Days of Thankfulness, Day #9, Menu Planning

Menu Planning.
I am not a planner for the most part.
I fly by the seat of my pants.
Seriously.
Until it comes to menu planning.
I love it.
I search for recipes.
I try to cook a big meal sometime in the week and then create from that meal.
We raise most of our own meat, so I have choices available and that makes it easier.
This week I began planning the Thanksgiving menu.
It’s the same every year, yet I still enjoy the process.
Yesterday I found LOCAL cranberries!
I grew up in an area where cranberry bogs abound!
My parents lived down the street from huge bogs.
So to find fresh ones from here is pretty cool.

A few years ago I started using our message board for menu planning.
It’s fun and the kids know what to expect!

Plus, with such a busy schedule it helped with nights when everyone was scattering.

I read cook books like a memoir.

I wonder at the history of the recipe.
Fortunately, for me,  many of the cook books I have accumulated have stories linked with their recipes.

It’s a glimpse into the lives of the writer.

From these glimpses comes my menu planning.
I am a lazy cook.
I rarely follow a recipe.
I will read one and find the elements I like.

I take short cuts.
I get distracted while cooking and often singe things. (just a little)
But I love it.
I enjoy my time in the kitchen. 
It is freedom and creativity and productive.
I don’t own the nicest gadgets.
As a matter of fact a dear friend bought me a food processor a few years ago and now it’s not working.
It’s one of my most used kitchen tools, besides my kitchen Aid mixer which my niece lent to me, and that doesn’t work well anymore.
Yet, still I love to be in the kitchen.
I love to share with others.

Now that it’s Fall I find myself more creative and baking a lot more.  

I love bread rising on the back of the stove and soup simmering.
I love the smell of herbs and garlic.
Wait, is garlic an herb?
I don’t grow a garden. 
I don’t keep up with it and I grow a huge plot of weeds.
I can only handle herbs.
In small containers.
On my porch.
I love the fresh smell of basil, thyme and rosemary.
It’s time to plan the menu for next week.
I have a few new cook books from the summer.
I will begin my research sometime today. . .

Day #9 of Thankfulness

I am Thankful for:

menu planning
home grown options
the warmth from the kitchen
Soup simmering
Bread baking
gathering around our farmhouse table
Outdoor dining
family and friends gathered
hot coffee
iced coffee
anything but flavored coffee
my family
my farm boys who loved to eat
quiet moments
discovering more of Gods character
cookbooks
A dad who loved to cook
brothers who share the love of cooking