So now on to our Thanksgiving shenanigans, if I can remember that far back. My memory is fading with each passing day. We had a wonderful day and are so glad Brett and Barbara and the boys could come as well as Steve. I can not tell you how long I have been excited that we could all get together and spend this time together. It is so rare that we are all together. Steve lives in Washington DC, and we see him every so often, when we pop in on him to spend the night or wait out the DC traffic.
And Brett and Barbara live, well a few states south of here. Barbara and the boys are in South Carolina and Brett, up until leaving for Thanksgiving, was in Georgia. Now he is serving in Korea for a year in the Air Force. So we are glad to spend the time with them since it will be awhile until we see Brett again.
Mom wanted a family portrait of her three lovely children, so what do you know, we started the morning off with a portrait session in our backyard. It was fun. I think the images turned out nice, for the photographer having to get the kids to look at the camera and look happy while she was in the portrait herself. But we all had a little fun.
Now, this is our first year putting Thanksgiving together. We have made the various dinner items before, but not all on the same day, in the same kitchen, for the same meal. It was an adventure. But, for the most part, dinner came out okay. Steve seasoned the turkey with butter and herbs, as well as adding a lemon and orange to the inside of the turkey during cooking. It was very delicious. However, when we made the gravy from the drippings...well...the gravy had a little bit of citrus taste to it. It wasn't bad, but it was unexpected.
We also made an attempt at making cranberry sauce. It called for a couple jalapenos, which we thought would give it a little kick. So I was excited to see how this would turn out. Well...it wasn't hot, but it came out with a pepper taste. Again, not bad, just unexpected. When you are about to taste cranberry sauce you aren't expecting it to taste like peppers. As least when you mixed the turkey, cranberry, mashed potatoes and gravy together, it all tasted delicious. A little different on their own, but good all together.
Barbara brought a ham, which I hadn't even thought about. I'm not much for ham so I didn't even think about it so I'm glad she thought of it. I have never made ham before and for the most part it just needs heating up. So sorry Barbara, it was left in the oven too long while we were getting everything else together and didn't come out so well. Now we know to at least cover it next time so it will not dry out. But I feel bad for ruining the ham.
The sweet potato casserole has now become my favorite dish. That was tasty. I have never been one for sweet potatoes. As a kid, I avoided them at all costs. And sweet potatoes with marshmallows...well...read the previous post about marshmallows for a little better understanding, but also, not really a fan of marshmallows on sweet potatoes. But put some butter, brown sugar and pecans on it, mmmm good.
We tried our hand at pumpkin pie made with fresh pumpkin.
They came out pretty delicious. It was fun when Isaac went in the kitchen to make whipped cream, Tristan, who is 5 years old, said he liked making pie and wanted to help. Isaac tried to explain to him that the pie was made but he was making whipped cream to put on the pie, but Tristan kept talking about how much he liked making pie. He and Braden, who is 2 years old, helped Isaac make the cream, taste tests included.
I love those kids. It was so much fun running around in the back yard with them and listening to their stories. Tristan is such a smart cookie. And Braden was trying to say Aunt Stephanie. I'm not sure what he was saying, but I know he was referring to me. We all went for a walk a little while after we ate. It was so wonderful having everyone here. I really do enjoy spending time with our families. They are all so wonderful and I'm so grateful for them all!
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