Thanksgiving 2014

Thanksgiving is the kickoff to the cold weather holiday season in my books.  A time of year where we stuff our faces with more food than we should and get to spend quality time with our family and friends.  This year was extra fun for me because this is the first holiday that we get a comparison photo for Roman.  Isn't it crazy how much difference a year makes?  Where did my little cuddly baby go?  You really don't realize how big they get until you compare photos.  Wow.  I'm still shocked.

Mom decided to host Thanksgiving again this year.  Which is great because then I don't have to cook or worry about how clean my house is!  My brother and his girlfriend were also there, so we had the whole fam damily, which is a sure fire recipe for craziness and laughs.  The day started off like most Thanksgivings with Marvel Agents of Shield.  Okay so maybe that isn't traditional, heck I'm not even sure that's what they were watching, but it was some sort of movie like that.  It was obviously good because Selby, Stephanie, John and Roman all seemed to be enjoying it.

Once Roman realized there was food in the kitchen he ditched everyone in the living room to investigate.  He almost gave Grandma a heart attack with his climbing stunts but he kept himself busy for awhile.  After the novelty of that wore off he decided he should probably help Grandma with the cooking.  So let's follow Roman's lead and get into the food!

 

 

 Of course the star of the show is always the turkey.  If you mess up the turkey you might as well pack it all in because Thanksgiving is over.  Luckily my Mom is an old pro at roasting turkeys so it was done perfectly.  I guess the skin could have been a little crispier but who am I to complain, we still stole the skin off of it as it sat on the counter waiting to be carved.  This year I was the lucky person to get stuffing scooping duty!  Truthfully I was just the only other person in the kitchen, but I like to think I was chosen for my skill level.  Mom likes to stuff the turkey with as much stuffing as possible and then makes some more in the oven since Selby loves stuffing and the bird doesn't always hold enough.  Once the stuffing is out of the bird, we mix in the stuffing from the oven so that is it all equally moist.

In our family Dad ALWAYS carves the turkey, mostly because the rest of us would butcher it.  Dad has a very specific way that the turkey must be carved.  I think he heard this on a cooking show (I keep thinking Martha Stewart) at one point and ever since this is the way the bird is carved.  First he removes the legs and wings, or in this particular case wing since our poor bird was missing one, and places all the dark meat on a platter.  Then he runs the knife down the breast bone of the turkey to separate the meat from the rest of the bird.  Finally the meat is artfully arranged on a separate platter from the dark meat.  Artfully arranged, dumped, same thing.

Once the turkey is all chopped up it's time for gravy!  Mom sticks the entire roaster on the stove and gets the turkey drippings boiling.  In a state of the art shaker from Tupperware, circa 1978, she mixes up some cornstarch and water and pours it into the drippings while whisking, with a toddler in her arm.  Hey, Grandma's can do it all!  The gravy simmers for awhile until it starts to thicken, enough to block our arteries in 10-15 years.

Our family only uses the highest quality of diner rolls for Thanksgiving.  These ones are identical to the ones you used to get at KFC.  I haven't been there in ages but I imagine they still have them.  They are great for buffet style dinners as well because they fit perfectly in your pocket.  Don't tell me we are the only family that sticks buns in one pocket and butter and cutlery in the other... 

I'm not sure why Mom insists on have turnips (which are actually rutabagas but her family calls them turnips) since only her and Dad like them.  I guess it was a good thing she did have them though because Roman also really enjoyed them.  To make them Mom boils the turnips (rutabagas) then mashes them up with brown sugar and butter.  I'm sure they're tasty but I don't trust them.  Mom has steamed her potatoes for many years, which is an acceptable way of cooking potatoes.  What isn't acceptable is her insistence on whipping them to fluffy peaks with her hand mixer.  Apparently her Aunt Olive used to make her potatoes like this when Mom was little and Mom liked them so much that she has followed in this tradition for as long as I can remember.  I personally like my potatoes a little lumpy, but potatoes are potatoes and I will still eat my weight in them!

And here ends the tour of our Thanksgiving meal!  We also had homemade pumpkin pie for dessert but I was clearly to involved in eating mine, and trying to keep Roman from putting the whip cream into his hair, to take a picture.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal, especially Roman!  During the meal, while everyone else was silently shoveling food into their mouths, Roman mmm'd through every bite.  Everyone got a kick out of him.  Once he was done eating he started making faces at Uncle Selby, who was quite happy to oblige and make funny faces back until Roman was rolling with laughter.  These two are going to have a blast together as Roman gets older!

At the end of the day, and many many calories later, Thanksgiving is all about who you spend it with!  If you are surrounded by the people you love then it doesn't matter if the turkey is burnt and the mashed potatoes are lumpy.  Thanksgiving is about sitting back and appreciating the things we have because these lives we live are much shorter than we even realize.  Happy belated Thanksgiving to the Canadians, happy early Thanksgiving to the Americans, and happy Thanksgiving to anyone else who celebrates this fantastic (and often overlooked) holiday!