiting nurses, doctor appointments, and IV antibiotics.

With the anniversary of his accident just around the corner, I hope the worst is behind us. He finally kicked his boot at the beginning of October and was able to start driving again. He’s still walking with a cane when he’s not at home, but we finally have some forward motion. To read more about that whole mess, begin here.

choosing-a-turkey

Run, Turkey, Run! Thanksgiving is almost here.

 

Now we are looking squarely through the crosshairs at Thanksgiving, which is one of my favorite holidays. No decorating, no gift buying–just lots of food. This year’s menu is pared down from previous years. It’s just the five of us, plus a friend of our daughter’s. Now that I’m again working almost full-time, I’m swamped with back-projects for some very patient clients who have stuck with me over the past 11 months. This doesn’t leave much time for planning, shopping, and cooking.

One additional constraint is that I am following a rather rigid elimination diet. For more than 6 months, I have successfully eliminated corn and corn syrup, for a variety of health-related reasons, and have experienced some significant benefits. For the last two weeks, I have also banned:

  • Sugar, in all of its various disguises, with the exception of fresh fruit
  • Alcohol
  • Gluten
  • Artificial ingredients & flavors
  • Soy (most forms, although not all forms)

But of course there will be stuffing on Thanksgiving. I would have a riot on my hands if it wasn’t present on the table. However, I’m also thinking about trying a brown rice-based stuffing in addition to the traditional stuffing–something I can partake in and not come away feeling like the Goodyear Blimp. And I will be eating pie. I love pie and am looking forward to savoring every bite of this indulgence.

I already have my turkey ordered. A nice fresh tom to feed three teenage boys and three folks with average appetites. Based on the three boys alone, the butcher bumped us up to an 18-20 pound bird because I also want leftovers. This weekend, I plan on making the cranberry sauce and shopping for most of what I’ll need for the holiday.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have snuck in time to continue creating articles for hubpages.com. I have a pretty good collection of Thanksgiving articles now. Please feel free to read (or, actually, please feel obligated and help me bump up my views):