Joy in the Kitchen!

' This year we are excited to go to my parents house for Thanksgiving Dinner.  We've been on an every other year schedule since we've been married, one year with my family, the next with Dave's.  It sounds like it will be a smaller gathering this year... about 27 people.  Seventeen of those people are my own children and grandchildren.  :)  Our little family is growing!  Next year we'll be excited to join with Dave's side of the family to celebrate! I like to organize my week so I'm not doing all the prep Thanksgiving morning.  Tuesday I'll start on pie crusts, cutting bread into cubes (I baked bread and froze 2 loaves to save for this) for stuffing, dicing and shredding veggies.  Wednesday I'll bake pies, make carrot cake, and peel and cut up potatoes. (I just keep those in a large plastic bucket of water and put them in the garage until I'm ready to cook them Thursday morning - it stays just under 40 degrees out there right now - just like

  We've had a few weeks of colds, coughing, and runny noses here.  The past week the 3 younger children had Hand-Foot-and-Mouth disease.  Not fun!  However, in comforting and treating my little sickies, I was thankful to remember some of the old remedies that help soothe symptoms. When I was small and had a cough, sometimes Mom would mix some honey and lemon together and give me to help soothe my tickly throat.  I have used this a LOT the past few years.  Sometimes, even with over the counter cough medicine, we just keep coughing.  I think the throat just gets so irritated it just can't quit!  I mix this Honey and Lemon Soother together and then every time we start to cough, we swallow a small spoonful.  It really does soothe and coat your throat and soon, the coughing is under control.  I did a little hunting around on the internet to see how everyone else used honey and lemon.... and actually found that someone had done a study on young children (over 12 months of age) an