Thanksgiving Adventures

So, I was on my own for Thanksgiving for the first time in my life this year. I was a little nervous. I'm writing this as it goes, so you'll have to wait for the end to see the exciting results. P.S. I had grand plans for glorious pictures, but my camera's battery died, so I didn't get very many.

Wednesday Night-

the pie:

Tyson decided that he would rather make the pie than for me to buy one at the store because I said I would not be making a homemade pie. I've never understood the saying "easy as pie". It is not easy, it's a pain. Tyson's cooking methods drive me nuts. He just went right in with hardly any preparations. He did clean off the working surface first, though. Then he made the crust without reading the directions carefully. He forgot the butter. So then after crust number two was made, he found out we don't have a rolling pin. I told him to use a glass. After he rolled it out, he said "do we have a pie plate?" I said, "I think so". Then he proceded to get a cake pan out of the cupboard, and I told him that wouldn't work. Finally he found the pie plate and put the crust in. Then he made the filling, he was going to half it cuz he didn't want two pies, and after he added all the ingredients he said "you know, I forgot to half it. I only halfed the sugar." So I made him put the full amount of sugar in. Then he poured it in the crust, and I thought it looked really weird and lumpy. I noticed there were no empty evaporated milk cans around. "Did you put the milk in?" Nope. So he tried to pour the filling back in the bowl, and of course lost his crust. He thought he could make it work. I said no. So, after putting the evaporated milk in the filling and making crust number three, he put the pie in the oven. There was some debate as to whether we should have baked the crust first or not. We'll have to see. It looks pretty, though. Kindof.

the rolls:

So rather than make home made rolls, we decided to do rhodes bake and serve. I went for the "quick" method. They got a little over done. Not too bad, though.


Thursday Morning-

the turkey:

I had put the turkey in the fridge on Tuesday morning, thinking since it was small it would be thawed by Thursday morning. No. It still had ice on it. So, I haven't cooked a lot of turkeys in my life, and it's been a really long time since I did one. It was just a breast, not the whole thing, so it was going to be easy, right? I took it out of the platic and looked at it. I thought, wow, this is a really deformed turkey. The breast is the part with the rib cage, right? It was really thin and wimpy, and the back was HUGE. What a weird looking bird. So I called Tyson in, and he said, I think that's the spine, not the rib cage. Whew! That's much better.



So as I'm rinsing the turkey in the sink, my cat gets up on the counter and starts licking the juice on the plate. ARG! So I put the turkey down, then wash my hands and throw the cat out the front door. Not realizing that my neice's dog (who we are watching while she's in Florida) was right there waiting to run out the front door with him. UGG!

Thursday afternoon-


the yams:

I found this recipe for maple glazed yams that looked really good and decided to try it out. I'm not a huge fan of yams, so I wasn't too worried about it. I peeled them ahead of time and got the glaze ready, stuck them in the oven and stirred every 15 minutes. They turned out okay, but not really worth all the stirring.



the potatoes:

Tyson was a really big help in all of this, considering he is a man. He peeled the potatoes and started boiling them for me. Then later, he mashed them, too. He is not familiar with mashing, so he put too much milk and not enough butter. They were gluey. I did appreciate the help, though- Thanks My Love!

the fillers:

I decided that I would have a relish tray, cuz it's not Thanksgiving without sweet pickles, if you ask me. I went to Wal-mart and they did not have non-pickled beets. Then I went to Fresh Market, and they had them. I was about to get Fancy Small Beets, then saw that there were tiny ones, and got them instead, cuz they are hard to cut and I thought it would be nice to just pop them in my mouth. When I got them home, I read the can better and it said Fancy Tiny Pickled Beets. Arg. So I tried to make the brine better, but it didn't work out so well. They still tasted like pre-pickled beets. But the tiny sweet pickles were really good! Erin loves the olives, and we also had Zesty Dills that Tyson and his brother love.

Thursday evening (the crunch)-

the turkey, part two:

So, I looked at the turkey and it looked really good! I vaguely thought I had a meat thermometer, and found it in the drawer, and the temp was good, then I sliced it and it looked white, the top was beautiful and brown, and it was Done! The only success so far!!

the gravy (or, disgusting gloopy mess):

The past several times I've tried to make gravy, it has absolutely not worked. I actually made the rue right, I think, and then it was actually looking like gravy. Then I put waaay too much kitchen boquet (browning sauce) in it, and it ended up darker than beef gravy. EW! I also forgot the secret ingredient, so it was too thick. Or the rue was too thick, either way. Disgusting! I thought maybe it could be salvaged, but then I had it ready too early and it got way overcooked, burned on the bottom with a skin on the top. GROSS! It was really a complete disaster. Grandma, help me. Maybe by the time I'm 50 I'll have it mastered.

the finish:

I put all the food in its fancy dishes, got the table set with the help of my brother, then the guests arrived. Nate and Jessica and Ammon (plus their two dogs) came to share Thanksgiving with us. I am thankful that this was their second meal today. As we all sat down to eat, I remembered the stuffing. Thankfully, it was Stove Top, and only took 5 minutes to make. THE END.

The moral of the story is: Next time I want Mom to cook it! Mom, I really appreciate all you do and how awesome you do it! I am thankful for you!!

If wishes were fishes

This is what I wish my table looked like all the time. What you don't see in this picture is what I have carefully cropped out: The big pile of mail spilled all over the floor, food on the floor, the missing lightbulb in the ugly chandelier and the box of ant bait that's been on the cabinet for about a year.

This is what it actually looks like all the time. Ug.

Oh well. At least that's the remnants of an actual cooked dinner instead of cereal bowls. I'm not even gonna show you what the other side of the kitchen looks like.

Obsession - Karlee Ericksen

Sometimes I get obsessive about things. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Right now I'm obsessing about the fact that the new "cutest blog on the block" logo matches my blog. I'm crazy. What can I say.