Five Question Friday

Happy day after Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone's Thanksgiving day was filled with gratitude for our many blessings.  We live in a free country, where there is abundance.  We often don't realize it, but we have countries very close by to us that are in extreme poverty.  Americans can have a day of thanks with a table filled to the brim with enough food to feed several families.  More food than some Haitian families will see in a month.  Think about it.  Be thankful.

Our Five Question Friday this week is about Thanksgiving (how appropriate).  If you want to join in, visit Mama M. at My Little Life and have some fun!

1. Is there a special dish you prepare that you are famous for?
My kids will tell you it's my stuffing.  I take regular Stove Top stuffing (I personally like the Savory Herbs one) and jazz it up.  I'll add some onion, celery, sage, rosemary, thyme, raisins, and either sausage or ground beef.  I kept it simpler this year and left out the raisins and meat, but it was still killer.  My husband's family says their favorite part of the menu is the ham, and the desserts.

2. Are you (did you) go Black Friday shopping ?
No Black Friday shopping for me!  I boycott the stores the day after Thanksgiving.  I especially will not go to a store that begins their sales on Thanksgiving evening.  Don't they get it?  Thanksgiving is a time of being with family and showing gratitude for what we have, not a time to be drooling over things we don't have and can't afford but we'll charge up the credit cards anyway.  If it were up to me, I'd eliminate Black Friday altogether.

 3. What are your strangest holiday traditions?
Strange, hmm.  Some of my decorating seems over the top to some people.  I decorate A LOT.  But I wouldn't call that strange.  I can't think of anything, probably because the stuff we do doesn't seem strange to us.

 4. Pecan or pumpkin pie? (She actually asked "Apple or pumpkin?" I just T-giving'ed it!)
This is a big debate with us.  I love all kinds of pies.  I think pumpkin pie should be a staple at any Thanksgiving meal.  We don't have it at ours, though, because no one else likes it.  My daughter is all about pecan pie, I am an apple pie lover (warm with a scoop of ice cream, yum!), and my son E is all about chocolate.  So we had pecan pie and chocolate cake yesterday, and there's chocolate cream pie and apple pie in the fridge for today.  I guess we can't ever have enough pie!  Thankfully my oldest son will pretty much eat anything.  I don't know where we'd put another dessert.

 5. When will you put up your Christmas tree?
Traditionally our Christmas tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving.  This year, however, we aren't home, so the tree will go up this coming week, Monday or Tuesday.  I love having the tree out as long as possible, and since it's a fake tree we don't have a problem with it drying out.  Looking forward to decorating it!