Tennessee Thanksgiving with Family

Thanksgiving was extra special this year… it was nephew Little Hoss' first Thanksgiving and my family came down to TN to celebrate!

This meant we had to move a LOT of things off shelves to preserve them from curious 15 month old hands!   Didn’t take long for it to look like we had babies in the house!  Isn’t it grand!?

Little Bird brought a bag full of toys.

Little Hoss was happy in his jumper.

Munchies were laid out for snacking until the meal was done.  The summer sausage came from the bison ranch we visited on our trip a few weeks ago.

Then mid-afternoon it was time for the Thanksgiving feast.  We had turkey, dressing, gravy, mash potatoes, wild rice, Harvard beets, green beans, golden cauliflower, cranberry sauce (homemade), can cranberry jelly, and sour dough dinner rolls.

We also had red and white wine, plus sparkling grape juice.  Little Bird got to try the grape juice in her very own glass.

She was NOT impressed with the bubbles!

All too soon it was Saturday and it was time to load up the cars so everyone could head home. It was a fantastic weekend! I’m so glad they came down!!

Wild Rice Stuffed Mini Pumpkins

1/2 cup uncooked wild rice

3 to 4 cups water

4 mini pumpkins

Juice of 1 orange

2 teaspoons honey

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup dried cranberries

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 teaspoon chopped mint

Preheat oven to 375°F.

In a small sauce pan, add wild rice and fill with enough water to cover and allow room to boil like cooking pasta. Bring to a boil and then simmer for approximately 30 to 40 minutes. Rice is done when it starts to "pop" the grain.

While rice cooks, cut tops off pumpkins. Using a large spoon, scoop out seeds and strings. Place pumpkins upside down in a pan with 1/3 inch of water. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully turn pumpkins upright and return to oven until flesh is tender when pierced with a fork, about 5 to 10 more minutes.

When rice is cooked, pour into a colander and rinse with cold water. Place the rice in a medium size bowl.

Juice orange and add honey, mixing together. Pour over rice. Add salt and pepper, and stir well. Stir in cranberries, pecans, orange zest and mint. Adjust seasonings if needed. Stuff rice into pumpkins and serve.

(Note: This year I forgot to buy dried cranberries so I used some dried tart cherries instead. It was wonderful…better than the cranberries.)

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