Julep: Stay Gone

As y'all may know, we've hosted the joint families for Thanksgiving for the past couple years. We started with 20 people, last year was down to 14, and this year only 10, which was really lovely. Just us, my parents, Sis and her husband and baby (okay, it was 11 if you count the baby), Mr-Mama, Mr-Papa, Mr-Sister, and the fabulous Nanny (Mr-Mama's mother). We're starting to get this down to an art. Mr-J makes turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes, I handle dinner rolls and dessert, and everyone else brings a side.

This year, Mr-Papa's parents did not join us for the first time. Mr-Aunt had a dinner last year for herself and her girls, and the Mr-Grands decided henceforth they would take turns between our house and hers. Unluckily for them, this year Mr-Aunt had some health issues so it ended up at the home of her daughter, whom you'll remember in the cast of characters as the baby-name-stealing cousin who demanded cash for a wedding gift. There was much discussion yesterday about whether Cuz knows how to cook.

Personally, I couldn't have been happier to say farewell to the extended Mr. Clan for Thanksgiving dinner. I don't dislike Mr-Aunt or the Mr-Grands, but they are kind of high-maintenance and always there is some drama. Taking the number down meant it was a very relaxed gathering of close family, and we all fit at one table, which was lovely. Not to mention the improved menu offerings. Escaping the ever-present plain cheesecake that Mr-Aunt brings to every. single. family. dinner. ever! is a blessing in and of itself. Plus for the past two years, Mr-Grandma has brought the corn pudding and sweet potatoes to Thanksgiving. And y'all, they were not good. I love me some corn pudding, but hers is just not right somehow. I think the problem is, she is one of those cooks who refuses to use a recipe - she thinks she can cook from instinct, which is fine if you are making a pot roast or spaghetti sauce, but corn pudding needs the right proportions of flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.

This year I made the corn pudding, using the recipe from Lilly's as I always do. It was delicious, as it always is. And Mr-Mama, freed at last from the tyranny of her mother-in-law, made the sweet potato casserole from last month's Southern Living (the one with the marshmallow topping). It was so good I could have licked the bowl.

Is any way I can uninvite them for next year?