Thanksgiving 'Turkey' Day!!!

Hmmm.... Jan 1st (technically, already the 2nd) and I'm getting to Thanksgiving. That's something to be thankful for. :) We did (do) have a lot to be thankful for this year.... job, home, church, Christ, each other, friends and family. It's so easy to focus on the curve balls thrown our way, but such a blessing to ponder upon the good in our lives each day and be thankful.

Food. Definitely much food on Thanksgiving. The broth for the gravy (stock) was started Wednesday. The gravy recipe came from an ancestor on my Granny's side, Mary Salina Akins. Pretty cool to be using family recipes. :)  John had fun finishing the gravy once the turkey was out. Ohhhhh, there's nothing like giblet gravy!

I suppose along with the gravy is the main guest, Ole Tom himself! This was our smallest turkey ever! We really missed our big family gatherings this year, but thankful for the five of us. Usually I'm searching for the biggest turkey I could find, and this year there were several as I scrounged for the smallest.

Granny's turkey calls for orange squeezed inside. Once I've put a nice rub on the outside and stuffed it, you can see the butter being slabbed on the skin and under it. What a beaut!

Of course, with the Turkey we have Granny's stuffing and Mom's mashed potatoes. A big batch of potatoes are a necessity.... they turn into potato pancakes for the next couple of days!

The meal doesn't stop there. Even with the five of us (two picky eaters, and poor Tim was sick), the whole Thanksgiving meal was made.... remember that in case you want to drop in next year. :)   Granny's cheeseball, Aunt Jan's asparagus (with a little twist... which she often varies hers, too), Aunt Judy's corn relish, Sharon's sweet potato casserole, and well, um, shhhhh, cranberry in a can (the boys' favorite way!)

What about dessert? Can't forget dessert! More family recipes... Granny's pecan pie, Great-Grandma's pumpkin pie, and you can see Jordan busy making the whipped cream. I loved the day Mom taught me the simple, yet yummy way of making your own whipped cream. Special moments. :)

And for Tory, under the cloth are crabs. Okay, not crabs. My Little Men always call whatever 'bread' we have in the cloth, 'crabs'. We used to tell them before prayer not to get in the cloth, or the crabs would bite. The crabs on Thanksgiving are yummy croissants. Hmmm... my favorite part of the turkey? The skin! My favorite part of the meal? Sitting down together as a family, giving thanks.

The boys did watch the Macy's Parade in the morning, while I puttered in the kitchen. Such good memories of doing the same growing up, at my parent's or at Granny's.

                                                                        ~Jenny~