Glendora's Awkward Thanksgiving

Glendora is preparing herself for an awkward family Thanksgiving with a little wine. Okay, a lot of wine. Happy Thanksgiving!

O Thanksgiving Tree

Move over video fireplace - it's the Thanksgiving tree! 80 minutes of rotating Thanksgiving delight! Sure to add that little something to your Thanksgiving celebration.

Thanksgiving Happy Hour

Happy Thanksgiving! Join us for some impromptu Thanksgiving drinks, which will be just as delicious and necessary on Black Friday. Cheers!

Thankful for Wine - Thanksgiving Recipes with Glendora

Your favorite cousin is back and full of Thanksgiving gratitude! Wine is, of course, on the menu, along with copious amounts of cheese. Grab a drink and count your blessings!

Mocktail Monday: Apple-Vanilla Toddy

It's Mocktail Monday and today we have a warm drink that's perfect for Thanksgiving! Enjoy it instead of or between rounds of cocktails. You know which I'll be doing. Cheers!

(Night Before) Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving hosts: Have you ever had the experience of working for days and even weeks on Thanksgiving dinner, only to remember at the last minute that, oops, your guests are arriving on Wednesday?! It is easy to be so focused on the big meal that dinner the evening before gets forgotten but, as my mother-in-law once said in a different context "You can't starve these people!" This would be an ideal time to order some pizzas, but if you want to spare yourself those calories the night before the biggest meal of the year, or maybe you'd like a retro cooking challenge that's still pretty easy, Better Homes & Gardens Best Buffets (1963) has some options with shrimp. At the very least they'll get the conversational ball rolling!

I'll bet they didn't see that meal coming! Be sure to pick up some extra wine for the imbibers. You don't want to consume all the wine you meant for Thanksgiving dinner the night before!

Thanksgiving Kitsch

Thanksgiving is not the easiest holiday to decorate for. It's like the forgotten child between Halloween and Christmas, both of which I love, but Thanksgiving is the holiday we get to host, so I want to make it count! I'm very pleased with my display, especially since I spent a total of $2 in new items to pull it together. It has a slight "poultry" theme, since I happened to have the Miss Chicken Big mug and Foghorn Leghorn glass already. I definitely use what I have!

Big Thanksgiving Dinner, Small Kitchen

I just moved the turkey from the freezer to the refrigerator to begin the defrosting process, so Thanksgiving is feeling very close! I'm doing all of the cooking this year, so fortunately I have a spacious, luxurious kitchen in which to prep all of the fabulous dishes. Ha ha ha! Good one! In reality our kitchen is pretty darned small and counter space is practically nonexistent. I'm used to it by now, so I thought I'd share a few of my workarounds for creating a holiday meal or big party in a small kitchen.

1. Do as much as you can ahead of time and freeze. I've already got the corn pudding, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, an apple tart and half of the stuffing done and I plan to do more later this week. I have the luxury of an auxiliary freezer in the basement (which is lucky, since our ice maker just broke and lovely libations require a lot of ice) and getting these things done ahead of time means I won't be scrambling for space to prep those dishes later. If you have room in your freezer, freeze!

That freezer is about half the size of our kitchen!

2. Co-opt space. I just watched the Thanksgiving episode of "That Girl," in which Ann tried to make many more dishes than her kitchen would allow, and she cleverly borrowed her neighbor's oven to get it all done. Of course disaster ensued, since "That Girl" is a comedy, but the idea is sound. If you can borrow oven or refrigerator space, do it! 

Poor Ann

3. A solid cutting board is your friend. We have a Corian cutting board that I can lay over the stove to create counter space. The stove should, of course, be off - you don't want to set yourself on fire! And make sure that it's resting evenly, so it doesn't move around. But it beats using the floor!

What I wouldn't give for those cabinets!

Do you have a small kitchen? If you have any tips you'd like to share, I'd love to hear them!

Thanksgiving With The Family

Here's a little preview of what we have in store for Thanksgiving here at the Kitsch-en! As you can see, Glendora and Uncle Sid (Glendora's father) will be in attendance.  Glendora is bringing the Hot Dog Casserole and the Franzia Merlot (her favorite, in case she hasn't told you). Uncle Sid is bringing his usual complaints.  Tomorrow's episode will be all about taming Thanksgiving tension for holiday hosts and next Tuesday (November 24) Glendora will pitch in with a few turkey day tips of her own!

Hot Dog Casserole and boxed wine: Glendora's perfect Thanksgiving!

Family time!

Glendora has generously shared the recipe for her casserole. It looks so charming next to the turkey and all the trimmings on a Thanksgiving buffet!

Dead Easy Hot Dog Casserole

One batch of your favorite mac-n-cheese

A bunch of grilled hot dogs, sliced in half

Make the mac-n-cheese.  Plant the hot dogs. Put the whole thing in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees, or until it starts to brown. Serve with Franzia Merlot.