 |
| How else would you start off Thanksgiving morning? |
For the first time in a long time (as in, I can't even remember the last time; it may have been during COVID), I actually felt like cooking Thanksgiving dinner. And I was excited about it! I wasn't stressed; I organized myself and went from there. Well, I should say I semi-organized myself. I had to take a couple of quick trips to the grocery store to get some things I forgot. (So much for being organized!)
Tuesday was baking day: pecan pie and pumpkin roll. I kept them in the refrigerator until Thanksgiving Day. I took the pie out earlier in the day on Thanksgiving to take the chill out of it before serving. Wednesday was "get everything ready to cook" day. I delegated the cooked veggies to YS & DIL since that's my least favorite thing to do. I've been accused of not knowing how to cook vegetables, so...yep, delegate it is! The sweet potato casserole, dressing, and deviled eggs were put in the refrigerator.
Wednesday night, I got out the pots and set the table. We went with a simple setting. In reality, I just didn't think ahead on this one. It's not my gift, for sure.
By noon on Thanksgiving Day, this was how my kitchen looked:
By noon, everything was ready to go. The veggie tray was put in the refrigerator, and I made sure to thaw out the rolls. (Yeah, me!) I had a brief moment of insanity when I considered making the rolls, but I regained it pretty quickly. Yes, that is StoveTop Stuffing and gravy in a jar...don't judge. I put in waaaaay too much broth in the Southern Dressing, and even after adding more crackers & bread, I wasn't happy with it. So it was dumped in the garbage, and OS ran to the store. Some things aren't worth the stress. I made a note on the recipe for future reference.
 |
| I'm trying something new...turkey breast in the slow cooker. It turned out perfectly; just a few minutes under the broiler before serving browned it nicely. |
 |
| I started cooking hams in the slow cooker years ago. |
My thoughts on using the slow cooker for the meats are two-fold: 1) it frees up the oven for other things since I only have a single oven, and 2) they don't dry out. Well, as long as you remember to put water in the bottom of the pot for the ham. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything. 😜
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner. Since it was cold outside, OS built a fire in the fireplace. My house has 2: one upstairs and one downstairs. I love my "real" fireplaces; the only thing I don't love about them is where they are located. The previous (and first) owner used the kitchen area (where my table is) as a sitting area, so the fireplace wasn't in such an awkward place. Not that she used it much; we had to have a chimney sweep come in and get all of the birds out of the chimney once we bought the house. But, I'm digressing...
 |
| Picture courtesy of OS; his dog, Smokey, is checking things out |
 |
| Pre-dinner drink to remember the fellow pilgrims who were on the Greece Pilgrimage |
 |
| Thanksgiving Dinner. Photobomb by Girl Dog. |
 |
| Pumpkin Roll is always a hit. We also had Coconut Flan, made by DIL. It was absolutely delicious! |
 |
| The family. Smiles all around! |
In the Thanksgiving Dinner picture, you'll notice some deviled eggs are missing. And I think you can see what I mean by the fireplace being in an odd place. I would love to have a big comfy reading chair in there. Maybe when my niece is ready for the china hutch, and I'm able to have a little more room. {sigh}
After dinner, the boys sat around the table and talked while the dishes were done and the dishwasher loaded. (Typical, right?) YS & DIL had to leave a little early since YS had to be at work very early. OS, MS & GF, and I sat around the kitchen table enjoying the fire and talking. It was a very good day, indeed!
