A turkey weekend

For the second year in a row, we hosted the family Thanksgiving dinner. This means 20 people at our house gorging on turkey, stuffing, and dessert. Nothing beats it!

Uncle D. arrived the night before so we had a good visit with him, and F got to play with her look-a-like uncle. He even got a hug out of her. Of course, G and D drank two bottles of red wine, which meant a trip to the liquor store the next day to restock for company.

Sunday morning, G. got up and stuck the 17 lb bird in the oven. He tried a new recipe involving about a pound of butter under the skin of the turkey, no stuffing, and some sausages for extra fat (because the butter wasn't enough). He heard how to cook a turkey on the radio, and decided to follow the advice of no covering for the turkey. I was just happy that I got to sleep in.

Then, I took F to church since it was my first day volunteering for the Sunday School. After church, F and I were walking across the parking lot when she noticed the priest getting into someone's car. She asked, "Why is the priest going in their car?"

So, I said, "Maybe they're having him for Thanksgiving dinner."

She paused for a second, then asked, "They're eating the priest?"

On our way home, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some butter and flowers. (Last-minute trip number 1.)

After we got home, D, G, and I set up the tables for all our guests and kept an eye on the very yummy looking turkey. I tried unsuccessfully to keep the guys away from the wine.

Guests started arriving about 1:00, and we stuck more stuff in the oven, including the traditional sweet potatoes with little marshmallows on top....heaven!

We then sent D and P out on a wine run (last-minute trip number 2). A mission of mercy really.

At about 1:30, I asked Mom if she'd brought the potatoes. Her "Oh shit!" precipitated another trip to the grocery store to pick up instant mashed potatoes (last-minute trip number 3). Having never had instant mashed potatoes, I was skeptical. But, they actually tasted really good.

By 2:00, we were ready to eat and the gorging began. The kids were very well-behaved. They arrived from playing to eat dinner. Then, took off again until dessert. At which point we discovered that F likes pumpkin pie. As she said, "I didn't know I liked pumpkin pie either."

After dinner, the weather was so nice that we booted the kids outside to play, and everyone else followed. Gorgeous! H stayed inside to get sloshed on wine, and generally entertain the masses, and everyone tried to fit in more dessert...groans ensued.

So, once again, we survived turkey weekend and had an excellent family get-together, with only 3 last-minute trips to the store.

Food, wine, and family--the secret ingredients to any good holiday.