The Kids Came For Thanksgiving...

For the first time in 10 years we had Thanksgiving at our house.  The KC Kid came in a week early due to her job and the Grans with parents in tow came in very early Wednesday morning, 4 A.M. to be exact, bringing what appeared to be the flu for dad and the boys with sinus and ear infections.  Both boys and parents ended up with Fifths Disease.  But in spite of all the illness we still had a great time. So far KC, her Dad and I have managed to escape any illnesses however my cheeks look like I have been heavily slapped which is one of the symptoms of Fifths Disease. It's a wait and see kind of thing which is normally associated with children but adults can get it.


I know lots of people have their Thanksgiving dinner around noon.  We are in the 6% category who have it after 6 P.M.  This is the first year we have ever had a fresh turkey and I used Ree Drummond's recipe for the brine and cranberry sauce.  Ree and her husband are the 17th largest landowners in the USA and live near Pawhuska, OK. She has the Cooking show called The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network (two different links here folks). I also used her Grandmother's recipe for green beans and tomatoes which was awesome.  Thanks Ree! I think I have a new family favorite.

Wednesday afternoon I started some of the prep work for the dinner the following day.  Here is the turkey in a brine bag in a cooler with the brine. 

The Bird is getting pampered! All 13 lbs of it

After getting the bird all prepped I sealed the bag and stuck the cooler out on our generator shed outside as it was colder out there than in the refrigerator besides I didn't have room in the refrigerator for the bird.

Next I prepared Ree's homemade Cranberry Sauce.  
Boy is it easy.  I never liked the whole berry sauce out of a can but this was awesome with just 4 ingredients.

Homemade Cranberry sauce,
Mmm this is good stuff Maynard!

Next morning I moseyed my way to the kitchen and stared prepping the sausage stuffing after having a cup of Joe.

 

Yams diced with Olive Oil with
salt and pepper

Sausage, Bacon, Onions, Mushrooms, Celery and Apples
With chicken broth.

Next I finished prepping the turkey and stuffed it with apples and oranges. After getting the bird in the oven I finished prepping the Brussels Sprouts and Heather made a lovely dish of Mac and Cheese for the family. 

Half way through the cooking of the bird I removed it from the oven to baste it in a mixture of butter, finely chopped rosemary and slivered orange peel.  Back into the oven the bird went to finish up the cooking.

We finished the regular dressing for the boys, gravy, roasted the Brussels sprouts, made the yams with marshmallows. Heather made the regular green       bean casserole and I baked the sausage dressing while the bird was resting. Whew!

Most of the dishes covered on the sideboard
and waiting to be served

J said grace and we ate.  Boy was it good and was I ever tired.  After dinner we got the food all put up and Dave and the girls cleaned the kitchen.  Andy decided to use his dad as a pillow while we were watching a show on TV. Then we hit the hay. It didn't take me long to pass out. 

I don't do Black Friday. Never have, never will as I don't like crowds.  However the girls went out in the afternoon and found some good buys for the boys and came home with their treasures.

Saturday was the trip to the Natural History Museum which is across the road from us.  We all walked over and if there were wall along the sidewalk, Noah would be bouncing off of them.  J was having a tough time as his back was out of whack and was battling a migraine headache.  We also took pictures of the boys for Christmas pictures. Noah is every bit boy who has a mind of his own. We did get some good pictures however but we had to work for it. 

Mastodon

Pom Pom and Noah

The museum has a wonderful Discovery room for children and lots of fun things for them to do and explore.

Skeleton in Discovery Room

After wandering the museum for a couple of hours we walked back to the house, fed the 4 dogs and went to Chuy's for dinner. After dinner J helped get Dave's computer back up and running so Dave is one happy man at the moment.

Today while J was recouping I took the kids outside to play as I felt they needed to run off some energy and get some fresh air. Noah loves to pick the bark off of trees and Andy likes to follow suit.

The boys in their Yoda hats!

Once back inside their mom and dad were busy getting the car packed up and ready to go. With just a few things left to pack we went to Pei Wei's for dinner. I got the Thai Lettuce wraps and enjoyed them very much. Noah tried his hand at chopsticks and Andy did the two fisted shove.
 

 We got back to the house took a few family shots and said our good-byes.  Heather was having to drive home as J's back just wasn't going to let him drive so I'm sure he will be seeing the Chiropractor tomorrow to get a much needed adjustment.

Slowly the house is returning to normal, KC Kid is almost finished reading the Hunger Games Catching Fire, the dogs are doing what they do best, napping and I am starting to feel rugged as I type this blog. 

The last few pages of Catching Fire

Matter of fact she and her dad went out to Wally World to find the third book of the trilogy and to get cream and a few things from the store.

What am I thankful for?  I have a wonderful family that I cherish. My husband who is my rock, my job, food on our table and a country that I can worship in. I am truly blessed!

What are you thankful for?

387 day till retirement...