Catch up #4: Thanksgiving

In my State Department Roundup post, I briefly mentioned what we had planned for Thanksgiving. But here I can get into depth.

Here we found almost everything we needed for the actual Thanksgiving dinner. My sister in law did need to bring down french fried onions and pumpkin for pie. Other than that I found everything I needed for the meal, and John bought a few finishing touches for the tables. In all, we spent (apart from the turkey) over $400. It's definitely cheaper to ship stuff I think. Anyway, I have to figure out a way to spend less next year.

I usually work Tuesdays and Wednesdays but I took the afternoon of Wednesday off so I could begin cooking. On Wednesday I made the homemade cream of mushroom soup for the green bean casserole and then made the bean mixture and I made the sweet potato casserole. These two things took longer than I thought they would because I had to re-make the green bean casserole because fresh, not canned beans, were requested. That's all I got accomplished that day. I also made stuffing on Wednesday. Next year I won't be doing this because the next day it was dry and not as appealing as it should've been.

On Thanksgiving, I had P make the mashed potatoes (because she's the only one here that makes good ones), and she helped clean up after me every time I made a mess, and I made a lot of messes. John made the pecan pie, and I made the cinnamon rolls and quiches for breakfast the next day. I also made homemade rolls because we couldn't find rolls in the can or in the bakery.

John's brother and his wife came in at about 1:00 that afternoon and they were at our house before 2:00. It was so great to see them and their daughter (more about their visit in the next post). Our Peace Corps Volunteers arrived promptly at 3:00 (the time I requested they be here). We were supposed to have dinner at 4:00, but my turkey wasn't done. So dinner was late...think after 5:00.

We asked P to eat with us, and she finally did. She wanted to eat in the kitchen but we finally convinced her to eat at our table. Dinner was great, it felt so much like home to have family there and to have the traditional dinner. Great conversation, good pie, great holiday.

Our complete Thanksgiving Menu:


Turkey
Stuffing
Corn
Mashed Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Cranberry Sauce
Rolls
pickles/olives
pecan pie
pumpkin pie
cherry pie

Morning After:
Homemade cinnamon rolls
quiche

Happy Thanksgiving

On the mushy note:

I have so much to be thankful for this year.

I love and am loved by a God who saved me.

I have an amazing husband who has an awesome job that's going to give our family so many great experiences over the years. I have a wonderful four year old son who has survived so much in his short life thus far, and has given me so much joy.

We've been through a lot in the last 28 1/2 years, but love is still present in our family. I'm thankful that I have a mom, dad, and sister that love me and I love back. Also, who can forget the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Cousins-in-law that fill my life with joy whenever I see them. For the last eight years I've had a family-in-law that I love.

I'm thankful for my friends. I've made many friends over the years. Some of them I still have. One of my friends I've known since I was about three years old. Some of my best friends I've known for only two years.

All of you put joy into my life. I hope I do the same.

On the practical note:

My brother-in-law and his wife came into town late Tuesday night and we got to hang out with them yesterday. My mother and father-in-law arrive in about three hours and we'll have the whole family together. It's pretty rare for us to have this. In fact, we remembered last night that we were together at the end of January, beginning of February. It's really, really rare for all of us to be together two times in a year.

We're having a turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stove top (a family fav), corn, mashed potatoes, rolls, cranberries, and the must have, olives and pickles. It's nothing fancy, and I hope I do it right. My mother-in-law is bringing her pecan pie (John's favorite), and I'm going to ask her to make the gravy. I don't eat gravy, so I've never made it, and I don't want to wreck it for those who do enjoy gravy with their potatoes.

Anywho...Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!!