Thanksgiving

MASSIVE FOOD PREPARATION. To sum it up.

We had been planning the Saturday after Thanksgiving bash at Chip's the whole week, but I still had to do the Delaware thing on Thursday. So, after massive menu decisions for Chip's, on Wednesday I made devilled eggs and baked sweet potatoes and made cole slaw and bought a bunch of other stuff and went to Delaware on Thursday morning. I had been willing to go Wednesday night to get ready, but my mom pointed out I didn't really need to be there til Thursday AM and Hey, who wants to spend a night in a sweatbox and then get up and cook so I accepted her offer.

I haul my stuff down there and start in. Get the ham in the oven, mash and prepare the sweet potatoes, and peel potatoes and microwave brussels sprouts and corn and make gravy from a packet and make stovetop stuffing into which I stirred celery and onions I had sauteed the day before and bake cheap rolls. Upon the first bite of devilled egg, my mom declares, "You know what's wrong with these...." I didn't kill her. You should be proud.

Also, she has no butter in the house so although I had taken 2 sticks, I had to run to Kroger for more butter because Thanksgiving, it's all about the butter.

My Aunt Midge attended, escorted by her grandson Eric, so it was better with a 'crowd.' She brought cookies. To add to our dessert buffet of pumpkin pie (never cut), chocolate silk pie and peach pie (which I had baked the day before).

I caught some of the holiday parade on TV and the Dog Show was on during dinner. I love the dog show and remember that the wire fox terrier or whatever won Best in Show.

Overall, the meal went great. Eric left around 2:30 and then I started in on the kitchen cleanup which took an hour after which I took my aunt back to her assisted living facility and had the tour, getting home about 6.

On Friday I shopped extensively for Saturday. And prepped so that when I got in the kitchen at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, I was ready to make the sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce with walnuts, apples, raisins, corn pudding, bacon for the salad and pear cobbler with ginger chocolate chip biscuit topping, which ran over onto the oven floor. With the smoke alarm going off at 10:45, I was loading the car with crockpots and food. I had already taken out the extra chairs and various serving pieces the day before.

I get to Chip's at 11 to find that shrimp needed to be shucked or whatever, brussels sprouts prepared for steaming, potatoes peeled for the mashed, cheese tray assembled. Which is why I started in on the wine at noon. Sharp.

Chip's dad was an admirable sous chef, chopping and slicing avocados and tomatoes for the salad.

Chip's parents and brother and SIL show up around noon for the OSU-UM game. Appetizers are presented. A 23-pound turkey had been in the oven since 6:30 a.m.

My mom and sister show up around 1:30. Chip's daughter and baby daddy and grandson show up around 2:30. There is a mad dash to serve the meal, which worked out great! Eleven adults and the boy, had way too much food (as Chip's Italian SIL had brought lasagna), including the desserts: pumpkin pie and pear cobbler and my mom's cherry 'cheesecake' and a pecan pie, which we forgot to serve.

Menu: turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, corn pudding, rolls, salad (lettuce, avocado, bacon, tomato, gorgonzola), brussels sprouts, lasagna, cranberry sauce from a can, cranberry sauce with stuff in it.

Continued drinking and finally, they all leave about 6 p.m. Whew!

Then I picked up Amy and we went to Kim and Jim's for cards where I immediately lost $7 so continued on to play euchre with Connie and Annette and Jim and finally got home after 11.

I thought I was coming down with some disabling disease but apparently it was just exhaustion. Sunday was fab, starting with coffee and pear cobbler in bed watching Modern Family on the iPad segueing into reading We Need to Talk About Kevin, December's book club selection. Then I did a pilates DVD and later Chip and I went to the aborted Toledo School for the Arts fundraiser. Where we did not win in the reverse raffle.

Although we had done massive cleanup Saturday, I went to Chip's today and made plates for Amy and Connie of leftovers and consolidated some stuff so that there's only 10 pounds of food left, instead of 20. Finished the last of the cleanup, brought home my coolers and dishes and crockpots.

Today, I applied for a web project manager job at Thread Marketing in Maumee and got a phone interview an hour later. Wish me luck. Also applied for a web content specialist job that I had applied for in September but was re-posted. Finished the book club book, talked to Miss Jenks for 2 hours and now it's bedtime.
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