Wow. I never appreciated how truly exhausting Thanksgiving is until this year! My husband's family (parents, brother and future sis-in-law) all came to stay with us, and I had the whole week off school, so I was in total Thanksgiving Mode. This meant I made no less than 7 grocery store trips, cleaned and did a ton of cooking! Let me first say that I really do enjoy all of this, especially when I can do everything while the kids are at daycare! I hope that does not make me a terrible Mom, but having three kids at home while trying to do any of this would be about as productive as trying to shop and cook alone in a body cast.
So, I set to work in the 6 hours before the family arrived on Wednesday so I could have less to do on actual Thanksgiving day. I made spinach dip, hummus, 2 batches of pumkin bars (1 to give away to the kids' teachers), lasagne, peeled and diced about 8 lbs of potatoes, began brining our turkey, cooked sweet potatoes for Wed. night dinner, and chopped all the root veggies for a dish for Thursday (potatoes, turnups, rutabaga, carrots, squash). And, besides 2 lessons I learned, it was pretty crisis free.
Two Lessons Learned: Do not chop potatoes ahead of time because they turn brown. Mashed potatoes will taste the same, but will be ugly. And, do not put your potato peels down the drain as it will certainly clog and create a disgusting mess that your husband will have to whip out his mad plumbing skills and save the day and probably a couple hundred dollars. Also, if you look on the internet it seems as all of this is common knowledge and I apparently missed the news flash.
The brined turkey was awesome and everything was as it should be for Thanksgiving dinner. My mother-in-law made stuffing and pie, and my brother-in-law and fiance made some very tasty brussel sprout chips. We have much to be thankful for, but also remember those who have not had such a smooth holiday. One of my co-workers lost her son-in-law on Thanksgiving day, my cousin lost her grandmother a few days before, we found out our good friends' newborn daughter had to have emergency surgery for a life-threatening heart condition (she survived), I remembered by cousin who died unexpectedly eleven years ago around this holiday and my great uncle who died a year ago. But, even with a little bit of a dark cloud around the day, I was thankful to be with family and friends, have healthy children, a job, a home, and food on our table. We are truly blessed.
So, I set to work in the 6 hours before the family arrived on Wednesday so I could have less to do on actual Thanksgiving day. I made spinach dip, hummus, 2 batches of pumkin bars (1 to give away to the kids' teachers), lasagne, peeled and diced about 8 lbs of potatoes, began brining our turkey, cooked sweet potatoes for Wed. night dinner, and chopped all the root veggies for a dish for Thursday (potatoes, turnups, rutabaga, carrots, squash). And, besides 2 lessons I learned, it was pretty crisis free.
Two Lessons Learned: Do not chop potatoes ahead of time because they turn brown. Mashed potatoes will taste the same, but will be ugly. And, do not put your potato peels down the drain as it will certainly clog and create a disgusting mess that your husband will have to whip out his mad plumbing skills and save the day and probably a couple hundred dollars. Also, if you look on the internet it seems as all of this is common knowledge and I apparently missed the news flash.
The brined turkey was awesome and everything was as it should be for Thanksgiving dinner. My mother-in-law made stuffing and pie, and my brother-in-law and fiance made some very tasty brussel sprout chips. We have much to be thankful for, but also remember those who have not had such a smooth holiday. One of my co-workers lost her son-in-law on Thanksgiving day, my cousin lost her grandmother a few days before, we found out our good friends' newborn daughter had to have emergency surgery for a life-threatening heart condition (she survived), I remembered by cousin who died unexpectedly eleven years ago around this holiday and my great uncle who died a year ago. But, even with a little bit of a dark cloud around the day, I was thankful to be with family and friends, have healthy children, a job, a home, and food on our table. We are truly blessed.
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