The turkey was cooked by Nana. She had a 12lb Turkey in her freezer so we decided that would be enough. It was and Moriah's comment on the turkey was "I think this is the first year I have actually liked the turkey, it is not dry like normal." Coming from a 12 yr old very picky eater, I think that pretty much sums up the turkey.
The dressing always gets made by Nana as well. I can make Stovetop, but I have never been impressed with my stuffing skills. Maybe I will try working on that this year and seeing if I can come up with something. Then again, my mom's is pretty dang good, maybe I will just keep relying on her skills.
Mashed potatoes seem to have fallen into Shauna's court each year, and she does a great job. I am not a fan of mashed potatoes that are too mashed, I like a few bumps in mine and Shauna does it just right. She said John added a package of Potato Pearls and I think we had enough mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and Christmas put together, they were in a stock pot, and it was almost full. I loved them!
Gravy--My mom said that came with the Turkey so she got the job and it was good. It was a chunky gravy--it had...stuff in it, not sure of what all it had in it, but all that matters is that when it is poured over the mashed potatoes and the stuffing you moan and groan, and this gravy had the right effect.
Cranberry sauce. Moriah got the duty, mainly because I found a recipe I wanted to try and it was easy, so I had her make it. She does not like cranberry sauce and predicted that it would be gross. I had a can of cranberry sauce for back-up just in case. When I went to get that and bring it out it turned out to be a can of beets. I was really hoping Moriah's prediction was off. She has informed us that the reason adults like things that kids do not is because our taste buds are damaged and so we can't taste all the crap (her words not mine) in the foods we eat. Well fortunately for all of our damaged taste buds we enjoyed the sauce, and I was actually kinda impressed by it. That recipe was from--guess...ok you were right, the Pioneer Woman.
Olives--I went ahead and took care of this. Didn't want to put that kind of stress on others during the busy holiday season. They turned out perfect! :)
Deviled eggs--not sure if this is a Thanksgiving requirement in other places, but I just wouldn't feel the same if I didn't get some. I got to thinking while I was making them that they are actually a pain in the butt to make. It takes a lot of time to peel the eggs. I had Nelly do most of them, which had an effect on the overall shape of the eggs in the end, but not the flavor. Is there an easy way to peel eggs and not take half the egg white with you? Anyway, while I was eating them I kept thinking "why don't we have these more often?" The answer of course lies in my thoughts that I had while I was making them.
I also felt bad that we didn't really have a vegetable so I opened up a can of my pickled green beans that I canned earlier this year and we all snacked on those. They were great. I will have to get that recipe on here. My dad liked stacking a green bean on top of an egg and eating them that way. He thought 2 green beans per egg was perfect.
Of course I have already mentioned my amazing experience with the rolls. You can read about that on this page.
That just leaves dessert.
Pumpkin pie came from Shauna. She said it only took John 2 tries going to the grocery store to get the right milk--evaporated, not sweetened condensed.
Apple pie--Shauna started it, but Naomi finished it and it looked pretty as a pie--oh wait, it was a pie. Well it was great and Naomi had a good reason to be proud of that pie!
Pecan pie--two words..Pioneer Woman. Her recipe for the pie that will make you cry was wonderful. Drew thought is was just a little sweet, but he normally thinks pecan pie is WAY too sweet, so he thought this was a big improvement. Next time I make it he wants me to use more pecans. So I will try that. The important part of this recipe was to chop up the nuts. Here is the link to her pie on her site. I also want to mention her amazing pie crust. I actually liked the pie crust and went in search of it on my kids' plate. It really was that good--so flaky!
Am I forgetting anything--oh yeah, my Peanut Butter Pie. I definitely used the wrong recipe. Check out my post on Peanut Butter pie and read how changing one ingredient can make or break a pie!
The kids were all well behaved. I got to photograph baby Eli. We all enjoyed the day, and we even took a family photo. I am no professional, but they are all in there! Then we raced off to the movies and watched Tangled. That was fun, and not near as busy as I was expecting.
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