Sunday, November 30, 2008

WHEW....WE DID IT!


Thanksgiving Day has come and gone with a few tears and a lot of success! I was really worried that I would have my much deserved nervous breakdown that day but the day turned out pretty darn good! Wednesday evening, Dad, Nat and her family all arrived. I had already made the pies and the three of us made the stuffing together. It was bitter sweet. We had a good time reading the recipe....which we really did not need since we knew how to make it but wanted to "be sure" so we had it out anyway, trying to make sure we did it exactly has Mom would have. Dad was right there with us, taste testing along the way for correct flavor! We also started Mom's cranberry jello, getting the bottom layer done so it could set up overnight. The three us us got up at 6AM to stuff the turkey and get it in the oven and then went back to bed for a couple more hours. I started the top layer of the jello, putting it in the frig to set up just to the syrup stage.....Mom was very specific about that! She did not like lumps in her topping. I kept watching it and then Rosie called and I talked on the phone for and hour and guess what....forget the topping. That was it, I had my little breakdown, it was small so no worries, but I did have Dave run to the store and get me more lemon jello so I could start over. He came back and I got the new batch of jello in the fridge and kept a very close eye on it only to get distracted and forget it again. I was so mad! I could not even do something so simple as a darn jello. Well it was too late to go to the store and start over a 3ed time so I just put it in the microwave and melted it down a bit, mixed the rest of the ingredients and crossed my fingers that it would set up! We sat down for dinner, a perfect dinner I might add! The turkey was not quite as good as Mom did it but it was close. The stuffing was oh so yummy and the gravy was delicious. It took us 15 minutes to eat the meal that took two days to cook. The kids all ran off to play as the adults sat around a bit to let their food settle. I started clearing the table and then it hit me...... I FORGOT THE DARN JELLO!!! I was so mad at myself. All that work to get that jello right and I did not even remember to put it out. I brought it in for the outside fridge and told everyone at the table that they were going to eat a bowl of jello whether they liked it or not! It worked out since either everyone really did like it or they lied to avoid the meltdown that was eminent. By the way it set up perfectly and no one even knew about the microwave incident.



Our beautiful turkey in honor of Mom.

Nat and Dad. I am sure glad they were here! Thanksgiving is just not the same without family around!

Dad making the gravy. He said it was not as good as Mom's but I think he is being modest. He makes a perfect Thanksgiving gravy.

Dave is getting set to carve the turkey as soon as I finish getting the stuffing out. Problem....I like to eat it along the way.....so yummy!
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2 comments:

Kim Rose said...

Great pics Jen! Thank you for sharing. I missed all of you so much. Looks like you did a great job on the turkey.
Love the ice skating pics!

Natalie said...

We had some GREAT food...it was perfect. I think we made it as special as we could for Dad and he had a good day. He was a riot ice skating...that was soooo fun!