"Let us remember, too, that greatness is not always a matter of the
scale of one's life, but of the quality of one's life. True greatness is
not always tied to the scope of our tasks, but to the quality of how we
carry out our tasks whatever they are. In that attitude, let us give
our time, ourselves, and our talents to the things that really matter
now, things which will still matter a thousand years from now."
--Spencer W. Kimball, "A Gift of Gratitude",
Thanksgiving is at our house. We did the travel from home to home, family to family when we were just a married couple and continue to do it now as a family for other holidays but after JT was born... We decided that if you'd like to see us on Turkey day? Here is where we will be.
Over the years we've had so many of our family and friends fill our home on this holiday. The kitchen is where any and all who want to and are capable gather to chop, cut, rub, stir, mash, whisk, sort, mix, unwrap, test, taste, joke, laugh... generally in a hysteric manner, talk, chat, visit, reminisce, love...
I get a lot of credit since I buy the turkey. Haha. But the meal is always one prepared by many hands and with a lot of love. I have learned how to cook a Thanksgiving meal here, in my own kitchen. Sisters, Mothers, Aunties and Friends sprinkle their wisdom on my kitchen and the result has always been delicious. We average 25-40 people every year. There is always plenty of cider and butter. Last year we had all six missionaries from our ward and you know how 20 year old boys eat like they're 20 year old boys and there will be no more food in life after this meal. LOL, love you elders and miss you... well most of you ;)
This year was considerably different. Deciding to let go of my Faux-C-D tendencies I didn't stress centerpieces and place cards or food cards or renting chairs or always doing the same exact thing as last year or previous years. This is how I roll now. And you know what? Still turned out great. Still tasted wonderful.
My sister and niece came down to spend the night on T-Day eve and as in past years... we went to a late showing of the latest Twilight movie, this year was Breaking Dawn. Obnoxious and funny in the theatre. It's one tradition I don't mind being a slave to. Maga got to come with us since she's been on leave from her school job after injuring her back. She normally works until 11 and is too tired to go with us so I'm glad that she has been getting to hang out more! My friend Cakestina got to come too. She had fun laughing at how silly we were and even "spilled" the Reese's Pieces on the couple sharing the one seat in front of us. That's what they get for coming to a Twilight movie to make out. Staying up that late isn't as hard when you're giggling like schoolgirls the entire time!
A lot of people do a Turkey Bowl the morning of Thanksgiving. My nephews and Brother in Law play in one. Since we started running, we planned all year to do the Turkey Trot 5K as a family in Long Beach. My stress fracture and subsequent time off from running nixed that idea. We decided to play softball. There's a fantastic little park down the block with 3 baseball fields. We invited anyone that wanted to play. Big, little, family, friend, old, young, cheery, grumpy. haha. A great turnout yielded about 20 players. Grandma GG came and played with HeaBug and said had she not been needed to keep our little lady company, she'd have gotten out there and whooped us all. LOVE how fiery she is! We played from about 7:30ish to 9ish. Decided to randomly draw teams... Random decided to stack most of the fellas on the red team. We had fun, rocked our bandanas, I know I impressed with my stellar Alice Cullenesque pitching skills! (Hey, I JUST watched Twilight, I couldn't help myself). It was SUCH a fun morning. I was glad we put a breakfast casserole in the crock pot the night before and a french toast bake in the oven before we left for the field because it sure was nice coming home to breakfast.
This year we had a smaller bunch than we've had before. My Long Beach in-laws had their own T-day feast. My Pasadena in-laws stayed close to home as Papa Ron just had surgery to remove cancer. (Eff Cancer. Just saying) We just kept things really small and low key. Rain was in the forecast so we decided to stretch out our lovely "As-Is section" Ikea table and fit all 16 right there in our dining room.
This year we also made Grateful Rolls (thank you pinterest). Inside each crescent roll was a piece of foil with someone's name on it. As we started dinner, everyone took and opened a roll. You said what you were thankful for this year and then gave a compliment to the person who's name was in your roll. It was a little choppy but the sentiment was definitely there. The feast was delicious and the conversation had constant laughter in the background. We didn't watch White Christmas, which is one of my favorite things to do but we did stuff ourselves with pies and other deliciousness.
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| Applewood Smoked |
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| Cooking Nosh |
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| Sugared pecans. Good on salad and alone. |
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| the grateful rolls |
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| Bird. Garlic Herb Butter. |
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| Pre butter the Hawaiian Rolls. Makes them Fancy. |
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| Spinach, Gorgonzola, Cranberry, Bacon, Pecan. With White Balsamic Vinaigrette |
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| Feast Peace |
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| grateful rolls. |
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| carved it. thank you America's Test Kitchen tutorial. |
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| Asparagus, Baby Bellas, Red Onion and Garlic Herb |
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| My Gals. |
Hope your Thanksgiving was amazing. Hope your home was filled with laughing kids, stomping feet, snoring husbands, and delicious aromas. I am certainly thankful on this day as well as everyday. I count innumerable blessings from Heavenly Father. I hope you can too.
