Southern Thanksgiving Inventory

As I have mentioned in previous posts, my family is coming here for Thanksgiving. I have not hosted Thanksgiving since 2000. Our circumstances have significantly changed since then but, what hasn’t changed is the love we have for our family. We have less now, but, we are even more thankful for what we do have. That may be a bit of metamorphosis in itself. It is not that we were not thankful before, we are just more thankful now for everything!

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
I Thessalonians 5:18

Last week, I showed you the cute little Thanksgiving turkey made from a pinecone and an acorn for Metamorphosis Monday.

Today, I started taking inventory of what I have on hand to decorate for Thanksgiving. In the next couple of weeks, I will be really gearing up and transforming the entire house to welcome my family for Thanksgiving. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone. This metamorphosis will be ongoing. This week, it will start with seeing what I have to begin with.

Some of the things are general fall decorations and some are more geared to just Thanksgiving. You have seen a lot of the fall things already.

Some of the things that are general fall decorations include:

Then there are the Thanksgiving type things:

And then there are a couple more items:

Okay, that is part of what I’ve got to work with. Stay tuned these next couple of weeks to see what happens.

By the way, this coming Wednesday is Veteran’s Day! Don’t forget to see what you can do for Project Valour IT or for our brave men and women who were injured at Fort Hood this week.

Soldiers’ Angels is assessing the needs and with our founder currently residing in Texas, we will be standing by to offer physical and emotional support to our heroes and their families.

RIGHT NOW: Collecting encouraging cards and NEW stuffed animals for the families and children of the injured/killed. Please send cards and stuffed animals (and anything NEW that may brighten the life of a child) to:
Soldiers’ Angels
4408 PanAm Expressway
San Antonio, TX 78218

A Valour IT Update: Project Valour IT, so far, has raised over $72,000 to help wounded soldiers with technology to help them heal!

Project Valour IT is still going on (through November 11). Many of our military who are wounded receive comfort by way of technology. The Valour IT project is a fund raising effort to help provide the purchase and shipment of laptops and other technology for severely wounded service members. If you would like to donate to the help and comfort of our military, please go to the Wharton blog and click on the Valour IT link on the top right.

How else can you help? Join the effort yourself by posting about this on your blog. Help us get the word out. This fund raising effort runs from October 26 through Veterans Day, November 11!

Today’s Lagniappe: Caramel Corn
An easy, tasty snack for Thanksgiving munchies

* 7 quarts plain popped popcorn
* 2 cups dry roasted peanuts (optional)
* 2 cups brown sugar
* 1/2 cup light corn syrup
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup margarine
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don’t worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.
4. Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.