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So how was everyone's Thanksgiving?
Mine went really well! As is customary, my grandfather pretty much took over when he got here - everything is done on his time and he controls the TV. I'm glad to have my tv back down to a normal volume and not on the history channel 24/7 lol.
I had my mom as a prep chef and my sister doing dishes, so the kitchen ran very smoothly. We had everything from scratch and it was phenomenal. Turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, brussels sprouts, cranberry relish, salad with cranberry vinaigrette, pumpkin pie and apple crisp. Amazingly it was all gluten-free, and I have to thank Shazzie for her stuffing recipe! It was a huge hit. We don't have Aleia's stuffing mix here, so I made bread crumbs out of Udi's bread and then shook them in a little tapioca starch so that when everything was combined the starch helped to congeal it all together. We ate on my grandmother's china that she gave me when I got married, so I think grandpap was glad to see that they're being used, even if it was a reminder that she isn't with us anymore. I would love to PIP our dinner but the picture is on my mom's camera and it may be awhile before I get it.
Re: So how was everyone's Thanksgiving?
We had three thanksgiving dinners over the course of the past week, so I'm officially turkeyed out!
Last Sunday, my hubby & I hosted our annual mock thanksgiving for about 15 of our closest friends & their families (spouses, kids, sisters, etc). We did a potluck this year which made everything pretty manageable (hectic nonetheless). We had all the traditional thanksgiving food plus pierogi (from my Romanian friends), gooey butter cake (holy heart attack on a platter, batman), roasted beets, and some gluten free treats. Lots of wine & laughs made for a memorable night. It was the first that we've celebrated in our new home & I can't wait for next year!
Thursday was at the in-laws. DH's family has no shortage of kids, so the house was abuzz with the screams, laughs and squeals of 8 little munchkins chasing after each other. The food was standard "all American" thanksgiving faire (turkey, white bread stuffing, mashed sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce from scratch, Campbell's green bean casserole, two kinds of jello concoctions, glazed carrots & pumpkin pie)...the usual in their household. Despite grumbling to my friends that the meal was going to be essentially out of a box, I enjoyed myself. There was minimal family drama & I was officially inducted into their fam (the cousins, minus the one that no one likes, decided on a girls' night out in December...I've been with my hubby for almost 10 years & this is the first one I've been invited to). Oh, and the best part is that I taught our 4 and 8 year old cousins how to plank...one of them wanted to plank on the garbage can in my FIL's office & the other one (8 year old) planked on her great grandma's walker...priceless!
Friday, my dad, sister, her two daughters, sister's boyfriend, my nephew-in-law, his mom & brother took the train to downtown Chicago to look at the (disappointing this year) decorations at Marshall Field's/Macys and then walked down the Mag Mile to Oak Street...window shopping/shopping shopping. It was fun, but I like it better when it's just my dad and me. The weather was incredibly warm, almost disgustingly so, and it didn't really feel like Christmas, but it was still fun getting to hang with the family, especially since we live all over now.
Sunday (today), we had Thanksgiving dinner number 3 at my parents' house with my sister, her boyfriend, my two nieces, nephew-in-law, his two brothers, his parents, and his best friend from childhood. My niece & her husband live in Colorado now & my nephew-in-law is being deployed in February, so his family wanted to spend as much time as physically possible with him & we were happy to spend time with his family. We had just a TON of food, all the usual thanksgiving food plus my sister's boyfriend's chicken & dumplings, which were to die for! He made enough for people to take home, so I've got lunch for the next couple of days :-). I think it's safe to say that I'm not going to have a craving for turkey until next year.
Thursday was a workday here in Australia, but I hosted a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for my in-laws and DH's best friends on Saturday. We had turkey roasts -- white & dark meat and gravy, cornbread dressing, and a crustless spinach quiche, with bakery croissants and honey butter, cranberry sauce, and pickles. I made a pumpkin pie and fresh whipped cream.
I think it went over well. Everyone said they had a good time. My MIL was commenting to DH's BFF that she always likes coming to my house for dinner, because it's always different, and it's always good. DH's BFF's husband kept commenting after dessert that he couldn't believe he actually ate pumpkin pie, and enjoyed it.
I was so happy everyone had a good time -- and I think they honestly did, as they arrived about 3:30 pm and stayed until after 9:00 pm! It busy for me -- I did everything myself, but I had a great time sharing my traditions with my Australia family.
Thanksgiving was nice. We started at my parents house, and it was just the imediate family (dad, mom, brother, me and DH). It was nice and quiet, and DH and I even discussed that maybe once we have kids, we'd only see my family on Thanksgiving (and then do more Christmas with DH's family).
Then, we headed over to SIL's house. It was ok. Food was good, but I didn't feel like it was that normal family interaction. It was a tight apartment, and it was just hard to talk to everyone.
The rest of our weekend was so busy, I'm glad I get to just relax tonight.
Ehhh, kinda boring. Our Publix turkey dinner was not that good. The stuffing was so watery I wanted to wring it out! I will not be doing that again.
Butplusalso, I baked cinnamon buns for our breakfast. As soon as I pulled them out of the oven I started thinking, "Gotta get the turkey in the oven." So I pulled out the roasting pan and saw out of the corner of my eye there was something on the stove I had to move. Picked it up annnnnd burned my index finger and thumb on the cinnamon bun pan that had been in the 400 degree oven not sixty seconds earlier.
So I spent the day seething on the couch while DH "cooked" the dinner.
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