Sunday, November 29, 2009

How'd it go?

Hey everybody! How did your Thanksgiving meals turn out? Did anyone celebrate in a "non-traditional" way? Any meal disasters? Do you have any creative uses for leftovers? Do you enjoy the third-degree when you visit my blog?

I have to say that our Thanksgiving meal was quite a success! Everybody pitched in and everything (except the potatoes, see below) turned out delicious!

It seems that every year it is a juggling act to get all our Thanksgiving  dishes cooked AND ready at the same time. Not enough oven space, not enough cook-top space! You know?

Well, we figured it out this year. We had a place for EVERYTHING and we timed it perfectly so all the components of our feast were done at the same time! (does anyone use the thesaurus to help come up with different words to use in your posts? more 3rd degree!)

For the past 5 years, DaddyO has been in charge of the turkey. In previous years, it was cooked on the grill (excellent way to keep the oven clear). This year he cooked the turkey in the rotissere. DaddyO said this was the easiest way to cook the turkey. No basting involved, no going outside every five minutes to check on the turkey.


The yams were in the toaster oven.


The ham and the green bean casserole were in the oven.


The stuffing was in the crockpot and the potatoes were in the pressure cooker. I almost destroyed the potatoes! After the potatoes were done cooking, I asked DaddyO to drain the water off of them and I thought he had already done that when I started putting the flavorings in to the pan. I didn't notice the water was in there until I started mixing them. DaddyO, THEN, drained as much of the liquid off as possible, but I couldn't add any more butter or sour cream without making the whole thing a waterie mess. Needless to say the potatoes were not the most delicious part of the meal!


The only thing that was cooked on the stove-top was the pot DaddyO used to make turkey broth for the gravy.


We also had some delicious salads (no pictures) and rolls, and VERY delicious homemade (by my Mom) cranberry sauce that had pomegranites in it. I also made a very yummy pumpkin-ginger pie. I got the recipe from Myra at Happy Housewife Living Life. Hmmm..........I'm hungry. I think I'll go look for some leftovers!

One MAJOR problem with our Thanksgiving...........I DID NOT take ANY photos of any of the family members at our get-together. Every.Single.Stinkin'.Year. I tell myself I HAVE to get pictures of the people and every year I don't get it done! I'm too busy with preparing the meal, then too busy eating the meal and finally, too stuffed sitting on the couch scratching my very full belly to remember to get my camera out! Maybe next year! This is the only picture with an attendee in the shot. And only because he was standing by it when I took a picture of the the "set" table.


I did take pictures of the cute place cards the kiddos made for everyone. Atleast I'll have some photographic evidence of who was there! Good Grief!



9 comments:

Kmama said...

Sounds like everything went perfectly (minus the potatoes).

Those are the CUTEST little turkey place cards ever!!

April said...

LOVE the place cards :) Such an adorable touch to the table. I would image the rotisserie turkey would be yummy! We usually do the slow cooker method so it's been soaking in gravy - yum!

He & Me + 3 said...

Wow you had the meal totally under control and spread out all over the kitchen. I love it. I forgot a family picture this year too. I could just brain myself. Ugh. Loved the place cards too. SUPER cute.

Lindy said...

that was a practically perfect thanksgiving. i thought the taters were just fine, what are you talking about? and those place cards...WOW! love - grandma/mom

{Kimber} said...

EVERYTHING looks wonderful!!
love your place cards...so cute!

Angie Vik said...

I enjoyed reading about your thanksgiving. I totally understand about the challenge of getting different foods cooked on time and kept warm. Seems too many things need the oven at the same time. I cooked our turkey the night before, and then heated it in the crockpot the next day. It was really nice not to have to mess with a turkey the same time as everything else. I'm just always bummed that it only takes a half hour to eat what it took hours to cook.

Angimom said...

We had some drama, some trauma, and some "crazy" Mama!!
Actually me and my gang went to Candice and Shaun's for the big event. Grandma and Bonnie were there too. Candice (and Shaun) did most of the hard stuff and everything was presented like Martha Stewart. It was great! The biggest food fumble we had was that somehow the warming tray got unplugged (it was exactly the right height for Elliot's busy fingers) and when we went to dish up the potatoes, yams, and bean dish - they were all on the cool side. The potatoes turned hard instead of being fluffy like they were when placed in the tray. We had to resort to microwaving our food so it was warm! Oh well... Guess this is the year for potato problems!
I love the place cards - how did they make them? So cute! I wanted a family picture of me and my kids but that never happened either. Maybe next year?!
Sorry for my novel - can't wait to see you ALL in January! Love, Angi

Kim said...

I bet the turkey on the rotisserie was great. I have now broken our microwave twice cooking potatoes, including last night for out small feast for the four of us. Not good right before Christmas!

Kari said...

You got the cooking thing down pat girl! Since we have to see both sides of the family - I don't do any cooking, but lots of running around!
The place cards are adorable.
I always forget to take pictures too on holidays. Running around after kids makes it next to impossible.