Thanksgiving

We had an exhausting, but fun Thanksgiving. I hardly slept the night before, and we had to get up early to go play football. I thought Zack was joking when he said they needed me to play, but it turns out he was serious. Obviously we're talking flag football here, though I did knock a guy over, and someone put me on the ground. It was so much fun! I scored 2 touchdowns (Zack didn't score any, I totally have bragging rights, ha)! Did I forget to mention I was the ONLY girl there? There weren't even girls watching (they were probably in the kitchen where they belong, lol)! I totally held my own and didn't feel out of place. All the guys were really nice and it was good to finally meet some new people. 

We didn't get home until around 11, so I was a couple hours behind on getting the bird in the oven. I pulled out the neck and giblets (giblets, ew, "here kitty, kitty!"), rinsed it, and rubbed it with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and onion powder, and some salt and pepper. Prepared the stuffing with chopped onion and celery, bread, parsley, chicken broth, and other seasonings (sage, savory, etc.). So a little after noon I finally sat down for a couple minutes to gather my senses, browse Facebook, and gear up to cook the rest of our dinner.

Every time I sit down a cat hops on my lap :)

I made Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows (I based it off THIS RECIPE, but used fresh Sweet Potatoes that I boiled, mashed, and mixed with the spices, and then topped with large marshmallows and tossed in the oven until the mallows were golden brown), Pumpkin Pie (just your basic Libby's recipe, I was lame this year, sorry), rolls (store bought, don't judge), and Cranberry Sauce. The Cranberry Sauce was so easy and to die for. It was my first time making it, and I'm so glad I did. Zack made gravy from the turkey drippings like he always does, and it was delicious like always! We sat down to eat our feast with Sparkling Apple Cider and Promise Land Egg Nog, and just as we were about to dive in Zack remembered we had forgotten something! Rudy's BBQ Creamed Corn! Zack had made a special trip the night before to pick it up and we had almost forgotten to eat it! It was the perfect addition to our meal. Regular corn would have been fine, but this corn is heaven and it felt like we really brought Texas to our Thanksgiving. :)

I then had to clean up everything. I was so tired I just wanted to cry! I'd had an awesome day, and cooking was seriously so easy compared to past Thanksgivings (I had actual counter space to do things, WHAT!?), but the lack of sleep, football, and 3 hours of being on my feet to make dinner had really taken it out of me. After some grumbling I got to it and about 2 hours later everything was put away and the dishwasher running. I had cleaned things as I used them, but when you have to put leftovers in the fridge and clean all the serving bowls and whatnot it can be pretty overwhelming. Ugh.

We still managed to have time for our first fire in our fireplace, watch the many birds at the bird feeder (we joked they were having their own Thanksgiving), telephone relatives, and watch The Mayflower Voyagers (Charlie Brown/Peanuts where they travel to North America, meet Squanto, have a bountiful harvest, etc.). 

Zack was already asleep before I finished cleaning, so I snuggled up with the kitties and some blankets to read for a bit and fell asleep after about 30 minutes. This morning I am regretting the football (my legs are a little sore and my left knee is really hurting), but all in all we had a good day.

We hope you had a happy Thanksgiving however and wherever you celebrated!

Now it's time to work on getting Christmas cards in the mail!