This explains everything!!

BTW I chipped one of my teeth -just a teeny bit like it sounds like you did - awhile ago (last spring I think) and still no complications. I haven't been to a dentist since but I really should, I suppose!

Yesterday I ended up munching half the night while studying... I wanted to spread things out on the kitchen table but being that close to the fridge was NOT a good idea!

Today had some chocolate to soothe TOM and am DONE for the night. I mean it tonight!

So interesting about all the pies. I hadn't realised they are often so important. I suppose, in the early days, women brought their very best piece of baking to offer and share and it grew from that.

Now I've read this thread, I'm starting to understand what a challenge Thanksgiving can be. Americans, good luck! Canadians, well done!

Jessica - I was going to ask what grasshopper pie is but I googled it. Gee whiz. Sometimes with marshmallows rather than gelatine? Crikey.

I love 3FC for all kinds of reasons but one of the main ones is the variety of people, opinions and lifestyles. I'm always learning.

Wowee on the pies! And yes, it makes sense that people who love dessert and eat it all the time might be more prone to weight gain.

My family isn't that into dessert and we are mostly moderately overweight. DH's family has the meal as a prelude and then eats dessert after dessert until they are all gone. His immediate family is all morbidly obese, with him being the only "just obese" one.

Dessert that satisfies tends to be really calorie/sugar/fat laden most times. And I find the more sugar I eat the more I want.

Somehow it's so hard to turn away from a pie and take a piece of fruit. Most of the time there isn't the option.

What do you all do if there are only high-cal desserts, most of which have been home-made as tokens of love and to show off the maker's baking skills?

Dagmar

I couldn't lurk any longer - the topic of desserts is just too tempting! I can usually resist the pies and cakes, as the majority are too sweet for me. Something rich and savory and NOT sweet, though ... like a dark chocolate flourless torte? I'm toast. DH makes a pecan/bourbon/sweet potato pie that kills me, and he's already vowed to make it for Thanksgiving. Best strategy I've got is to take over the serving of the dessert - take a very small piece, and then hightail it into the kitchen and start working on the dishes. I can usually get everything at least rinsed off and stacked or in the dishwasher by the time the dessert is devoured - so I guess it's avoidance. This will be my first holiday season at the lower weight ... and it will be a minefield of saboteurs.

Silver, my family's grasshopper pie recipe involves a chocolate cookie crust, and the filling is made with melted marshmallows, whipped cream, creme de menthe, and creme de cacao. There's no baking involved -- the crust is just cookie crumbs and melted butter, which you freeze, and the filling is just those things mixed together and frozen. It is absolutely delicious, luckily I only make it once a year!

I'm annoyed at my MIL this week. I need to know what our thanksgiving plans are so I can order a turkey if necessary, because if we (meaning DH's family) are hosting it, I want to get a humanely raised pastured turkey. She says, yes, go ahead and order a turkey, but she doesn't know yet if we are going to have 8 people or 16 people at dinner. I need to know how big of a turkey we need! She always plans things at the last minute and it drives me nuts. She also always leaves us these ridiculous 10-minute-long phone messages. Instead of calling DH at work on his cell to tell him the two things she wants to say, she calls our home phone and leaves a message like this: "Hi guys, I was calling to leave you a message while you are at work. The pumpkin store we talked about is open. [five minutes of talking about how they carry multiple sizes and types of pumpkins at different prices, which is totally not important] Also, there was a two for one sale on 10-lb bags of potatoes at the grocery store so I bought two, but I can't use them all so DON'T BUY ANY POTATOES and you can have one of the bags. [five more minutes of talking about potatoes]."

So now apparently we get a 10-lb bag of potatoes. I almost never cook potatoes. Last time we bought a bag half of it sprouted before we could use it. I told DH she should give the potatoes to his grandma instead, because they are both meat-and-potatoes type of chefs whereas I am definitely not.

Sigh. I guess if the worst thing my MIL does is leave me long rambling phone messages and delay planning Thanksgiving I'm pretty lucky.

Jessica, I totally feel your pain. My BF doesn't plan...anything... if I try to, say, make plans for the coming weekend he'll say something like "oh let's just see what happens" or something else totally noncommittal. I get frustrated b/c sometimes this means we don't end up doing things that would have been fun b/c we didn't plan for them, like go to social gatherings. Doesn't the world understand? There are reasons we need to plan these things!!!! (Good example: needing to know what size turkey to buy!) We don't ask just for fun!

Right now my mom is frustrated by the fact that she's trying to make plans for Christmas and my sister won't tell her anything. My sis & your MIL would get along!

I did forget about cranberries for Thanksgiving! I think those are the musts: turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin in some form. My mom makes a delicious raw cranberry relish where you wiz up a bag of cranberries, an orange, walnuts, and sugar in the food processor. I buy extra bags of cranberries and freeze them to make it off-season, with splenda. Yum!

Not to distract from the dessert topic, but Megan, I can commiserate with you and the ants! I went out to the garage this morning to feed the dogs and before I noticed them, I opened the dog food bin. They were all over the outside of the bin and once opened they poured in. I was able to salvage enough for their breakfasts, but had to throw out the remainder. Now I'll have to go home and wash both bins before I open a new bag of food for them. What a mess! I imagine the trail of ants was a good 15 feet long! From the garage door, under my car, all the way up to where the back door is. I sprayed and sprayed and I'm sure I've sealed up all the nooks and crannies where they might find a new way in, but ugh. I HATE ANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And my weight is not cooperating. Ugh. In general, this is shaping up to be an overall ugh day.

Tonight we're driving to Fullerton to see DD's concert (and deliver her bicycle and her vacuum which DH fixed for her--don't kids know you have to clean a vacuum from time to time?). DS decided he's going to skip the concert and go to the high school football game. We allowed him to do it as long as he was sure he had a ride home (it's about 6 miles away). He assured me he does, but I left him with enough money that he can call a cab just in case. He promised he'd keep his cell phone on and text me when he gets home. Can you tell he's my baby?

Jessica~I had to laugh at the story of your MIL's phone message! Too funny!

Dagmar, I forgot to answer your question. At family holiday meals, where there is a huge dessert table, I just plan for that meal to be a splurge. I cut down on the amount of food I take for dinner (so for T-day I'll have maybe a pile of green beans and a small portion of turkey and cranberry sauce) then I have one small piece of each of the desserts -- which adds up to a big plate full of dessert. But hey, it's holi-DAYS not holi-MONTHS so I only do it a couple times a year.

Megan, MIL makes a good cranberry relish like that too! I totally get you about Christmas too. I just bought my plane tickets for Christmas at the beginning of this week, but my sister hasn't really made plans yet. Actually last I heard my sis will be in town for xmas rather than going to her fiancee's home in Nebraska, and then they're planning to go to Nebraska in the spring instead. I'm super excited about going home in December! And since my sis lives in the area now, that means we don't all have to stay in the same house. Phew! I love my family, but we are incapable of all living in the same house. It's hard enough to stay there with just my parents, but when all four of us are in the house, it's a disaster.

Allison, I wasn't sure whether to laugh at the phone message or be annoyed by it! I kind of did both. She seriously spent like 10 minutes on a message that could have been shortened to: "Pumpkin store is open. I have an extra bag of potatoes for you."

More snacking today. Again, all good foods from my drawer, just too many of them. And, it is windy and cold and drizzly so I don't think I'll go to the park to run on the way home. I'll still exercise when I get home, but I feel kind of bummed about not making the park, because I know I won't make it tomorrow either... Sadness.

Haha, Jessica I love the phone message. I guess the up side is at least she doesn't call when you are home and keep rambling for an hour or so!

We had a potluck at work today... it really wasn't that bad but I know I'm going to end up going over my calories for today because I still have to eat dinner AND go to a B-day party where we are making caramel apples! So much better than cake and ice cream!

Wah!! I've missed you guys this week! I was so sure I'd be able to check in and then my wireless went out. We had a lot of rain this week and an earthquake so I don't know if one or both of those things killed it. It had been on the fritz but it died completely. I just successfully installed a new wireless router. Pretty proud of myself as dh usually assumes he has to do those sort of things.

All the talk of Thanksgiving is making me hungry and making me realize I need to start cleaning my house! No idea what we'll be having but we always have the traditional turkey, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, dressing, cranberry sauce, etc. Dh loves to cook Thanksgiving dinner and I usually do the sides and desserts so I can make them somewhat healthy.

For those of you with spouses/partners who cook or clean at any time (even if it's just at holidays), give thanks!

Dagmar

Wow, now I want about 10 different pies!
For about 10 years, we did both Canadian Thanksgiving and American (dh is Canadian, now naturalized US), and still do Hanukkah and Christmas. A very mixed marriage. And an eating minefield for over two months!
Luckily, other than all the aforementioned pies and latkes, our food is basically low cal and healthy!

Mel

Good morning! I'm more settled today, so can actually take a minute to respond to the posts!

Jessica - funny phone message from your MIL! My grandmother does the same thing... Then when you call her back she tells you the same story again.

Mel - that is a lot of holiday celebrating! Wow!

Michele - on the router install!

Iris - caramel apples instead of cake, that is a cool idea! I've been thinking about buying a caramel apple kit to do with DSS, think a 4 year old can handle one?

Allison - I can't remember how many times my dad had to fix my vacuum in college, and it was always because I let hair get tangled on some motor part because I didn't clean it out. Annoying about the ants! Hope the smell clears out of your garage soon.

Megan - I have never eaten a cranberry product at Thanksgiving... until this year I had never eaten cranberry anything, now I've had craisins, cranberry muffins and cranberry juice. Since I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year I may have to try your mom's recipe!

I can't find the post where someone said that they eat a light lunch and then slivers of several desserts... that is exactly what I do. And, in the mood I'm in right now, will likely do again!

I tried to go to the park to run last night, but by the time I got there it was 49 degrees, the wind had picked up and it had started to rain. I came home and made myself exercise in the garage. It wasn't one of those 'glad I forced myself to do it' days. More like 'I feel like a wet, balled up washcloth left on the side of the tub' afterward. No exercise so far today, I'm planning it for this afternoon or evening. Really.

Good day everyone! to anyone I missed!