thanksgiving 2011

i cannot even express how much fun it was to have my sister in tennessee with us for thanksgiving. family makes holidays and traditions and food that much better. and considering this was my first time cooking an entire thanksgiving feast by myself, her help was greatly appreciated. and man. it was a lot of work. and it felt like a sauna in my kitchen. or maybe it was just because my head was wrapped in a turbie twist. :) don't judge.


i could have taken the easy route, and done thanksgiving "instant" style. you know...from a box. but my family always had everything homemade. and when you're away from your family, the one comfort you have is having the exact same food from your memories. i guess its the ultimate comfort food. the way good ol' mom and grandma and aunts make it.

so i was up to my elbows--literally--in herb butter, rubbing that turkey down. the one thing my mom reiterated to me over and over was to take out the innards bag. so i took out the neck and something else--not sure what it was exactly--but could not find the innards bag. i figured maybe my turkey didn't have a bag and the neck and "something else" was all of it to find. so i moved on.

as time crept closer and closer to 3pm i went into stress mode. that's when picture taking took the back burner to the gravy and stuffing and rolls and on and on and on. needless to say, we didn't eat until 4pm. oh well.

we had our ward missionaries over for dinner--as guests, not food--and it was a blast. those guys are awesome and it was fun to have more people around our little table playing thanksgiving bingo. they even entertained us with Nacho Libre and Napoleon Dynamite impressions. it was fanTAStic! and so was Jakey. he swung away in his swing allowing us all to eat uninterrupted. such a good boy.

oh and that turkey i greased up? it too was fanTAStic! i was so proud of myself. oh and the innards bag? yeah. it was in there. i cooked it. and i found it while scott was carving the turkey. and i could've been grossed out. but i chose to believe i had just given that turkey of mine a bit of an extra special flavor. the missionaries will never know.