Since I was supposed to work for Thanksgiving, we had planned on having a Thanksgiving dinner with just the three of us for Saturday. I was canceled from work on Thanksgiving day so we had a wonderfully chill day hanging out. Today we woke up and started our Thanksgiving preparations. Well, I guess Munchkie's Daddy had started his turkey prep the night before, but we really got working this morning. Munchkie's Daddy had seen "the perfect turkey" in our Food Network magazine and wanted to try it out, of course Food Network can't make anything easy. As soon as a very whiny Munchkie went to take a nap we started chopping, mixing and baking. Amazingly Munchkie slept 4-5 hours today, which was the perfect amount of time for our dinner preparations. We have been talking all night about how amazed we were with the perfection of our thanksgiving feast. We planned everything perfectly and the turkey, stuffing and potatoes were all finished as precisely the same time. Everything was amazingly delicious as well as ready and on the table 15 minutes after Munchkie woke up from her nap.
The turkey was by far one of the best turkeys I have ever had. I had purchased a frozen turkey breast from the grocery store that was hormone and antibiotic free and after 16 hours of brining, it went into the oven seasoned and rubbed with coconut oil.
The turkey popped when cut and the the juices literally squirted out. The flavor was incredible and I was amazed at how well Munchkie's Daddy had done with his very first turkey. He did an amazing job following Alton Brown's instruction and it really make it feel like Thanksgiving. I followed my great grandma's sausage stuffing recipe and it was also the best stuffing I had ever made. I have attempted this several times, but it never quite turned out. Today was my day!
It was absolutely delicious! I really don't think my mom could have made it any better. The only flop we had was the pie. Munchkie's Daddy wanted a pecan pie and I wanted to try a twist to the standard pecan pie. It was not good. Very disappointing. Obviously we don't really need desert so I'll get over it and eat a few more bites of my healthy sweet potatoes instead.
So now that I've talked about food I want to talk about the things I am thankful for. Because that it was Thanksgiving is really about, I want to take a minute and be grateful for the blessings in my life.
- My beautiful family that has grown and strengthened over the last year.
- Munchkie who brings us constant entertainment and amazement.
- The house that we have been able to rent, giving us privacy, a safe and quiet environment as well as beautiful views.
- A new job that I absolutely love and can't believe I get paid to play with kids.
- Munchkie's Daddy ended up taking a year off of school and is able to focus on our family instead of being stressed by school work.
- Munchkie's Daddy was able to find a job, while he took a year off from school, during this difficult economy.
- We have health in both our small family and our larger extended family.
- We have had many incredible celebrations this year, 1st birthday, 80th birthday, 55th wedding anniversary, high school graduation, and college undergraduate and master's graduations.
- We have been able to travel several times this year to visit family and friends.
- We have been able to become more organic, green and ecologically friendly.
I hope everyone had as amazing of a Thanksgiving as we did, on whatever day you celebrated. What are you grateful for this year?
No comments:
Post a Comment