Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving felt so late this year! We decided to start the feasting early, so I made our turkey on Monday (Nov. 25th), four days before Thanksgiving. It was weird doing all of the turkey prepping on my own while Jeff was at work. I realized when I unwrapped the bird that Jeff usually does the turkey, and I was very inexperienced! Google to the rescue. I managed to successfully spatchcock our turkey, just like Jeff did last year. Spatchcocking involves cutting out the backbone and splaying the turkey out wide on a cookie sheet so it cooks more quickly and evenly. Hacking through the bones with my biggest knife was almost too much for my sensibilities and I was seriously reconsidering my status as an omnivore by the time I had hacked that spine out of the raw turkey carcass. Amber helpfully stood on a stool and said "eeew! gross! YUCK!" on repeat the entire time I sawed at the bones. But the turkey cooked to juicy crisp perfection in a mere 90 minutes so it worked! All I did was spread some oil on the outside and pop it into the oven. Boom.

But turkey on its own is not a full feast! So I made cranberry sauce (baked in the oven--it was so good) as well as green bean casserole without a single Campbell's product (aka, real mushrooms and fresh frozen green beans). I did balk at the homemade fried onions in the recipe, and substituted Ritz crackers and butter for the crispy topping. Even without Campbell's soup it felt like such a lowly only-in-America casserole, but it tasted good--especially with the fresh ingredients. I also made gravy. While I was busy doing all of that prep work, Jeff came home and asked if I needed any help. I assigned him mashed potato duty, and he dutifully, painstakingly, peeled and chopped 15 potatoes, then boiled and mashed them, commenting from behind his heap of potato peelings "I don't know how you kitchen, wife." A gratifying comment at the grateful time of year felt extra nice. I was in the kitchen for nearly 3 hours on Monday afternoon and all we had on our table for our Thanksgiving feast part one was:

• turkey
• mashed potatoes
• gravy
• green bean casserole
• cranberry sauce

I didn't even make our favorite Thanksgiving rolls until the next day!

On Wednesday Jeff asked me if I was planning on making a sour cream apple pie. I started to say no and then noticed the pleading in his eyes. "It's my favorite kind of apple pie," he said. I folded. It felt like I was busy baking all week, even though my original plan was to do it all on Monday and coast from there on out, haha. I dreaded that sour cream apple pie because last time I made it in October, it boiled over and left a burned bubbly sticky black mess in our oven that took forever to clean and smelled up the house the next five times I turned on the oven. This time I took precautions: I used smaller apples and drained the filling before dumping it into the crust. Poof, it baked up without any drips! It was my best SC apple pie ever! And I didn't even use sour cream--all I had on hand was plain yogurt. Yum.

On Thursday morning, we hosted our traditional turkey trot. Jeff woke up with a throbby head cold so he did not end up running the 5k through the fields behind our house. Our friends the Kannelys came to fill out our race to five. I did not make my children run. A dusting of snow had fallen overnight. The wind was forcefully BRISK and blowing at a steady 20 mph (half the speed it was the day before, but still a force to be reckoned with). The way our loop worked out, we were going downhill with the wind at our backs and uphill with the wind in our faces. Let's just say it was a slow 3.1 miles, even with that quick downhill. After completing the course, we shuffled back inside the house with windburned cheeks and chilled bones.

After the turkey trot, Jeff's brother Sam came over for pie. They had a good time watching some of the new Star Wars show on Netflix with the adorable baby Yoda, and I grinned when Sam relinquished his vegan-status for a slice of sour cream apple pie. Oh the power of Thanksgiving.

We ate Thanksgiving leftovers every day all week, from Monday through Saturday. On Thursday, we gathered in Grandview with the whole White family for Thanksgiving proper. I made more rolls and brought them along with the rest of my homemade cranberry sauce, a chocolate chip raisin pie, and a pumpkin roll (made previously as well) to share. Dan and Leslie (Jeff's parents) also had their four local missionaries over--two elders and two sisters--so their house was bursting with people: 11 adults and 7 kids. We feasted at 1:00pm and chatted for a while afterwards before heading back home, where we snuggled up and watched a nice reel of Christmas movie favorites. Family traditions are cozy.

My carefully spatchcocked turkey, all golden brown.

Traditional Jay-with-drumstick picture.

The gravy: Every. Single. Time. Who is going to start making utensils with extra long handles? I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

Monday night just-us Thanksgiving feast part 1!

We had enough foods to fill a plate, even if the selection was a tad sparse.

On Tuesday, Amber helped me make a batch of rolls. She got quite adept at rolling up the triangles, although some of them were funny shapes. The five of us ate this entire batch of 48 rolls in 24 hours. They did turn out quite fluffy and perfect, if I must say so myself.

Rose made a hat out of the building straws.

Amber's appetite returned with a vengeance after her week-long illness, and she practically lived in the pantry.

View of our turkey trot course: the uphill, with snow-covered mint field on the left of the path and grape vines on the right. The wind was so strong I could barely move up this modest incline.

Cheerful turkey trotters, in spite of the wind burn. Ryan was pleased to take the honor of first place male finisher. He deserved it for wearing the most excellent leggings. During the run/walk, I tried throwing a minuscule powdery snowball at Annie or Maddie (identical twins stump me every time, and it makes me feel so rude, even though they are good-natured about it). The strong wind blew my golf ball sized snowball backwards! It ended up hitting the girl I was not aiming for!

Kids at Thanksgiving, ready to eat!

I am thankful for my dear family and good friends.