Thanksgiving Recipe Blogswap

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I'm breaking with tradition and expanding my blog to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. In the spirit of foodies everywhere, a few friends and I are swapping our favorite recipes and sharing some love this week.

Now don't get the wrong idea, I am still the same old grumpy-ass bear you all love to hate, but I must be weak from the fever and all I've had to deal with since I came down with the flu on Saturday. I will be back to normal soon, I promise, and all the damned John men can quit laughing at me and go back to shaking in their boots in fear. Hear that, Travis?

But while I was laying in bed, thinking about Thanksgivings past, one memory kept coming back each time. I h ad three sets of grandparents. I know, I am a very special guy. No, Mom was married and widowed at an early age, and had three daughters before she was in her early twenties, before she met and married my dad. So my three sisters' grandparents, the Floyds, automatically included me and my younger brother as part of their family.

A trip to Grandma and Grandpa Floyd's house was always fun. They lived in Pine Mountain, Georgia, which is about a hundred miles from where I grew up in Norcross. Now, to a kid, you would think it was a million miles, but ahhh, when we got there...

Grandma Floyd has a big open kitchen and we weren't allowed to hang around in there. Mainly, I think, because the sheer number of kids would have made cooking impossible. But the smells coming out of there. Heaven! She made the best strawberry cake, all from scratch. Ham. Sweet potato casserole. But the best thing ever? Her Tea Cakes. Little bundles of love that always mean home and family to me.

I miss her, and wish her and my Grandpa and all their kids, three children they adopted as babies since they couldn't have any of their own, much love this Thanksgiving. I am counting my blessings, and they are among them. And as always, I miss my own mom this year. She would have liked all of you...

Maybelle Floyd's Old Fashioned Tea Cakes

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butermilk
1/3 cup butter
1/2 tsp salt
Flavor with grated orange rind, orange extract or any flavor desired

Cream butter, sugar and salt together. Mix baking soda, orange extract and beaten egg with buttermilk. Add to butter mixture, alternating with flour. If dough seems too soft, add in a little more flour. Roll to desired thinness, cut, place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 425 until golden.



Guaranteed to chase off that Winter Chill.

And to stay warm this week, and away from those Godawful Black Friday sales that are starting on Wednesday this year, order a copy of Winter Heat, make a cup of hot chocolate, and stay in. Trust Dr. Bear, it's just what you need!
 

Oh - and don't forget to visit all my friends and see what yummies they came up with this year too...


Angel Martinez - http://www.freewebs.com/angelwrites/apps/blog/show/20193870-the-thanksgiving-recipe-blog-swap-

Silvia Violet - http://silviaviolet.com/blog/2012/11/20/thanksgiving-recipe-blog-swap/

Havan Fellows - http://havanshawthaven.blogspot.com/2012/11/thanksgiving-recipe-blog-swapleftover.html

Laura Harner - http://lauraharner.com/hp_wordpress/thanksgiving-recipe-blog-swap/

Lee Brazil - http://leebrazilauthor.blogspot.com/2012/11/happy-thanksgiving.html


Happy Thanksgiving. Love to everyone.

Tom