This year, it was my side of the family's turn to be scattered...my parents went to my mom's parents' in CT, one sister went to her hubby's parents' in DE, and my other sister went to her hubby's parents' south of Albany. We stayed at our home and my mother and father-in-law arrived on Wednesday late afternoon. I ran my first Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning...over 6400 runners participated and it was cold, crowded and fun! I was very thankful to my father-in-law for driving me so I didn't have to worry about parking in downtown Troy!!
After warming up via hot shower and hot coffee, it was time to get down to business: cooking! Although I really missed my side of the family (and all of our traditions), I was thrilled to be with my children, my husband and his parents. Nothing makes you feel more grown up than making the Thanksgiving feast! (And cleaning up afterwards!!) I was glad my mother-in-law (MIL) was here to share the load. :)
Here's what we ate:
* turkey (a small bird this year, only about 13 lbs; hubby used my parents' fryer pot and cooked the turkey just perfectly!)
* mashed potatoes (I learned from my MIL to heat the milk before adding it - keeps the potatoes fluffy - great tip!)
* homemade gravy (my MIL made this with lots of veggies - delish!)
* corn
* olives/raw veggies dish
* cranberry (jelly, canned)
* cranberry/orange made by my MIL - yum!!
* roasted sweet potatoes & mushrooms with thyme & parsley
* garlic-roasted green beans with shallots & almonds
* butternut squash
* stuffing (my MIL is famous for this and she had to make a fresh batch this morning since we finished every scrap of it yesterday!)
And for dessert -
* pumpkin gingersnap parfaits (my contribution)
* pecan pie (we actually got to dig into this on Wednesday night...my MIL used a great recipe!!)
* blueberry cheesecake (hubby made this in our bread maker)
And just like that, the meal was over and it was time to do the sinkful of dishes! Hubby and FIL took the Herd on a walk, so my MIL and I could clean in peace...quite some time later, everything was back in its place. I even took down all of the Thanksgiving decorations last night, ready to decorate for Christmas today and tomorrow. Dear hubby doesn't know it yet, but I'll be hauling out all of the outdoor decorations later...why not spend tomorrow doing the outdoor decorating as a family?
Yum! It makes me hungry reading this.
ReplyDeleteI want to get a bread maker but I don't know anything about them. Anything I should think of before just grabbing the first one I see?
he he giggle giggle :) i like that you secretly planned to do outdoor decorating ;)
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing your day! you ROCK! i am so impressed by your perseverence with running and shredding! it's no wonder you are looking GREAT! and staying healthy for you and your family :)
The Zojirushi bread-maker we got was highly rated by actual users. I have to say, we've had it since last Christmas and use it regularly. Although we use it to make bread dough, we stopped using it to make a complete cooked bread loaf about 6 months ago (The crust was too crunchy for the kids). We cook the bread in the oven instead. But it makes making dough simple.
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