The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it is time for most of us to get creative with our turkeys and mashed potatoes. My family members aren’t big on grabbing the turkey leftovers and making sandwiches>>> and I think I know why! If I was the one grabbing the turkey from the refridge to make them sandwiches, then they would probably be in favor of the long-held tradition of many families.

One thing my son, daughter, and husband love for me to make with the leftovers is Turkey Hash. I am sure many of you make this, as it is a fast and easy way to get some of those glass storage containers out of the refridge!

I simply Pam the casserole, make a bottom shell out of the stuffing/dressing, lay cut up turkey, then cut up green beans, followed by a little more of the cut up turkey, followed by a mashed potato cover on the top of the casserole. After all of the layers are in the casserole, I “drill” holes in the casserole with the handle end of a table knife (not a sharp steak knife!) and pour gravy into each of the holes. I have to admit that I make a lot of “drilled” holes in the casserole! Oh, and then I pour the remaining gravy over the entire Turkey Hash. Cover the casserole and heat it in a 350* oven for about an hour, and voilà!

I had never had this before I married my husband, and sort of had to come up with the “recipe” on my own. He kept asking for Turkey Hash… which, to me meant something like the canned hash you get at the grocery store…

Do any of you have a family traditional recipe you make after your Thanksgiving meal is all gobbled up? I’d like to hear from you if you do!

It’s Thanksgiving here in the USA, so Happy Thanksgiving! 

I wrote this quick note yesterday (Thanksgiving eve) because I knew exactly where I would be at this time… in the kitchen! Between mashing the potatoes, dressing the stuffing, and getting our favorite cranberry sauce in a bowl (nothing but the very best taste for us, thanks to Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce — and I really mean that!) I will be busy getting our yearly lunch/dinner on the table. The fact that it will take me all day to prepare, and half an hour to eat (at the most!), bothers me not! 

We all have so much to be thankful for!

You’ll never guess what I am doing >>> a week before Thanksgiving. I am actually putting up our Christmas decorations. (Of course, the graphic probably gives it away…)

In the past, when our children were young, I would never have thought of doing this “fun activity” without their little hands helping me strategically place their favorite ornaments on the tree. Those days are long gone.

My daughter is coming home next week for the Thanksgiving holiday, which is already upon us. I thought that if I gave myself a few days before she is due to come home, I would be finished and have the house back to normal. However, it is taking me more time to get this chore done. (Yes, I’m afraid that I now consider this all a chore to get done!)

Everything seems to be a lot more difficult to do. Either the tree has gotten lower to the floor, or I have gotten a little older! I used to be able to kneel down to arrange the lower branches. (Yes, I have an artificial tree >>> I don’t see the point of cutting down a beautiful pine just so that I can drag it out to the curb at the end of December. Besides, I use the pine scented candle/melts to make the house smell like perhaps the tree could be a real pine… perhaps…)

This marks the first year that I have used a chair to sit on while arranging the limbs and lights at the bottom of the tree. This way I don’t hear my knees making all-too-familiar creaking noises, and hopefully I won’t be sore tomorrow.

It is also taking me more time to go through all of the decorations that both my son and daughter made while they were growing up. I have toilet roll tubes painted up as toy soldiers, little ceramic cups made into pipe-cleaner poinsettia vases, toothpick stars, paper plate doves, pony bead streamers and candy canes, and other home-made and school-made treasures which I reserve to go on the most prominent limbs of our tree.

So, as you probably can guess, it’s not the actual decorating that is taking so much longer this year, it’s the memories that these wonderful heirlooms are triggering in my mind, of the days when decorating our house for Christmas was indeed a fun activity.