Thanksgiving Hits and Misses

I am so thankful for my family. How great a gift a family is! My parents were finishing up their stay; we are already missing them so much as they went home yesterday. We had a wonderful couple of days with my brothers Guy and John here from Chicago. We hadn't seen them for 4 years since they have been living in London. To quote Sunshine, "We don't get to see Guy and John that often so I forget how much fun they are!" It was fun and it was a blessing.

We started the day with Pepper's yummy caramel rolls. Guy and John made a wonderful paper bag turkey (stuffed with popcorn) for the Littles. Pepper made an adorable crudite tray.  It was fun to have some cute Pinterest touches on the day!

We tried some wonderful new recipes; one by me, two by the Barefoot Contessa, one by Paula Deen and then all our tried and true favorites. Almost everyone helped with cooking in some way but Mamaw, Pepper and I did the bulk of it. We ate:

Cranberry Sauce

Dressing - The Best EVER (my new recipe)

Turkey (a pre-ordered fresh natural turkey that was super moist thanks to the prep and cooking but, frankly, a little tough)

Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Puree (Barefoot Contessa) with candied pecans (contributed by Pepper)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Barefoot Contessa)

Pumpkin Pie (made by Mamaw, of course, and perfect!)

Fresh Apple Cake (Paula Deen)

I think we'd have liked the sweet potatoes if they weren't so orangey. We will cut the orange way back next time. We loved the cayenne in them, though! The Brussels Sprouts, on the other hand, were sublime. Oh, my goodness! The apple cake was a huge hit, too; it has such yummy apple flavor and was super moist. This apple cake will make a great addition to our New Year's brunch.

So, in the end, we were thankful for the food, too.  Here are a few assorted pictures. 

Thankfulness

This was my first Thanksgiving in many without my parents and my sister.  I missed them fiercely!  But I think the pain was definitely dulled by not cooking and by being extremely full both in body and spirit. 

We are spending Thanksgiving weekend with Paul's folks in Plano.  Our Thanksgiving feast was fit for a king and it is wonderful spending some time with this side of the family.   My in-laws are the connsumate hosts and boy, can they cook!  The "horn of plenty" was filled to overflowing this year!

The bird was roasted in a new-fangled infrared cooker and it was so delicious.   I really, really love turkey and have resolved to be eating it more often in the future.  I didn't bring my camera so you will have to try to imagine what the cooker looks like;  it kind of looks like a stock-pot sized space capsule with a propane tank attached.

Yesterday was my black Friday shopping day. Boy, howdy.  For various reasons, I couldn't sleep Thursday night.  I went to bed at 10:00 because I was tired - triptophan dontcha know -- and I went right to sleep, but by midnight I was sleeping fitfully and after 1:00, I gave up.  I wound up doing the very thing I swore I wouldn't  -- shopping in the middle of the night.  At least I waited until Thanksgiving was over.  I shopped until about 6:00 then declared myself finished.  Since I was  little behind the crowds for most stores, I only encountered long lines and crazed shoppers twice.  I sure did miss my shopping companions though!  I think Mom was sleeping in at home in Idaho and sister hit the Idaho pavement early with her new beau.  I bet she missed shopping in Texas where I was able to leave my jacket in the car!

Littles and Bigs alike have been good guests so far.  If we can just keep 'em out of "mist - chef" (as Tink says) one more day, we'll call the weekend a success.  Then we'll get home and back to diet and exercise.  Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader!

PS - being the most disorganized Mom ever means I left my camera at home. Sorry.  Please enjoy this lovely stock photo instead.

Premature Christmas

Yesterday, I made the mistake of going to Target with all the kids.  As we entered, Sunshine said, "Ah, Christmas is here!"

"No it's not," I replied with a bit too much force.  "It's a whole month almost to Thanksgiving and then it will be Advent and then Christmas."

She wasn't buying it.  "It looks like Christmas!  Let's go look at the electronics," she said to Pepper, and off they went.

The Littles, however, are blissfully unaware of anything.  The decorations mean nothing to them, they barely remember hearing the name, "Santa" once.  Maybe I can have a good Advent with them.  But still, we are skipping ahead.

I love Thanksgiving.   I'm not cooking this year but when I do, it's turkey and stuffing every year.  If you are one of those snooty people who says you don't like turkey because you are tired of having it once a year, every year, you are welcome to my home but you might leave hungry.  The tradition of Thanksgiving is the food and in my family, it's turkey, stuffing,  mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, rolls, and pumpkin pie.  Anything else we may serve is just fluff.  And if I do not have some lovely breast of turkey to eat on buttered white bread with a bit of good mayonnaise for supper, I am going to be a little sad!

Did I mention I love Thanksgiving?  I love the cooler weather and the turkey and the stuffing.  But most importantly, I love the holiday that has somehow remained virtually noncommercial and free of gift-giving.  It's a truly fantastic idea:  take the time to thank God for his magnificent benevolence with us, to thank him for providing a bounty; to give thanks that on this day I am not hungry. I can provide food for my family.  In fact, I can provide a feast.

I am grateful.  I am grateful for each hungry little mouth and for my husband who somehow, miraculously, feeds us all.  I am grateful for a roof over our heads and that each of us is alive and well.  I can truly say that on Thanksgiving, "It is well with my soul!"

Go away Christmas!  You'll get your turn!