Our First Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Seeing how it was our first Thanksgiving in the new house, we wanted to host our own Thanksgiving here, instead of going somewhere. So we thought of a few families to invite, but man this must have been the hardest part, everyone was going out of town or had other plans. But I guess that is the way it needed to be. The Sunday before Michael and I were getting a little discouraged, I had already bought a 14.6 lb turkey and I was bound to make it. Finally we decided to invite the Reeds over with their four kids. They are an awesome family, but since their oldest is almost 12, we didn't put them on the top of our list. Anyway, we called and they didn't have any plans. They were actually very touched that we would invite them, since they were going to be spending Thanksgiving alone. We also called another couple, with their 4 month old baby boy, and they also didn't have plans. She is from Japan and told me she was just going to buy turkey lunch meat for Thanksgiving. Needless to say we were all happy to be able to help each other out. Well, once we had our guests coming now, 6 adults, 5 kids, and 1 baby, it was time to decided what would be on our menu. So here it is: Turkey, gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn , cranberry sauce, paunch, and pie. I had our guests bring green bean casserole, jello salad, and more pies. It turned out awesome!! I am so sad I didn't take a picture of our table. Michael and I had set it with our beautiful dishes, nicely folded napkins, and a beautiful centerpiece. After we put everything away, I realized I hadn't taken a picture and was almost ready to put it back up. Oh well, I guess there is always next year.

I was really happy with how all of the food tasted. I was pretty nervous about it all, especially the turkey. I have made whole chicken before, but never a 14.6 lb turkey. Luckily a family friend has this great foil pouch method. I rubbed the bird down with a homemade herb butter, poured a bunch of chicken broth on it, sealed up the tin foil and let him go. I think I cooked him a little long, but everyone gave lots of compliments. I guess food always tastes better to the one who doesn't cook it. Other than the turkey the thing I was most nervous about was timing everything right so it would be hot and ready when they all got here. To help with that I got out some graph paper and charted out oven temp, time to cook, and when things should go in and out. It really turned out to be a life saver. My other life saver was the fact our next door neighbors were out of town, and was feeding their dog, which gave me access to their oven. (note to self, when buying dream kitchen, make sure it has more than one oven. :))

On a whole everything turned out great. Everyone really was helpful and seemed to have a good time. The older kids loved have the Wii to play, and Emma loved running around and watching everyone play with her toys. I really look forward to years down the road when I get better at making my turkey, and continue to share it with wonderful people. What a great time of year!!

Oh and the other thing that made the day so great was the weather, believe it or not over the weekend we had highs in the upper 40's!!! It felt like Thanksgiving should be. :)