Thanksgiving 2014

Both our kids were able to come home for Thanksgiving Day.  A new movie was just opening so P met K & JP, just in the nick of time to get off work and make the respective drives and gathered at the theater on Wednesday night.  They had fun!  Once home about 9:30 p.m., I got hugs & a Thanksgiving bouquet of flowers.  Just so thankful to have them here for a bit.

Our bacon-wrapped turkey the next morning for our noon meal.

K & I did sorting and rearranging and JP brought in our unusual brown kitten.  He has puppy paws and loveslovesloves to be all over.  He climbs up human legs when they are out working.  Of course, K was glad to see a cuddly kitty. Soon it jumped to her bed and sprawled out like this was his long-lost heaven.  Not for long, buddy!  (I’m allergic to cats…..)

All 4 kitties were up here as Phil was coming in for chores but I only caught JP playing with Nina.  Sorry to all our younger friends but this is why the dog isn’t so gentle with little people.  She has been taught to run & chase & try to take your glove!

K headed home at 6 and JP was able to have Friday off at the last minute and stay home for the rest of the weekend.  He helped Phil and helped at church for one service.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

P & I were thankful for a day with the kiddos!  JP arrived on Weds at noon and K appeared by surprise about 6 p.m. having gotten off work early, not telling us she was on the way, and sending a private message to JP to unplug the driveway alarm.  So thrilled to find her standing in the kitchen as we were at the table starting supper!!

We enjoyed the Thursday with just us.  🙂   I said I wanted a photo of my kids together and was met with multiple excuses.

By the end of the light part of the day, while watching a movie, I got this.  The red eye light came on oh.so.slowly. with an alarming announcement that Mom was trying to sneak a photo.  The kiddos had plenty of time to duck & cover!  One behind a phone and one behind a quilt.

Makes a memory however, right?

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Thanksgiving Recap

Oh what a full week we had!  Full of family, fun, & food.

My brother & SIL (B&S) brought my parents here on Monday afternoon.  I was even ready!!    After an early (for us, but helping them shift time zones) supper, Mom, SIL, & I went to quilt guild for the program on wool appliqué.  Lovely show but I didn’t have my camera!  Sorry!!

SIL had brought a project for us to work on for Tuesday.  She couldn’t find the right color for her bathroom towels so we dyed towels for her!!  No photos there either — us in our ugliest duds bending over work buckets in the ugly furnace room. Just imagine LEMON colored towels.  Now imagine them nuclear-ized lemon and you’ll get the picture.   They are perfect, I think!!  She had showed me her target color via a lemon candle when I was there earlier in the month.  I think we hit the nail nearly on the head, erring on the side of brighter.  😀   Her sister is her decorating consultant so I hope she is pleased!

That afternoon, I loaded my sister’s wallhanging on the quilting frame so all could see my process there.

On Wednesday, B&S headed to their son’s about 5 hrs away for the rest of the week.  Mom & I were in full-gear with lots of cooking to do!  I felt like we accomplished a lot in the morning but we still had PLENTY to do all afternoon as well as to make supper for that night.

That day we: cooked bacon to add to the green beans, prepared 5# mashed potatoes, cooked and mashed 2 butternut squash, made 2 Peach Berry Pies, baked bread, and then made supper.   Mom washed lots of dishes as we got things made.  After supper, K arrived home about 7:45 from a difficult day at work.

We spent Thanksgiving day at home together.   In the morning, Dad watched the parade, Mom & I fixed more food, and Phil played a game with the kids.  I guess Nina played the dummy hand.

As usual…. horseplay ensued….

(Really, she is USUALLY off the carpet!!  Hmpf!!)

The turkey cooked on time, all the dishes were  yummy (I especially liked the new recipe for green bean casserole w/o the carbs & sugars!), and we all enjoyed our meal together!   All too soon, we packed up leftovers for K and she headed back home about 5 p.m.  for Friday morning work.   I’m thankful for the 21 hour visit we had but always wish for more.

On Friday with all the others back to work, I showed Mom & Dad some of my quilting by working on my sister’s wallhanging.  It was nice having company there and their enjoyment of watching me work.   It wasn’t all work, we also heated leftovers for lunch, took naps, and cooked turkey broth!  haha!

Saturday had us up with the alarm clock and I headed out with Mom & Dad at 8 a.m.  We drove just into Indiana a bit and met B&S for an early lunch.  We transferred bags and parents after lunch.  My 11:45.  I headed back home by myself and all of them headed back to Ohio.  They drove into sunshine and I had rain both directions!

It was a fun week and it was great to be able to share the driving with B&S.   So glad they could help out like this!

This week looks pretty normal for all of us…. all back to work and a more normal schedule.  Pleasure sewing & finishing my sister’s wallhanging in the spare hours.

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Thanksgiving Food

I did a lot of cooking on Wednesday to make Thursday a bit easier.   On Wednesday, I baked butternut squash and made the mashed potatoes.  JP had peeled the potatoes the night before so it helped give me a better start on Weds.   Later in the day I made baked spinach but that was just to go with supper.  I baked a fresh batch of bread.

On Thursday, we first got the turkey in the oven.  Thankfully it was nearly thawed as many years I’ve dealt with a frozen bird!  😦   It was just 13# so not so much to man-handle.

K helped make our version of Panera’s Greek Salad.  That is JP’s usual choice whenever he is there.  K cleaned and tore up a large bowl of 3 kinds of lettuce.  We had sliced red onion, kalamata olives, diced cucumbers, and feta cheese in bowls so everyone could add whichever toppings they liked best.  I made a recipe for “their” dressing and it mixed up so much better than last year’s version!

K had the great idea to make croutons!  She cubed some of the fresh bread from the day before and we toasted it in the oven. The turkey didn’t mind sharing the heat.   The croutons turned out sooo very yummy as after toasting we then browned them up in a skillet with butter & garlic infused olive oil which we did ourselves and some herbs.

I made a pan of brocolli & cauliflower with cheese sauce.

After the turkey came out of the oven, we put in the veggies, the squash, and the potatoes to get them all warmed up. The gravy I had made last week was heating on the stove.

I only got one quick chance at a picture as everyone was hungry when it was finally ready.   Phil voted (alone) to remove the candles as the table was too full.

It was a yummy meal and we’ve been enjoying the leftovers!  Phil wasn’t too full for pie so had his piece of Peach Berry Pie right after lunch.  My sliver was all I needed to just get a taste.  K & JP enjoyed pie for an afternoon snack.

K packed a few boxes of leftovers to take home as we cleaned up the table.  This morning I made turkey tettrazzini for the men from the rest of the turkey.  I have 3 meals in the freezer for them.   Only a bit of squash & the salad remain but will vanish in a few more meals.

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Our Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

My parents came from Ohio on Monday afternoon.  I expected them (by their location at the phone call) around 2.  Busy mixing bread, I didn’t see them pull in or hear the doorbell at 1:30!!  {Someone still has a lead foot.  I thought they fixed that with his new knee.}

Tuesday morning Mom & Dad and I went to get the rest of the groceries we needed.  No place was crowded so we made the rounds in record time!  In the afternoon, we decided we were saving too many jobs for Wednesday so Mom & I made the mashed potatoes.

K got off work Tuesday night and landed in the midst of rush hour traffic during a holiday so came home slowly.  She got here about 9 p.m. after a quick stop at Gma M’s.  She didn’t know until the way home that they were still home so was glad for a quick Hi with them.

Thursday morning gave these 3 a chance to play games.

We were so thankful K was able to take her weekly day-off on Wednesday and have an extra bit of time at home.

On Wednesday morning, Phil & K went to a super fur place just 10 mins away for some winter projects.   Her box of treasures was fun to see!  …. from a distance!  Even Gma petted the (dyed) bright green fox since it didn’t look so real.   Otherwise, most of her pieces are complete with little feetsies and heads!  ~~~!  I can’t wait to show you what she makes!!  Hurry, K!

Mom & I made Peach Berry Pie and Marinated Veggies while they were out.

Here are my little how-to pictures for Shelly for crimping the edge of the pie.

Line your fingers up like this

Then push your index finger in between the other fingers.

With my family’s favorite filling… Peach Berry Pie —

I use my Pampered Chef round baking pan for pie.  Deep & it makes lots so there are leftovers.  🙂  This time the pie held its shape and wasn’t runny.  Of course, there were only 6 of us to witness it… as opposed to the 70 or so that had it runny at JP’s grad!  *sigh*

Thursday we awoke to find the turkey in the frig (in the garage) since Sunday was still frozen!  Hard as a rock!  😦    I broke the rules and thawed it out in warm water in the sink.   I always bake my turkey in a bag so finally about 2:00 we were able to eat.

It was a good thing that JP & K had made cinnamon rolls on Wednesday night.  Everyone (of them) were glad for a bigger snack to hold them over until dinner.

JP loves the Greek Salad at Panera’s so we did our version of that.  One new ingredient were Kalamata olives.  However, the store only had ones that hadn’t been pitted.

At dinnertime each one could make their own salad with greens, marinated vegetables, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, peppercini, red onions, and a duplicate recipe of Panera’s Greek Salad dressing.    It was yummy!   I especially liked the dressing as the marinade for the veggies so will use that again.

After eating and cleaning up the dishes, K & Grandma sorted through some kitchen items they had brought.  K made a box to take back and a box for a bigger apartment before she headed back about 6 p.m.

(the unique packing boxes are blamed on Uncle Don. 😉 )

During our spare evenings and Thursday afternoon we watched movies together.  We saw Chariots of Fire, The Queen (of England), Far and Away, and The Preacher’s Wife.  Lots of sitting around!!  (And yes, I snuck in a show or 2 from the current Project Runway DVD in my stash as well. 😉 )

Mom & Dad left fast Friday morning and went most of the way through Indiana on their first day.  They arrived home safely this morning.  A fun week!

I am praying I don’t age like my parents and have apologized to my children already in case I do.

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Thanksgiving!

At church last night we could nail something we are worrying about to a cross and/or write something we are grateful for on a canvas.   

I wrote that I’m grateful for a loving & supportive husband and Christ-following children.   

I’m also thankful that my brother & his dear wife brought my parents here for Thanksgiving week!  We had a good time together!! 

I’m sorry I didn’t take fancy Thanksgiving photos but here are a few.

Before K headed back at noon on Friday.

Mom & Dad 

Big Brother worked to get everything in the trunk this morning!  We awoke to light snow they had to drive in for a bit.  They have reported in they arrived home.  We have 4 – 6 inches of snow now.  :p

They are ready to head home.  I’m thinking ‘what a dork’ for not doing pictures on Thursday!!   

We had a great visit!!

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