happy thanksgiving!/pa dutch potato filling

I confess I am a little worried about the state of our Thanksgiving meal. First, this is the same group of people who had this great idea to have a Chinese bar-b-que back in August, and then Big Jim and I wound up making 85% of the meal. When R. first asked about hosting Thanksgiving, he said, "And I'll make the turkey. I love to make turkey." Then for two weeks, L. kept insisting Big Jim was making the turkey, and I reminded her, "No, R. is making the turkey. We are making the potatoes and the cranberries (and Big Jim is our honorary Pilgrim)." R. called over the weekend to say he ordered a turkey from one of the local grocers, but wouldn't our oven be better to roast it? I saw where this was going; if he "used" our oven, that would mean we would be doing the turkey, too. Thinking quickly, I responded, "Well, R., our oven isn't all that big; we just managed to fit the Christmas turkey in it last year." He said, "Oh, I'm thinking more about the temperature control." Truthfully I replied, "I don't think ours is any better, R. We don't have degree markers." Which is true: there are just big flame, medium flame, and small flame markers on the dial. "Oh, oh, I see," he said. "Do you at least have a roasting pan I could use?" (I thought this man loved making turkey, and he has no pan?) "Sure, R., just stop over and pick it up." Well, it's 10:15am on Thanksgiving, and he still hasn't been around for the pan nor do I smell any turkey coming from his open windows....is it possible he's forgotten today is the day? But then again, what would Thanksgiving be without a little dysfunctionality.... I'm off to make my Pennsylvania Dutch potato filling now. I'm including a recipe for it here, although there are hundreds of variations, depending on how much butter/eggs you want to use. Here's what you need: 5 pounds potatoes 1 cup diced celery 1-1/2 cup diced onion 4 cloves minced garlic ***(No proper Dutchman would ever include garlic. But it's my way of adding a tiny bit of Spain to the recipe) 1/2 cup fresh, finely chopped parsley 3 or 4 eggs 1 cup butter or margarine 3 cups cubed bread 1-2 cups milk, or enough to moisten bread cubes Salt, pepper Cook potatoes with salt until tender. Sauté celery, onions, and garlic with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in 2 tablespoons oil until tender and slightly browned. Push to one side of the pan; add 1/4 cup of the butter and soak parsley in butter, then mix with celery, onions, and garlic. Drain potatoes; put in large enough container to hold all ingredients. Add the remaining butter, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mash (I always use a hand masher). Add eggs and mix thoroughly. Add celery, onion, and garlic and mix. In the same pan used for the celery and onion mixture, soak bread cubes in enough milk to moisten thoroughly and heat. Add to potatoes and mix. If mixture is too thick, add milk. Add dry bread cubes if too thin. Also use more or less of seasoning to taste. Put in greased baking casserole, dot top with butter, and bake at 350° (or medium flame for us) for 45 minutes or until golden brown. I hope everyone has a nice holiday, and remember to be thankful for at least one thing today. Even if it's just the fact that you are still breathing. I'll be thankful if we actually wind up having turkey in the end. :-) Will keep you posted..... hasta manana, mylifeinspain