Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not
so great) words of knowledge:
> The CNA who has been taking care of my mother and giving me some respite
> will be here all day long on Thanksgiving day. Her children will be with
> their grandmother. So I said hey, even though my mother won't eat it how
> about I cook Thanksgiving dinner for us? She said sure!
>
> Nothing fancy. Roasted cornish game hen (I'm not sure if I should do one or
> two, I have two). When it was just me and my mother one hen was plenty
> (these are 20 oz. hens). Cornbread dressing with pork sausage and maybe
> wild rice, or not... it's a thought.

I suggest doing 2 hens. MOST people will eat 1 cornish hen by themselves.

>
> She's from New Jersey (no offense to Nancy!) When I suggested baked acorn
> squash she didn't exactly screw up her face but she said hesitantly "well...
> I'll try it." Okay, gotcha, you don't like squash. Do you like broccoli?
> Yes, she loves broccoli. Score one for broccoli as a vegetable side.
>
> I wonder if I should make harvest mashed potatoes? I posted this recipe
> back in 2002. It serves 8 but I could cut it in half. I don't mind
> leftovers. (I actually I have a version of this that serves over 100
> people.)
>
> Harvest Mashed Potatoes
>
> 4 large red or russet potatoes (2 pounds)
> 2 medium-size sweet potatoes (1½ pounds)
> 1/4 cup butter or margarine
> 1/2 cup milk
> 1/4 cup sour cream
> 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
> 1 T. prepared horseradish
> 1/4 t. salt
> 1/4 t. pepper
> 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
> 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
>
> Bake sweet potatoes until tender, peel and mash. Cook russet potatoes (cut
> large ones in half) in a Dutch oven in boiling salted water to cover until
> tender; peel and mash or press through ricer and combine with sweet
> potatoes. Add 1/2 cup butter and next 8 ingredients; mash with a potato
> masher or mix with electric mixer until smooth. Bake until heated through
> and starting to brown on top. (This recipe assumes you're putting this in a
> large casserole dish to bake it.) Serve topped with additional Parmesan
> cheese if desired. Yield: 8 servings.
>
> Now I have to think about gravy. Dammit. I hate thinking about gravy
>
> Jill
>


If all else fails, you could always open a jar of gravy. (gasp, cough -
the "horror" of it {:-) )