I have been a bad blogger lately- actually a non blogger!
What can I say- life is busy so let me catch up on the latest holiday....
Thanksgiving:
This was hubby and my first Thanksgiving together- married. We loved it! I wanted to start a tradition of making breakfast at home for the holidays before the craziness of traveling for the day began. So I made a quiche the night before and heated it up Thanksgiving morning. I didn't want to stress out if we were not on time that morning so pre-cooking was the way to go! My husband was excited that I want to start traditions like this with our family- love that he is like that! Tradition- started!
Next, we headed out to my family's house (about 45 min drive) for the "lunch" portion of the day. I spent some time in my mother's kitchen a couple of days prior to Thanksgiving to help her cook and get a few dishes together
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Please note- part of helping my Mom included us attempting to "brine" the Turkey for our first time ever. Number one- I've never done the turkey thing at all so it's all new to me. My mother has never brined a turkey so we were total novices. You basically emerge the "fresh not frozen" turkey in your mix of yummy spices with water and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.
Starting off- we didn't have enough room in the refrigerator for the turkey once it was to be plunged into the water mix... enter, the cooler. Next, she had two frozen gallons of water to use in the cooler instead of ice (not sure why she had those two come to think of it but whatever). Back to the cooler- the plug was missing (you see our challenges here)... so I asked, do you have plastic wrap and a few elastic bands? Yep she did, check! We didn't want to just throw the turkey in the cooler and add water so the next thing I know Mom is pulling out this jumbo sized zip lock bag that she and my Dad bought for some reason. So, okay.
Here we are in the kitchen with a cooler on the floor holding a "fresh" turkey that is in a jumbo zip lock bag with two frozen gallon jugs on either side- and Mother is standing at the sink with her sink sprayer- spraying water into the jumbo zip lock bag that's on the floor in the cooler.... the other hand on her hip, of course. In that moment- I couldn't help but laugh- is this really how the directions lead us? I could just imagine whoever wrote the original directions to doing this turkey to be completely confused over the snap shot that I was looking at in front of me! We might as well have been out in the yard with a garden hose at this point!
Well folks, the brined turkey was- a success! It was ready EARLY not just on time, super yummy, and not dry! Hey, sometimes being resourceful pays off!
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Along with helping my Mom prepare the dishes I made a few firsts that I am quite proud of: Pumpkin pie, and apple pie. I guess neither are any "huge" deal- but to make these things for the first time is a feel good kind of thing- especially for your family over the holidays!
We thoroughly enjoyed our "early" Thanksgiving lunch- all of the food was delicious!
Amidst all of the joy of this holiday- there were a few things that I wish could have been different.
My brother was not able to make it home- he is in college and like any other college kid he is low on funds. His ride fell through about 24 hours prior to the date- he tried but could not make other arrangements to get home. I know he's an adult but I just don't like that he had to be away from his family. The other thing- my grandparents on my Dad's side. They both have dementia and the decline is so sad. Dad brought them home from their assisted living place (which has turned out to be a bad place for them- another post for another time) and one of the first things I noticed- it looked like my Grandpa had an accident in his pants... how sad is this. He is such a sweet man and hardly ever gets a chance to talk because my Nana can't stop talking. Nana for all that she says- is sad too... she called me the wrong name a number of times.
As much as I wish I could change some things-- Thanksgiving at my family's house was wonderful and with it being the first with my husband as "family" there- I truly cherish it!
Once we cleaned our plates and helped clean the kitchen- we were off to see my husbands family. His Grandmother hosted this year-- we got there in time to give hugs, say hello, and make a quick trip to the other Grandmother's house and back again. Because we live near this side of his family- I have been able to grow close to them. It is a wonderful feeling to already love and be a part of another family. We laughed, ate Thanksgiving "dinner", had desert and headed home. Sleep was sweet that night and as I said "thank you" in my prayers I am sure I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
This Thanksgiving was such a blessing for me... it is the first for me as a married woman with my new family- and a great "heart warmer" for me to see my husband with my family. Although there are things I wish I could change about how life is sometimes, still, I have more to be thankful for this season than I deserve. For now, that's where I stand!
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