There is nothing like having a great Thanksgiving at home with family! This year my family and I had our Thanksgiving celebration at home with a lovely home cooked meal that I am proud to say I cooked for the first time. Well, kind of.
You see the last couple of years we would pick up our Thanksgiving dinner from Marie Calender’s; pre-cooked turkey and ham, with vegetables, mashed potatoes, yams, and two types of pies. All we had to do when we returned home was pop everything into the oven and heat it up. Trust me it may not have all been homemade but it still tasted really good! This year I cooked the turkey, the stuffing, mashed potatoes (homemade), vegetables and dinner rolls.
Before I get too far I will like to say this… I did not actually make a whole turkey. I was a bit under the weather and did not feel like getting up at FIVE IN THE MORNING just so I can cook a big juice turkey. Instead we found two turkey breast loaves and half of a ham. This year was the first time I ever cooked turkey and it came out great! I never even cooked turkey at school but I went with the flow and what do you know, I didn’t even overcook the meat. Plus one of the turkey breasts had a thermometer where it’s in the turkey and when it is done cooking the blue ball pops out.
Did I point out that I made homemade mashed potatoes? Yep that’s right! I did everything from peeling the potatoes, to boiling them, to mashing them, and adding some seasoning to them. Just between you and me I improvised one of the ingredients. Instead of using cream I used milk, only because we didn’t have cream but they came out nice and thick.
The stuffing I did not make from scratch it was boxed stuffing. I am looking to make homemade stuffing next year though since I do know how to make that as well. I would like to make fresh gravy too ….but we will see how stressful it is next year.
Speaking of stressful, it was not as stressful like I thought it would be. Then again I did not make a whole turkey. I think the turkey might be the most stressful part for some people. In the future when I decide to make a whole turkey I will let you know if I still feel the same way about Thanksgiving. J
Now for dessert we kept it simple and had pumpkin pie and homemade apple pie. I had made apple pie in class the day before our holiday break and decided to bring it home. I am proud to say that it came out great and had lots of flavor to it. Everyone enjoyed the pie which made me feel really good because it shows that I have learned a lot in school!
MMM….what else? Ah yes, you can’t forget about the football games that go on during Thanksgiving. Otherwise it is not Thanksgiving! I never really did understand why football is so popular during Thanksgiving Day?! Do you?
You know what I remember the most about Thanksgiving other than the food? Is how much fun the family had! How everyone always got together and told stories of their first Thanksgiving as a couple or as a family. I even remember throwing the “pig skin” around, since that is what some people like to call it. But I like to call it a football. We would through it back and forth or chase my cousin around trying to get the ball back from him. We would even throw the baseball around or shoot some hoops. It always depended on where we were celebrating Thanksgiving.
Every Thanksgiving is fun and there are always new memories and stories to tell every year. I had a very great Thanksgiving and so did my family! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving as well and I hope next year is even better!
