We did it!

A lovely snowfall on my birthday Saturday put me in the mood to stay indoors and prepare for our family Thanksgiving feast. As Tim and his friend Phil worked in the garage, I answered the phone by saying, "It's for me, it's my birthday!" and worked on getting the dinner and the house ready. Tim kept the door open from the garage to the kitchen, so conversations were sometimes interrupted by noisy drills. But, by day's end, Tim and Phil had a new platform built and a new sink installed in the garage. Mark's room (they took down his ceiling to have access to the pipes for the sink) still needs to be put back together, but it's taking shape.

I was up till 1:30 Saturday night, preparing pies and making mashed potatoes, cranberries and stuffing, but it really paid off on Sunday. I got up at 5:30 to get the turkey to get ready to put in the electric roasting pan and put the apple pies in the oven. Raven and I walked, then I put the light wheat bread mix in the bread maker. I put the turkey neck and juices on the stove on low to prepare the gravy stock.

Amazingly, the food was all ready about the same time (of course the pies were done early so the oven was free to cook green bean casserole and warm up the potatoes and the stuffing). Grandpa arrived to show Mark how to carve the turkey (Tim begged off) and Grandma helped get the gravy to the perfect consistency. Mark had also made the pumpkin pie, which was again delicious (he made the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie on Thursday, too--did I mention that in an earlier blog?).

After we ate, I opened birthday presents from my in-laws. A beautiful red blouse, a black velvety skirt and pants, and some wonderful bath products were very much appreciated.

It was a terrific day, exhausting, but worth it. I am thankful for my family who helped, and I must also thank my friend Krissy for her turkey, gravy and mashed potato recipes.

I think I may be hosting Thanksgiving again....we'll see--I've got a year to recover!

Till next time,


Suzi