Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was quite the event for us. It has been five years since the last time Mycal and I did Thanksgiving on our own as a family - and of course back then it was just the two of us. For some unexplainable reason I was really excited about this prospect. I was just looking forward the the relative peace and quiet of spending some great time together as family. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday so I of course I had all these plans of making it just right and I was pretty sure I could pull it off.

I started by getting my grocery shopping done adequately early so I wouldn't have to deal with unrealistic crowds at the store. This went remarkably well. I suspect this was partially due to the fact that all three children fell asleep remarkably early into the endeavor. I had only gone a couple of aisles before I noticed Emmuska slumped over the steering wheel of the car cart she and Liberty were riding in. Soon after that Liberty was in the same position as Emmuska and Samuel, being snuggled up next to me in the baby carrier didn't take too long in following the girls example. As a side note I was rather impressed by how intriguing this scenario was to every other shopper. I don't think I passed more that one or two people in the store who didn't have something to say about the sleeping children. And there you have my children...always the phenomenon.

After that was getting the kitchen ready. I started by completely cleaning the dining room down to mopping the floor. Mind you what with little Samuel this is a task that hasn't been done in almost two months - sure I've cleaned spots as necessary because well let's face it with two kids four and under and a couple of dogs my floor gets plenty of mop time. Still this was the first time I went all out and moved the table to make sure I got everything. The result was stunning. (The key to really gratifying cleaning is to not do it for a while because then the results are extra good.) So here I had this sparkling dining room floor so I sensibly turned my attention to the kitchen. Within twenty-four hours a dog peed on the floor twice and Emmuska tracked poop from the back yard all over it. Seriously? I mean nothing that drastic happens in two months and then the same day that I mop it I end up mopping it three more times. I have understandably sworn off mopping my floor anymore - it's apparently bad luck. ;)

After getting the floors all clean I turned my attention to a spare table I have set up in the kitchen for extra preparation space. As is the nature of spare table space they have a way of just collecting stuff so I set to work and got the thing cleared off. (Honestly a much more remarkable task than you would imagine I was very proud of myself.) It was at this point that things took an ugly turn.

I had an appointment on the Monday before Thanksgiving, which was actually really good doing wonders to lift my spirit. However the journey didn't help the cold that was threatening to attack me. Liberty had gotten sick the preceding Thursday and Emmuska had followed suit on Friday. I managed to hold out until Monday but the trip down to town and the minimal level of strain involved in that (because as much fun as any event is going to be packing up three kids to get there is bound to test anybody - and I was going to a doctors appointment - not exactly the least taxing event already) pushed me over the edge. Tuesday I was completely miserable and Wednesday wasn't much better. By Thanksgiving I was now sure I wasn't going to die but still had to deal with the never ending nose blowing, necessary mouth breathing due to congestion, tender skin on the nose as a result of never ending blowing and all those residual aches and pains.

But it was okay! I was going to persevere and have an amazing Thanksgiving anyway! I had gotten my little turkey into a brine very late the night before. (Happy little side note - my turkey was in a wonderfully thawed state - no frozen bird this year! This might have been my happiest pre-Thanksgiving accomplishment.) I got up - not too obscenely early (Liberty had kindly slept in an extra half hour so it was actually pretty nice.) We ran to the grocery store to pick up a couple of things we might need then came back to get to work. Now everything I read said that this bird would take four hours to cook and since I've never had a turkey done early (in fact it's always been quite the opposite...I don't think I've ever been present for a turkey that was done on time - they alway seem to take a little extra time) so I figured I had at least that long to get the potatoes, rolls, stuffing etc. done as well as baths for the kids and a shower for self.

Yeah...not so much. I had an internal theremoniter tucked into my bird (thanks to my wonderful Mom!) and after only an hour and half it was telling me that I was almost done. I turned into the proverbial tornado flying around the kitchen to get everything else ready. Even after letting my turkey over cook a little I wasn't close to done. I finally pulled the bird out to let it rest (maybe I could finish everything else in fifteen minutes...right?) Let's just say that nobody burned their mouth on the meat portion of our meal. Still it turned out rather well. By the time I had everything else done the turkey was a really good temperature - still pretty hot just not so hot that it hurt. That being said it was amazing. It was a really good turkey - very moist and flavorful (a humble thanks to Alton Brown). The girls weren't too into it but that was fine by Mycal and I - we managed to polish the whole thing off by Monday. (I actually really liked having some leftovers to enjoy for a couple of days...another anomally for me.)

The winner of the dinner for me were these stuffed sweet potatoes courtesy of a quick foodnetwork.com search. Once again I couldn't talk anybody else into trying some so I got to savor all three that I made. These little suckers ended up being my dessert (as I didn't have enough time to whip up the pie I was going to make...) and that was fine by me because they were really good.

So I'm just thinking out loud here but some possible reasons why my turkey was done insanely early. 1) I had a baby who relies solely on self for nutrional suppliment so I had to stop cooking in order to satiate his hunger (not that in any way I begrudge that it just put me a little behind in preparations) while 2) I had messed up the roll recipe so had to quickly double it to fix said mistake, unexpectedly making that process much longer and 3) we didn't have any non family member waiting around for the turkey to finish so we could eat. I had a couple more right after Thanksgiving but that feels like so long ago now that I can't remember them. Still it turned out to be a wonderful meal and despite the unexpected path it took still provided me with good opportunities to think about the things for which I'm very thankful...which I will save for another post otherwise this might never get posted.

I hope that everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving and want to let you know that I am thankful for my readers. I love having an audience to write for as it helps me get special memories written and gives me the encouragment to write more creatively and thoughtfully. I'm excessivly thankful for those wonderful readers who some how let me know that they read what I write. The nature of this medium for communication being amazing in it's ability to reach out to many but still nothing like an actual conversation so I'm never sure who, if anybody, I'm talking to. To all those who 'talk back' I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate it as it keeps me writing here as well as, instead of exclusively in, my journal. Thank you.