Eat 'Em and Weep

Happy Thanksgiving to all the readers out in Blog Land!

Over here at Casa de Madness, we are having a fake Thanksgiving. On our first T-day in Virginia, we learned, much to our sorrow, that Thanksgiving without family and friends in attendance just isn't the same. No matter how much food you cook, or how good it is, without a big crowd in the house the day just feels like one of those obscure national holidays, like Learn to Grow Your Chia Pet Day. Or something. Point being, it just doesn't feel like a proper Thanksgiving.

That said, we are still taking advantage of the Thanksgiving Rule of Eats, in which one is required to stuff one's self to the point of being sick, then wander off to take a long nap. (Hear that kids? Napping will not be a foreign concept for you today. You. Will. Nap!) We will not, however, succumb to the restrictions of traditional Thanksgiving fare. Oh no. We will be tossing the turkey-and-stuffing rule out the window, thankyouverymuch. I present to you my menu for the day:

My favorite appetizer, Savory Cheesy 'Shroom Bites, in which one takes crescent rolls, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and mushrooms, mixes them properly, bakes, and then eats as hot as one can stand. One word: freakingfantasticallydeliciousYUM.

Pot Roast for dinner. Yes, pot roast. No turkey. I don't eat anything that says gobble. My pot roast is a mouth-watering concoction of tender beef spiced to perfection with my secret spice recipe (which I cannot share even upon the threat of death) (mainly because every year I just pull yummy-smelling spices out of the cupboard and cover the meat with them), carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms, all simmered together in a fabulous beef bullion-brown gravy sauce mix.

Homemade mashed potatoes. From scratch. Milk, butter, cream. Oh yeah.

{insert some sort of vegetable here; one must keep somewhat of a pretense of healthy eating for one's young children}

Dessert this year will be something new, Pumpkin Cheesecake. I'm not a big fan of pumpkin, but my friends who have made this recipe assure me that it won't matter, as supposedly this is the most delish cheesecake on the planet. We'll see. I have a back-up of ice cream and apple pie, should my friends let me down.

Considering I will be presenting this veritable feast to my (not so) huge family of four, that's a lot of freaking food. But alas, one must concede to at least one tradition on days such as this. It may not feel like Thanksgiving, but we are going to give it our best shot at changing that.

Happy eating, everyone!

(Oh, and Julie, don't go giving me any crap about the mushrooms. When you're here, I'll cook without them. Until then, my food will be fungus-filled!)