This is going to be a week of epic fails, I can feel it already. My in-laws are due to arrive “sometime today”…when until last Friday I thought it would be tomorrow. They’re lovely people and I’m happy to have them visit, but I’m really not ready. Not that the one day would have made that much difference, but I won’t be home most of today which makes me nervous. I still don’t know how long they’re staying, though obviously through Thursday night. They’re not staying here at the house, which at least makes things easier. But, I have no idea what the meal plan is going to be like this week. Thursday is the only given. There may be a night – maybe two – when we either eat out or do take-out, but when? I don’t know how many nights after Thursday they’ll be here. Also, I’d planned another big – not as big as Thanksgiving – meal centered around a ham, because Mom had ordered a bunch of meat by mail including a ham, and as yet I have no ham. So…here are my big meal plans and a couple of other possibilities to be used as needed:
Thanksgiving:
Turkey – Cooked and ordered from United thanks to my generous father-in-law in order to cut down on the amount of cooking I’d need to do.
Cornbread stuffing – comes with turkey
Mashed potatoes – comes with turkey
Gravy – comes with turkey
Corn Pudding – My personal favorite, simple as can be.
Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes – A frozen side from Tender Filet.
Cranberry jelly – Your basic canned, but not the solid tube of jell.
Jell-O with pineapple – Most years I combine the two and put cranberries in the Jell-O, but A has requested them separate this year.
Deviled eggs – Nothing fancy, just mayo, mustard, apple vinegar, and paprika.
Rolls – Some come with the turkey but we’ll need more.
Green salad – I’m saving green beans for the mythical ham so we need some kind of “normal” vegetable.
Creamed Onions – I’m on the fence about this one, it’s a Mom-request. If I get to it, I get to it, and this one seems easy enough.
Pumpkin bread – I sincerely think it’s unnecessary, and I think of it as a Christmas dish, but A insists. Since she’s the one making it, who am I to argue?
Pie – Oh my, do we have pie. A pumpkin pie comes with the turkey. We also have more pumpkin, apple, cherry, and strawberry-rhubarb thanks to a school fundraiser.
If I’m feeling ambitious I’ll have Chex mix, baby carrots, pickles, and the like hanging around before dinner. The way this week is likely to go…maybe not.
The elusive ham dinner:
Spiral-sliced Ham – From Swiss Colony.
Mac & cheese – From Tender Filet as with the sweet potatoes above.
Green beans – Here they are, but they won’t be in the (in)famous casserole, just steamed.
Scalloped potatoes – From a box, ‘cuz I’m fancy like that.
Green salad
Rolls
More deviled eggs
More pie
I think I’ll move the pineapple Jell-O down here.
Wednesday am: Still no ham. I heard a rumor that they are leaving Saturday morning, so there won’t really be time for another big family dinner anyway. Put aside for another week.
Wednesday pm: Ham arrived. Still not making it this week. It makes no sense to follow the huge turkey dinner with a large ham dinner the very next day.
Tonight I’ll just plan for a “fend for yourself” dinner in case they get here early and want to go out or take-in with everyone. Or they might go straight to the base and crash.
That’s 3 nights. I’m planning on possibly 2 more nights with them here, then Sunday back to just us.
4 more dinners:
Cheeseburgers – Mom does like her Tender Filet; we have sirloin burgers, buffalo burgers, and bacon/sirloin burgers to choose from.
Lemon-Garlic Tilapia – Never got made last week.
Homemade Potato Soup – Something new to try that will work whether we have extra people here or not.
And one night to save for going out or eating leftovers – because heaven knows there will be plenty of those.
Rough Outline, pending guest plans:
Monday – fend for yourself
reality – The in-laws got in around 3 and crashed for the day. Mom doesn’t like “fending”, so she bought pizza.
Tuesday – cheeseburgers
reality – I made cheeseburgers and baked beans, and no accidents were had.
Wednesday – tilapia
reality – We decided that eating out would be more prudent today than Friday. Yummy dinner at Cracker Barrel.
Thursday – turkey dinner
reality – Dinner as planned. The table took up the entire living room, things were hard to reach, E wouldn’t stay out from under the table, and the cherry pie took a header, but otherwise a very nice feast.
Friday – eat out or leftovers
reality – Leftover plates pretty much just like Thursday.
Saturday – ham dinner
reality – Snack platters of beef logs, cheese, and crackers.
Sunday – potato soup
reality – McD’s for those of us tired of straight-up leftovers.
Amounts are approximate; I’m pretty much an “eye and dump” cook.
