Thanksgiving In Pictures, Part 2

Everything's More Fun with Babies!

My brother and his wife are very brave. They took a four hour plane ride to come for Thanksgiving with their two and a half year-old sons.





I got in a BUNCH of trouble for getting up from dinner to fix PB&J's,



but they didn't seem too interested in what WE were eating.



They are very energetic

and HIGHLY entertaining



The boys were very interested in the dog but a bit timid.



But once they go the hang of patting gently





Kisses were next!



Can I say borrowed babies are especially precious?

Thanksgiving in Pictures

Turkey with stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, creamed onions, brussel sprouts, FOUR kinds of pie. Marvelous.
We were twenty for dinner plus the twins. My sisters helped with prep


Sib #2 made forty eight crescent rolls fit on two pans. It is a talent I assure you.
Sib #3 helped me peel TEN FREAKING POUNDS of potatoes. We LOVE mashed potatoes!

He doesn't look like a twenty-two-pounder does he?

He got some help from an additional turkey breast and I spent a great deal of time looking for more dishes.

The Saint spent a great deal of time opening wine.




Everyone else?
Spent a great deal of time


Enjoying the wine!
All in all a very satisfactory meal!

Cousin Time

We had much merriment over the Thanksgiving holiday. One of the most enjoyable aspects was all the “Cousin Time”. My two oldest nieces (Sib #2’s girls) are very near in age to the Precious Daughters and they’ve always been close.

“Cousin Time” became more important as the girls got older and became busier with school, jobs and activities. They didn’t see each other as often as they would have liked even though we were all in the same town. Now with three away at college (all different schools) they don’t see each other much at all.

"Cousin Time" makes getting together on holidays that much sweeter.

Simply the best

I don’t know about you but this was about the best Thanksgiving I can remember in years! There are many, MANY aspects of Thanksgiving I have always enjoyed immensely:

1. It is the holiday when we can count on most, or all, of my siblings and families being together.
2. It is about Food and Wine and Beer.
3. There are NO GIFTS, therefore NO SHOPPING.
4. It is a four day weekend, whoopee!

For the past umpteen years my family has taken the show on the road down to my parents. It was not without its own brand of stress, but generally a fun time.

I’m sure you all recall that this year my parents are living a bit….um…closer.

People it was awesome! By seven o’clock Wednesday evening everyone had hit town. My brothers, sisters, spouses, daughters, nieces and nephews. My mother had dinner for everyone on Wednesday night. I hosted Thursday and my sister had everyone for a big breakfast on Friday morning. Then we took the entire clan out for Mexican Friday night. Don’t you love a progressive holiday?

In between we ate and imbibed with whoever happened to be in our respective homes at any given moment. We mostly walked back and forth between homes as the weather was perfect! We even went to a couple of museums, played some games, spent some time at the park and of course watched a whole lot of football.

By five o’clock on Saturday all had departed to their cities of residence except my daughters. We were able to get in church and a movie on Sunday with them before they headed back to school.

I felt so energized by the whole shebang that I (with the help of The Saint) did five loads of laundry and got two thirds of the Christmas decorations up before collapsing last night!

Christmas you say? BRING IT!

This and That - Holiday Edition

Things I've been doing:

• Judging a debate tournament
• Thanksgiving food shopping
• Changing sheets and airing out rooms
• Sampling wine
• Enjoying meals with Precious Youngest – home for Thanksgiving break
• Taking the Terrorist for a Day of Beauty
• Big ass Costco run – God I love that place!
• Counting chairs, plates, napkins, wine glasses, etc.
• Coordinating the out-of-town arrivals of/accommodations for three nephews, two brothers, one sister, one niece, one brother-in-law, one sister-in-law and my step-nephew and his new bride

Things I will be doing:

• Picking up the cases of wine we ordered
• Cooking, cooking, and more cooking
• Baking - only one cake but still…
• Getting a manicure
• Last minute grocery shopping
• Runs to the airport
• Enjoying meals with Precious Oldest – home for Thanksgiving break
• Oh yeah, more cooking
• Laundry, laundry and more laundry

How are your holiday preparations coming along?

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families. I'll be sharing my day with the Saint, the Precious Daughters, my parents and grandmother, three siblings and assorted nieces and nephews. Good food, good wine and a lot of laughs. Hope you do the same!

Happy Thanksgiving

In the name of NaBlopomo I'm sneaking off to meet my minimum daily requirement. with a house full of people its harder to do than one might think!

The house of full of wonderful aromas and we've already cracked open the wine. Sib #4 and Sib #2 are here. We miss #3 and #5 but will percevere.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful day!!!

Family Tradition

The menu has not altered for over thirty years. Set in stone. Unchangeable.
Turkey
Stuffing (Sausage/Onion/Celery, nothing fancy)
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
White Shoe Peg Corn
Brussel Sprouts
Creamed Onions
Sweet Potatoes
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (I know, right? It is the only time we ever eat them!)
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie

We've already started cooking. Sib#2 is in charge of pie. Thank God because my attempts at crust are more like shoe leather than pastry. I do the sweet potatoes and the cranberry sauce at home and bring it with me.

For years I labored under the impression that I didn't like sweet potatoes because I'd only had them coated in brown sugar and marshmallows. I had an epiphany about ten or so years ago and came up with this recipe:

Take about five pounds of sweet potatoes, wash, prick with fork. Fill a big ole pot with water and let them boil until fork tender. Dump them in an ice bath and the skins will slough right off. Put peeled potatoes back in pot and mash in two sticks of butter and two cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Add sour cream to desired consistency. Salt and pepper too. Place in greased 9 x 13 backing dish. (This can be done several days ahead, at this point cover and refrigerate.) Bake uncovered in a 350 oven for thirty to forty minutes.

My cranberry sauce is pretty awesome too if I do say so myself! I take three bags of cranberries, wash them and pick out any that are going soft. I zest five large juice oranges and set the zest aside. I juice the oranges and add more OJ if necessary to bring the liquid to two cups. Combine the berries and juice with two cups of sugar. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for ten minutes. Add the zest the last five minutes. I'm telling you people, good stuff.

Today my mother will take all the yucky turkey parts you don't eat and simmer them in chicken broth with carrots, onion, celery and a bay leaf or two. We'll use that stock for the stuffing and the gravy. Tonight we'll make the stuffing and the vinaigrette for the brussel sprouts.

First thing tomorrow the bird will get stuffed, coated in butter and put in the oven. We'll peel five pounds of potatoes. We'll make cream sauce for the onions. The brussel sprouts will get blanched, coated in vinaigrette, covered with grated Parmesan cheese and broiled.

Make the gravy, mash the potatoes, heat everything through and we're ready to eat. I'll be pouring Pinot Noir and a very nice German Riesling.

I love standing elbow to elbow in the kitchen with my mother and my sisters. Cooking, drinking wine, laughing. I have a lot to be thankful for.