Thanksgiving at Home

This was our first Thanksgiving at home since Kaitlyn was a baby and Nathan’s first Thanksgiving at home.  The day began with waking to a driving rain pounding on the house.  We had a record rainfall for the day with over 3 1/2 inches falling.  It was a great day to stay indoors and roast a turkey.  So we finished our preparations for the holiday and for our company; Rick’s Mom and Dad.  As I read up on holiday preparations as a reminder and to obtain new ideas I felt a little behind .  There was no way to set the table two days in advance as suggested.  And I knew I was in trouble when I read that each guest should have a comfortable two feet between each place setting.  That just wasn’t going to happen…

How did we fit 9 people all around the same table in my little kitchen?  Originally we thought about having a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving outdoors, maybe without the popcorn though.  The fact that the first Thanksgiving was held outdoors made it sound like a promising idea.  And everyone could have their two feet of space!  But in the end, the weather can vary so much this late in the year that we needed a plan that would allow us to have a cozy meal indoors.  After tossing around a few ideas, and keeping in mind my one stipulation; “no dishwasher in the bedroom”, we decided to open our table’s butterfly leaf setting the table against the front of the cupboards but leaving room by the window for the kids to sit at but away from the side window so that they could all file in and someone could sit in that spot too.  Then we moved the dishwasher against the front of the cupboards and the refrigerator.  Then after we all filed in we could fold the highchair to squeeze it through from it’s waiting point in the hallway and then open it again so Nathan could sit by me at the table.  This works as long as no one has to leave the table during the meal and no one needs anything out of the cupboards, sink, fridge and you don’t need the back door for a fire escape.  We figured we’d all leap out of the big back window if we needed to (and we nearly did when I knocked over the lit candle!!!  Luckily the flame went out on its way overboard).  I think next time I will actually give up and vote for moving the dishwasher and microwave into my bedroom after all so that we will still have enough counter space for serving and we can more easily move around.  But it worked and it was very nice.   Curses that I ever envisioned myself with a dining room by my age and this stage of life.  My kids did get tired of waiting for Nathan to finish eating.  At our house, table diving is a sport and so they made their escape after the meal and waited for pie elsewhere while the adults talked and Nathan finished.

   

Lindsay made place cards this year by attaching the name tag to an apple decoration or a “brown flower” that the kids picked up on walks and tied it around the napkins with rafia.  She does a nice job with things like this and her writing is impeccable.  Goblets at our place settings were a 15th anniversary gift and the older girls felt grown up having one at their place. 

   

I love the season of autumn and love to decorate with the earthy tones in pumpkins, leaves, pinecones and nuts.  I found this pumpkin pitcher for a few dollars earlier in the month and thought it was perfect for a thanksgiving bouquet.  I filled out the bouquet with the brown centers from my butterfly bushes that Rick saved for me when he was cleaning out the yard.  They fit right in

   

Turkeys were a little expensive this year and there were no coupons to be found so we decided to try a turkey other than Butterball.  After reading through several cookbooks and seeing what Martha had to say about them on-line, Rick settled on making an herb butter for the turkey and roasting it in an oven bag.  We were not disappointed.  The 22 lb. turkey was tender, juicy and made the most wonderful gravy.  The savings was worth it.

For dessert we had 6 pies; a personal record!  Rick’s parents brought two pumpkin pies (one front left) and I made an apple pie (right rear) from apples we picked on the farm in September.  I also tried a new Pumpkin Cream Pie (center) from Martha using one of the little pumpkins we picked up a the farm in October.  It was delicious!!!  Moving beyond traditional autumn pies I do take requests since I think everyone should be pleased on Thanksgiving.  Lindsay requested my chocolate chip pie (front right) as she has the past few years and it makes her happy.  Haley fell in love with her Aunt Stacey’s Chocolate Mousse Pie last year (left rear) and was so happy when the recipe got posted last week so we made that one too.  Maybe not traditional but certainly delicious.  What to do with all the pies???  We adopted Aunt Stacey’s tradition of pie for breakfast on Friday morning.  Nobody complained.  What a delicious tradition that I think we will be holding on to after experiencing it first hand one year ago.  Haley announced on Friday after “breakfast” that she won’t be eating any more pie for a while.  I’m sure my scale will agree with her on that one.  No more desserts, at least until the Christmas cookies come out!

We hope everyone had a wonderful family filled Thanksgiving.  While we all have challenges in life to rise and meet we certainly have much to be grateful for at the same time.  I am thankful for the opportunity to think about and recognize those blessings in my own life and to teach my children to look beyond their troubles and see all of the good.  Our Father in Heaven loves each one of us and I can feel that he looks out for us as he sees our lives with a much broader view.  I am thankful to feel and know of His love for us.  That is what makes everything OK.  -Happy Thanksgiving!